At once, the terminal went into panic mode. Since people couldn't pinpoint the source of the sound of death, they pushed and trampled over each other to get as far as possible from them.
But Eirene and others immediately lowered themselves to the ground behind the waiting seats. Although they could protect themselves or would end up in less casualty, they couldn't control the crowd of people that ran over them without a care.
Among the people in the crowd, some wore heels. More deadly than knives when stepped with such force.
At the moment, Eirene truly wished she could turn her little girl back into a baby and stuff her back into her womb. Although Theia was under Eirene, bent as small as possible, she was still big that many stepped on her, scratching and peeling her skin.
"Mum! Mum!" Theia screamed in pain.
"I'm sorry, hun'! It's going to be alright!" She smiled at her daughter, who was on the verge of crying.
Eirene looked up despite still being abused. Her hands cradled her daughter's head, and her eyes scanned the berserk scene. She wanted, needed to find Jaxon. She searched for a good second before the corners of her eyes caught a part of his black shoulder bag.
She prepared to shout out to him when a sudden scream of agony came from under her. "MUM, I CAN'T SEE!" Her daughter covered her eyes, and her hands hysterically searched for the red glasses.
Frightened, Eirene searched for the lost glasses when the pain she was feeling all over her body disappeared at once. In a second, the pillar-like arm landed next to her, and warmth spread over from where their bodies were touching.
"I'm terribly sorry, but please bare it with me!" The young man's voice vibrated through her bones like they shared a body.
The moment Ares came on top of her, she breathed a sigh of relief and gratefulness. But in a second, she brought her focus on the little girl in her arms, crying. With her freed arms and hands, she quickly snatched the glasses off the ground before they could be broken.
Because they were fairly close to the exit, the saga of being trampled on was nowhere near ending. Chairs were flipped, carry-on luggage was thrown on the ground, and the agitated kicked and punched others to exit the terminal as fast as possible.
Kicks and bags were thrown at Eirene, but she couldn't feel anything but feel sorry for Ares, who was getting worse than her. If it wasn't for him, no flesh of hers would be spared. She didn't want this to continue. It was torture for all three.
And so, she extended the arm despite Ares telling her not to, to under the chairs. She gritted her teeth and swung it like a baseball bat to make space.
She then leaned into an intimate position with the boy and turned her head. As much as he was trying to be respectful and keep boundaries, he couldn't escape from her leaning in.
Her lips were centimetres away from his lips when she said, "Under the seats!"
He seemed to have heard her and nodded. His balmy lips skimmed right next to the corners of her lips unintentionally. But they didn't have time to blush and immediately crawled towards their destination.
Eirene carefully but speedily pushed Theia under first and secured her safety.
Then, her hand held Ares's shirt tightly before she rolled, pulling him along to the safe place. They lay on their sides, with their faces only a paper away from each other.
They panted, looking into each other as if they were from underwater and were in desperate need of air.
His leg was sandwiching hers, and her hair was strewn on the top half of his body. Their forehead was on the verge of touching, and she could feel the warmth she was getting used to.
Her hand was still grabbing onto the shirt near the wrist, but she had no intention of letting it go.
As their breathing slowed, Eirene couldn't help but notice the hair stuck on his forehead. She involuntarily reached out her hand, which she thought would glue to the shirt, to him. Using the tip of her nails, she carefully removed the lock of curls.
Yet, who knew she would not stop touching his face after accomplishing her intentions.
Her fingers slid from his forehead to the cheek, and her palm made contact with the flaming skin. As much as her brain told her to let go of him, her hand did not listen. It caressed him dearly without holding back.
The untamed hand then aimed for the next target: those juicy lips. The thumb began stroking from the corner of the lips, then moved to the upper. All the while, their gaze was fixed.
On the surface, Eirene desperately tried to stop her hand, get as far as possible from Ares and stop listening to the devil in her. But her hunger was too overwhelming. She did not even scratch her surface when her hidden desires showed themselves.
The thumb had moved to the lower lip. It was softer than any lips she had ever touched in her acting career.
The devil that showed her desires whispered, 'Do it. You can blame it on the situation. There is nothing wrong with that. He'll like it too.' Her thumb gently tugged at the bottom lip, and his white teeth peeked.
The angel protested, momentarily halting the movements of her fingers. 'Stop being naughty, Eirene! I didn't raise you this way! If you do this now, how are you going to face your daughter, Theia? Moreover, you are going to traumatise this kid! His innocent. You shouldn't take advantage of him!'
The devil scoffed, listening to the argument, 'None of that will cause a problem. This is a now or never moment, you understand? You'll probably have to go through another two lives before getting another opportunity like this? Are you that dumb to let it slide, Eirene? I didn't raise you to be such a p*ssy."
'Haah!' The angel gasped. 'Vulgar! Stop saying that! It is bad for Theia's education.'
'Blah, blah.' The devil rolled her eyes with annoyance. 'Now lean in and kiss those cherry lips, Eirene. Do it!'
''Don't do it, Eirene! You are going to regret it!' The angel opposed.
'Of course, she won't. She'll love and cherish the entire f*cking time. She will remember this for the rest of her life as one of her happiest memories by listening to me.'
The angel and the devil continued to argue, but her body had already made the decision without the need for them.
Eirene edged closer to Ares, and with one swift movement, her lips were on his. Her eyes were closed from the fear of seeing his expression. But once they were connected, none of that mattered.
Her mind cleared, and all she saw behind those closed eyes were white. Absolutely white space without a single taint. She didn't know if it was good or bad. It was hard for her to tell if she felt comfortable or scared. What she did know was that she did not want to let go of the warmth she felt on her palm.
----
Eirene felt a touch on her shoulder and immediately grasped it, ready to attack. But it turned out to be Jaxon, genuinely worried about her.
"You've been spacing out a lot lately. Are you alright?"
Theia looked up from her drawing and nodded, "Yeah, mum. Are you alright?" The girl rushed to her and gestured to her round belly. "Does your stomach hurt?"
Flashes of memories came up to her, and she finally recognised that it had been eight days since the airport incident back in Madagascar. The day the anti-government group attacked the foreign minister along with several other government officials, who boarded the very plane she and others cancelled.
They attacked the aeroplane taking off with a series of bullets, like a rain of bullets. Unsurprisingly, the bullets that missed the target hit the other planes and airport employees nearby.
Only five days ago, Eirene was released and was allowed with Theia and Viorel back to the countryside where her home was. Jaxon had given her a two-week break from work, and she finally had time for her daughter.
"I'm alright, hon'." The actress replied to her daughter and the manager with a soft smile. "What are you drawing over there?" She asked, pointing at the paper Theia had.
Her daughter rushed back to her piece of art as if she was a robber caught red-handed and hid it behind her petite back. "You can't see this! I'm not done!"
"Will you show me after you are done then?"
Theia nodded, the red glasses on her nose bridge almost sliding off. "Of course."
With her drawing poorly hidden behind her, the girl ran off to her room to continue. Two adults remained in the living quiet living room. The only sound between them was the clock ticking and the coffee pot making coffee.
"Are you really alright, Eirene? Did something happen?" Jaxon asked her as he brought her a cup of coffee and sat down on the sofa beside her. He sipped on his coffee and turned down the news channel on TV casually.
If anyone saw this relaxed action, they would mistake him for being the owner and she was the guest.
Eirene stared into her cup and answered, "I'm okay."
"Come on, Eirene. Even Theia knows that's bullsh*t." The man laughed and shook his head. "You've been like this since coming back from Madagascar. Did something happened there that I don't know about?"
The actress flushed as if she drank tabasco. Ever since the forced kiss she made on Ares, she had avoided him and fled to her house so that he won't be finding her.
"I'm fine!" She almost screamed.
"Ayyy." Jaxon raised his hands in defense and went to the kitchen to refill his cup.
Right then, there was a ding from her phone. With her occupied mind, she opened it habitually but soon regretted it. It was from Ares.
[Good afternoon, Ms Queen. It's Ares. How are you doing? I hope you are well and I'm not disturbing you.]
Eirene placed a hand over her chest and sighed heavily in relief. He was not bringing the memory she was trying so hard to erase out of existence.
But as much as she wanted to answer him, her fingers couldn't move a bit. She still vividly remembered the kiss, and there was no way she could talk to him just as before.
While she was busy in her mind, another text from Ares popped up. [I just received this from Estella. I don't know if you and others are aware of this, but this does not look good for Theia...]
After those texts, a video was sent. She clicked on it with a cold expression. The title of the video read, "Help me find this girl who saved us!"
The beginning of the video was shaky, but in a second, it captured a woman with one knee on the ground talking with a little girl. It was shot at a bad angle, but when the woman carried the girl in her arms and took a seat, the camera clearly captured the girl with a pair of fiery red sunglasses on.