Flight 118: A Woman’s Future

Opening my eyes to the bright sun filtering in through the window, three things immediately came to mind.

The very first thought was how bright it was without the use of curtains. The second was remembering last night and how amazing it was. Just eating in bed, watching a movie marathon, and in the arms of the man who is apparently your soulmate. Though, I could not think of what he said. I just was not ready yet. The third thing that came to mind was how warm it was under the thick arm holding me to him.

Wiggling a little, trying to move, I succeeded in turning just enough to be on my back so I could stare at him. Not exactly what I had in mind, but not necessarily a bad outcome either. I chuckled to myself.

Staring at him in his sleep was something so completely different than while he was awake. Jonah could not be considered boyish, even relaxed like he was while sleeping. But the rugged lines of his face were just enough relaxed that it felt like I was seeing a piece of him only I got to see. Smiling, I raised a hand to his face but stopped just short of touching him. I did not want to wake him but my eyes wandered all over his face, staring at how the light played over his features.

When I looked up I was startled to find glowing eyes smiling at me.

We had progressed in our relationship so much. At least in the area of being comfortable with each other.

We kissed some and held each other in our sleep. We talked often and about things that meant a lot to us.

I was still unsure of what any of it meant for us or how I was supposed to proceed in our relationship. But I hoped to soon get some more one-on-one talks with Ana.

I felt she was the only one I could talk to about this situation.

Clarisse might be of some help but I still felt like she would not fully understand what I was going through.

I knew I was beginning to feel romantic feelings for Jonah. But I could not figure out if they were just forming because of the situation we were in. The fact he saved me, was apparently my soulmate, and the fact we kissed sometimes and slept in the same bed. Or if that was just our story and I was beginning to fall for him.

But I could not make myself take any “next step” until I figured out this internal battle I was having.

Even though I knew he wanted to move our relationship along based on his eyes. I have learned when his eyes glow it means he’s feeling some strong emotions like anger or desire.

Shaking away my thoughts I smiled at him and said softly, “Didn’t know you were awake. Did I wake you?”

He chuckled softly and shook his head no.

I finally touched his face, following the line of his jaw, and said, “You should’ve told me.”

His voice sounded even gruffer from sleep as he said, “Then I wouldn’t have had such a wonderful wake-up call.”

I blushed and glanced down but then felt my face tilted up. Then he kissed me gently.

He pulled me towards him, rested his forehead against mine, and whispered, “I can’t wait until we are home and I can just stay in bed with you all day instead of constantly having to handle pack business.”

Still blushing, my eyes widened, “Awfully presumptuous.”

He chuckled and shook his head a little, “Not like that. I mean sleeping in, talking, watching movies...or that when the time is right. But here, my guard is never down and we are surrounded by many other packs. Many other men. And we have to constantly be present. No staying in our room or pushing back on our responsibilities.”

I smiled, “I know. I know what you meant. And you already know I feel the same way. Otherwise, we would have eaten downstairs last night.”

I pointed my toes and my back arched, some cracking noises seeming so loud to me as I stretched a little.

“But, even back in my time, we would always have to force ourselves out of bed to get the things done we needed to do. Even though we definitely didn’t want to.”

As I slipped out of bed and pulled the sheets on my side up I smiled as he said, “We’re not that different after all.”

“I for sure would not say that. We have air conditioning, for one. At least where I lived. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to fall asleep last night with how hot it was. And this morning, being woken up by such a bright light that I normally would have curtains pulled so tight a sliver of light would be too much for me.”

I turned away and walked to the few articles of clothing I had been offered, and figured out what I would be wearing.

“Also, we had so many different options if we didn’t want to get out of bed. We have this thing called Netflix where we could watch movie series and multiple movies over and over all day long. We could order food and have it delivered straight to our door. Where we never have to leave or cook. We could play games when we wanted; listen to music and dance if we wanted to move around. And worry about the next day and stuff we had to do later.”

Jonah was still in bed with his hands interlocked behind his head, watching me as I talked.

I turned around while holding my clothes in my arms as I smiled at him. “A little the same but a lot different. I’ll change now. You should start getting ready too. Today’s not one of those days we can just ignore the world.”

I turned and went into what used to be a working bathroom. It still worked, mostly. But, water was limited and so was electricity.

I honestly hadn’t figured out yet how exactly they had electricity here, albeit a little. But I had figured out the water part. A part of it at least. It was kind of hard to miss the two big faded blue jugs on the top of the buildings which were water catchment devices. Which could mean, if you got a lot of rain you were set on water for a week or two. If you didn’t get rain, you didn’t have water. I don’t know if they have a well or something else to balance it out, but probably not seeing as how they were shifters and most of the water they needed was for their Luna’s convenience. Everyone else was probably perfectly content going down to a river or stream or whatever it was. I hadn’t had the chance to see it yet, so I didn’t know which it was.

Anyway, you just had to pay attention to what you were doing and not go overboard with the electricity or water. What water you had that day may be the last time you have water for weeks.

After using the restroom and washing up a little I changed and came back out to see the bed made up and a shirtless Jonah about to finish getting dressed.

I blushed and looked down then back up to his chuckle and him saying, “Emilia, mine. Looking at me is nothing to be embarrassed about; especially liking it. We are mates.”

Once he was done, he walked over to me and took my hand.

“You look beautiful, baby. You ready to get going?”

I was constantly blushing around him and it was starting to irritate me, but I couldn’t help it.

So I looked away and said, “Yep, let’s go. I’m seriously craving some tacos and the sooner the Mexico packs get here, the sooner I can figure out if my Mexican food days are behind me or if there’s hope.”

Now that I thought of it, I was starting to get anxious about what ingredients the world still had and what I meant for my normal diet.

My diet was so centered around Mexican, Italian, and Southern food- really all things restaurant and fast food- that I really was nervous about going through withdrawal.

It may seem so trivial, but if I had known the last time I had queso and chips was the last time, I would have eaten a lot more than I did. I also would have probably tried a bit harder to learn how to cook if I had known I would soon be in the future with a drastically smaller population and no delivery or Drive-Thru.

Jonah chuckled under his breath and shook his head as we walked hand-in-hand out the bedroom door and down the stairs to begin our day. He thought I was joking or exaggerating.

Until he experienced Taco Tuesday, he wouldn’t know.

As soon as I could learn if they were even still a possibility, then I could figure out how to cook them. Then, once we headed to Jonah’s pack, I would make it into a normal thing. Jonah’s pack will never be the same if it worked out. We would have Taco Tuesday as much as possible. Once they tasted it, they would beg for it.

Until then, werewolves just don’t understand.

After we got downstairs, Jonah kissed me on my forehead and left me in the kitchen. He was going to find the others, to figure out just how far the first of the Mexican packs were from getting here.

I felt giddy.

There was no other excuse for the truly gigantic smile which spread across my face as I remembered our night last night.

It was perhaps the closest time I had gotten, so far, to having a day that was “normal”; and I had gotten to see a much different side to Jonah. It is crazy just how far we were moving along in our relationship. I mean, I really didn’t care about the fact he’s a werewolf and basically over a century younger than I was.

Wait, what?? Don’t think about that, Em! Don’t go there. Nope, no, nada. You don’t look a day over 21. I shook my head at my internal monologue and laughed aloud.

I didn’t even really care how we met anymore, either. But part of me still didn’t like how fast I was settling in. Then again, there was not another option. When life changes, you have to change with it at some point or it will leave you behind.

I mean, what other choice did I have? Run off into an unknown world, abandoning the man who was apparently made for me, and probably getting kidnapped again while I was at it? Build a plane by myself somehow, learn how to make jet fuel, learn how to fly a plane, and hope I survive the crash which may or may not even take me back to my time? That was just stupid thinking.

This was my life now and it didn’t seem like a bad one.

I walked over and grabbed an apple from a basket on the counter to eat as my breakfast. Then I turned around and I jumped in shock.

Clarisse was standing in the kitchen doorway with crossed arms and narrowed eyes.

For some reason I shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what was going on but feeling a rush of foreboding.