Forget It (ONC 2024)

Chapter 1 - Change

"Tonight could change everything," he whispered in the full-length mirror as his hands shook attempting to tie a knot in his bow tie.

My lips curved into a smile as I went to help him, my heels leaving me only half a foot shorter than him. "I hope so. We've been apprentices for long enough. It's our time to change the world." My hands made his bow look as sharp as I felt.

Some people cracked under pressure, but I thrived. Usually Arch did too.

I ran my hands over his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. "You'll be amazing, even if you won't share a single detail with me."

A bead of sweat meandered past his temple, his closely shaved sandy hair, and down the pale skin on his neck. He rubbed his hands against the pants of his navy suit. I adjusted the necklace that sat over my collarbone, its silvery brilliance offsetting the rich reds in my strapless, floor-length dress.

He turned to me, his artificially teal eyes meeting mine. He'd told me the colour inspired calm and trust when he'd chosen it. "Selene, I want you to know, I never expected this, but you've been..." He looked away for a moment before he met my gaze with intensity. "Incredible."

I fought my grin as I applied lipstick that immediately matched itself to the shade of my dress. Not my most life-changing product, but its popularity still helped me pay rent. "Have you fallen for me, Mr. Kenton?" I teased, knowing full well the answer. He could never hide his feelings from me.

"I-I-I have."

I adored the way I made his voice quiver and his Adam's apple bob up and down. To the world, Arch radiated power and success, but to me, he was a sweet, vulnerable soul.

"Whatever happens tonight... know that I... I love you, and I don't want to lose what we have."

A chuckle tickled the glossy skin on my lips despite the pleasant chill his words brought to the bare skin on my shoulders and upper back. "Your overactive anxiety is at it again. No matter whether they accept or reject our proposals, we'll stick together. I'll support whatever idea you have, and you've fully supported mine. I love you too."

He'd offered countless suggestions for my latest prototype, spent late nights testing it with me, and helped me tweak the tech-speak in my application to land an audience tonight alongside him. Few third-year apprentices were given such an honour. Usually, it took five to ten years of grunt work in tech support and as lab techs to gain prominence.

Arch sighed, his stiff, broad shoulders relaxing under his suit jacket. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Get a motivational hologram to cheer you on," I teased.

He chuckled and stepped forward to breathe down my cheek and neck, making my skin dance. "There's no comparison."

"Funny that when we met you would have hardly believed it."

Arch Kenton, the tech prodigy who'd lifted his family out of poverty with his first few inventions at the age of eleven and revolutionized the efficiency of food production, had finally learned to trust someone, and it warmed my heart to be that person.

'Thirty minutes', a mid-toned artificial voice echoed in my head, and from the way Arch's eyes widened, his cerebral implant had given him the same message.

"Ready to change the world, Ms. Mintz?"

I grinned. More ready than ever, but this was only the beginning.

After a quick train ride, we arrived at the historic Chicago-Auditorium-inspired theatre, brimming with suits and dresses and sparkled with jewelry and gems in ears, on hands, and on the ends of canes.