Page 32 of Sixty Meters Under
“Mm, very nice. Caring families I suppose?”
“Yes. You can say that.”
“Hi, Boo!” A woman in a black bathing suit and long fiery hair walked by them.
“Hey! S-Scarlett...” Björn’s attention was immediately drawn to her, following the sway of her hips with his eyes. He turned back to Ayame and Aki. “It was nice talking to you. See you around.” He got up and followed the red-haired woman.
“Yeah. Bye!” Ayame said as they both looked at his retreating back. When he was further away Ayame turned to Aki and shook her head.
“What?”
“I think you should find some new eye candy.”
?
Ready for work, Ryosuke waited for the elevator. He wasn’t in the mood to take the stairs to the top level, a long and tiring walk.
It took a while until he heard ablinkand the door slid open. He looked up and saw there were a few people inside, nothing unusual, but when he spotted one particular person at the back of the elevator, his pupils dilated and his heart skipped a beat.
Lennart’s eyes landed on him as well while other residents moved so he could enter. Ryosuke bowed in greeting and took a sharp inhale as he stepped inside. The elevator was spacious, and he got a free spot on the opposite side, away from Lennart.
Ryosuke’s heart drummed, and his skin prickled under his clothes. His palms began to sweat but he stole one more glanceat Lennart. Lennart looked ahead himself but turned just as Ryosuke was about to look away. Ryosuke acted like nothing had happened and turned his head to look around the elevator.
Damn, he caught me looking.Ryosuke felt annoyed with himself.But, he’s so tall. And handsome! Ugh, why do I feel this way?
Not long after Ryosuke entered, Lennart exited the elevator. Ryosuke sighed when the door closed after Lennart, a pang of disappointment gnawing at him. His cheeks were on fire, and he wished he could hide in his room.
His first hour at work passed relatively quickly as he spent the majority of the time learning about his position. A young man named Liam introduced him to his new job, and Ryosuke was taken aback by his outgoing personality. He wasn’t used to having people around him like that; most of the people he was close to were reserved. He realized Ayame was probably the most extroverted person in his life.
When another group of residents gathered outside the door, Ryosuke checked them in one by one.
Liam was on the other side leaning against the door frame, watching in silence. “Is everybody here?”
“Yes. Fifteen people checked in.” Ryosuke glanced at the tablet once more to make sure he indeed saw the correct number.
“Good.” Liam closed the door. “Let’s get started.”
Some residents settled comfortably on the large U-shaped sofa, some at the spacious long table to be more comfortableusing their laptops. Ryosuke and Liam sat at the main table with a desktop computer, which was situated beside the wall a little further away from everyone.
The new group of residents logged in, and within seconds they could connect with people outside the bunker, watch the news or whatever they preferred to see.
“Do you have a wish?” Liam asked all of a sudden and Ryosuke looked at him dumbfounded.
“What do you mean?” he asked, unsure what to think about the question.
“Do you want something to watch? Or may I use this computer?” Liam leaned in, his right arm pressing onto Ryosuke’s left. Ryosuke tensed, but even when he wanted to pull away he remained sitting as if the touch didn’t bother him at all. He didn’t want to appear rude or overreacting.
“Oh, well, I don’t know. I searched for everything I was interested in during the last session,” Ryosuke answered but avoided locking eyes with Liam since they were in a very close proximity.
“So, you won’t mind if I use the PC?”
“Not at all. Go ahead.”
Liam pulled away and typed on the keyboard. “A new movie came out not long ago. I didn’t get to watch it since this crap broke out,” he said while focusing on the screen. “I’ll try to find it. You can join me, if you want.”
“I might, if it’s interesting enough.”
“I hope they didn’t fuck it up. It seemed interesting when I saw the trailer. There should be a lot of action, drugs, sex and violence. Classic stuff.” Liam grinned.
