Chapter 38-Off-key

Chapter 38: 38-Off-key

The tsunami waves didn’t stop or let up for a single moment.

They had begun in the early morning, and by afternoon, the ocean was still raging as though the earth beneath it had been wounded beyond repair.

One monstrous wave followed another, sometimes with only minutes between them. The fortress climbed each towering wall of water and descended into the violent troughs without suffering any serious damage.

Outside, the world had become almost unrecognizable. The sky remained dark beneath layers of storm clouds.

Lightning flashed across the horizon, illuminating enormous waves for brief seconds before plunging everything back into darkness.

Hurricanes continued tearing across the ocean, their winds howling so loudly that an ordinary person would have been terrified simply hearing them.

But inside the fortress, life continued on like they weren’t at death’s door.

The lights remained warm, the temperature remained comfortable and the generators hummed steadily. The water purification system continued working and generated more and more fresh and clean water.

The farming section remained protected and the food stores were overflowing with supplies.

And Aymara? Aymara was having the time of her life.

As dusk approached, she walked into the enormous kitchen wearing a comfortable cream house dress, her hair tied loosely behind her head. She opened the refrigerator and stared at the ingredients she had stocked before the apocalypse.

"What should I make?"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. There was enough food inside the fortress to feed an entire city.

She could have prepared something simple but instead, she decided to make a feast to enjoy with Nathaniel.

"System, play my favorite song."

[Playing selected song: Dancing in the rain]

Music immediately filled the kitchen. The moment Aymara heard the opening beat, her eyes lit up.

"Oh!" She hadn’t expected the system to be so accurate.

She grabbed a wooden spoon and began singing along. Her voice wasn’t perfect but she didn’t care.

She swayed her hips while chopping vegetables, occasionally spinning around with the spoon still in her hand.

Every few seconds, she would stop cooking entirely just to dance for a few seconds before remembering what was on the stove.

"Hey!" She pointed the spoon dramatically toward absolutely nobody. "You thought you could destroy my world?"

She spun around. "Too bad!" She continued to sing along.

Hahaha. Hahaha.

She laughed at herself. The song was hitting all the right places. She felt an uplift in her soul as she listened on.

The ocean outside was destroying cities. Hurricanes were tearing through continents, millions of people were desperately searching for shelter and Aymara was dancing in her kitchen.

She turned the music louder and then she started singing again. Her voice echoed through the enormous kitchen and spilled into the nearby corridors.

She danced while stirring the soup, while seasoning the meat and even when she was washing vegetables.

At one point, she even placed the spoon down, grabbed both sides of her dress and performed a ridiculous little spin.

"Ah!"

She nearly slipped and fell but she caught herself against the counter and burst into laughter.

"That would’ve been embarrassing," she said and looked around.

Nobody was there to see her fall or embarrass herself so she danced again.

The fortress was her, the food she was making was for her and Nathaniel, the ocean was no longer her enemy and, most importantly, Nathaniel was safe.

For the first time in years, Aymara felt completely free. There was no one criticizing her music. No one telling her that dancing in the kitchen was childish and no one asking her to behave like the perfect wealthy heiress.

She could sing and dance terribly and that was perfectly alright. She could eat whatever she wanted and laugh as loudly as she pleased and nobody could stop her or judge her.

Aymara grabbed another ingredient and began singing even louder.

"Na-na-na-na!"

She shook her shoulders to the rhythm. Her long hair swung behind her as she moved. She looked completely unrestrained. Almost unhinged and she loved every second of it.

What she didn’t realize was that she had an audience. The sound of music had eventually reached Nathaniel’s room.

At first, he ignored it. He had been lying in bed, resting after the exhausting events of the day. The ship had shaken repeatedly, and although the fortress had protected him from the worst of the disaster, the constant movement had left him tired.

He was drifting off when he heard music playing and then awful singing followed and before long, there was something that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

Nathaniel opened his eyes. He listened for several seconds. "Is that Aymara?"

Another burst of singing reached his room which forced Nathaniel to slowly sit up.

He stared toward the door. The woman was singing during the apocalypse. He shook his head.

"What is wrong with her?"

There was amusement in his voice. He pushed the blanket aside and carefully stood.

His breathing remained steady, though he moved slowly. He walked out of his room, following the music through the corridor.

The closer he got to the kitchen, the louder it became. He sauntered over and stopped when he reached the doorway.

Nathaniel stared inside with curiosity. Aymara was standing in the middle of the kitchen with a wooden spoon in one hand.

She was swaying from side to side while singing along with the music, completely unaware that someone was watching her.

Her cheeks were slightly flushed from cooking. A strand of hair had escaped her loose hairstyle and rested against her cheek.

She was smiling so brightly. It was nothing like the careful smile she had worn around the world for years, not the confident smile she used when dealing with other people in the business world or the sweet smile she used when trying to convince him to eat.

This was different. It was completely genuine, carefree and childlike. She looked happy.

Nathaniel leaned lightly against the doorframe. A small smile slowly appeared on his face.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her like this. Perhaps he had never seen her like this ever since she became an adult.

The Aymara he remembered from the last six years had always been surrounded by people. She had been cheerful, yes, but there had always been someone influencing her. Someone telling her where to go, what to wear, what to eat, who to speak to.

Especially Dylan, the man dictated her life and changed her so much that Aymara lost her spark.

Nathaniel’s eyes softened. This woman looked nothing like the Aymara he remembered.

She looked free and without chain of expections weighing her down. This look, on her, was breathtaking.

The music continued and Aymara picked up a knife and began chopping vegetables again and before long she started dancing with the knife.

Nathaniel’s smile disappeared for a second. "Please don’t kill yourself before the apocalypse does," he crossed his fingers.

He almost said it aloud in panic. Instead, he continued watching quietly. The sight lifted his mood and brightened his soul.

Aymara turned toward the stove and began stirring. Her voice got loud as she started singing again, this time completely off-key.

Nathaniel pressed his lips together. He was trying not to laugh and he failed.

A quiet chuckle escaped him. Aymara didn’t hear it. She was too busy dancing and listening to her favorite song to notice all else.

Nathaniel’s smile widened. A warmth settled inside his chest.

For the first time since waking aboard her ship, he wasn’t thinking about how she had betrayed him six years ago.

He wasn’t thinking about how she had suddenly appeared, kidnapped him from the hospital, and dragged him onto a fortress without his permission.

He wasn’t thinking about the strange mystery surrounding her knowledge of the apocalypse. He was simply watching her and he liked what he saw.

That realization unsettled him more than the waves outside.

Trusting her had once cost him years of his life. Wanting to trust her now felt dangerously easy, especially when she looked at him as though his presence mattered more than anything beyond the walls.

He had every reason to keep his distance yet he found himself wondering what it would feel like to stand beside her instead of watching from the doorway.