Narrowing Window
Amanda, the 'heir to an oil magnate,' owned a lot of things that she was adamant about taking with her to Colorado.
In fact, she alone owned as many clothes as the four others who were helping her. So, forced to pack more than four suitcases and constantly babysit the balls of energy known as John and Joanne, packing up Amanda's stuff took almost three hours.
After they all finished packing and weighing Amanda's luggage, the group congregated around Amanda's computer and started to search for tickets. Matthew was sitting at the desktop looking, but because of Amanda's insistence, he wasn't the one paying for it.
In her words, 'I'm rich, so let me get this, you broke boy.' Her words were blunt, but they did the job, and Matthew decided to leech off of Amanda in the near future.
The little harm it did to his consciousness was swept away after seeing Amanda's banking account.
'Even the estimate from me selling my houses is less than what she has in her checking account! So even if she was lying, then she wasn't far from the truth.' Matthew was convinced.
After some back and forth, the group managed to book five first-class tickets to Denver International Airport.
The group planned to have fun in Denver for two days and then make the drive down to Springfield, where Blue Wing was. With the addition of travel time, relaxation, and the time they would need to furnish the home, the group would be able to be ready and bunkered up before the seal gets punctured.
However, Matthew still needed to buy a home and, hopefully, some expansive land around it. Besides moving away from the death trap of New York, having a huge area in his name was the only goal of moving out so far.
"Amanda, since your dad is an oil magnate and lives in this area, is there any land that he owns but doesn't use? I want to build something out there for us." Matthew asked Amanda.
Springfield was in the southeastern corner of the Colorado rectangle. And not far from there was the part north of Texas. From there, a lot of the oil that was found in Texas was dug up.
Since Matthew planned to buy some land, why not go to Amanda's oil magnate father and buy it at a discounted price?
"He most likely has some, but I don't want to contact him. He still thinks that I won't be able to make it without him. So the second I call him, he'll immediately become cocky and arrogant. I can already hear him say, 'I told you, Amanda,' or 'It's still okay for you to come home.' So if possible, I don't want to." Amanda answered as she helped set up the table.
Since John and Joanne were getting hungry, Amanda offered to order food. So, while waiting for the food, the adults were sweating up the table while John and Joanne were watching TV in the living room.
"I really need it, though. What do we do then?" Matthew replied.
"If you make it worth the phone call, then I'll do it," Amanda said after a moment of thinking.
However, since her words were full of hidden meanings and innuendos, they had an entirely different sound to Matthew and the nearby Eva, who overheard them.
And like a kid protecting her favorite toy, Eva ran up and stood in front of Matthew.
"You vixen, what are you trying to do with Matthew?!" Eva yelled out accusingly.
"What do you mean, Eva? I just want Mat to make it worth my while to call my old-fashioned father and beg him for some land." Amanda spoke innocently.
"You know what I meant, you vixen! How dare you try and seduce Matthew?" Eva righteously spoke as she pointed at Amanda.
"Eva, she didn't mean it like that. It's a poor inside joke between us. She just wants me to give her a massage." Matthew spoke up after he saw Eva about to tear up.
Though the dynamic between these two was enjoyable, Eva was too gullible.
"Massage?" Eva muttered blankly.
"Yes, silly Eva, why did your mind take you elsewhere? Perhaps something sexual?" Amanda teased.
Ding!
"I'm I'm. I'm going to get the food! I heard the doorbell!" Eva shouted as she ran off.
She was struggling to put out words, but after hearing the doorbell, Eva took it as her saving grace and ran to it to avoid the odd atmosphere she had created.
"She's head over heels for you, dude." Amanda whistled as she could almost see fumes coming from the top of Eva's head as she ran away.
"Aren't you the same?" Matthew retorted.
"What if I am, huh? You're a handsome, talented man. So having a crush on you wouldn't be strange." Amanda responded indirectly.
Not convinced she could keep up her ploy forever, Matthew stared at her deeply, looking for any deceit, but nothing changed in her expression.
"Mat, you don't have to stare at me so hard. You'll make me blush," Amanda coyly said as she squirmed.
Ignoring the sultry woman, Matthew went over to help Eva carry the food inside.
"John! Joanne! Come and eat. The food is here!" Eva yelled as she walked back into the apartment.
Excited, the twins ran to the table and started to eat.
After the food was set, the group of people would have fun, not noticing the passage of time until it was almost midnight. Amanda, the first to notice, spoke up.
"Mat, do you want to stay the night? It's already pretty late." Amanda casually spoke as she looked out of the window.
Hearing her words and gaze, Matthew looked out the window and noticed how late it was. After thinking for a moment, he agreed. It was already midnight, and the twins were already drowsy, so going home would be inconvenient.
"Sure, why not? But how many rooms do you have? We need four extra beds between the twins, Eva, and me." Matthew said.
Though Amanda didn't offer Eva a place to stay, seeing the girl's eyes, Matthew knew she would stay if he stayed.
"I have five beds but only three rooms, so someone is going to have to share a room," Amanda answered with a teasing smile.
"We can share a room!" Joanne spoke up as she turned away from the TV.
"No, sweetie, I mean besides you two. There are three rooms, not four, so two of the adults are going to have to share a room." Amanda spoke sweetly to Eva.
"Oh," Joanna responded slightly as she turned back around.
"It can't share a room with either of you, so it's got to be you and Eva," Matthew said.
Eva nodded at his words.
Amanda wanted to tease the two, but since it was already late, she decided not to.
After bidding each other goodnight, the group went to sleep in preparation for the big day tomorrow.
The following morning, thanks to Matthew, the early bird, the group all woke up at 7 a.m. to prepare for their trip.
Their plane would leave at 2 PM, so while their 7 a.m. wake-up was early, it did give them more time to prepare.
After getting all of the luggage into Matthew's car, the group set off on their trip.
Arriving at their terminal at noon, the group decided to eat at a random fast food spot and waste time until it was time to take off.
"All passengers for the flight to Denver International Airport, please get ready to board!"
Following the announcement, the group threw away their trash and rushed over to their terminal, not daring to miss the flight. And thanks to a speedy boarding process, the group was led to their first-class seats to relax before taking off.
Almost jumping into hers, Eva seemed to be in a whole new world of comfort.
"There is so much footroom! And I can even recline my seat as far as I want without someone kicking my chair!" Eva cheered.
Her enthusiasm, sadly, was only shared with the twins. Matthew still saw the plane as an unsafe, primitive box of metal, while Amanda seemed to be used to the environment.
Seeing the odd gazes from the other adults, Eva sat up and started acting fit for her age. But sadly, the others in first class had already seen her acting like a child. So now, no matter how properly she started acting, it was too late.
Ignoring the embarrassed Eva, Matthew, who was on luggage duty, put everyone's carry-ons in the overhead compartment before sitting down.
"Amanda, why are you sitting next to me? I remember that's John's seat." Matthew spoke after he noticed the person sitting on his left.
"John and I switched," Amanda answered as she stretched into her chair.
"What did you offer him?" Matthew curiously asked.
"Are you saying that I bribed your little brother just to swap seats on this simple 5-hour flight? You're so distrustful!" Amanda scolded.
However, Matthew remained unphased and just stared at Amanda, waiting for her to crack. And it didn't take long, as, after a minute of awkward silence, she did.
"I gave him a $100 bill, and we switched," Amanda confessed.
Stunned at her words, Matthew looked over at John, who was flashing the bill in his direction.
'As expected, the rich are different!' Matthew sighed.
It seemed that even in his rebirth, he couldn't avoid the rich tycoons who loved to show off their wallets in front of him.
"Why did you want to sit next to me anyway? I thought you liked Joanne a lot." Matthew asked as he strapped himself into his chair.
"I do like the girl, but sitting next to you, stud, will not only make Eva jealous but will also be extremely nice." Amanda seductively spoke as she suddenly lunged for Matthew's bicep.
However, Matthew pulled his arm away from the vixen before she could enjoy it. Matthew didn't think he would be able to control himself if he let Amanda do things like that throughout the entire flight. Also, the second she squeezed his arm, he could almost hear Eva's heart drop from behind them.
"Amanda, don't make this complicated. Eva is a sweet girl, and teasing her like this isn't going to end well for her fragile heart." Matthew sighed.
If he were out in the universe, he could accept both of the women, but now, on the monogamous Earth, he couldn't do that. Not only was it not accepted, but in some countries, like the US, it was even outlawed.
So he had to stick with one woman until the metamorphosis, or even until Matthew left Earth. And between the Divine Nine Yin Meridians, Eva, and the Mortal Level Talent, Amanda, Matthew didn't even have to think about it.
Even if he mooched off the rich Amanda for now, Matthew would eventually repay her with protection when the world turned chaotic and lawless.
"You're no fun, Mat. I don't think I'm that much worse than Eva over there. Why do you have to be so cold?" Amanda playfully chastised.
Matthew was going to reply to her question, but before he could, the announcement system went off, reminding them to fasten their seatbelts in preparation for their takeoff.
Taking advantage of the overplaying sound, Matthew whispered to Amanda, "I like Eva back, Amanda."
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