The Shock of the New

Chapter 19: The Market of Forbidden Fruit

When Ian woke up on his third day of suspension, he first discovered two things. The first was that it was at least 90 minutes later then when he usually got up and the second was that Grace had once again left for work. Since his suspension from duty, Grace had been talking to him less and showing him a much frostier side than he usually saw of her. Ian didn't like this as Grace was one of the few people he enjoyed being around on a regular basis.

As he made his own breakfast, Ian listened to the news which was still going on and on about the Lunaville W.E.R. cyberattack (with the exception of a minor story about two young escapees from a youth education camp in the US).  Although the W.E.R. government repeatedly claimed that the P.RE. would be punished gravely for their crimes against the great and holy land of the W.E.R., Ian had largely stopped caring. Every single day, the news was like this, ranting and raving about how the W.E.R. were the greatest nation in existence and the P.R.E. were foul villains who wanted to destroy them and it had gotten tiring and repetitive. Of course, Ian would never admit this out loud. He was on thin ice as it was and even a slight remark like that could have gotten him sent to the correction centre.

After he'd washed and changed, Ian went out for a walk. The alternative was sitting in the flat all day watching whatever crap was on TV or sitting on the computer for hours and frankly Ian wanted a bit of fresh air.

After walking through the London streets for a while, Ian eventually arrived at a small coffee shop he liked. Although restaurants as a whole were fairly rare in the W.E.R., a decent number of coffee shops still existed in the major cities of the nation serving the finest imitation coffee available.

After ordering a cup of his favourite blend, Ian sat down at a small table and began browsing his phone. Most of the other patrons were doing the same thing, and the few that weren't were discussing the usual topics.

After a while, Ian had largely drunk most of his coffee and was getting ready to finish when the door to the café opened. Ian looked up to see a familiar face enter.

"One au lait" Neave told the man at the counter. A few second later, she collected her drink, paid and sat down at a table not far from where Ian was sitting. For a second, Ian tried to ignore her. She was nothing to him after all and the only time he'd spoken to her had left him in a bad way. But a second later, Ian found himself getting out of his seat, walking up to her and tapping her on the shoulder. Neave spun round and smiled when she saw him

"Well if this isn't a surprise! It's Ian the loyal patriot!"
Ian blushed slightly "Yeah. It's nice to see you too"

As Ian sat down, Neave asked "So what brings you around here? Is it your day off?"

Ian looked sheepish "Not exactly..."
"Then what is it? Are you undercover and looking out for some dangerous P.R.E. spies?"

Ian blushed "To tell you the truth, I got suspended from duty"
Neave laughed "I figured as much!"
She then sipped her coffee. Ian scowled

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!" Neave grinned "I just figured it'd happen to you sooner or later!"
Ian was taken aback "Why?"
"It was obvious from the first time I met you" Neave sipped her drink again "You're clearly somebody who's very troubled and stressed out. I figured it was only a matter of time before you fucked up and got yourself in trouble with the state. So how'd it happen?"
Before Ian could answer, Neave interrupted him

"Let me guess. You went and watched some program that wasn't sanctioned by the government. Or maybe you complained to your wife about how shitty your day had been?"
Ian scowled "Well if you really must know, I got drunk and had an argument about a film me and a few friends were watching. Management found out, so they suspended me to teach me a lesson"