Chapter 22

I felt a warm presence on my cheek. My heavy eyelids struggled to open when I saw two looming figures over me. My head twitched up and relaxed when I saw that it was only the twins.

George's voice rang in my ears, "Aww! He sleeps like a baby!"

Bill retorted, "George, shut up! He might hear you!"

I rolled on to my back and said, "Already heard you."

The twins became silent, "..." I picked myself up and hauled my body to the nearest pillar. I leaned against it and took in my surroundings. We were still under the bridge or underpass or whatever. Small but many rays of sunlight pocked through the almost unnoticeable holes above us. The floor warmed up a little bit but the air around me still felt cold to the touch. It was also foggy. George and Bill walked over and sat next to me. George fiddled with his hands and said, "So, what do we do now?"

I answered his question with another question, "Did you guys see anyone come near us?" Both of them shook their heads. "So, what not stay here for the next five nights?"

I could see them hesitate to say yes, but I knew they were also out of options. They nodded their head in unison. Bill asked a question, "You have any idea why the old man let us go? Isn't he supposed to be an ass since he's from the inner sector? Well, at least to us he should have been."

I felt the ground trembling below me as traffic began to emerge. I said, "No. I don't think he was that type of person. I don't think everyone in the inner sector is evil; they just grew up in different ways. They can't accept the change that they live in."

As soon as I said that, a semi-truck leaned particularly close to our side of the road. George screamed, "GO! GO!" We all broke out into a sprint with the unrelenting semi-truck right behind us. What the fuck was wrong with this sector?! The bridge extended for only around thirty feet, so we all switched from one lane to another before we made it out of the underpass and turned left. Hard. We all stumbled on each other but safely made it onto the public property on the other side of a railing. The grass we stood on was directly adjacent to the road. The semi-truck 'regained' its balance and continued on the road as if nothing had just happened.

"Holy shit! How do these people sleep at night?" Bill muttered under his breath. We decided that it wasn't to our benefit that we stayed here. It was a miracle in itself that no one drove over us in the night. We continued to march our way through the grass, looking for any type of shelter or public site that could be bustling with people. The fog started to clear up a little, and the sun peeked through the mountains. A beam of light shined through the fog, giving us a path to salvation.

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Micheal Grey POV:

Flin, Angela, and I took the elevator down to the garage. As we sank below the ground, the aquarium that I saw in my room yesterday night extend all the way down with us. I think it was cylindrical, but I'm not sure. Flin was wearing his usual leather jacket, pants, and a white undershirt. Angela on the other hand relaxed a bit from her stiff style. Her solemn work attire changed into a casual denim t-shirt paired with losses fitting pants. She wore a silver bracelet on her right wrist and a gold one on the other. She also wore a black necklace that had no pendant that went along with it. Her hair was lazily withdrawn from any knot or tie. Her face was still without a trace of makeup. She was perfec-

*Ding* The elevator reached the ground floor. I massaged my temple; the universe loved to interrupt my thoughts, doesn't it?

I was the first to head out. The smell of polish, burned rubber and wax stung my nose. I grabbed my nose and tried to withstand the smell, but I made weird noises throughout the process. Flin was used to this, so he didn't bother helping. Angela, my sweet Angela, was not!!! She gave her handkerchief which smelled like roses. I stick my nose in it and waited for my car to arrive. I stole glances at her while we waited. Flin, obviously, noticed me looking at her. I gave him a stern gaze. This was MY love life. I WILL propose to her. I just need...time. That, and some drugs to boost my confidence.

The valet man ordered cars for us. We waited patiently until three cars rolled our way. One was a sleek, very flat sportscar. It had purple stripes that extended past its trunk and wrapped around the car. The overall color was bright neon pink. The other ones looked a little less exotic, but they were classy nonetheless. The other two looked like normal, average cars with their round but streamline shape. But, they were labeled with a prestigious brand.

We all moved to each of our cars. The valet guy asked us for a driver's license, and we all reached into our pockets. Flin looked at me. I looked back at him and grinned. I'm fucked. The valet dude straightened his three-piece suit and gestured to me to give him the license. I rubbed the back of my neck and gave him a weird look with an awkward smile. Flin shut the door to his car and stuck his neck out, "Call me if you need anything." Then, he drove off. Is he really my bodyguard?

I looked back at the valet guy and said, "Umm...so, listen. I tried to find my driver's license for this, but I think I lost it in my room somewhere. Do you think...you...could give the car to me nonetheless?"

The valet dude was a fucking robot; he said, "Sorry, sir, but we cannot do to our strict protocol policy."

Angela stepped in, which was unexpected. And awkward. "Do you know who that is?! That's the CEO of Grey Corp! He owns half of this hotel franchise! You can't just refute him your service! He OWNS half of YOU!"

I internally cringed. The valet dude repeated the same thing, "I'm sorry that you feel that way miss, but our protocol states very clearly that unknown individuals or individuals that cannot provide a valid license, will not be able to use one of our cars." Angela furrowed her eyebrows; she looked like she was going to explode. Hehe...She looked kind of cute though.

Shit! What am I thinking? I quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and said to the valet, "I'm sorry! We'll be back next time with two valid licenses. For now, may use her car?" I pointed at the other classy-looking car. The valet looked at Angela's angry face. He reached into his pocket and gave her the keys. She snatched them out of his hand.

She opened the car door, stepped in, and said, "Thank YOU!" She was fuming. I cocked my head a little and looked at her. Why was she so angry? I had a certain enlighten thought. What if she was mad for...me?! I patted the valet like an old friend and laughed, "You have one amazing day, sir!" I pranced to the car and sat in the shotgun.

Angela took off, leaving the valet to cough in the dust that was launched at him. I had butterflies in my stomach as I sat next to her. Suddenly she said, "Why did you give up so easily? Why couldn't you have proven to him that you were his boss?!" She nudged the accelerator until we reached the normal speed limit. Then, we surpassed it. By a lot.

"Angela! Calm down! You don't want to die do you?" She was obviously taking this way too seriously.

She responded in a ferocious tone to me, "All my life I have been abused, insulted, and denied rights and privileges that I DESERVED!" She continued, "You had the chance to get them, but you ran away like a coward!" She kept pressing on the accelerator until we broke past the three-hundred mark. The world around me turned into a blur.

"Angela! Angela! I WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN IT EITHER WAY!!!" I screamed. She turned her head to look at me. For a split second, I got mesmerized by her eyes before I realized out loud, "ANGELA! LOOK AT THE FUCKING ROAD!!!!" Her eyes widened in a split second. She jerked her head back to the road and started to turn her steering wheel like a maniac. She also started to scream.

"I'M SO SORRY!!! IT WASN'T SUPPOSE TO END LIKE THIS!!!" She yelled. Tears started to flow down her perfect, symmetrical face. We both screamed at the top of our lungs as the car swerved to the right, broke past the metal railing, and crashed into the side of an underpass.

*Fwoop*

The airbags parachuted at the right second, and our heads collided with air. Immediately, I could hear the city's emergency aid robots coming to help us out. We were taken out of the car, cleaned, sanitized, and treated for any wounds. I looked at Angela and said, "How are you doing?"

She looked away in shame. I chuckled, "The reason you were asking for..." She slowly shifted her head to look at me. "I failed my driving test sixteen times."

She looked at me blankly. I explained in greater detail, "I don't even have a legal driver's license."

"...But you drove me to the office two days ago."

"That wasn't me," I played with my fingers. I could feel the blood rushing up my face, "It was...autopilot."

"..." Her face finally broke. She started to shed tears. I was astonished, and I didn't know what to do.

"What? Why were you crying?" I asked frantically.

She looked at me in the eyes and said, "I protected, yelled, and drove my boss off of a highway! And for no good reason! You and I almost died! How could I not be crying?" I went near her and locked her in a deep hug. My heart raced the moment I touched her. Hopefully, she doesn't notice and file a sexual harassment restraint. Actually, the unexpected happened, she hugged me back. I enjoyed the moment before I noticed that her breasts were hugging my chest as well. I flushed red with shame that she could not see.

"Angela," I pulled away from her, "just so you know, I'm not going to fire you. So, you can get that out of your mind."

Her facial expression softened before she asked a question, "But, why not? I would fire someone if they drove me off the highway."

Well, what she said was true, but I couldn't tell her that I had feelings for her, so I settled for this, "Maybe I'm not as smart as you."

She blushed. YES! It's working. I continued, "However, you must receive a punishment that fits this...situation." She nodded her head in agreement. "You will pay the robots from the hotel that will ask for the price of the car. Plus, the taxi fare on the ride back...I forgot my wallet...and keys, and everything I need to be a productive citizen." She pulled out her purse, and that answered my question. "Thank you."