THE NIGHT SHIFT

FOR NOW:ITALY PT2

It's the morning after, I wake up around 9am and stop for a moment admiring the bright sky through a window in front of the bed as the birds sing a pleasant melody. I get up slowly with the smooth sheets brushing on my skin, I wouldn't want to wake Carter up. Luckily there was a couch in the guest room so he let me take the bed, but I'm sure he didn't sleep well.

I walk to the bathroom, I don't need to worry about the noise of the door since there isn't one. The place is small, there's a thin-looking sink on top of which there's a quite large mirror, next to it there's a toilet and, on the opposite wall, a shower, all of the light comes from a long window that goes from the floor to the ceiling of the unused wall.

I look at my reflection and it makes me feel embarrassed. My hair is a mess, I have dark circles and my skin is pale, it looks like I haven't slept in weeks. I slowly lift my shirt to check my wound, it doesn't even hurt too bad. I remove the bandages expecting the worst, but thankfully I'm just being dramatic. I've actually healed surprisingly fast and my wound is already closing. I put the bandages back in their place and pull my shirt back down when Carter comes in the bathroom, the missing door doesn't offer much privacy.

"Morning" He says before even fully opening his tired eyes.

"Hi" I answer before heading out.

"Get ready, we're going out" He says.

I grab a clean pair of jeans and a hoodie, it feels nice to wear something not covered in blood, and smells clean. I find my brush on the bottom of the suitcase and try to make my hair look presentable.

As I'm waiting for Carter I get out of the bedroom and walk towards the kitchen where Ben is. He's sipping a cup of coffee while writing something on a computer. He looks up from the screen and sees me.

"Good Morning" He says politely.

"Good Morning".

"Did you sleep well, Elizabeth?" I have to play carefully with my facial expressions as he catches me off guard calling me by my fake name.

"Yeah, it was fine" I say, trying to smile naturally.

"How did you meet Carter? Where are you part of the organization as well?" I have to think fast, maybe Carter already thought of a back story, maybe he even already told him and Ben is just testing me.

"Hm well, no I wasn't. We met..." As I'm about to spit out some random story that might ruin our cover Carter enters, probably, not even knowing that he just saved us.

"Are you ready,... honey?" The last part was clearly added forcefully to be more convincing, but I'm getting quite used to it.

"Yeah, I'm coming." I quickly get up, wave at Ben and follow Carter out.

Once we've left the building I turn to Carter to let him know the interest Ben has in our "past".

"Ben asked me how we met and if I was a part of the organization"

"He did?" He doesn't sound upset, just a little confused and suspicious.

"I thought he was gonna wait another day at least before asking" he adds.

"Well, did you think of anything?" I ask.

"Yes."

He doesn't talk much, but he always seems to have this concentrated face. It feels like I'm having a conversation with a computer that needs to be asked specific questions otherwise it doesn't give you the answer you need.

"So what did you think of?" I ask, trying not to sound annoying as it feels like I'm interrupting his thoughts.

"Well, I was thinking of saying pretty much the truth, we'll say we met because you worked at the diner close to one of the organization's sites. We just need to pretend like we met 2 years ago and not less than a week. So we got married, let's say 3 months ago, and now you're... a month pregnant? Does that work?"

"Pretty much like the truth" I mock him.

"Yeah, I know. But any other explanation needed way more effort."

"Fair enough, but what if he asked us about personal facts?" I ask.

"Then I guess we need to start sharing, wanna go to a cafe?"

"Sure".