He huffed. “Yeah. I know. But we have Ace.He’ll figure it out.” We entered the brownstone.
I went into the kitchen to get a drink andwas a little sad to find Jeremy sitting at the table with Ace. Iwished he’d thought to come get me after the horrible night I’dhad. They stopped talking when we walked in, and Jeremy barelyspared me a glance. I had to find an opportunity to talk to him andfind out what was up. After a slight stutter step, I made it to thesink and grabbed a drink. I sat at the table between the two guys,and Halluis sat too.
Business-like, Jeremy asked for a brief onhow the night had gone, and after I’d given it, we reviewed whatwas going to happen Sunday with the dinner, even though I stillwasn’t sure I’d be going. Jeremy barely looked at me throughout thediscussion, and not once did he remark on my performance for theevening. A wave of hurt rushed up inside me. If he thought I wasn’tdoing my job well, why wouldn’t he just come out and say it? Maybehe was just being tactful. Whatever he had to say, he didn’t wantto bring it up in front of the rest of the team.
The discussion ended, and everyone rose fromthe table. Instead of hurrying off to bed, I moved over to the sinkto work on some dishes, giving Halluis and Ace the chance to headto bed, and giving Jeremy the chance to talk to me alone. If he hadsomething to say, I wanted him to get it over with already.
“You wound up?” Ace asked as he left theroom.
“Nah,” I said. “I’m dead tired. I’ll beright up.” I heard their footsteps on the stairs at the same timethe back door shut. I stood and ran to the door to catch Jeremy,but he was already gone. I closed my eyes, closed my mouth, andbreathed out hard through my nose. I looked at my cell and thoughtabout texting him but decided against it. I wanted to talk face toface. I’d really hoped he’d take the opportunity to talk to metonight. Maybe I’d be able to catch him alone in the morning and wecould have it out. His disapproval, however silently it wasexpressed, was shaking my confidence. I needed to know what I wasdoing wrong, so I could fix it and have Jeremy at my backagain.
***
He wasn’t there in the morning, and I foughtback the bitter feeling of disappointment. I decided I’d have totake things into my own hands, so I texted him before going out thedoor to run. We need to talk. I was doing some crosstraining, so every time I stopped to do a different exercise, Ichecked my messages, but he never did answer me. I ran through thetrails in Tompkins Square Park, weaving through groups of NYUstudents getting away for a day of sun in the park even though itwas still quite chilly. Tall trees and ample bushes shaded parts ofthe walkways, allowing ice to remain. I dodged them with adeptfeet.
As I left the park, sweaty and winded,feeling totally rejuvenated and alive, I got a shock from Carson.After I’d dropped to do some pushups, I found him sitting on abench close by.
“Carson?”
He stood. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Seriously? Don’t you live in Brooklyn?”
“Okay, you caught me. I went to your housethis morning, and I saw you leave for your workout. I’ve been sortof following you.”
“Following me?”
“Well, I wanted to surprise you and take youout for breakfast, but I barely missed you as you ran out of thehouse. I couldn’t get to you fast enough. I figured you’d mostlikely pass by here again, so I waited.” He pointed to thebrownstone in the distance. “And if you didn’t, I have a clear shotto your place and would know when you returned.”
“All that trouble for me?” He was too sweet.Maybe a bit stalkerish, but sweet, nonetheless. I couldn’t help butthink about how much he reminded me of Rick, a guy I’d totallyfallen for while in D.C. and thought I’d have a future with, butbeing spies made it impossible.
“So, breakfast?”
“Breakfast sounds great. But I’ll need toshower first. You mind waiting?”
“Of course not.”
My phone buzzed, alerting me to a text fromViktor. I have an hour for lunch. Meet me.
I took a second and answered him afterchecking the time. Sure. One-o-clock?
He named the place, and it was set.
I thought it would be fun to have breakfastwith Carson and maybe I could get him to spill that he worked forViktor in some capacity.
I texted my team that I was about to bringCarson in the house so they could be sure to be gone.
We walked back to the brownstone. Myteammates had either gotten my message or they were gone anyway, soI was free to put Carson in the TV room. I flipped the TV on andgave him the remote. I got ready as fast as I could. He sat in thesame spot when I returned as he had when I’d left him. He waslaughing. His laugh was hearty and fun. I couldn’t help but smile.“I’ll never get enough of Modern Family—so funny.” His eyessparkled like a star.
“My favorite is Gloria. Her accent gets herinto so much trouble.” I laughed.
He stood up and clicked off the TV. “Yeah,she’s hilarious. You look nice.”
“Thanks.”
He motioned with his hand for me to head tothe front door, and we walked to a café not far from where we were.After ordering, he reached across the table and grabbed my hand. Istiffened slightly, but then relaxed. His face had turned serious.“I’m worried about you.”
“What are you talking about?”
He looked around at the people surroundingus and then said, “Viktor. And yes, I would love to be the onekissing you, but if I can’t be, then you should know he is no good.I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t. His family is dangerous.I’m
