Chapter 19: Emergency Call

Lance Storm

I couldn't believe that I was now standing in the kitchen and preparing food for these crazy ladies. But most of all, I couldn't believe I ran here in the middle of torturing those people in the Mafia Thunder dungeon just because Ember said she was hungry.

"I can't believe you're making me do this. You could have just called Sebastian to get you some groceries and cook them. I was doing something important! I don't have time for this—" My sentence stopped midway when Ember shot me with her innocent, hungry face.

"Make sure you are going to eat everything on your plate," I threatened Ember like she was a little child, and she nodded at me in an instant reply.

I smirked at her and started chopping the ingredients. Revenge was my style, not forgiveness.

When I finished cooking, I placed two plates of pasta on the table, waiting for the two precious ladies in my life to eat. What the fuck? Not two precious ladies—I mean, Ember was precious to me and—ugh, never mind. I never said anything.

"Ew, what the hell is this?" Ember yelled when she tasted the pasta I made. I knew she wouldn't want to eat that food, and that was why I cooked it.

"That's peanut butter pasta, you uncultured lady," I responded.

I saw Ember shake her head and went directly to the sink to puke out everything she ate.

I knew the two women here hated peanut butter pasta from the bottom of their hearts.

Ember returned to her seat and was about to take her bowl away until her eyes fell on Alena. "What is she doing?" Ember asked me faintly while staring at Alena.

I turned around and almost lost a grip on the knife I was holding when I saw Alena eating my pasta fast, like she was eating something delicious. I stared at Ember again, who was still staring at Alena, scrunching her nose in disgust.

"Alena is weird," Ember muttered and then went directly to the fridge.

"No," I said sternly when I saw her pulling out the chocolate bar she made me buy while I was on my way to her house.

"But I'm hungry."

Was she for real? There was still a ghost of hoarseness in her voice, and she was going to eat chocolate now? I was really not getting her anything ever again.

When I saw her slowly eating the chocolate, I decided to not bother her since she was really hungry, and I was being over-concerned.

A loud slurp made me turn once again, and I was still shocked that Alena was enjoying the pasta I made, that too a peanut butter pasta.

Horrified by her attitude, I automatically dialed my brother's number. He didn't answer at first, so I redialed him. Thank God, he answered on the second ring, or I might have died in curiosity.

"Does Alena like peanuts now?" I asked, and my eyes widened when Alena asked for a second serving. I numbly pointed at the kitchen, and she made her way there.

"Nothing's left—" I jumped when Alena suddenly yelled and slammed the table. "Ember, are you eating this?" she asked Ember, who was now sitting on the couch, devouring her chocolate. She was pointing at Ember's barely touched plate of pasta.

"Ew, no, I'm happy with this," Ember answered in complete disgust.

I heard Elian from the other side. "No, she hates it. But she's just stressed right now."

"Huh?"

"Family issues. Whenever she is stressed too much, she eats anything and everything as if she needs to keep eating to keep herself distracted. She will probably even eat leaves from a tree," Elian elaborated.

As I glanced at Alena who had a full fork of pasta in her mouth, I couldn't even tell she was stressed. I almost felt bad for wanting to send her away. "I can't tell if she's stressed or just possessed right now," I joked, and Elian chuckled a little.

"Yeah, she gets like that. Is she okay, though?" Elian asked.

"Seems like that, and she's already making sure that I'm having VIP treatment in this hell that she created," I said sarcastically and leaned against the wall.

Elian laughed lightly. "Well, best of luck, bro."

I stared at Alena and asked, "Do you think it's better if she's with you right now or here without you while she's so stressed?"

"Of course, with me. She only went to Vegas to visit you because she has some downtime at the moment, and she knows we won't be free until Christmas."

I hummed and asked, "Then, can I ask you for a favor?" Maybe staying with Ember was relieving some of Alena's stress, but it wasn't what she needed. She needed Elian, and I needed Ember all to myself without Alena hogging her so much. They could bond with each other more when both of them were feeling better.

"Sure, you can ask me anything," Elian replied.

I shook my head not for Elian, but for Alena, who was now glaring at me for not cooking a lot of pasta. Well, how the hell should I have known that she would turn into a hungry all-eating monster?

"Can you call Alena home tomorrow? I just have things to do with Ember, and we can't do it since she's here." I immediately blushed at what 'it' could mean and corrected myself, "I mean—"

"Uh-huh. What are you going to do with Ember?" I could hear the smirk that was already plastered on Elian's face as he emphasized Ember's name.

"Brother, please don't add to my misery when I have already got your girlfriend getting on my nerves," I pleaded.

Elian chuckled and asked, "Okay, fine. What should I tell Alena to make her come home? She said she wanted the whole week off. I feel bad for taking that away from her."

"C'mon, you know, she just doesn't want to worry you, that's why she wanted to stay away for the week, so just tell her that there's an emergency at the office, then surprise her with something romantic to cheer her up," I whispered when I saw Alena looking in my way.

He hummed, contemplating the plan. "Okay, this sounds great. But I have a question for you."

"What?" I asked quickly so that he could already make Alena go home.

"This woman, Ember, do you like her?"

My mind stopped for a second to process just what he asked. I turned slowly at Ember, who was now eating another bar of chocolate. She even had some smeared on her cheek like a child. I shouldn't like her, and I didn't, I was sure of it.

"Yes." I heard Elian gasping in surprise and congratulating me for finally gaining human emotions and for having the guts to admit it, but my eyes were stuck on Ember. What the hell did I just respond? I was supposed to say no, but when I looked at her—shit. I liked Ember Corbin. I liked this crazy lady. Oh, my God.

"Okay, fine. I'll do it since it's for such a noble reason, but please don't go too fast, okay? By that, I mean, don't jump to the bed too fast." Even though he couldn't see me, I shook my head and was about to end our call when he suddenly spoke again, "And oh, let me meet her some other time." With that, he ended the call.

I waited for him to call Alena, and not too long after, her phone rang.

"What emergency? You have to be kidding me. Goddammit. Fine, fine. I got this covered. Can you book my flight for tomorrow evening, baby? Yes, thank you. Love you, bye." After the quick call, she walked over to Ember.

"You are leaving tomorrow?" Ember asked, sounding sad.

Alena smiled sadly. "Yeah."

"For what it's worth, she's staying till tomorrow evening," I spoke up. Even though I wanted to get rid of Alena as soon as possible, I knew how much Ember must crave someone to have fun with, so I could give those two another day of fun.

Alena's smile brightened up. "Exactly! We will have a girls' tonight, then do lots of fun stuff all day tomorrow."

Ember also perked up at the idea. "Yes, let's do that!"

The two women looked at me, and I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Out, Lance. It's a girls' night," they both said in unison.

___

Ember Corbin

"I will miss you so much," I mumbled as I parted from the hug with Alena.

"Me too. You should come to California sometime with Lance. In fact, come with him during Christmas. We will have tons of fun then as well," Alena replied with a pat on my shoulder, and I smiled back.

"I will come even if Lance doesn't," I responded, and she chuckled.

"Yes, and don't hesitate to knock me on social media. I have to get going now. See you again sometime." With that, Alena was out of the door, on her way to the airport.

"Are you guys done finally?" Lance spoke up suddenly, giving me a fright. I almost forgot he was still here. He came with Alena's luggage that was in his penthouse, and while exchanging farewell words with her, I entirely forgot about his presence.

"Yes." I was about to make my way to the couch to sit when Lance spoke up again.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Um, sitting? On my own couch?" I said, staring at him weirdly. He shook his head and grabbed my hand. "Where are we going? Wait!" He didn't listen to me as he pulled me into his car after making sure that my side of the door was locked. It was his red car since Sebastian was driving his black one to drop Alena at the airport.

"Where are we going, Lance? Oh, my God, are you kidnapping me? Again? What are you going to do to me? Should I call the cops?" I asked in a panic, without even buckling my seatbelt, so he leaned towards me to do it himself.

"Yeah, you are welcome," he said sarcastically when I stared at him with a shocked expression.

"So... are you kidnapping me?" I asked again when he started driving.

"You don't really have something that I'll get benefits of, so I am not kidnapping you." Ouch. "It's more like I'm going to help you, so you'll know what to do when you get kidnapped for real."

"Training?" I gasped in horror.

Thank God, Lance had put my seatbelt on. If not, I would most likely jump out of this moving car.

"Yes, training," Lance mumbled.

"Can't we just do it at my place? I'm not really in the mood for travel," I pointed out, and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but decided against it.

He drove back to my place. Once we reached there, I went to the kitchen to drink some water before returning to the living room.

"Let me make some space for us. You mind me pushing this to the side?" he asked, and I simply shook my head when he pointed to the couch. "Good."

He was wearing a trench coat, which he set aside, and rolled up the sleeves of his thin gray sweater. My eyes followed the way his forearm flexed whenever he put his strength into pushing the furniture.

"Oh, my God," I suddenly said when I realized I was drooling on him.

"What's the matter?" he asked, and I just shook my head at him. He gave a disappointed sigh. "Let's start, shall we?"

I nodded, and we reviewed what I learned the first time he taught me. I was worried this time because I was sure that my muscles hurt incredibly after our last lesson. But we continued anyway.

"Okay, that's enough for now. Good job. Now, try doing that to me—stop smiling creepily!" he pointed out when my lips curved into a big smile because this was the only time where I could freely punch Lance Storm. "Okay, I'm going to attack you, and you have to stop me."

I nodded and decided to use the most basic that I learned; heel palm strike.

When Lance charged at me, I panicked, but I still tried to throw the heel palm strike, but he saw it and dodged it.

"Ember!" he called out. I closed my eyes tightly when I was tripping on the carpet and was about to fall on the couch. Because I panicked and Lance dodged my hit, I lost my balance on the carpet and was about to kiss the couch—what's that?

I opened my eyes when I felt something soft on my lips. But my eyes widened when I saw Lance on top of me with a shocked expression.

Oh, my God. Infinity, Oh, my God.

Did he just want to catch me from falling, and in the process, ended up making our lips brush?

He immediately got up at the realization and avoided my gaze. I subconsciously touched my lips when he suddenly got up.

"I—Lesson's over!" With that, he suddenly rushed outside, leaving me alone lying here on the couch while my hand hovered over my soft lips.

"Did I just kiss Lance Storm?" I whispered to myself, not believing what just happened at all.