Late for sunrise
«It should be the other way around!» May had said, making Chris feel guilty for something he wasn't sure of.
What was wrong?
«What do you mean?» he inquired, confused.
«I should be jumping on you, and not the contrary,» May explained. Her grandfather had ordered her to, after all.
«Oh, I won't complain,» he chuckled.
«No, no... I'm serious. What are you doing?»
He let go of her arm but still held her hand. He couldn't bear the thought of splitting from her completely. That only contact was enough to settle his worries, but he knew May would break it at some point. Later would have been better than sooner.
«Why are you touching me like this?» she asked. «Even before, you... Ehm... Why?»
«Is it a bother?» he asked, avoiding answering her question. He had enough experience to know when to use such a trick.
However, May wasn't a politician. She wasn't trying to win a debate or look smart. She just wanted to understand what was happening to her.
«Answer my question!» she said.
«I just like it,» he said. «If you don't want me to, though, I can stop.»
He looked down as if that option hurt his deepest feelings. Not that it didn't, but he was clearly overstating his pain. He was being transparent, and he could imagine May would read through the trick with ease.
He knew how amateur he was sounding.
«It doesn't,» she said, though. «It doesn't really bother me. I was just surprised.»
So, just like that, he got something resembling consent to touch her again.
«Then I can hug you, right?» he said.
May shrugged, not sure how to answer. A hug didn't sound evil but how could she just say yes? She didn't want to seem too eager. First of all, because she was still trying to understand her emotions. His touch would make everything more chaotic.
Since hers wasn't exactly a «no!», he surrounded her waist with his free arm and dragged her in his embrace. She let him do, inhaling his scent and forgetting that she had been wary of him just a few seconds before.
But then, just before letting loose, she pushed him away. She freed her hand and took a couple of steps back, trying to breathe and - most of all - think.
«Wait a minute,» she said, one hand on her forehead. Thinking was so difficult, all of a sudden. Thinking about what, to start with?
Chris didn't follow her but let her have her space. He knew that moment would come, but he had hoped like a fool she would forget to complain. He had been a little too clingy, after all.
«Are you taking advantage of me?» she inquired, her cheeks red - but this time not because of that cute embarrassment. Her lungs were taking in fast, short breaths.
«Yes,» he admitted. It was the truth: he was taking advantage of the situation to come closer to her, to build a connection and maybe convince her to come closer to him as well.
May gulped. She wasn't expecting it! But it made sense, didn't it? He knew enough about her to be dangerous, and he hadn't told anyone because he first wanted to exploit the information Raimund Pierce had gifted him.
In the end, he wasn't so different from her grandfather... And, why would he be? He was in a similar position, he had the same social status, influence, and wealth. The same education and the same goals. Why was she expecting him to be any different from Leonard Thorne?
There was no reason for Chris Lindt to be more human than May's grandfather. He got the chance to have something he wanted, so why hold back?
«I won't work for you if you do this!» she stated, but her words would have made her laugh if she wasn't scared of him and of her own reactions.
«Do you seriously think there's no one else who can do that?»
Her arms fell on her sides, and she felt abandoned. By whom, she had no clue. She looked down, at her shoes, her eyes turning dim and her lips splitting to let her breathe again.
She wasn't a prisoner, there. She could leave when she wanted. Yet, she felt trapped like never before.
She could try leaving, but Chris Lindt already had a countermove ready. She couldn't foresee his reaction, which made her unwilling to take the risk. She first needed to ensure he wouldn't retaliate.
«I can be more useful than you think,» she pointed out.
«I know.»
When their eyes met again, he smirked. It was a fatal blow to her self-control. How was she supposed to think, breathe, and act normal when he was so close and so alluring? Why was she even concerned about that in such a delicate situation?
And his calm made her even more agitated. No one, no one else in the world could have that kind of effect on her.
«You should let me go,» she said. «If you know I can be useful, you really should let me leave.»
«You already are free to come and go as it pleases you,» he said.
Instead of calming her down, those words made her only more confused.
He moved a single step in her direction and, as a reaction, she moved one step back.
«Are you afraid of me?» he asked when he noticed that she was moving away.
She shook her head in denial, but it didn't sound convincing. She didn't want to admit it, but her body showed all the truth behind his words. She wasn't just afraid; she was terrified.
«I don't want to hurt you. And I won't touch you again, since you seem to hate it.»
He was talking in a low tone as if he was soothing a child or comforting a scared animal. A little rabbit, fallen into a trap.
That was exactly what he thought of when he saw her like that: of a rabbit.
At first, he was joking with her. But then, seeing her reaction, he had found it oddly extreme. There might have been something behind that reaction, something deeper and darker than just an order she wasn't going to fulfil. Yet, he couldn't find out about it at that very moment.
«I was kidding,» he said. «I have no interest in taking advantage of you. You're not forced to bear with me, May. Just push me away if I'm being troublesome, okay?»
As expected, his words weren't enough to calm her down. She had continued moving away, one step at a time, until reaching the wall. She flattened against it, as the only way of getting farther from him.
«I won't do this again, I promise,» he said.
«Stop promising! I know you're lying when you do.»
«Wait, wait... Let's make a deal, then. If I ever bother you like this again, I'll let you take revenge. Isn't that good?»
«No deals. Not anymore.»
«No deals, okay,» he sighed. He walked to her and placed one hand on the wall, careful not to touch her by mistake.
Any word he said would be pointless. She wasn't going to trust him, either way. He had been too hurried.
Seeing how she didn't push him away, he had overdone it.
«Let's go see the sunrise,» he said. «What do you think?»
«S-sunrise?» she repeated, surprised. She glanced out of the window when the first rays were already filtering through the curtains. The sun was up, already. It was late to see the sunrise. «It's too late for that!»
«Here,» Chris said.
«Hmm?»
«It's late... here. But somewhere else is still night.»
«Do you want to teleport?» she scoffed. At least, she had stopped being afraid and looking like a haunted animal.
«Teleportation is not safe yet.»
Those words worked like magic. Her back straightened, but not because of fear, and her ears were pricked up.
«I'm talking about bullet trains,» he added, seeing it was working just perfectly.
«Are you messing with me?»
«I wouldn't dare. Would you like to take a ride? Safety testing has just ended, and humans can now use it.»
«Seriously? So, the rumours about the underground tunnels are true! How do you know about it, though? I mean, permission to use it? How can you have military-level clearance... How can you have it?»
He avoided answering, hoping she wouldn't insist.
«How do they even work?»
«Details are confidential,» he said out of instinct. «But we can take a ride right now if you want.»
The shining in her eyes was familiar. Just like when she saw the numbers on his screen. He should have thought about it way, way earlier. He had a secret weapon he could use to conquer her, and he hadn't considered it because they both had been busy with something else.
«It's too much for a single person!» May said. «You can't be a businessman running a corporation, the head of the opposition, and even a general or something like that! It's too much! You're only a Senator, after all.»
«Who said I'm only a senator?»
«My grandfather would rather give that role to a donkey than you! You're too dangerous for him.»
«Oh, that doubt of yours will be solved.»
«But how?»
«It's confidential,» he cut it short. «Showing you is easier than telling. So, are you coming with me or not?»
«It sounds like a trap.»
«Feel free to reject me,» he said. But he knew, just from the light in her eyes, that she wouldn't. It was too much of a temptation. «By the way, do I need to trap you?»
«Indeed,» she said. All that effort had no point since he already knew her secrets and could just blackmail her.