Chloe then tilted her head back at asked, “Are you there? It’s us … from this morning. Is Armada right? Did you do this?”
They waited and listened.
With their arms slightly raised to their side and knees bent a bit, the couple slowly spun in circles, looking for a sign of response.
“Hello?” Chloe again called out. “It’s me, from this morning. Are you there? Did you do all this? Can you hear me?”
Without warning, the large, industrial-sized light above them surged with a brilliant, almost blinding flash of light.
Chloe twisted back toward Armada, reached out for his hand, and quickly smiled at him.
“You can hear us?” Armada asked and almost instantly received his answer in the form of another pulse.
“Can you hear us all the time? Anywhere we go?” Chloe inquired.
Again, a flash of light beamed from the bulb.
“So Armada was right? You’re telling us what not to eat or drink?”
The bulb flashed once more.
“Whenever we come across something to eat or drink and it’s charred on the outside, then you don’t want us to consume it. But if we come across something that doesn’t appear to be burnt or scorched, then that’s what you’re labeling as safe and good for us. Right? Did I interpret that correctly?”
This time, all of the overhead lightbulbs emitted a flash of dazzling light, but they also flickered briefly.
“Oh! What about Eden?” Chloe suddenly thought to ask. “What do you want us to eat from Eden?”
“You can’t ask it like that,” Armada chided. “What, is it gonna go through each and every fruit? Reword it … make it into a ‘yes’ question.”
“Augh! Okay! Is everything we grow and harvest in Eden safe to eat? Do you want us eating that, too?”
The bulbs flickered off and on sporadically.
“Wow!” he said, then loudly stated, “Thank you.”
“Yeah. Thank you, thank you … whatever, or … whoever, you are.”
“I was just about to tell Chloe that … in a little more than three hours … I will have been on the run for twenty-four hours. I left the only thing I’ve ever known because I felt like I could trust you … so, since I decided to follow you yesterday morning, my life has drastically changed … for the better … and I no longer have a feeling of just existing … I feel like we’re really living now. I can’t begin to thank you enough … I feel like I don’t deserve this though … I mean why me, us, specifically? Out of all the thousands to choose from, you selected us and I don’t understand why … but we’re grateful and thankful, and … we’ll both trust you and follow you, and … we’ll keep our eyes open for your signs. Thank you.”
“Can we call you?” Chloe interrupted. “I just want to clarify with you. What if we need something, or we’re unsure of what to do, or maybe there’s something bothering us and we’re confused … do you want us to just call out to you?”
Suddenly, every light throughout the entire warehouse blazed and flickered off and on repeatedly. As if attending a rock concert, the young couple stood in disbelief at the beautiful, yet unexplainable light show.
Then, just as it had started, the amazing display of power came to an abrupt stop.
“Whoa!” Armada exclaimed, slapping his legs just above the knees, “That … was … so … awesome!”
Chloe turned to face him and was speechless.
“Did you ever…,” he began to ask, but Chloe interrupted him by throwing herself against his body. With arms intertwined, they kissed passionately and hungrily.
“Hey,” he said, trying to speak without breaking away from her lips, “I have an idea.”
“What?” she asked, breathing heavily.
“How about … (kiss) … you … (kiss) … go back to the bar … (kiss) … and take one of the bottles of wine … (kiss) … and find something to open it with?”
“But … (kiss) … what about you?”
“I’m gonna … (kiss) … find … (kiss) … something to eat.”
“Okay, yeah … (kiss) … we need to eat.”
“You … (kiss) … better … (kiss) … get going.”
He tenderly pushed Chloe away from him, reached out and picked up a bottle, and placed it in her hand.
“By the time you return, I’ll have gathered up a feast fit for a queen. It’ll be our first meal together. We have a lot to celebrate tonight.”
“Kinda like our first meal away from home, huh?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, chuckling.
Chloe placed her free hand on his neck, reeled him in, and offered one last smooch.
“All right, I’ll be right back,” she informed her mate. “I expect to be amazed by an appetizing demonstration of your culinary skills when I return.”
“Oh, yeah!” he snarkily agreed, with a gentle kick to her bottom. “I’ll get right on it, Princess.”
Chloe jubilantly skipped her way out of the kitchen, laughing.
CHAPTER 27
RESERVATIONS FOR TWO
“Honey, I’m home!” Chloe pleasantly hollered out as she entered the kitchen and dry goods storehouse.
“I’ll be right there!” she heard him shout.
“Where are you?”
“I’m on the aisle with the disposables. Hold on.”
Chloe approached the prep table and watched as Armada exited the aisle with one large cardboard box on top of his shoulder and another tucked up under his arm. He again had the upper half of his suit unzipped and dangling from his waist. He smiled broadly as he touted his cargo. She beamed with simple, girlish delight at the sight of his exposed body. It was more than obvious that he’d been laboring during her short absence.
“I have some surprises for you,” she coyly stated and folded her arms behind her.
“Oooh, I like surprises,” he responded as he passed in front of her. “I, too, just happen to have a surprise.”
She visually devoured his torso, gazing intensely at his swollen biceps, chest, and shoulders.
Armada turned down the first row, carefully lowered the carton under his arm, then lifted the case from his shoulder up on to a higher shelf.
“What kind of surprises did you bring me?” he playfully inquired, scooting the box on the floor under the lowest shelf.
“You’ll just have to get over here and find out,” she quipped.
As he approached her, Chloe turned fidgety and attempted to hide something.
“Okay. Let me tell you what I’ve done,” he began, stepping to her side, and leaned back against the table. “I’ve started separating boxes based on contents and burns. It’ll take us several days to identify and organize everything, but for now we’ll bring the supplies of greatest importance up here to the first few rows of shelves.”
As he spoke and pointed to the shelving units, Chloe scooted closer and closer, oblivious to what he was saying; she couldn’t keep herself from admiring his physique.
“So, are you ready for your surprises?” he spryly asked, turning to face the table.
“Oh, yeah. But why did you cover everything?” she asked, noticing the cloth towels.
“Well, young lady, that’s only part of the surprise. And for the first one, you’ll have to close your eyes.”
“I don’t know if I trust you. What if….”
“Just shut up and close your eyes.”
Chloe lowered her eyelids, smiling. Armada lifted the corner of a towel and pulled out his secret prize.
“Okay, now you gotta hold out your hands, but keep your eyes shut.”
Chloe didn’t resist his instructions and silently held up her hands. Armada laid the mysterious object in her palms.
“All right. You can look now.”
Chloe opened her eyes to find a wide, thin, and flat item wrapped in shiny golden foil, lying in her hands. She turned it right side up, vertically, and mumbled as she quickly read its content.
“Chocolate?!” she yelled, jumping up an
d down. “You found chocolate? Oh, my gosh, Armada! I can’t believe you found us some chocolate! I’ve never tasted it! Oh, thank you! Thank you!”
She leapt into his arms and squeezed him tightly. Armada couldn’t resist laughing at her reaction.
“That’s not all,” he added. “Take a look at this.”
She relaxed her stranglehold and backed away from him.
“Yay! Choco-choco-choco-chocolate!” she squealed, hopping up on her tiptoes.
One by one he lifted the cloth towels, revealing a collection of white ceramic portion bowls.
“Ta da!”
“Wow! Armada!”
After having removed the towels, Chloe was further blown away with the smorgasbord of food he’d gathered.
“How’d you find all these in such a short amount of time? I wasn’t gone fifteen minutes.”
“I’ve always been very efficient with my time and effort,” he proudly stated before pointing out the selections.
“Tonight, madam, we have prepared a scrumptious meal. We have honey-roasted pecans, sea-salted almonds, dried blueberries….”
“And chocolate,” she interjected, lifting the bar directly in front of his nose.
“Pitted black cherries, dried apricot and honey-crisp apple, apple sauce, dill pickles….”
“And chocolate.”
“Black olives, canned peaches, mandarin orange, and pineapple. All of these, by the way, is certified organic and non-GMO.”
“Uh, hello? We’re walking GMOs.”
“Well, we’re different. We have gluten-free crackers from Israel. The box said it was kosher, although I don’t know what that means, but they look and smell good.”
“Don’t forget we have CHOCOLATE!”
“We also have organic peanut butter, golden raisins, and something called craisins.”
“I am impressed,” she said, pecking him on his cheek. “I don’t know what to try first. And none of these had a charred label on it?”
“No, ma’am,” he replied, tossing a pecan in his mouth, then snapped, “And just where are my surprises?”
“Oh! I completely forgot. My mind was distracted with choco-choco-chocolate!” Chloe excitedly admitted.
“First…,” she said, bending down, “I got the wine opened.”
“Good girl” he announced as she stood and showed the bottle.
“There’s a large lever-style bottle opener mounted on one of the bar cabinets. We walked right past it.”
“Huh,” he grunted, grabbing a handful of almonds.
“Next,” she said, reaching for a large dill pickle, “one should only drink wine from … a wine glass!”
Once more she knelt down, and when she rose, her hands were full. “Wine glasses, candles, lighters, candle bases … everything was in the lounge and bar cabinets.”
“Then let’s do this properly and in style. You pour the wine and I’ll light the candles.”
Chloe removed the partially exposed cork from the neck of the bottle as Armada twisted the tapered candlesticks into their finely polished silver bases.
“Whoa! Look at that!” she exclaimed as she cautiously poured the aged fine French wine. “It’s so dark. You can’t even see through it.”
“Wow,” Armada commented as he lit the first candle. ‘It’s like liquefied rubies.”
After she poured them each a glass of wine, Armada dashed to the kitchen entrance and turned off the lights. Chloe stood next to the table, mesmerized by the soft glow of the candle.
“You know we were never allowed to have candles in our dormitories,” she bellowed, waiting for Armada to return. “In fact, other than igniting our burners in the lab, I’ve never experienced lighting something on fire.”
“Really?” he asked, emerging from the shadows. “We can fix that right now. Grab the lighter.”
He came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, leaned over, and blew out the flame.
“You’re on,” he whispered. “Just squeeze the trigger.”
Chloe placed her left hand on his, pulled the trigger on the lighter, and lit both candles.
“Instant ambience,” he declared, kissing her neck. “Let’s eat.”
“Wait a minute. This is a very special occasion; we can’t begin without a toast. Make a toast.”
Armada quietly retrieved his glass, held it up, and paused for a moment.
He gazed lovingly upon Chloe.
“To … a new beginning with, my best friend … and living out the rest of our lives together.”
He watched her raise her hand to wipe away a tear, but she didn’t break eye contact, and the smile never left her lips.
“So, I think now is when we’re supposed to clink our glasses together,” he then said.
After a timid touching of the rims, Chloe asked, “Do we drink it like water? Or do we sip on it?”
“Heck if I know,” he confessed, sniffing the deep garnet-hued intoxicant. “Wow! That smells great!”
With broad smiles on their mouths, they watched each other take a sip.
Chloe hummed in approval as she swallowed, “Mmmm.”
For an hour-and-a-half they sat on the edge of the cold, stainless steel prep table with their legs hanging off the side. The couple gorged themselves on nuts and fruits, olives and pickles, crackers with peanut butter, and washed it down with thirty-year-old Bordeaux. There couldn’t be any better way to end their first candlelight dinner than by sharing a bar of dark chocolate for dessert.
Armada found it hard not to notice that over the course of the meal, he began to feel lightheaded. He also couldn’t ignore the fact that Chloe was slightly slurring her words.
After downing the last few sips of Bordeaux, Armada glanced at the digital clock mounted above the kitchen entrance. In large, bright-red numbers it read 2:05 a.m.
“I think it’s about time to turn in,” he recommended, hopping down off the table.
“Oh, okay,” Chloe agreed before guzzling the remainder of her wine.
Armada approached her from her left side and stated, “C’mon. We’ve had quite a day; we can both use a good night’s sleep.”
“Carry me,” Chloe sheepishly requested, smiling at him.
“Carry you!? You all right? Wine gone to your head?”
“Yeah … some … but I just wanna know what it feels like to be held in someone’s arms and be carried.”
“All right,” he agreed sympathetically.
He slid his left arm under her legs, supported her back with his right arm, cradled her, and picked her up. She felt almost weightless.
“Let’s take the candles to the room,” he said, leaning over the table.
Chloe draped her left arm behind his neck, stretched out her right arm, and grasped one of the candle bases and lighter. She brought it to her side and blew out the flame on the second.
“Now I know why normal people enjoy candles so much.”
“Yeah, they’re nice,” Armada commented casually as he strode through the darkened warehouse and kitchen.
“Will you do one more thing for me?” she asked.
“Whatzat?”
“For the past couple of years, whenever I’ve had my evaluations, there’s been this one physician’s assistant that works for Engenechem in the Nursery. She never speaks to me directly ‘cause she’s rude and always on the phone talking to her boyfriend or whatever….”
“Okay? And?”
Chloe remained quiet as Armada slowly walked across the atrium.
“And what? What about her boyfriend?”
“I know you’re gonna think it’s weird, but….”
“Hey, just say it. What?”
“Well, they were constantly calling each other ‘baby.’ Baby this and baby that, and oh, baby.”
“And?”
“Would … would you mind … calling me baby?”
“As in a term of endearment?”
“Well, yeah. I don’t wanna say I’m Chloe Rover Seven anymore, or hea
r somebody yelling at me ‘Hey! Rover Seven!’ You know? I wanna be treated like, and feel like … a woman. A real, live, human woman. And not looked at as just an … an … experiment!”
Her body began to tremble and her voice started to crack.
“I don’t wanna have my blood drawn anymore. I’m sick of giving urine and stool samples! I’m tired of being poked and examined! I hate those interviews and taking their stupid psychological batteries!”
“Hey, calm down now. Just a few more steps….”
“And I can’t stand being told what I’m gonna eat, how much, and when!”
He tried slightly bouncing her to calm her down, but the more she spoke, the more her legs and hands shook; she began sobbing and gasping.
“And … I hate these … stupid blue jumpsuits … I’ve been … wearing ‘em … my … whole life! I hate … being thought of … as … company property … and … I just want … to be … real … and left alone!”
She turned her head into his chest and wept heavily.
“Hey, hey, now. Look. Here we are.”
Armada carried Chloe into the room and headed straight for her bed.
“Hey, how about leaving the candle here on the table; okay?”
She lowered the burning candle on the four-seat table next to the compact refrigerator.
He then went to the far side of her bed and gently laid her down. Chloe rolled onto her right side, facing the nightstand and his bed. Armada retrieved the candle, walked between the beds, and set it on the nightstand next to the digital alarm clock.
“Here you go,” he soothingly stated before sitting on her mattress. “Here’s our special candle.”
With her face now illuminated, he could see her red, swollen eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks, her nose was running, and she couldn’t seem to get her breathing under control.
“Ssshhh,” he tenderly hissed as he slowly stroked her head.
“I’ll be right back. Okay?”
With her eyes shut tightly, Chloe nodded her head.
Armada rose from her bed and went to the bathroom. He didn’t turn on any lights, but felt his way to the sink and faucet. After twisting the hot water lever, he went back to the compact refrigerator and reached for the ice bucket. He then stuck it in the sink, adjusted the water temperature, and filled the bucket. Before exiting the bathroom, Armada groped the towel rack for a couple of washcloths.
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