Chapter 630 - Team building activity (3)

Felix, Jeff and Aiden are sitting in silence in their hand-made snow cavern for some time. The snow didn't ease up so far, and it does not look like it plans to slow down any time soon.

Three of them shared coffee and tea from two backpacks, and granola bars as well. At least they were not hungry. But there were only few more snacks left, and they could not stay there much longer. Even if they endure hunger and melt snow for water, they were still worried about their girls. But the snowfall was relentless, and they didn't have any choice than to endure and wait for the nature to take its course.

"We don't have more than two hours of daylight left." Felix observed. They are high North, and the days are much shorter than nights.

"Should we go and try to find our way back?" Jeff suggested. He didn't like the possibility of spending the night outside, away from JoAnna.

"With this snowfall, we will probably get lost. Here at least we have shelter." Aiden responded.

"Maybe if someone didn't drag us out, we would not be here!", Jeff grumbled.

"If I knew I will end up being stuck like this with you, trust me… I would plan something else." Aiden spat back.

"Stop!", Felix exclaimed. "Why are you still bickering?"

Jeff and Aiden frowned, but didn't respond.

Felix exhaled. "You have no idea how lucky you are to have each other. I envy you."

Aiden scoffed. "Yeah, like there is something to envy there." He pointed with his chin toward Jeff.

"There is." Felix retorted. "I grew up without a father, and you met my mother. My sister is much younger than me… You two have each other, and I met your parents when we visited your family home, and I envy you… but instead of appreciating each other, you two are acting like spoiled brats."

Both Aiden and Jeff glared at Felix. They didn't like that he called them 'spoiled brats'.

"Don't give me those looks." Felix warned them. "From this morning you two are bickering, and my head is going to explode. And why? Because Aiden messed up with Sarah?" Felix took a deep breath and continued in a calm tone, facing Aiden. "Look. It's none of my business what you do with your girlfriend, but we are all experiencing turbulence because of what you did."

Jeff got a smug smile on his face and looked at Aiden.

Aiden saw that Jeff and Felix are ganging up at him. And he is in no position to fight with them. They are stuck. Aiden decided to let them say what they have, get it out of their system and then maybe they will get off his case.

"You know what happened. What would you do in my place?", Aiden asked Felix.

"I'm not in your place. We are all products of our previous experiences. So far, I never met an opponent I was not able to defeat, and based on that alone, if someone threatens Sophia, I would stand in front of her and defend her with all I have." Felix saw that Jeff's smile widened and Aiden frowned. Felix inhaled and continued. "But, as I said, I'm not in your place. It's easy for me to play hero without actual danger in front of me."

Aiden lowered his head and nodded slightly while listening to Felix.

Jeff looked at his brother and felt that he was harsh on him.

"Hey…", Jeff nudged Aiden. "I agree with Felix. I'm not in your place so I don't know what you are going through. But I wish that you thought of me when you made a call how to deal with the situation. I hope that you know: I will support you with whatever I have. I will help you get more people for protection, with weapons."

"And I will help with devices to protect perimeter." Felix added. "I heard that Sarah did some modifications to the drone. I still need to see what she did… Few newly developed weapons for Eve are also ready. I will show them when we go back…"

Jeff and Felix were talking about helping out Aiden and he was glad to see that they are supportive. It was a very nice change comparing to the scolding he is getting from everyone in last two days.

Aiden always thought that he is by himself. Recently Sarah got inside his world. And now he started opening up to the idea that Jeff and Felix are there as well. It made him feel good.

They moved on to topic of Aiden fixing up his relationship with Sarah.

"I can tell that she does not trust me no matter what I say or do. And it will take a long time to fix this." Aiden sighed.

"Buy her something. Something big to show your sincerity." Jeff advised.

Felix gave his advice: "Flowers and personal attention. There is nothing better than showing her that you are thinking about her. Cover the whole house with flowers and cook her favorite dish. Take her to her favorite place. Indulge her. Give her your time."

"Yes. Flowers on the bed, and everywhere. Girls like that. Spoil her to the core." Jeff added. "When you accomplish that, she is all yours."

"Sarah is not much of a flower person." Aiden reluctantly said.

"Every girl likes flowers." Jeff confidently said.

Felix nodded in confirmation of that statement. "You can't go wrong with flowers."

"What does she like to do?" Felix asked.

"Competing… she likes to compete." Aiden responded right away.

Felix frowned. "That can't be good for a romance."

Jeff remembered: "I saw you two dancing, and you are on fire. Take her dancing."

Felix got an idea. "Here is something that always works: teach her something."

"Always works?", Jeff asked.

Felix gave a confident nod. "Absolutely. I took Sophia rock climbing and let me tell you… it works like a charm. I helped her gear up, and she was all mine before I finished explaining knot types."

"Smooth!" Jeff praised Felix and two of them high-fived each other before offering a high-five to Aiden which he accepted with a smile.

Jeff said that what also works is when you let your woman teach you something. He gave the example when JoAnna taught him to shoot a rifle. Based on this they concluded that body proximity is the factor that determines success: the closer your bodies are, the better is the outcome.

It was lively in that hand-made snow cavern. The snowfall outside didn't ease up, but they didn't seem to mind much. Not yet. They enthusiastically shared different methods and strategies for romancing their women and commented on the efficiency of a given approach.