The Agency

XLV. success

Alex bit his lip. He felt bad. He had been thinking of himself this whole time when Stephanie had been through a traumatizing event as well. This was the second time she had seen her boyfriend nearly taken from her by force. He couldn't imagine the pain she was going through. When she came back out of the bathroom, he would have a nice talk with her. She deserved more than he was giving her.

"What can you tell me about the people who took Virginie? What did they look like? What did they sound like? What did they do to her?" Colette's voice snapped him back to reality.

Alex closed his eyes and tried to focus. But his mind only gave him images of Virginie coughing and hunched over in pain. He could not see the people who were delivering the blows. He opened his eyes. "I'm sorry...all I can see is..."

Colette sighed. "It's fine; it was wrong of me to try to force you to remember such a traumatic event so close to it. Why don't you relax? I have to make a call."

As Colette walked away, Jabari entered the restaurant with five officers following him. He was looking fierce in his all-black outfit and a bit ticked off. His face softened when he saw Alex. He crossed the room with a sneaky smile, eager to put one on Alex's face. "We can't keep meeting like this. If you want my attention, all you have to do is call me. You don't have to keep going through this just to see me. I know I've been busy at work, babe, I'm sorry."

Alex rolled his eyes and snorted, but he couldn't help but smile. Jabari always knew how to put a smile on his face, no matter what. "Shut up, you idiot."

Jabari outstretched his hands and pouted. "Babe, stop calling me names. I'm really sorry. Can I make it up to you? I could take you to dinner."

"Could you do your job for once and ask me some questions?"

He pulled out his notepad with a frown. "C'mon, I was having fun with the foreplay. You know I don't like to skip straight to the bedroom but if that's what you want..." He looked up again. "Wait...where's Virginie?" The look on Alex's face told him everything. He nearly dropped his pad. "No, no, no. Stop playing. I thought it was Stephanie, dammit!"

I wish it was. "Unfortunately, no. Virginie was taken."

"How did this happen?"

Alex gritted his teeth. This wouldn't have happened if his body didn't freeze up. He could've easily taken out those guys. In the old days, he could've broken all of their necks before Virginie had the chance to give herself up and she would be with him right now, walking him back to his penthouse.

"Now, now," Jabari chastised. "I hope you're not blaming yourself because that would be a complete waste of time."

It's like he can read my mind. Jabari knew Alex too well.

"Why don't you tell me what happened?" Jabari asked, softening his tone.

Alex slowly explained the situation as best as he could. Jabari nodded and listened without interrupting, furiously writing notes down on his pad. When he was finished, Jabari sighed and looked back over his notes.

Alex looked up at his friend with dead eyes. "If she..." He couldn't even bring himself to say the words.

Jabari put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry; we're not going to let that happen. We're going to find her, and she's going to be safe." He paused, a smile spreading across his face. He leaned towards Alex's ear to whisper. "And y'all can get busy!"

Alex couldn't stop his laughter as he hit Jabari's shoulder and the two of them laughed their heads off in the middle of the dining room and for a moment, Alex forgot what happened.