My Double Life

The Office

Hehe sorry if this chapter is a bit boring? If boring is the right term. I don't know. It's kind of a filler just introducing where she works but it's also an important chapter that needed to be written sooner rather than later. Enjoy and comment :D

-Natalia

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The rest of the day goes by in a blur. I ignore everyone and everyone ignores me, I think. I don't really notice since I'm ignoring them...

 The second the bell rings for school to be over I run as fast as I can to my crappy, broken truck. It barely made it to school this morning. There's no way I'm going to show up to the Office with this wreck. I quickly glance at my watch, 30 minutes until I have to be at work. It's a 10 minute drive away if I go fast. I grab my phone out of my bag and call in a favor.

 "I'm calling in my favor," I tell the person on the other side of the line in Russian. Long story short, I did some off the book work for them a couple years back and they owed me one. I give him my location and tell him not to take longer than 10 minutes, I am on a schedule after all.

 Nine minutes later and my new baby arrives. A shiny black Lamborghini aventador with vertical doors pulls up. I guess I didn't realize until I got here that dressing like a bum would actually make me stand out more than if I dressed up nicely. I already messed up my geek cover by showing off my tats so I may as well get a sweet ride while I'm at it. I speed off and make it to the Office with plenty of time to spare. My new baby goes plenty fast so I'm sure I'll never be late anywhere. This day was starting to look up.

 The Office is weird. Back home we just called it operations or headquarters. Here we call it the Office because the front of the building is literally an office building designed to hide the operations going on in lower levels. It's kind of exciting having a secret, hidden headquarters that is located in plain sight. Even the people who work in the front office don't know what's going on undergrounds.

 Being new I quickly had to learn everyone's name and functions. It's like high school but with guns. Everyone already knows each other and I'm the odd one out. Well me and Ed that is. Ed decided to make the move to the Big Apple with me. I knew he'd miss me if I left.

 Ed is just Ed. If you call him anything else it'll be the last thing you say. He won't tell anyone his age and his file is highly classified, need to know stuff, but he seems like he's in his late 40s. He looks and acts tough but once you get to know him he's a sweet heart. During a mission awhile back he injured his knee. He's still a great agent but there are some things that he is limited at. I guess that's why he got stuck him with me. Try to teach the young guy, er, girl, a thing or two. I don't mind though and after awhile I don't think he minded either.

 Clark is the computer guy which I find funny because he is always breaking his personal electronics. But put him in front of an encrypted file or hidden data folder and there is nothing he can't do. 

 There are a few other agents around who basically do what I do. Run missions when needed, beat the bad guys, all that fun stuff. The person you really have to be careful around is McClare. He's the director of this branch of the agency, the branch that does recovery missions. Not of just people but of data, weapons, artifacts, or anything that could pose a threat to us or our allies. Most of the people around here don't fear McClare much because they've been around awhile, but I can tell from how he looks at me that he doesn't want me here. Must be the age. Or the gender. Seems they couldn't find another female to throw into this bunch.

 I take a minute to take in the new place that I'll be calling home when I hear a familiar voice try to sneak up behind me. Sometimes I let him think he got me.

 "Hey munchkin, why are you dressed up like that?" Crap, I forgot I was still wearing baggie and unflattering clothes. I'm not even a munchkin either. I don't know why Ed decided to go with that name. I'm 5 ft 7 and weigh... well my doesn't matter.

 "Ah! Ed what have I told you about sneaking up on a girl. Besides, these clothes were your idea, remember?"

 "Of course I remember. I just didn't think you would wear it to work. Go get changed before we go see the boss."

 I ran off to the changing facilities and put on a pair of black military style pants, a black short sleeve shirt, and black combat boots. I slip a pocket knife in my boot just in case. It may seem like a lot when I don't even know if I'm going anywhere, but around here it's always good to be prepared to leave at any minute. Normally I dress according to the mission, but sometimes I don't have to do anything undercover. Just retrieval. Everyone wears what I'm currently wearing when we're doing nothing around the Office. Just in case something comes up.

 As I walk up to the office Ed and McClare are already talking. I can tell that I'm missing something important so I decide to not enter the room. It's better to get the full story later than only catch part of what's being said.

 "Hey, we've got a mission. I'll drive and let you know on the way what your story and target is."

 I jump in the passenger seat of his boring black car and wait anxiously to hear what I get to do this time.

 "You're going undercover at a charity benefit. One of the men there, Vladimir Checkovsky, has what we believe to be black market drugs designed to wipe out an entire city if leaked into the water system. We need you to go undercover as a rich heiress, get close to him, and get the information we need. You have an hour to be ready, here's the profile," Ed finishes, handing me a folder as we pull up to my apartment.

 I hop out and walk into my place. I go straight to my room because I know an hour won't be nearly enough time to make me look like I'm extremely rich. I walk into my closet and find the perfect peachy cream one shoulder dress. I put my hair up, apply some makeup (making sure to apply plenty of concealer over my tattoos), and dig through my weapons drawers to find a plastic divers knife. Perfect for attacking and can be hidden from a metal detector. I put on some decent sized heels to make sure I can still run if need and slip the knife onto a strap on my thigh. I have a little time to spare so I hop on my bed and begin reading the file.

 Vladimir Checkovsky.

 Age: 26 Height: 6'2" Weight: Approximately 180 lbs

 The picture inserted showed him to be fairly attractive. Dark brown hair and eyes. Dark skin. Chiseled features. I'm sure in a different profession he would have been quite the catch. I can't help but think of Ryan. Push him out of your mind, Kaya. He's not important right now. I took a few minutes to give myself  pep talk and kept reading. My eyes went straight for the bottom of the page.

 In big, bold, red letters : CAUTION : EXTREMELY DANGEROUS