Madness (Completed)

Business

"Are you listening?" Shane says which interrupts my thoughts and brings me back to reality. I stand next his desk and stare down at papers that just have slots for us to fill out. Why does marriage here have to be so complicated? Normally all you would do is schedule it somewhere and send out invites, here that isn't even half of it. We have gone through three packets and I have given my signature countless times. This is the last one though according to Shane, and I just hope he's right. However, my mind hasn't been here the whole time. All I can think about is the promise Jack and I've had my fingers continue to dance on the edge of the ribbon.
"Hey, your head hasn't been here this entire time, what's going on?" Shane says after I don't answer him in the beginning.
"Sorry, I'm just thinking, it isn't important. I'll try to focus now." I say, just like I had last time he brought this up.
"We can do this later if you want." He offers with a smile on his face, but concern in his eyes.
"No, I'm fine and this is the last one." I respond, trying to put on a convincing smile.
"Okay, so back to what I was saying. This paper basically says that we agree to all the laws as citizens of the compound. And, because you have not made yourself a citizen, would you like me to explain the laws to you?" Shane questions me.
"Sure." I answer as my eyes start to stare outside the window and see the blue sky and sun shining in the corner of the room. I then see Shane stand and block my view of the window with his face.
"We can do this later, I'm going to finish my dressing session that they wanted me to go to. You can come if you want, but they will probably ask you more questions than me. Like, where did that ribbon come from?" Shane asks. Without any hesitation or thinking about what I say I respond with "Jack." He gives me a confused look and stares back down at the ribbon.
"What is it?" Shane questions further.
"Our promise ribbon. That one day, after all this is over, we'll get married and live together far away form everyone else. That's our promise." I say, my eyes glossy and lost in my thoughts which makes everything appear much blurrier than normal.
"There's a ring on here too." Shane says, completely ignoring my comment. He lifts my wrist and pokes at it, but I don't care at this point.
"Do you want this to be your wedding ring? I can make mine different, it really won't matter to me, but if you want it, wear it." Shane says as he tries to take the ring off the ribbon.
"Really? You'd do that for me?" I question excitedly, snapping myself back into reality.
"Yeah, I was going to let both of us wear different rings anyway as this isn't a real marriage." Shane explains in a calm and collected tone.
"Thank you so much. I don't think you know how much this means to me, but thank you." I say happily with bits of excitement filling me at his words.
"It isn't a problem, can I take it so that I can make sure it's at our wedding? Also, pretend to be surprised when you see it, I'm going to say it's a surprise for you." Shane whispers to me as he holds the ring in his hand now.
"Okay, and yeah, take it." I say, my eyes making sure that Shane has a grip on the ring.
"I'm going to the dressing place and the ring store for my ring. You can wait at my- our home for me and feel free to make yourself at home." Shane says happily with a bright smile on his face. He then puts his hand on the back of my neck and kisses my cheek gently.
"I gotta play the part, right?" Shane says smiling as he plants another one on my cheek. I force a smile to my face and kiss his cheek back in return before Shane walks out of the room. My smile fades and I almost fall down into Shane's chair. It is more fluffy than it looks, the arms and back have fur that you can definitely feel, but not see. I suppose that of people saw it they might think Shane is weaker than he actually is. I rub my fingers on the fur for comfort and close my eyes, leaning back in the chair.
"Mr. Lancaster, the owner or sector 9 is calling for y-" Shane's assistant says as she opens the door and holds a com in her hand.
"He's at the dressing store and probably won't be back for a while. I might be able to help though, if the guy will talk to me instead." I offer as I stand from the chair and lean my hand on the desk to help my balance.
"Yes Mrs. Lancaster, please come with me." She says politely as she holds the door open for me. I walk through it and smile at her before she starts walking down the hall, leading me to our destination. She then stops in front of a door that I haven't ever entered before. She grabs the handle and opens it for me with a smile on her face, but it looks forced. A table sits in the middle of the room, like a meeting type room. A few men sit at the table with a com sitting in the middle with a bright 9 written on it.
"We can not let them do that, they are too valuable of a resource for us. They plant crops for all of the sectors, giving everyone food and if they do that, all of it stops." One of the men at the table says angrily. He has thinning hair and the little amounts are silvery-gray. His eyes are squinted and colored hazel and he wears a suit. I suppose that he is an important man around here, but I've never seen him.
"Who is this?" Another man with dark brown, almost black hair and dark brown eyes questions, pointing at me.
"This is Violet, she is the future wife of Shane and is coming here in place of him today. Miss Violet, this is Mr. Rupert Goldstein." Shane's assistant says gesturing to the old man. "And this is Mr. Harley Sparton." She syas gesturing to the other man who is eyeing me carefully.
"Oh yeah, I forgot that he was getting married. Congratulations to you both." Harley says as he pushes out a chair for me in a polite manner.
"We need to talk to Shane right now, not his household wife." Rupert says, glaring at me in anger.
"Excuse me, but I'm not some household wife. I was outside the walls for about a year and a half. I was even pregnant then and I lived on my own out there, how long did you guys stay alive out there? How many times have you been kidnapped, or tortured? Tell me that." I say with my voice rising with the anger inside me. I've always hated how people look at women like they're a piece of meat or something that needs to be protected. I'm strong and I always have been strong, stronger than a lot of people think I am. People always see me as weak just because I'm a woman, especially now that I'm pregnant.
"I apologize, we just don't know how much you can help the situation miss." Rupert says in a much more calm voice.
"You don't know if you kick me out of here. Just let me try and if I can't, no harm done, right? Plus, I need to learn about what my husband is doing so that I can help better." I say, just trying to convince them to let me stay. After all, what they were saying sounds important and it needs to be delt with sooner rather than later.
"Alright, you can stay. Feel free to ask any questions if you get confused, I'll be glad to help." Harley says, still eyeing me in a lust filled way which is slightly unnerving. I'm sure that the only reason he's being "understanding" and letting me be here is so that I can be his eye candy for a little longer.
"So, let's get started." Rupert says as he grabs a few documents from under the table. "Area 9 has declared to us that they do not wish to be connected with us anymore because of personal reasons that they have not told us. Now, area 9 provides food from farming to all of us and has helped us survive as long ad we have." He adds with a heavy sigh, sliding the papers to me. I pick them up enough so that they block Harley's view of my upper chest and parts of my face. The first one tells all about what area 9 does. A few passages catch my attention and I begin reading. After all, I need to be able to have the knowledge of what I'm about to make decisions about.
'Day 39: Area 9 has made a large finding of a farming shop near them and has started irrigation on the ground in their compound.
Day 72: Crops in Area 9 have sprouted and will hopefully be edible for the large population inside the compound.
Day 109: Area 9 has plenty of food inside it's walls and is beginning transport to Area 10 in hopes that they can share the food.
Day 153: Area 9 is now the main source of food for Areas 8, 9, 10 and 11
Day 267: Area 9 has given all of the compounds food and plans to give the next supply in a few months.'
It seems like Area 9 has played a big part in the history here, which is interesting to see. However, what Rupert is saying is not entirely true. The people here lived 267 days without using food from there and can live without Area 9. Also, there are probably other areas or compounds that are able to farm.
"Can't we have another place do farming, or do we really even need it? If it took them 267 days to get it to everyone in the beginning, that means that people had to live that long without it. So do we really even need it?" I question, glancing at the two men for an answer.
"Many stores that we used to go on runs to back then are running out of food. We can't live off them for long. As for someone else doing farming, we need seeds and supplies for that which only Area 9 has and if they leave us, we may never get that. We would also need people who are trained, or at least know how to farm." Harley explains as his eyes drift down to my legs where he continues to eye me hungrily.
"Which is exactly why we can't let them do this." Rupert adds grumpily, crossing his arms like a little kid would.
"How can we just stop them? People aren't going to just do whatever we say. If they want to do something this bog, they probably already have and we are just finding out about it now." I say as I lean my arms on the table and put the papers with them.
"Very true." Harley says, his eyes still drifting around my body, I'm surprised he heard me.
"Okay, what did I miss?" I hear Shane's voice as he walks through the door behind me and grabs my shoulders in a protective manner. "Sorry gentlemen for my brief absence, but I had other business to attend to." Shane says as he pulls a chair up between Harley and I and sits down, grabbing my hand almost automatically.
"It's quite alright Shane, your fiancé brought up some good points for you." Harley chuckles, his eyes now forced away from me. I look to Shane who just nods at him and then looks at me with a smile.
"That's my girl, she's smarter than most and will do excellently at my side I'm sure." Shane gushes with his hand giving mine a light squeeze that is comforting to say the least.
"She will make a fine wife for you Shane, and congratulations on your engagement." Rupert says with a smile that I haven't seen yet. I guess that he doesn't express much emotion anyways. I suppose I'll find out more in time, while I stay and watch as my husband works.