"We need to talk." June says, walking up to a man with dark hair and green eyes. It was the Elector. There it was again, jealousy. I couldn't comprehend why I kept feeling this... was it something he did?
"Commander Iparis, please. I don't have time for this." Anden replies, resuming his mad scribbling on paper.
"Make time." June looks coldly into his eyes. Anden looks up and casts a glance at me, his features soften.
"Hello Mr. Wing, how are you?"
I don't respond. Instead, June throws a fist down in his desk. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier? Now West Australia is waging war. What are you going to do now?"
"Please, June, calm down. We can schedule a meeting for this, I'm busy right now." Anden replied softly. June's eyes were like torches, blaring into his.
She sighs and sits down in the seat across from the Elector. I go to sit next to her. Her gaze catches mine and shakes her head. What are we going to do? She mouths.
I shrug and turn to Anden, who was still writing. I feel a soft tap at my shoulder. June got up and is gesturing for me to follow her.
We exit the room. "This is bad." I say not trying to sugar coat it at all.
"This is very, very bad." June replies staring at her shoes. "I just wish he would tell me these things."
"I agree," I smile, "Commander."
I think I see a small blush creeping up June's cheeks. She laughed and looked up at me. Her expression quickly fell, as did mine. "The republic is going back into war."
"Yeah, I noticed." I sigh.
"I just feel like we won't be able to bounce back after this one, you know?"
"What do you mean?"
"Once this war is over, whether we win or not, the Republic won't be the same. We've been broken many times, but we've been healed too..."
"But we can only be healed so many times..." I finish. She nods and nervously surveys the hall we stand alone in. "What's wrong?"
"Anden talked about there being Australian spies being found all throughout the Republic. They could be anyone, anywhere."
"Looks like they're one step ahead of us." I say. It's true, they're already making their first move and we still have yet to react.
"It's getting late, maybe we can talk to Anden tomorrow." I suggest.
"Yeah, I guess." June replies, glancing at the door.
"How about I walk you back to your apartment?" I asked.
"Okay."
We leave the Town Hall and start towards a complex of high rise apartments. I feel the slightest drip of water fall from the sky. One after another fall until it's pouring rain.
We run into the nearest restaurant, a coffee shop. Something tugs at my heart upon entering. What happened here? June is checking the jumbo tron across the street.
"Looks like we might be here awhile." she says. "The worst of it is still to come."I sigh and take a seat across from June. A waiter walks towards us.
"Would you like anything?" He asks. We ask for the same thing, black coffee and the waiter walks back to his place behind the counter.
I look out the window, watching the rain drops splash into the growing pools of water on the street. I look over at June, who looks crushed.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Nothing." She replies, flashing a fake smile.
"Tell me."
"It's nothing, really." I decide to leave her alone, not wanting to push her to far just answering my questions. The waiter appears again with the drinks. I give him a silent thank you and June nods.
I take a sip of the hot coffee and a wave of nostalgia hits me. I remember drinking this before, in here. Something happened here and I think June knows what it was.
Because I see her fight back tears.
