OTHERS (Formerly The Scarlet Effect)

36 - Blocked

I'm not exactly sure how I feel after my shock ended at Stella's yesterday with the whole Number Five ordeal. After a long conversation with myself, I decide to visit Brink. On my way to his office, I find him in the hallway strolling in the opposite direction, his back to me. I catch up to him and give him a briefing before he takes me to his room.

His room is set up the same way as mine. It's practically identical, less the red, flowers, and decorative pillows. When we're both completely inside, Brink takes me by surprise, pins me against a cyan wall, and leans in for a passionate kiss, one that's rougher than anything he's ever done in the past. He's usually so calm and collected.

I can't take the overwhelming force of his mouth on mine so I tug away, breathing harder than I ever expected to.

"What?" Brink huffs, clearly desperate for air as well.

I stare at him like I've never met him before. "What's with you? You've never kissed like that before. Ever. Are we in some kind of hurry?"

He pauses before replying. "That didn't remind you of anything did it?"

I squint. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Nothing...I just thought it might bring back...never mind. Let me just..." He leans in again, but I reject.

"Look, we're not trying that again," I say.

"Are you okay, Aurora? You seem uptight. Maybe we should visit Stella," he suggests.

I cross my arms. "I don't need to see anyone Brink. Stop trying to avoid conversation. I came here to talk with you on a personal level, not sit and make out. Perhaps I should talk to Zeriah. I doubt he's busy."

I chose against speaking further with Stella because I figured I'd run the risk of having false emotions forced into my brain when I need to hear the truth without fabrications.

"Actually, Zeriah is busy. We all have jobs to do today--me included. It was what I was headed to do before you stopped me in the corridor."

I raise an eyebrow. "What's your job?"

"Monitoring," he murmurs.

"And Stella?"

Brink scratches his head and averts my attention by taking ahold of my hands. "Stop worrying about everyone else. You are sort of ruining the moment."

"Moment? What moment?" The one where he kissed me like a maniac upon our arrival?

Is this entire trip his attempt to distract me from my concerns? Pretend they never happened?

Brink merely stares. Thanks to Stella, I know he can hear my thoughts now. I hope he feels guilty.

"Well this moment has already been ruined. So we're going to talk. Right now. You're very bad at trying to distract me, you know. Why won't you talk about it?"

He gawks at the ground, the silver abstract statue in the corner, anywhere but at me. Whatever he's hiding is a big deal, otherwise I'm sure he'd openly discuss it with me. Him being so resistant makes things between us worse. How does he think I feel knowing I can't reach out to him when I need to?

"Brink?" I try again, giving him one last chance to make things right. I'm disappointed when he continues to blankly stare. It tells me he's a firm believer in secreting whatever story he's got. He's also made it clear he wants me to have nothing to do with it.