Could You Love Me? || Ms Venable

XV.

.･:*:･･:*:･.
"...though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honoured in the breach than the observance."

(Hamlet, act 1 scene 4)
.･:*:･･:*:･.

****

There's was something about him. By him I meant Michael Langdon. The man who had caused the alarms to go off two days ago with his dramatic entrance. He held a certain aura that made me uncomfortable, he was no good and I could just sense it.

Michael had been at the outpost for a few days now, claiming to be choosing a select few to take and start a new beginning, a new safe haven. 'Make the cut' as he liked to call or. I didn't know whether to believe him, but what choice did we have? He'd somehow managed to survive the bombs without any help, so he must have been telling the truth.

Right now I was waiting in the main room, holding hands with the love of my life, Wilhemina Venable. It was no secret anymore that we were together. The others had accepted it, knowing that they couldn't actually do anything about it. Thankfully Ms Venable had lifted her rule of 'no copulation' because it was hypocritical, Timothy made sure to bring that topic up, I presume for Emily.

"Ms Venable? It's your turn." Michael appeared, leaning against the door frame of the main room with a small smirk, one that seemed to be permanently etched onto his face. Chills ran through my body, I didn't want Ms Venable to leave me, and I didn't want to leave her, but I guess there was no point in stopping it. I didn't want to ruin her chances of being selected.

"It's okay." Ms Venable mumbled in my ear before kissing my hand and leaving. My eyes followed her and Michael until they disappeared through the door. Nerves kicked in, and I drummed my fingers against the arm of the sofa I was sat in.

"She'll be fine Karinya, Michael isn't so bad to talk to. He mostly just asks straight forward questions for a bit." Emily tried to reassure me, giving me a smile. I tried to return the smile but it didn't work. All the stress building up from Michaels arrival wasn't helping. Almost everyone in the room had seen Michael separately in 'his' office. He'd claimed one of the rooms upon arrival, much to Ms Venable's annoyance.

"I know she'll be okay. She's a tough one." I finally cracked a smile, my heart fluttering at the mere thought of Ms Venable. It was safe to say I was totally head over heels for the woman.

*

Forty minutes later I was ready to pull my hair out.

"How much longer are they going to be?" I spoke to myself whilst pacing up and down the room. Coco, who'd grown sick of seeing me walk around like a mad woman, stood up and grabbed me by the shoulders, jolting me out of my panicked state.

"Calm down Karinya! If they're not back in five minutes, make up an excuse to knock on the door."

I nodded slowly, glad that someone had told me what to do. I was never good in situations where I had to make my own decisions. That was one of the reasons I loved Ms Venable because she was straight forward and always knew what she was doing.

Five minutes had passed, and still no sight of the them, so I took a deep breath, walking down the corridors until I found the room Michael had claimed. But the door was slightly ajar, so I curiously peeked through.

Ms Venable was standing in the middle of the room, tears in her eyes and trembling whilst Michael seemed to have unzipped her dressed to stare at her back. Confusion and anger washed through my body because Ms Venable was extremely protective about her body. She'd never even let me see her undressed, and I was her goddamn partner. So this Michael fucking Langdon had no right to touch her dress, because it was clear Ms Venable didn't like it one bit.