Agent Gray, Red with Love

Strictly Friendly Flirting

  True to her word, the first thing Carmen did when she saw Gray was give him a nice, good hug.

  It meant a lot.

  At this point, the two had been through a lot together. Whether it be as classmates, as thieves jumping out of a plane in Morocco, as enemies duking it out on a train to Paris, as strangers enjoying one another's company at  a coffee shop in Sydney, as heroes saving the day in Auckland, as an ACME agent and rogue meeting by chance in Manila— and so much more. But now it was that feeling again. That feeling as if none of that mattered, and like they could just be Graham (Gray) and Carmen. The human beings.

  The quaint coffee shop they had agreed to meet up at melted away as the warmth of each other's arms engulfed each other in a warm embrace. Graham could smell Camren's perfume— some sort of nice mix between roses and ocean air. It reminded him of the good ol' days growing up in Sydney when his parents were still alive. Carmen felt his breath on her cheek, and the familiar scent of coffee and mint he tended to give off.

  It was nice, comforting even.

  However, all good things must come to an end. Especially since they were in public. They semi-awkwardly pulled away, and greeted each other formally. They sat down at the table— one with a nice red umbrella providing cool shade for their chat and ordered a drink as they casually discussed the weather and flights to the city.

  The waitress walked up. She asked in Portuguese, "And what would you two love birds like this morning?"

  Neither bothered to correct her and say they were just friends, as it seemed generally unimportant. It was flustering and slightly embarrassing, however. Graham ordered first. "I'd just like the first thing on the menu, thanks."

  The waitress nodded. "And you, Miss?"

  "Hm, it all looks so good. I'll have the red blend, please. And thank you."

  The waitress smiled and nodded before trotting off to have their orders made.

  "Red blend, eh?" Graham asked, raising an eyebrow. "Seems appropriate."

  "I'm not sure about Brazil, but it's all the rage in Argentina," Carmen replied, "At least that's what Jules tells me."

  "How is Julia? I never got to properly thank her for her help," Graham said.

    "She's doing fine. She and Shadow have nearly patched things up," Carmen reported.

  Graham smiled. "Oh, good for them."

  "Apparently she got invited to another exhibition, though this time privately as a friend," she continued on, not particularly eager to move into more pressing matters while their mood was so friendly and light hearted.

  "Ah, so no class crashing for you this time?" He asked.

  She chuckled, "Guess not."

  "Well that's good," Graham said. "Rio is where you and Shadowsan officially teamed up, right?"

  "Uh-huh, the last drink I got in Rio was just a few blocks from here," she recounted. "You could only imagine the look on Zari's face when we did the old car trick and ditched her."

  Graham gave a good sturdy laugh. "I always loved pulling that one on capers. One minute they come charging at me, the next, boom. Car passes and I'm gone."

 "The good ol' days," Carmen sighed. "From a certain point of view."  

  "Things were much simpler back then," Graham agreed. "But it seems things worked out okay."