THE NEXT TWO DAYS

Part Thirteen

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jason was sitting on a stool with a long table in front of him. A closer look showed that it was a tile that was made in form of a table. There were many stools close to the long table. She chose the one directly opposite Jason's. The scent of egg sauce permeated her nostrils making her stomach to respond immediately. There were bread slices on a ceramic plate. The egg sauce was in another plate. Jason handed her an already made egg sandwich. She did not bother asking where the bread came from, she just took and ate. Jason handed her another egg sandwich after she had consumed the first one.
"Are you not eating?"
"I will."
"Jason, I'm not a baby anymore, I can fill my own bread" she said ignoring the one Jason was giving her.
She took an empty slice but before she could fill it with the egg sauce, Jason took it away from her.
"Cindy take the one I'm giving you."
"Why, because I will spill some on the table and it will disrupt your arrangement?"
He did not answer and because she did not want to start an argument she had never won, she took the filled one from Jason. It had always been like that with Jason. There was always a way the plates and cup should be arranged on the dining table. After Mum had arranged the chairs in the sitting room, exactly the way she knew she saw it last, Jason would say the chairs had been shifted from its original position by an inch. She was not dirty nor rough but Jason always said her clothes were not properly folded. She was not allowed to cook when Jason was around because she wouldn't put back the cooking utensils properly. The most annoying thing was Jason had a habit of keeping back her cup, plates, napkin in their right position even when they were still in use. Once she took a sip and dropped her cup, Jason was already shifting the cup. She had stopped hoping Jason would stop being an order and neat freak after reading that it sometimes came with autism.
"So shoot, what do you know about my parents?"
"I can't tell you."
"You promised."
"You were a second late."
"Jason ?" she shouted already on her feet.
"Cindy...."
"Don't call me" she said dropping her half eaten sandwich.
She angrily left the kitchen.
"Where are you going?" Jason asked.
He was already blocking her path. She did not even hear him move.
"To my ro..to the room you kept my things."
He was smiling, something he rarely did. But there was nothing funny.
"What is funny?"
"That's the corridor to our ammunition."
Great! How would she maintain her anger when she was already making a fool of herself to the extent even Jason found it funny? She turned and walked back to the sitting room. Apart from the one she came out from, there were two other corridors. One was directly opposite her and the other was by her left. Her right led to the kitchen. 'It must be the one directly opposite me' she thought. She moved towards that particular corridor.
"That's also wrong" Jason said from behind her.
She turned to face Jason but jolted. Jason was already close. He was closer than she wanted him to be and for a split second, she forgot she was angry.
"You are always cute when you are angry. I hope you don't give this angry face to other guys."
That was it. Her hand left her body and went straight to his chest but Jason held her hand before she could make contact. She tried using the other hand but was also stopped midway. She was facing Jason but within a second, her head was resting on Jason's chest. That was because her height stopped there. She tried wriggling herself from Jason's hold.
"Cindy, stop" Jason said huskily.
That froze her in place. A familiar heat starting moving through her system.
"I told you to help me keep my promise to Mum" he said bending his face to meet up with her own.
"You know you haven't said much Jason, I don't understand anything" she replied.
Somehow, her brain was telling her to move away but her body was pushing closer. She was going against every training Mum had installed in her, every single message Pastor Sam had preached, the chorister in her was even protesting but her body now had its own thoughts and the only thing her body wanted was to kiss Jason again. She turned sideways, then raised her feet to meet up with Jason and without thinking claimed his lips. The fire was instantaneous. It spread through every part of her body. Jason turned the fire to molten by deepening the kiss. She needed more, she wanted something more but just when her hands left Jason's shoulder to explore his body, Jason pulled away. The distance temporarily brought back her sanity.
"Cindy how am I supposed to keep the promise I made to Mum without your help? " Jason asked. She could see he was struggling with control.
"I have only thirty five minutes left before Flight 10 arrives. Come with me, I need to show you something."
Jason said walking towards the flat screen TV. She did not follow immediately, she waited for her sanity to come back before moving. Jason took the remote on the table and pressed a button. What she saw was different from her expectation. She saw a forest that was familiar. It was the forest outside the house. Jason pressed another button on the remote and the screen was split into three. The first one showed the image of the forest, the second showed the car that Jason parked by the side of the house and the last showed the empty room they had first entered before going down.
She had completely forgotten they were underground, she was supposed to be suffocating.
"Jason, why is the air so fresh? I'm supposed to be hyperventilating" she asked moving closer to Jason.
Jason did not answer but pressed another button on the remote. The screen was now into four parts. The fourth image was something that looked like a big shower head connected to a large pole that disappeared underground.
"That is our ventilator" he replied.
"How does it work?"
"Cindy, that's not important. With this remote you can know what is happening up. You just need to press the numbers. The most important numbers you need now is numbers two and three. Give me your hand" he said taking her hands.
She ignored the feelings it was resurrecting and tried much to concentrate on what Jason was trying to do. He took her to a wall close to the TV. There was a wooden box on the wall. It looked like those boxes various companies installed outside for those that have something to complain about their services. Jason pressed something by its side. The box opened to reveal an android tablet. He pressed the power button. The tablet needed a password which Jason supplied.
"Place your right thumb on this circle" Jason said after typing something on the tablet.
She did as Jason instructed.
"Fingerprint accepted" a female voice said.
"Now you are the only one that can allow someone inside" he said closing the box.
"Jason, can you explain? Is this place not safe?"
"It's safe now."
He did not explain further and she was getting tired of unanswered questions.
"Jason."
"We have an underground house in all the state capitals including Abuja."
"Who are the we?"
"Special Force."
"How many people are aware of these underground houses?"
"The President and the Special Force. That's where we stay during any mission."
She really had a lot of things she wanted to be sure of, like the fact that she was still in Nigeria or the fact that Nigerian Military had such houses, but there were more important questions.
"I thought you trust your team."
"I trust my team but not The Special Force as a whole. One or more of us is working with them. And every Special Force member knows the password."
"I'm confused Jason."
'That's not important Cindy. What you need to know is that there is a probability of him coming here once he discovers my new route."
"He? You know the person or you have someone you are suspecting?"
He did not answer.
"Why will he even discover your new route? I thought we've escaped their radar?"
"Yes. They won't know where I am except I allow it."
"Jason please don't tell me you plan on doing what I'm thinking."
"I need to. Tamed must deliver those documents. I don't want them to keep looking for me that way. They may discover Tamed and that may delay him. I need them to believe I changed course because the road to Lagos is impossible."
"You will be exposed Jason."
"I know, that's why you have to stay here. I need to fight knowing I'm not protecting anyone."
"Jason, I don't feel good about this at all. What if you don't come back" she said in panic.
"I promise I will come back for you, but no matter what happens, don't open the door for anyone apart from me. If anybody says I sent him, ask him for the password."
"Which is?"
"Your favorite place."
She could not help it, her anger was immediately replaced with a smile which turned to laughter.
"That is not funny Jason. You seriously need to learn how to be funny."
"You are very pretty when you smile."
"Change the password. Please."
"No. I have twenty five minutes more. Flight 10 is close now" he said looking at his wrist watch.
"I thought you said Flight 10 can't go long distances."
"Benin to Asaba is not a long distance." And that was the explanation she got.
"You need to be sleeping before I leave" he said.
"So you won't tell me anything about my parents" she asked knowing fully well he wouldn't tell her more about Flight 10.
"I will tell you once you are lying down on my bed."
He answered moving towards the corridor by the left.