𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 - Mitch Rapp

Chapter Nine - Critical Point

Overwhelming waves of worry washed over Ava amidst her stroll down the hallways of the government building.

Last night's state of affairs with Mitch wasn't supposed to happen - given the jeopardy of both of them losing their jobs. If they had of been in any other kind of proffession, then their out of the blue moment of lust could blossom into something more, with no reprecussions. However, the cia does not condone such behaviour between two employees, as it could affect the play-out of missions and cases. To them, especially Stan Hurley, intimate relations between working cia agents allows personnel affairs to come in between objectives of dangerous cases- which made sense to Ava when she truly thought about. The thought of losing her job increased her anxiety, so, she made a vow to herself to ignore the ever growing urge to be with the hazel- eyed assassin - even if it pained her heart. To Ava, successfully completing her missions brought further closure to her healing process in getting over her sister's death, and that meant everything to her.

"Morning, sunshine - are those bags under your eyes or is it a new make-up trend?", the aggrovating voice of Ethan white spoke from the brunette's side.

Ava wasn't in the mood to feed into his annoying conversations, so proceeded to walk inside the cafeteria, shoving her hands inside her trench coat. She was certain Ethan would've gotten the hint to leave her alone, but her hopes soon turned to displeasure.

"Not a morning person I see. A strong cappuccino ought to work its magic, I find t-"

"Look, I'm not in the mood for your shit today. So I'd appreciate it if you wandered off elsewhere", Ava abruptly cut in, wearing a dead-pan expression.

The vividly tired girl proceeded to gather a cup for the coffee machine, attempting to ignore the raven haired agent that remained his stance by the countertop. Any normal person would have granted her wish to be left alone, but then again, Ethan wasn't just any person. He was obnoxious, crude, and had little to no mouth filter - especially when it came to Ava.

" I bet you wouldn't say that if it was Mitch here instead of me, am I right?", he continued to converse with the uninterested girl as he brushed past her back to grab a mug.

Ethan's indecent movement against her form triggered her to a level past return. Ava swiftly turned around to face the agent, with sheer rage stemming from within. Without warning, the brunette had grabbed an empty mug from the counter, and just as she was about to strike the misogynistic male, a rather strong hand grabbed her arm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Londel", Stan's voice spoke beside her stance.

Ava turned her head towards the stern man, swearing internally from the situation. She knew it looked bad, with Ethan having his back turned to her armed hand. However, to her surprise, Stan gestured for her to remain quiet, as to not alert Ethan of his intervention. The raven haired agent was occupied with the state-of-the art coffe machine, completely unaware of Stan or the almost strike Ava was about to inpact onto him. Stan then gestured for the brunette to follow him into the hallway, to which she discretely complied. Ava continued to follow the man down the hallway, and into his private office. Once she entered the room, her eyes instantly dilated at the sight of Mitch sat in one of the chairs by Stan's desk.

"Have a seat, Londel", Stan suddenly instructed her as he locked the door behind him.

Ava obliged, taking the only available seat in front of his desk, directly beside the quiet brunet. Ava was puzzled as to why Stan had discreetly stopped her from hitting Ethan, and even moreso at the fact he had brought her into his office.

"Why didn't you want to alert Ethan of your presence, Sir?", she abruptly asked as the man took a seat behind his desk.

Ava sharply noticed Mitch unsubtly peer at the brunette, but ignored his gaze nonethelesss.