Page 52 of Axton

She smiled. “That’s the perfect age. You’re still young but stable, because you have more than a decade of a career behind you.”

“You also have a career.” I pointed out.

“Not really. I never earned a paycheck, and I only taught basic things like reading and arithmetic. None of my students would ever graduate high school or go on to college. I also created a Bible study, but everything we spoke about had to be approved by the elders. We weren’t free to interpret the bible or dive into philosophy. I would love to say I’d make a good teacher now, but I believe I may be too naïve for this more modern world. It was unlawful for women to gather in groups., but my papa was a progressive bishop and made a law that women could gather for prayer and Bible study as long as it was supervised by an elder.”

Un…fucking…believable. They could only gather while supervised? The man was a dick. “I’ll talk to Creed. Morgan will be going on maternity leave soon, and we do have elementary aged kids that could use a substitute. Right now, it’ll be Melissa and Heidi filling in, but they could use someone with the experience. Did you ever teach at a private or public school?” I asked.

“I student taught at the school I attended until fifth grade, but that’s all.”

I could tell it was something that saddened her greatly. “Would you be interested in helping out? You’ll be here a long time, Belle. Maybe you can eventually help with the adult education program as well. It might be a good way for you to learn more about the real world. You could teach them and also learn from them. Morgan can probably help you with your teaching license as well.”

I had to shut my eyes when I saw the way she looked at me. I wished like hell it didn’t remind me of the way Natalie looked at me when her baby brother ran out of formula and I rode my bike all the way to town, spent my last fifteen dollars to buy it, then rode my bike the twelve miles back home. I was thirteen years old with the weight of the world on my shoulders. It also reminded me of the time her assholebrother was tripping on acid and cut her hair when she was sleeping. She was sobbing uncontrollable tears until I braided her hair like I did Kayla’s and nobody could tell. I did that every morning before school until it grew out enough that we could cut it straight. I always tried so hard to solve her problems, but I guess that wasn’t enough for her. It took me a very long time to come to terms with the fact that I would never have been enough for her. I never would have been enough to save her either.

“That might actually be nice, thank you.”

“Well, I have more to show you.” I walked over to my control panel, and she walked over to stand next to me. “Did Heidi show you the emergency features at the apartments?”

She nodded. “There was another elevator that we could only access with our badges, and she said to do that if I heard any sirens.”

“Good, but mine is a bit different. You scan your badge then hit this red button if you have an emergency. We have a command center that aids us when we are in certain situations. Like when we had Creed and Magnus on the line when those bikers and trucks were a threat. There’s a whole crew of people working around the clock. They’ll speak to you through a speaker here and then can hear you when you tell them the problem. It’s only for an emergency, like there’s a fire or you’re very badly injured and can’t get to the medical center on your own.”

“That’s convenient.” She said.

“It has another feature. If something happens and you can’t get to this panel, just yell out a code. It’s 42427 then my name, and that’s my designated code. It’s a smart product and it’ll dial the emergency line for you, and you won’t have to hit any buttons. Then, like at the apartment building, you hit this flashing green light. I hit the button, and the cabinet lifted, exposing the elevator and she gasped in amazement. “You’ll step inside, hit the flashing green light on the side and it’ll take you to a safety bunker. A new security feature we added a few months ago will make you scan your badge here.” I pointed tothe left side. “Remember, green for opening it, yellow at the bottom. It’ll open the doors and allow you out. Unless the sirens went off which pauses the need to use the yellow scanner, an alarm will sound. It’ll notify the command center that someone is coming, and they can check it out.” I hit the green button to shut it. “That elevator goes deeper than my basement, so it’ll take a little longer than you might expect. Any questions?”

She nodded. “So, I should not use this if the alarms are not going off, but if there’s an intruder, then definitely use it?”

I smiled then winked. “Smart girl, I’m glad you caught what I didn’t say. But you should know the chances of an intruder is extremely low. Those guards and that gate is not all that stands between us and the outside world. There is a wall, but it’s just our first line of defense. We have several other things that even someone trained like me couldn’t bypass. Jeremy works with nobody that could penetrate our barriers.” I pointed up. “We even have control of the airspace above us. We work with the kind of people that makes that possible.” We sometimes had government officials on the premises, and also high value foreign allies at times when we’ve had a contract to extricate them from dangerous situations and get them to safety.

She smiled. “That makes me feel a lot better.”

“Alright, so let’s move on. The dining room is obvious, just like the living room. We can go downstairs.” She followed me downstairs. “My place is nothing like Creed’s, but I do have a bar, a pool table, air hockey, and a movie room.” I showed her the bar and games, then took her to the movie room. I had to chuckle because she reminded me of Addie when she made a little squeal noise.

“Wow!” Her eyes lit up when she looked at me. “Would this be like going to a theater?”

I chuckled. “Sort of, it has the surround sound and that’s neat, but the screen is much smaller. The seats are massage chairs, so you can really get comfortable down here.” I walked to the closet and opened it. “There’s blankets in here and there’s a popcorn machine over there.”I pointed at it. “The laundry room is right this way.” She followed me and as we walked by it, I pointed to the bathroom. “That’s the whole house, except what’s outside. I do have a dock there at the lake, a patio kitchen I like to use in the summer if some of the guys stop by and we grill steaks, and there’s a hot tub I use year-round.”

“I love your home, Michael.” She was all smiles.

Throughout the entire tour, and especially during our conversation in the kitchen, my eyes kept landing on her chest. That damn robe was the only thing between my eyes and her gown that kept me from seeing those damn nipples brush across that satin. I wasn’t sure why, but ever since she had that blouse on earlier that day, those nipples were constantly on my mind. I imagined she had the most perfect set of teardrop tits.

“Thank you, but it’s your house as well, now. I would like you to feel at home. Do you mind if I ask you a question?” I asked.

“Sure.”

I scratched my beard. I had a reason to ask the question, it was something I wondered quite often. “How would you describe your life back home? Were you happy?”

She gave me a soft smile. “Happy isn’t the term I would use, but I also wasn’t sad. I knew my parents loved me, but they had expectations. It’s the only life I ever knew. I had a warm and safe bed at night, food, and love. But I also had discipline, and a very active curiosity. I guess you could say I was known to eavesdrop, but unfortunately, the men didn’t speak much about the things Koty tried telling me. I never knew anything about my parents’ finances or anyone else’s in the church. I would hear of young people trying to escape, but my papa was strictly against violence.”

“Did you ever have fun?” I didn’t know why that was important.

“Sure, my papa got me a puppy when I was little, and we played a lot. I have friends at school when I was young, and papa sometimes made me laugh.” She smiled fondly. “One time my puppy tried to chew uphis false teeth, that was hilarious because he looked like he had people teeth. Not even papa could stay mad, and we laughed so hard it hurt. But I’ve never laughed as hard as I have while watching that television. I like how it feels to have those freedoms and not have to worry that my laughter may be seen as inappropriate. The world is nothing like I ever imagined, which I feel bad about those happy moments of laughter when my mind drifts back to home. I’m sure mama is scared going to a new husband, and I don’t want my papa to suffer in his afterlife. I hope he realized how wrong he was about a great deal of things, and asked for forgiveness. I know he’s gone, and that makes me sad, but he was in a lot of pain in the end.”

I understood what she was saying. “How much faith did you have that this soldier of God was coming for you?”

“I had hope, but at my age I should have been married for a decade now. I guess…” She paused and looked down at her hands, which she was wringing. “Let’s just say your birthmark isn’t what makes me feel safe with you. It’s a feeling that comes when you’re near.”

That was awkward.

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