Spy School: Family Ties

Chapter 10

New York
March 17, 2027
1200 hours

Erica's POV

I walked down to the end of the sidewalk and looked up. I twirled in a circle and the massive buildings around me felt like they were closing in. Ben walked up to me.

"Stop goofing around," he said, in a voice that echoed shades of the Ice Queen. "We have a mission to do."

"Oh shut it, brainiac," I responded. I walked through the intersection as the walk symbol flashed, Ben following me.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"Anywhere, anytime, you name it," I said cheerfully. "We're in New York."

I felt Ben's eyes staring into the back of my head, as if he thought I was someone else.

The truth was that I was excited to be here. I know, me, excited, it doesn't really go together. But there was so many things I wanted to do. Ben had really showed me that having emotions is good. I wanted to feel the rush of shopping, or exploring.

"Did Cyrus ever get back to you?" Ben asked.

"No."

"That's just great," I heard him mumble.

I spun around, stopping on the sidewalk. He almost ran into me but I quickly embraced him to slow his motion.

"Don't worry, we will find out what's going on. We always do. Now let's just relax. Come on."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him. He hesitated, then secured Emma and followed me. We went through many turns on the sidewalks, but I knew where to go.

We ended up on Fifth Avenue.

"Come on, let's go shopping!" I exclaimed.

Ben didn't seem very happy, but he followed me anyway. We went through many different shops, looking for anything of interest. There were both luxury and cheap, low quality stores.

I went straight into a GUCCI store. Everything was expensive, but I didn't care. Me and Ben ended up getting a t shirt and slides, respectively. We also got Emma a baby onesie. It suited her.

We left the store and went into a souvenir store, but nothing came of interest. Same with the jewelry and the tech store.

Ben brought me into a FootLocker. I was surprised, but then I looked at his feet and realized. He had dressed for winter, as his feet were in a pair of Blundstone's. It was surprisingly warm, so I was guessing his feet were steaming.

After looking around for a while, he chose a pair of Adidas White NMD's, with blue and red accents. They looked both stylish and wearable in life threatening situations.

We walked through a few more stores, but nothing looked worth it, so we ended up turning off the avenue and walking towards our hotel.

"See, that wasn't so bad," I said to him.

"You're right, I suppose," he said. "These shoes are very nice."

I nodded. We walked along the sidewalk, the snow on the sides creeping onto it at the edges. After about 10 minutes of walking, we made it to our hotel.

Ben went ahead and checked in, while I sat in the lounge with Emma. I picked her up and looked at her. She looked back curiously, then looked down.

"Not right now, honey," I said, kissing her forehead. Emma seemed alright as I held her against my chest.

Ben came back with the room cards and he took the bags to the elevator, while I held our daughter. We were on the 26th floor, the 4th highest.

We got to our suite and it was amazing. There was a single large king bed, as well as a crib. There was a nice balcony with patio furniture and a full kitchen with a mini fridge full of drinks and snacks. The bathroom was a luxuriously large, with a double sink, a seat warming toilet, and both a shower and bath.