It was already after five by the time she got home. Lucky for her, Aiden hadn't gotten home yet. She could imagine the lecture she would get.
She took a quick bath and started making a list.
Since she decided where the base would be, she needs to get everything together. According to what she looked up online, she would need a lot of non-perishables, stuff for sanitation, radios, flashlights, blankets, and first aid kits. She is also going to need clothes, medications and baby supplies.
She looked down at her flat stomach and shook her head. No need for that now, maybe in the future. But the base members might want to try. She also needs books. If everything is going to hell, at least books have a wealth of knowledge. We can rebuild slowly when the time is right.
[I can give you all those things.]
"I need to pay for your things with LE. I can just use the money we have now and buy stuff. When that runs out, then we can talk about LE."
She thought about the fact that she would have to convince Aiden to buy all these things. There has to be a way.
[Objective: Spend the night in your brother's bed]
[Time limit: 24 hours]
[Condition: You must have physical contact]
"Are you giving me a mission to fuck my brother?"
[I didn't tell you to have sex with him. I told you to spend the night...sleep. And even if I don't give you one, you would jump his bones before I could say fu..]
Ember refused to listen. She is a good girl; she would never do something like that. No matter how incredibly sexy she thought Aiden looked.
[You're drooling.]
She quickly wiped her mouth, only to realise the system was teasing her.
She scoffed and refused to talk to it anymore.
She went back to making her list. As for sleeping with Aiden, she would cross that bridge when she came to it. She could only hope he would stay at the office a little longer.
Two hours passed when Ember heard a knock at the door.
"Come in."
She turned around to see Aiden. His shirt sleeve rolled up, his tie loosened around his neck.
He's trying to seduce me.
Poor Aiden, who only came to check on Ember, was accused of seduction. Not that he would mind if he heard her thoughts. It just meant he had a positive effect on her.
His eyes raked over her, the possession he had tried to hide, no longer hidden. After everything that happened today, he didn't want to hide. He wouldn't say it outright, but he wouldn't hold back.
Well, maybe a little. He would give her time to come to him. When she was ready, he would be waiting.
"You left in such a hurry earlier. Where did you go? Did you eat?"
Flustered from the way he looked at her, she looked away quickly. Her eyes were trained on her notes as if they were the most fascinating thing in the world at this moment.
"Yeah, I went to Mount Pleasure, had to scope out the base."
He chuckled.
That laugh, it's that laugh again. It makes my insides flip.
He walked into the room and sat on the bed.
"Are you going to tell me why you want a base? You know I don't believe that doomsday business."
The ease with which he leaned on the bed made Ember want to push him down.
She sighed, knowing he wouldn't believe it.
She raised her head and looked into his eyes. Trying as best she could to convey her sincerity.
"It's true. I know you won't believe it, but it is."
She didn't continue the conversation.
"You just got home. Go take a bath, I'll have the kitchen prepare something. I haven't eaten since earlier. Tonight, I'll stay with you. We can talk."
Before he could respond, she shooed him out of the room.
She slumped back into her chair. This was going to be a long night.
After a filling dinner, Ember went back to her room. She took all the documents she had been writing earlier with her.
She was wearing a negligee, the longest one she could find. She wasn't trying to tempt anyone tonight. But as she looked at herself in the mirror, she realised, there is no such thing as something long in her closet.
She was wearing a pink negligee, which couldn't hide her plump breasts; her ass was covered, but the hem barely brushed her thighs.
Whatever, she thought. He might send me to a psych ward after he hears me talk.
Walking to Aiden's room took longer than necessary. Ember couldn't shake the feeling that something would happen tonight. Since she wasn't sure what. She could only walk slowly in the hopes that whatever it was wouldn't happen if it was too late at night.
She knocked on his door and stood outside nervously.
He opened the door, adorned only in his boxer.
Ember wanted to turn tail and run. How was she supposed to talk to him when he was like this? The bulge is big. What does the actual thing look like? His abs, the mermaid line, it exists!
Oh no! My body! Why hast thou betrayed me?
She tried to keep her breathing stable. Though she wasn't doing a good job.
"Brother.."
She almost didn't recognise her voice. It was breathy, almost needy.
She cleared her throat, pushing past him. She hoped she wouldn't do anything stupid.
After she pushed her way in, she didn't see his eyes sharpen and the possessiveness flicker.
He closed the door.
He walked in to see her sitting on a chair. Usually, when she came to his bedroom, she would jump on the bed without a care in the world. This time, she sat in a chair. It made him wonder what she had to say.
Ember didn't waste time and handed him the papers she brought. She tried to remember events from the book she read. She could only remember three events: an earthquake that happened the night before doomsday, wildfires from all over the country, almost simultaneously and a volcanic eruption on an island.
She listed all the other things she knew from the book. Like the cold weather, the zombies, solar storms and everything else in between.
She didn't say anything else. Just sat there waiting for him to read everything.
The minutes ticked by. He went from standing to sitting. She knew he had read everything, more than once. She could see his jaw tightening. She wanted to check his emotional state, but thought against it.
"So, you want me to believe that everything you wrote down is going to happen."
She swallowed hard, "You don't have to believe me now. You can wait until the volcano, that's the earliest one. It should happen sometime next week."
He gripped the papers, "And do you want to tell me how you know all this?"
She clenched her jaw, unsure of how to answer him.
"Brother, let me ask you something first." Before she answered, there was something she needed to know.
He motioned for her to ask.
"Valentina Richards, what are your feelings towards her?"
"Valentina, what does she have to do with this?" His brow furrowed.
"Brother, just answer the question. Tell me honestly how you feel about her. If you can tell me that, then I'll give you an answer."
He sighed and pinched his nose.
"I don't like her. At most, she is a distraction. She likes like to be the centre of everything. She acts innocently, but under it all, she is a depraved person who doesn't understand limits. Not that I'm much better. Someone like her would never be anything more than a means to an end."
Ember smiled, genuinely happy because of his answer. She conveniently didn't hear the part about him not being better and kept the rest.
In Ember's mind, it meant what she learned from the book was invalid. It's not that he's unable to let her go. He must have wanted something from her, because she wasn't there, he used her to vent.
"Now will you answer the question?"
Ember jumped up from the chair and onto the bed.
"I had a dream. It was terrible. I died, and you and that woman got together, running around the city collecting supplies. She built a harem. She had three other men. When you went to the base, she had even more men. There was a time you didn't even talk to her. I don't know why so many men were crowding around her. But she absolutely loved it."
Aiden heard everything Ember said; he really did. But the part where she died in her dream stuck with him. He couldn't help thinking about it. Everything else she said was irrelevant.
All he knew was somehow she died, and he wasn't there to protect her. Even worse, she died, and he didn't follow.
He looked at her smiling face. She wasn't phased mentioning her own death.
She was smiling because he didn't want Valentina.
Aiden couldn't help himself; he kissed her.