If you only knew...

12.Unbridled curiosity

Ana's POV

As the sun dip slowly below the horizon, casting a warm, dim glow over the yard, I step out of my room to join Lisa and her partner Lee. They are chatting next to an improvised bar outside and are enjoying drinks as more agents begin to fill the space.

The atmosphere grows lively and bustling as our boss arrives, delivering a speech before leaving us to socialize on our own.

" Hello everyone! I'm so happy to see all of you here.
I want to express my gratitude to those of you who have made valuable contributions to the company with your successful assignments. I know that some of you faced challenges and had to give up, but I believe in your ability to succeed in future tasks. Right now, I am focusing on building strong teams and preparing them for more difficult missions. I'll need your skills and determination for these future challenges. Take some time to relax today because tomorrow some of you will be heading out on very tough missions. You know who you are, and I have confidence in your abilities!" our boss exclaims, clearly satisfied by most of us.

As the night falls, we all gather to share funny jokes and exchange our experiences with our missions. Everyone is eager to discuss their challenges and tasks, while I slip away to a darker area of the yard to call Marco.

I tell him how much I miss him and how I hope to have him visit me again once I return from my upcoming mission, which is set to begin the next day.
I can't shake the feeling that our team will be chosen for a new, dangerous assignment by our boss.

Amid the gathering, I notice Xavier standing apart from the crowd, engrossed in his phone and seeming disinterested in socializing. I approach him, hoping to lift his spirits with a lighthearted joke.

"Boo!!! Did I scare you?!" I exclaim, bursts of laughter bubbling up as I notice the complete lack of fear on his face.

"Only if I were about two years old," he shoots back with a smirk, irony glinting in his eyes.

I tilte my head, curiosity piqued. "Well, what are you doing here all alone?"

He raises an eyebrow, mirroring my earlier question with a playful challenge. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Ohh me? Well, I had to give Marco a call. I want to return now to the rest of them as they want to play a game together! Wanna join?" I extend my hand towards him and wait for a positive answer.

"Do I have any choice when your face looks so excited for my answer?" he chuckles, slowly standing and walking with me towards all the agents gathered now in a circle.

As the hours pass, we enjoy a lively evening engaging in a variety of games and delving into thought-provoking questions to learn more about each other. Our conversations touch on topics such as our families, life experiences, and future goals. However, Xavier appears somewhat distant, choosing to listen rather than share any aspects of his past. Somehow I feel there isn't anything positive he could have to share with us.

Eventually, we decide to conclude the night with a delicious BBQ offered by the company.

              ..........................................................

The morning arrives, and I quickly make my way to my boss's office, eager to learn about my next assignment. Today is the expected start date, and my boss summons me and my partner for a discussion before our departure.

"I'm going to assign you more challenging missions from now on," he says in a composed tone.

"Weren't they difficult enough before?" I ask, taken aback.

"Haha, that was nothing, Ana! Both of you can do way more than that!" he says back, trying to hold his laugh at my foolish question.

"I want you this time to sneak inside a large, heavily guarded building that houses forbidden chemicals. The place is filled with trained employees who work to conceal the illegal substances they create and use. Your task is to infiltrate the boss's office within the building and covertly extract all the formulas and sensitive data from his laptop onto this USB stick," he says, handing us a flash drive.