Life of a Teenage Assassin [ON HIATUS]

2) Life of a Teenage Assassin ~Late, late!

Chapter 2

Late, late!

            Packing took no time at all. I live in a crappy apartment somewhere in Los Angeles. It has one bedroom which is also my kitchen, and an attached bathroom with leaky drains and no hot faucet. But all I really needed was just somewhere close enough to the AI building, which is actually underground! Cool, right? Sure…AI paid me enough to keep from starving. I guess I do live better than other run-away orphans. But really: God, Praise you for my living conditions? I’ll pass…

            I settled onto my beat-up to rags recliner and took out my stack of documents. I took off the big clip that held it together and began to page through them. Joshua Fowl…19-year-old drug dealer; run-away; no school credits; family: Susan, Tom; siblings: Finn (10), Artemis (17), Austin (17); pets: dog…on and on…I read until midnight, before tucking the papers away and getting to bed.

~

            Beep…Beep…Beep…BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BE—

            “Shut the hell up, piece of shit!” I threw my stupid alarm against the wall of my room. WHOOSH. CRACK. SILENCE. Good…be silenced forever and leave me alone. I fell back into my peaceful slumber…

            Ring, ring! Ring, ring!

            “What do you suckers want now?” I practically yelled into my phone. As you can tell, I am NOT a morning person.

            “Uh…Agent Taylor?” Shit…it was from AI. Oh well, they’ll never kick me out, so I might as well toss my efforts of having manners out my stupid cracked window.

            “Yep,” I popped the ‘P’, “What the hell do you want?” There was silence on the other end. Probably never met someone half as hostile as me…or rude, come to think of it.

            The lady on the other end cleared her throat, “Well…Dr. Ross wants to know why you’re not at your office today.”

            Crap…excuse, excuse! Where are you, excuse? Not on break I hope! “Er…yah about that. Um, I have a cough today. See? Cough, cough!”

            The lady’s voice turned icy, “Agent Taylor, saying ‘Cough, cough’ is not going to get you a pass. I’ll have to mark an unexplained absence.”

            “Was that suppose to be threatening?” It was theoretical question. I was truly curious. Ok, ok…I was just a teeny weeny little bit trying to get on her nerves too. But give me a break! It’s a gift alright?

            “I will make sure Dr. Ross knows about your absence. Have a good day.” She was obviously forcing the last bit through clenched teeth. I laughed as she cut the line. Now I had another enemy added to my ‘Wall of mortal enemies that deeply loath my awesomeness’. You don’t have a clue how awesome it is to be me. Serious.

            I chortled as I got up from bed. I stretched and peeled myself off my lumpy mattress into the bathroom. I took a cold shower and got out shivering. I set my apparel out. Hmm…black shirt. Check. Black pants. Check. Black shoes. Check. Black shades. Check. Black earrings. Check. I was set to go. I changed fast and rushed out of my room, stuffing a half warm toast into my mouth as I ran to the AI building.

            I was really fit. I was barely huffing as I unlocked my office. I flicked on the lights and walked over to my phone. There were 3 unread messages. I sighed and hit PLAY. I took out my mirror and did my make-up as the messages began to play themselves.

            “Taylor. This is Dr. Ross. Call me back.” BEEP.

            “This is Drew again. Taylor, hurry and call me already!” BEEP.

            “If you don’t call me in another minute I swear…” BEEP.

            I rolled my eyes, accidentally smudging some black eyeliner on my eyelid. Drew…you need to learn to CHILLAX. I applied some black eye shadow and snapped my case shut. I reached across my desk and speed-dialed Drew on the phone. I tapped my fingers against the desk, waiting for him to pick up. 3…2…1…I held the phone away from my ear as—

            “SCARLET SHARON TAYLOR! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE WALKING TWO HOURS LATE TO WORK?” I sighed, this happens almost every day. Surprisingly, Drew’s never gotten sick of yelling at me. And yes, Drew is completely bi-polar. One second he loves me and the next he’s Rome’s new Pontius Pilate condemning me as Jesus. I would most definitely get sick of yelling at me. Plus, he only used my full name when he was in a really crappy mood. He’s as peppy in the morning as I am. And a whole lot worse, I’m guessing since he’s actually responsible and comes to work on time.

            “Chill Drew. Breath in, breath out. I’m here, ok?” I’d be fine. Note to self: Bring monster Drew a magical drink called coffee on my way to his office.

            I hear grumbling on the other end of the phone. “Get your ass up to my office right now.” As expected. I sighed.

            “Fine. I’ll be up in 5,” I said and hung up. I hated it when Drew had a stick up his butt. Like now.

            I walked out of the office I had just walked into and locked my door behind me. I had a feeling Drew was not going to just give me a warning at let me off again. I checked my watch and sighed again. Drew’s ‘Be on time or I’ll whip your ass’ lecture was about equivalent to ‘Hey, good morning! Nice to meet you’ these days…

            I stopped by the cafeteria where most of the agents were eating breakfast and chatting amongst each other and ordered a mocha frap for myself and a large caramel cappuccino for Drew. I sipped on my drink quietly as I waited for the elevator. I drank sparingly; I was going to need it later.

            The elevator dinged and opened and some chatty lady agents stepped out. Slipping in, the door swished shut and I was alone. I sipped on my drink again, feeling the cool, sweet taste go down my throat. Mmmm… The elevator reached my level and I got out. The halls were vacant; no one was moving around. Normal stuff.

            I strolled down the hallways, heading toward Drew’s office. When I reached it, I sucked in a deep breath and opened the door. I shielded my eyes from the morning rays that were peeking through his blinds.

            My silver eyes (I had forgotten to put contacts in) swept across the room. His chair was empty, the desk was beginning to heap again, there were a few paper balls scattered across the floor, and his computer was still logged in. Where the hell was Drew?