Chapter 18 – The Touchy Lawyer

"Prof. Antonio was looking for me?" I asked our interns. "What for?"

"We saw you enter the other tower during breaktime..." said one of them.

"When we went back, Sir Eric was looking for you to buy him some lunch..."

"So we told him that you went to the West Alpha Tower."

"Why would he ask me to buy him lunch when he doesn't want me near him?" I asked.

"Huh? Were you two fighting?" asked Pilar.

"I will go fetch him, then," I said, ignoring the question as I made my way back down stairs.

I was at the lobby when I saw the commotion.

Prof. Antonio was being escorted out of the building by three security personnel.

"What happened?" I asked, trailing behind them.

He looked at me, surprised and relieved at the same time. He was sporting a black eye and a bruise on his left chin, and his lab gown was thorn and filthy.

"Who did this to you?" I asked.

His expression turned to one of anger.

"Where have you been?! Why the hell did you go to the Alpha Tower?" he shouted at me. "And where the hell is my lunch?" he added as an afterthought.

It was then that I saw his bloody knucles.

"Did you have a fight with Dr. Heathlow?"

"Is it true? That you had a heat attack while you were together?" he asked me instead.

"Do you believe that?"

He opened his mouth, thought better of it, then looked embarrassed.

"Where are you taking him?" I asked the security personnel by his side.

"Dr. Heathlow filed assault against him," said one the guards.

"Did Dr. Heathlow receive any damages?" I asked, looking at the professor again.

"No, but Sir Eric hit him first," said the other guard who looked like an alpha. " Dr. Heathlow simply acted in self-defense."

"That does not look like simple self-defense to me."

"Just go back to the lab!" Prof. Antonio lashed out at me. "Go work on your god damn experiment and stop interfering here! Just leave me alone!"

Fifteen minutes later, we arrive at the police station where the two guards filed a blotter against the professor.

"I told you to leave me alone!" he mumbled as he ate the burger I bought with his left hand."

"I am sorry, I was not able to buy you lunch. I thought you were still upset with me."

"I'm not upset. I'm angry!" he glared at me. "And who told you to go to Hitler?! Just `cos I sent you away, you go straight to the person I despise the most?!"

"Sir, please keep quiet inside the precinct," a cop warned us.

"I simply wanted to test my hypothesis," I explained.

"Well then, look for a different alpha, not that bastard son of a bitch who thinks he's god's gift to all omegas!"

"Sir!" the same cop glared at us.

"Sorry, sorry!" he apologized to he cops. "See what you make me do?"

"I am not the one shouting."

He glared at me.

"Let me see your right hand," I said instead.

"I don't want you touching me," he mumbled.

"It is just your hand, I think you broke something."

"None of your business."

"It is your dominant hand. You will not be able to work if it is not properly mended." He looked hesitant then, and finally showed me his hand.

It was swollen. He flinched as I touched him, either due to pain or disgust.

"It seems your pointer and thumb are broken. How many times did you hit Dr. Heathrow."

He mumbled a reply.

"Pardon?"

"Once," he said, louder.

"Then, he beat you up? Were you on the floor when he kicked you?" I asked, looking at the sole marks on his dirty lab gown.

"None of your business."

"We should file a counter complaint against him. He has no right to go this far."

I was about to touch his swollen face when he moved back and stared apprehensively at me. I put my hand down.

"You don't need to worry. My lawyer is already on his way," he mumbled.

"What exactly did he say to anger you?"

He went silent again.

"I want to know, if it is about me."

He glared at me, then decided to speak.

"He said you went on a date... that you let him smell your pheromones..."

"That's it?"

"Well, the way he said it was... just..." he tried to explain. "He laughed at me... said I was useless to you since I'm a beta who can't even smell how delicious you are... and that's why you came running to him instead."

"I see."

"What do you mean, 'I see'?"

"Nothing. I hope you didn't take the words he said seriously."

He fell silent again.

"Eric!"

We both looked up as a tall man in his late twenties approached us.

He looked like an alpha, but seems to be using a strong suppressant since I could not scent his pheromones.

"What happened? Are you okay?" he asked as he fuzzed over the professor.

I glared at him.

"I'm fine! Don't be such a worrywart!" snapped the professor.

"What do you mean, you're fine? Have you seen yourself yet?" he started dusting off the professor who looked sourly at the floor. "What did you do this time?"

"A-hem." I cleared my throat to catch their attention. The man sized me up and held his hand towards me. They seem close, but why would a lawyer be so touchy?

"You must be his colleague, I am Prof. Antonio's lawyer, Atty. Derejedo."

"Dr. Aahmes Abdel, I am his personal assistant."

"Was!" corrected the professor.

"Anyway, don't you think Louie should know about this? I mean, it looks like you were beaten by a group of thugs! Are you sure it was just one person?" Atty. Derejedo asked Prof. Antonio.

"He was a dominant alpha. And we don't need Louie to know about this."

"And you got into a fight because...?"

Prof. Antonio looked at me and fell silent.

"He was actually defending my honor."

Atty. Derehedo looked at me.

"Is that so?" He looked surprised.

I told him what happened. We then paid for bail and filed a counter complaint. We went to the hospital to check his bruises and his right hand. His knuckles were broken, like I surmised, his thumb, pointer, and middle finger will have to be put in a cast for at least three weeks. His left eye almost closed due to his bruise. He also has bruises on his back and chest where Dr. Heathlow kicked him. We had all of these documented for the complaint Mr. Derejedo filed against Dr. Heathlow.

"Are you feeling better now? Let me take you home," Mr. Derejedo said when we left the hospital.

"No need, I can take him home," I said.

"Oh, okay," He now looked amused.

"What do mean, 'take me home'? I don't want you to go near me!"

"I need to get some things from back home, also, we can not trouble Mr. Derejedo any further."

"You two are living together?" Mr. Derejedo looked surprised once again.

"Yes." I answered.

"No!" Prof Antonio replied.

"Wait, what is going on here, really?" asked Mr. Derejedo with a grin.

"We used to live together." I explained.

"I can take care of myself!" Prof. Antonio snapped at me.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "Can you even operate a microscope properly with only one hand?"

Prof. Antonio glared silently at me.

"I will just drop you off and make sure you are comfortable," I added.

"I leave him to you, then," Mr. Derejedo said with an amused smile. "Here's my card, call me anytime if you need anything."

"Hey, wait a minute! I didn't give my consent!"

"What's the matter? You should really happy your thoughtful assistant is just doing you a favor!" he said, placing an arm around the professor. "It's nice to see you've got a friend to depend on!" he added.

"Don't worry, Mr. Derejedo," I said, taking hold of the professor's arm. "I'll take good care of Prof. Antonio."