CHAPTER 18: Time For A Change Up
"Mam?"
Shaundi walked up to her agent. "Yes?"
"Ms. Kensington would like to speak with you before the press-conference starts," said the agent. He pointed down the hallway. "She's waiting for you with Ms. Odekar. They say it's urgent."
"Okay, thank you."
The agent nodded and walked back to his post. Shaundi continued down the hallway. She spotted Kinzie and Asha outside the Press Briefing Room.
"What's up?" asked Shaundi, stopping beside them. Her friends were quiet. Shaundi furrowed her brow. "Something's wrong. Is Boss in trouble?"
Kinzie shook her head. "He's fine."
"Then what's the problem?" Shaundi turned to Asha. "Why are you here? I thought you weren't coming in until next week?"
"I wasn't," said Asha. "But, we found something that requires immediate attention."
"Jesus, it's that serious?"
Kinzie and Asha nodded.
"Well, are you going to tell me what it is? How many times do I have to ask?"
Asha took a breath. "We have come across evidence that suggests..." She trailed off and glanced at Kinzie.
"We're going to be attacked by aliens," said Kinzie.
Shaundi eyed them for a moment. A smile tugged at her lips. "You're joking, right?"
"I knew she wouldn't believe me." Kinzie crossed her arms and stared at Asha.
"How could I?" asked Shaundi. "You've been saying shit like this for years."
"This time it's true," said Asha.
Shaundi's smile faded. "Are you fucking serious?"
Kinzie and Asha nodded.
"Well, have you talked to The Boss about this?" asked Shaundi.
"I tried," huffed Kinzie. "But, every time I bring it up, it just turns into an argument. He won't listen to me."
"We need you to talk to him," said Asha. "You've known him longer than we have, he'll listen to you. Frankly, you have so much pull with him, it's like you're an old married couple."
Kinzie crossed her arms and looked away, Asha's words apparently affecting her.
Shaundi took notice and sighed. "Are you absolutely sure this evidence is valid?"
"Yes," said Asha. "Kinzie sent me her findings and I passed them along to one of my confidants. He validated it without question."
"Have you told MI6?"
"They don't believe me." Asha sighed. "I hate to say it, but The President of the United States may be our only hope for survival.
"Okay, I'll do what I can," said Shaundi.
"Good. Matt and I will be waiting for him in the Oval Office."
Kinzie groaned. "You brought Miller with you?"
"I thought you'd enjoy his company." Asha smiled and walked away.
Kinzie growled and clenched her fists. "I hope he's the first one they probe," she said under her breath. She gave Shaundi a quick glance. "I'll meet up with you after the press conference."
Shaundi nodded and watched Kinzie step up to the press podium. Waves of reporters shouted her name in hopes of being the first to ask a question. The Boss would be arriving soon to take Kinzie's place, and possibly ruin the mess she was trying to clean up. It was apparent she had a lot of work to do.
"The President's words were taken out of context," huffed Kinzie as she leaned her elbow on the podium.
"Miss Kensington, what's the right context for, and I quote 'I'm the Patron Saint of America, we should probably look into changing the pledge of allegiance to one nation under me?'" asked a reporter. She had a pen ready to write down Kinzie's answer.
Kinzie straightened up. "That's a very good question." She ignored the reporter all together and pointed to Jane Valderamma, who had her hand raised high in the air. "Jane?"
Shaundi's attention cut from the conference when a firm hand gripped her ass. It startled her for a moment, but she quickly broke a smile.
"There you are," said Ethan, happily. "I've been looking for you all over."
Shaundi turned around. "You better be careful with those wandering hands of yours." She told him, gently pulling his hand from her ass to rest on her lower back. "One of these days you're going to grab an ass that's not mine."
Ethan grinned and raised one eyebrow.
Shaundi let out a light chuckle. "What am I saying, you knew it was my ass before you grabbed it." She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss for a brief moment longer. He eventually pulled away from her mouth and trailed down to her neck with his lips.
"What time do you get off?" he asked between soft kisses.
Shaundi placed a hand on the back of his head and ran her fingers through his hair. "Not for another hour, why?"
"I thought we could slip away for a moment." He continued to kiss her neck as he talked. "It's been a while since we were alone together."
"Ethan, we were alone together this morning." She scrunched her shoulders as Ethan's tongue tickled her just above her collar bone.
"I know." Ethan wrapped both of his arms around her. "And I've missed you." He resumed his barrage of kisses to her smooth skin until he found her earlobe. He playfully nibbled it. Shaundi bit her bottom lip and inhaled deeply before raising his lips to meet hers.
"Ugh," groaned The Boss as he walked up. "Could you please not do that here? I just ate."
Shaundi stepped away from Ethan and wiped the side of her mouth. The Boss pointed to Ethan's lips. "Yo, Daredevil, you got a little rouge on you, bud."
Ethan furrowed his brow. "What?"
Shaundi noticed that her lipstick had smeared all around Ethan's mouth. "Oh, whoops." She grabbed a tissue from a box on a nearby counter and started to wipe it away. "Sorry."
Ethan grabbed her hand before it left his face and kissed the inside of her palm.
The Boss rolled his eyes. "You two make me sick." He started to make his way toward the press conference.
Shaundi leaned close to Ethan and whispered. "I'll be right back."
"Okay." He said, smiling.
She kissed his cheek and bustled toward The Boss. She grabbed his arm."Hey, wait a minute. I need to talk to you." She turned The Boss around. "I think we have a problem."
"Oh, Jesus not you too...how many times do I have-"
"Asha and Miller are waiting for you in the Oval Office."
"If MI6 needed something, they would send it up the chain. Not fly across an ocean."
"They said nobody back home believes them."
"Jesus, what's going on?"
Shaundi paused, realizing how dumb her words would sound. "They think we're about to be attacked by aliens."
The Boss smirked. "I gotta go." He turned to leave and Shaundi grabbed his arm again.
"This is serious," she told him. "You know Kinzie's been saying the same thing."
"Since when did you start taking Kinzie seriously?" asked The Boss, surprised.
"When the people who helped us save the world said we should." Shaundi crossed her arms. "Remember them? They're the ones who helped us take down an international terrorist and helped you become Commander and Chief."
The Boss sighed. "Alright, I swing by after I deal with-"
A enormous boom shook the building as the roof of The White House was blown off by the lasers of a large spaceship. Everyone ducked down as three, tall demonic aliens floated in from the sky.
"I knew it," said Kinzie from behind her podium.
"Hello, humans," greeted an alien in a flowing red cape. His voice was deep and had an uptight British flair. He levitated to the stage in front of the reporters and turned to address them. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a time for fear, but a time for celebration. Today, the best and brightest among you will find salvation within the Zin empire."
Kinzie raised her hand. "Excuse me. I'm smarter than all these people."
The Boss' jaw dropped. "What the hell is she doing?"
The towering alien smiled at Kinzie. "Delightful," he said and pushed a button on his wristband. A red beam shone down on her and Kinzie floated up to the sky.
"Kinzie, no!" Screamed The Boss as he took off to save her.
Two of Shaundi's agents took off after The Boss. "Protect the President!" they screamed as they tackled him to the ground.
Shaundi ran past them and jumped at the alien leader in an effort to protect The Boss. The alien grabbed her by the neck and squeezed hard.
"Shaundi?" yelled Ethan. "Shaundi, where are you?"
The alien continued to hold Shaundi in his grasp as she clawed at him to let her go. "I do love your spirit my dear." He told her. "I'm Zinyak, pleasure to meet you. Would you like to join me for a ride?"
Ethan cocked his ear toward Zinyak's voice and heard faint struggles from what sounded like Shaundi. He tried to run toward her but the unfamiliar rubble on the ground caused him to trip and he fell to the floor.
"I'm sorry young man." Zinyak sneered at Ethan, who'd quickly regained his balance. "I'm afraid you can't come with her. I hope you don't mind."
"Shaundi?" asked Ethan, worry in his voice.
"E-Eth-" Shaundi couldn't speak. Zinyak's grip on her neck was too tight. The last thing she remembered was Ethan screaming her name before her world suddenly went dark.
I want to apologize for taking so long to update. Things have not been good for me the past few months. I wasn't on the computer much in that time, hardly at all, but I know there are a lot of you who wanted me to continue this story. I haven't read all the messages you sent, there are a lot, but I will try to answer them. Thank you for reading and I hope you continue on. It might take me some time to get back into the flow, it's been awhile. Thank you for your patience.