The Curious Encounter in East Meadow - Blackhill

Chapter 4 - The Club

Maria was going through her luggage, looking for something to wear for tonight. Her first night out in East Meadow, she wasn't too sure what was the dress code. Plus it would  be the first time she and Natalie met outside of the house. Not that Maria would ever admit it, but it made her a little nervous.

Last night was... unexpected, to say the least. Maria was just going to help out a little then politely excuse herself. She was glad Natalie got her out of macramé, but she still had quite a bit of CIA work to get done. She really didn't have time to socialize with civilians for fun. She was just gonna stay the minimum, socially appropriate amount of time. That was the plan. But she ended up hanging out with Natalie well into the night. Just drinking, chatting and making fun of Natalie as she tried to make props that had zero resemblance to garden creatures. At the end of the night, Maria had to quietly sneak back upstairs after Lily and Marshall went to bed, just so she didn't have to deal with the many questions she knew Lily would have for her. Maria didn't have answers for Lily. She didn't even have answers for herself. Ever since she'd joined the CIA, Maria tried not to spend time with anyone unrelated to the job or a mission. She'd made sure everyone in her life had a clear and specific role. Her superiors, her agents, co-workers, targets, acquaintances of targets. This was how she preferred it. This way, she knew what to expect and what was expected of her. Outside of work, Maria very rarely socialized. Occasionally, if she really needed to get laid, she'd hook up with some stranger she picked up at a bar. But other than that, she'd really rather spend her time alone. This meant that she wasn't supposed to enjoy the company last night. Yet with Natalie, things always seemed to turn out other than she expected. Something was different about Natalie. Something she couldn't quite understand.

After trying on several outfits, she finally settled on a silk top and a leather jacket with a pair of black skinny jeans. She put on her favorite heels and checked herself in the mirror. She looked herself up and down several times. After pondering for a brief moment, she took off her heels and slipped on a pair of flats instead.

She was almost done getting ready when Lily knocked on her door.

"Hey Robin. Marshall and I are catching the next train to the city. The gang is meeting up at MacLaren's." Lily announced as she popped her head in. "Oh good, you're already dressed. We leave in 15 minutes." She added after checking the time on her phone.

"Uh, actually, you guys just go without me. I don't think I'll head to the city tonight." Maria said just as Lily was about to leave and close the guestroom door behind her.

"What?" Lily turned back toward the room. "Aren't you too dressed up to be staying in East Meadow? What are you up to?" Lily looked at Maria expectedly. Maria knew she was hoping for something gossip-worthy. Well, it wasn't though.

"Nothing special. I'm just meeting up with Natalie and her friends." Maria tried to say it as nonchalantly as possible.

"Natalie?" She questioned with a scowl. That was clearly not what Lily expected. "You're hanging out with her again? What's going on with you two?"

"What do you mean? We're just gonna hang out." Maria tried to counter Lily's suppressed hostility with her own casual and calm demeanor.

"Well, first off, you were the one who told me you hate hanging out with other girls. And now you have plans with her two nights in a row, and you're meeting her friends?" Lily wasn't wrong. Maria tried to focus on the mission, Robin therefore never interacted with anyone that was irrelevant to the task at hand. In her seven years of being undercover, she had been quite successful at that, until last night. There was just something in Natalie Maria couldn't seem to say no to.

"Second of all..." Lily continued without waiting for a response, "Natalie is obviously into you."

Maria was definitely not ready to address this. Damn Lily and her keen perception. Maria needed to end this conversation, now. The only way to do that was to give her some deep emotional crap.