Hidden Under Perfection

Chapter 11: Doran

I sat there while Claire explained the plan to John and her father, I sat beside her with her hand clamped tightly in mine. Her brother's expression went from serious to disbelief when Claire mentioned that he had to be our inside man at The Clandestine's HQ. By the time that we stopped talking, the sky was getting dark.

Claire yawns, her head tilting back to expose her neck, she must be tired. I tell the others, "We need to get to sleep, see you in the morning."

I lead Claire up the stairs and into her bedroom, I pause outside the door. When she notices that I don't follow her, she comes over and threads my fingers through hers. She leads me to the bed and I sit down. She grabs pajamas and heads into the bathroom. I look around her room and notice that there isn't any decoration adorning her walls. Her sheets are blue and the wallscreen is asleep, letting me see the view from her bedroom.

Light pours from the crack of the bathroom door and it casts shadows on the walls. Claire steps out of the bathroom wearing nothing but an oversized shirt and little shorts. She is so beautiful, my eyes trace the curves of her body up until I reach her eyes. I stare into her stunning green eyes and pink rushes across her cheeks, I am the one who looks away first. I stand up and walk over to the door; going to the guest room. Her voice is soft as she says, "stay."

"Okay," I shut the door and she gets in bed, I walk over to the bathroom and turn off the light. I walk over to the bed and slide under the covers. She scoots closer to me so that her back is pressed against my chest. I move my arm under her head and I hear her sigh. She turns over so that she is facing me, her breath mixing with mine. I wrap my arm around her and she snuggles in closer. She presses one of her knees between my legs, her forehead against mine. There is only one layer between her skin and mine and breath catches in my throat.

"Good night," she whispers.

"Good night," I reply. That is how we fall asleep, tangled in each others arms.

I wake up and the sheets are on the floor. Claire stirs in my arms and then her breath evens out. I slip my arm out from under her head and sit up. I swing my legs over the side of the bed trying to be silent so I don't wake Claire. I walk lightly on the balls of my feet so the foot steps don't wake her up. I reach the door and open it slowly making sure that it doesn't creak as I open it. There is a light on down stairs bright against the darkness. I shut Claire's door and make my way down the stairs. Once on the first floor, I walk towards the light coming from the kitchen.

I walk into the room and find John sitting at the counter eating a bowl of cereal. He looks up when I sit down next to him, his eyes are blood shot and there are bags under his eyes. He looks extremely tired. "Are you okay man?" I ask.

"Yeah," he says with a resigned tone. "I am just nervous about the whole inside man thing, I don't think I am cut out for it."

"Don't worry, It'll be fine. I worked there for about a year, as long as you follow the rules you will be perfectly fine."

"Okay, but what are the rules?"

"Um... first rule, don't look suspicious, you have to look confident. The second rule, follow the boss' orders to the letter, he will know if you don't. Third rule, get to know some of your coworkers, and get them to trust you. Fourth rule, if you decide to do some sneaking around, don't get caught. Fifth rule, if you get caught, run, hide as well as you can, and pray to every god that you know of that they don't find you."