"What is your job, Aar?"
Ivory Kelana asked a simple question after they had spent some quality time under the first snow two hours ago. She looked at her partner, who was sitting quietly behind the wheel. Their car is now driving through the snow to get to their next date.
"You want to know?"
Ivory nodded excitedly. She was curious about her partner's life before meeting her. The man must have had many stories and experiences. Ivory likes to hear stories about new things.
"I'll take you to my office. You'll find out later."
"Can I come with you to your workplace?" she asked in disbelief.
"Why not?" Aaron glanced at her and smiled wryly. "I will introduce you to my co-workers there. You get to meet a lot of new people."
Ivory smiled secretly. As if Aaron could read her unspoken wishes. Even though Ivory was initially only curious, she was offered to come to Aaron's office. Ivory is happy that her partner has extraordinary sensitivity.
The two of them were engrossed in conversation about many things. Ivory was the one who asked a lot of questions while Aaron patiently answered them. Ivory loves listening to her partner's stories. She learned a lot about Aaron's life.
While on the other hand, Aaron also enjoyed the question and answered session. He felt that the girl who would later become the mother of his child really appreciated the story he told. Ivory responds a lot with various sentences and adorable body language. She would scream when Aaron told death-defying stories. Laugh when Aaron told his dad jokes. And even tore up when Aaron told her about his grandmother's death some time ago.
In short, Ivory turned out to be an expressive girl and a good listener.
"Finally, we arrived."
Aaron stopped the car given to Ivory in a large but deserted parking lot. He turned off the engine and leaned toward Ivory to help remove the seat belt. Little did he know if his actions made Ivory's breath stop for a moment.
"Where ... are ... we?" Ivory asked nervously. Her brain would respond slowly, and her lips would stutter when Aaron's warm body was close to her. Don't forget her chest, pounding violently because her heart is racing harder than usual.
"Take a guess," the man replied hoarsely. Ivory's favorite deep voice succeeded in making the younger figure swallow her saliva nervously.
It was always like that when she felt nervous.
"Umm … I don't know."
"Just guess randomly."
Ivory wished she could control her gaze by not constantly gazing into her man's beautiful eyes. However, it was Aaron's amber eyes that, in fact, were able to lure Ivory into obedient to any words that came out of the Dominant's lips. It was his eyes that made Ivory stutter to give her original guess.
"Umm… Pet shop?"
"Pet shop?" asked Aaron back. He laughed, amused at the answer that came from Ivory. Of the many predictable places, Ivory chose the Pet Shop? Seriously.
"Why are we going to the Pet Shop? Chopa is with Joy. She will take care of Chopa for a while."
Joy.
Finally, the name was also spilled out of Aaron's mouth.
Ivory wondered when her partner would remember that he actually had someone who had been in his heart for a long time since he rejected the call.
And Aaron just said it.
"Well, I thought maybe … you would—"
"Game Center."
Ivory gasped for a moment.
"You remember the doll machine I mentioned when you're about to move into my house?"
Ivory nodded curtly. "Yes, I remember," she muttered.
"Well, in that building, there are dozens of machines like that and other games that are no less exciting. We will play to our heart's content until we get bored," said Aaron. His right hand reached out and gripped Ivory's hand, slowly joining his five fingers with Ivory's. "I want to make our first date a success. So later, you will be able to remember it clearly."
Remember it clearly.
Just reminiscing.
For some reason, Ivory thought that the words that came out of Aaron were wrong.
Why does it feel like Aaron has set the maximum limit for Ivory's stay in his life through the words 'remember it clearly'? So is it true that Aaron only thinks of Ivory as the mother of his child? Is it true that Aaron just thinks this is all just a game?
But sadly, that's the truth, isn't it?
Ivory's heart throbbed in pain.
She looked at the handsome face of her partner, who looked at her with a twinkle of enthusiasm.
'He was just enthusiastic because he wanted everything he had prepared to run smoothly. For the game, he was playing to end perfectly, right, Ivory?' She wondered to herself.
"Come on, Ivy."
Ivory wanted to refuse. She wanted to say no. She felt so guilty because her heart was now filled with selfishness. Her little heart said she needed more. More than just a game. More than just a pretense.
She wanted all of this to be real.
Before Ivory could give her partner an answer, a repeated beep sounded in her ear, followed by a stinging pain in her left arm. It was like being stung by a bee; sudden aches and pains making her wince in pain.
"Shit, there's an announcement."
Ivory glanced at Aaron who was now groaning in pain while pressing his arm.
"Aaron, what the-"
At that moment, Aaron pressed the power button previously used to emit a Hologram screen from the car dashboard. Instantly the pain disappeared and was replaced by a hologram screen that showed an image of an adult woman wearing a neat white coat with her hair tied up high. The woman began to speak in front of the small podium in front of her.
"Good afternoon, Copulation participants," said the woman. "I am Merita, the Head of Copulation Events Section in 2071, will make an announcement for all Copulation event participants. The announcement aims to launch this extraordinary event," said the woman who spoke without a smile on her lips.
Again, Ivory thought this woman was just like the Guardians, who acted like a robot.
"To increase the stringency of the selection of offspring, the Supreme Council has decided to resume the Pre-Checking stage, which has been stopped for the past 12 years. Pre-Checking will be carried out in the next two days by the Medical Team prepared by the Higher-ups, who will spread to all regions in Amerta without exception. All Copulation participants are expected to have met the requirements to pass this stage and can proceed to the next stage. Requirements to fulfill Pre-Checking will appear in the next notification or can also be viewed on the government website at the following address—"
"Pre-Checking?"
"Since when is there Pre-Checking?"
Ivory and Aaron looked into worried eyes.
"—and for participants who don't pass this stage, the consequences will be accepted according to the law set by the Supreme Council..."
"Has there been a punishment?"
"Even at the start of the show?"
"She's kidding."
"Participants who pass the Pre-Checking stage will be invited to follow the next stage until they arrive at the First Checking stage, which will be held in early December." The announcer paused for a moment and flashed a wide, hideous smile. Her lips were drawn close to her ear and formed a smile that looked more like a smirk. "This is how the announcement was made. Good luck with Copulation. Regards." And the Hologram screen changed to a white screen that displayed several sentences that were the prerequisites for the Pre-Checking.
There weren't too many conditions on display, and Ivory thought she could fulfill all of the Supreme Council's requests apart from...
"Aaron..."
"Ivy..."
They looked at each other once again. Ivory hesitated to ask a question to confirm her opinion. All that was left was the girl twirling her fingers between her knees and staring at her partner anxiously. There is one condition that makes her highly anxious.
"That means… umm… we…."
"Yes, Ivy."
Ivory bit her lower lip hard.
"That means we have to make love as soon as possible to pass this Pre-Checking stage."