Mechanical love

Chapter seventeen

Optimus had dropped off Carolina home. Carolina hopped out of his truck. "Wanna come in?" Carolina asked. Carolina and Optimus talked for a bit and then Optimus had to return to NEST.

So she now, finally, she was home on her own.

She ate an entire packet of M&Ms, chugged a massive amount of juice, had an hour-long, scalding shower; and changed into her comfiest 'house clothes' in preparation to go to sleep.

It was still only late afternoon, but her body clock was confused and frazzled; so she didn't care about the time.

Shuffling through the house dressed in a pair of baggy grey slacks, an oversized white t-shirt, and an odd pair of socks, she stretched with relish and retrieved a glass of water to put at her bedside for when she woke up.

Just as she sat down on her bed, the phone sitting on her side table started to ring; but it was an unknown number that came up on the screen.

"Now who could this be...?" she asked herself aloud as it rang; eventually shrugging her shoulders to herself, "Only one way to find out..."

She clicked the answer button and raised it to her ear, keeping her tone short; but friendly.

"Hello?"

"Carolina. It's Optimus." Came a familiar baritone voice.

She nearly choked on her oxygen intake at the sound of his voice over her cell phone, "Ch-Chief? What are you doing...with a phone?"

"I'm using one. Did I...I didn't wake you from stasis did I?" he asked, suddenly concerned that he'd interrupted the rest that he had told her to get.

"No, no Chief, not at all; I was just getting ready for bed now. Is everything okay?"

"I just wanted to ensure that I hadn't overstepped any boundaries by appearing in front of your male parental creator. I assumed that people on your planet are comforted by the appearance of a human in authority."

She scoffed back a sleepy laugh as she laid down on her bed, pulling the covers over herself, "Oh believe me Optimus; you looked very... authoritative..." she muttered; smiling with exhausted relief that she didn't have to try and hide her blush with him being on the other end of the phone; he was unable to see her and she was far too tired to have tried to hide it in the first place.

"The uniform was- um... Well, it was very becoming on you." She murmured.

She could have sworn she heard an amused chuckle come from the other end of the line. "Thank you." He replied, the sound of a smirk easily detectable in his tone.

Although she knew he was teasing her, Carolina couldn't help but admire his spunk. He was so much more light-hearted than his soldiers probably realized, after all; she'd had the privilege of seeing a side to him that probably not many others had.

Feeling her face burn nonetheless, she replied with a tired whisper, "You're welcome..."

Only after she'd said it, did she realize just how...seductive it sounded. She quickly tried to cover it up with her next sentence.

"A-Anyway, you didn't overstep any boundaries."

On the other end, he made a noise of agreement before clearing his throat and making his tone serious, "You must rest now, it has been a long week for you." He said firmly.

Smiling, Carolina knew that he was not going to let her debate on this; not that she had any intention of it. Still, the gesture was sweet.

"Sir, yes sir." She replied cheekily, "I'll talk to you soon."