Cleo Hart: Intelligence by Default

Opportunities

"So will you come?" 

I frowned for a second, caught off guard, before nodding quickly, trying to recover my casual act. Alice had just asked me for dinner. I turned away from her to grab a coffee cup, using the moment to take a breath. I really needed to work on my adaptiveness. 

"Awesome!" She grinned, handing change over the counter to a teenage customer, I turned back around, smiling at a bald man in a business suit and taking his order, "and I was thinking we could go out clubbing after? Maybe bring Luke and Jason?" 

For a moment I wondered if I was only getting an invite to this so that Alice could get closer to Luke. I felt a little hurt, being used isn't a nice feeling. But reminding myself that this was a mission, and I wasn't meant to care about Alice outside of that, I smirked and agreed to the plan, pouring the man's coffee as I did so.

"So we're talking tonight?" I asked, giving the man his change and thanking him. I was slightly skeptical, it seemed almost too good to be true to get an invitation to meet her family, especially so quickly after meeting her, but I'd be a fool to turn such a good opportunity down.

"Yeah of course, my mum and dad are both in and I can't stand to sit with them without someone to keep me sane." She snorted, reaching under the counter and pulling out a 20 deck. "Cig break?"

-

"Seriously? at her house?" Jason sounded dumbfounded, rubbing his forehead with his palm and standing from his chair. "That's good."

Luke glanced up at me blankly, before turning back to his computer. I muttered an insult under my breath. He had been giving me the cold treatment since our disagreement a week earlier, and I was tired of it. I walked irritated into my room, changing from my uniform into rolled up jeans and a t-shirt, before returning back out.

"Yeah it's crazy I know, but I'm not gonna complain about an opportunity this large. Oh and by the way, she wants us all to go clubbing afterwards."

"You're underage." Luke spat, glaring into his computer screen. I rolled my eyes.

"By half a year Luke, get over it. I look eighteen at least and this could shorten the mission by weeks. You can't deny that."

"No," He snapped the laptop closed and looked up at me. "I can't deny it. Text me and we'll meet you in town."

I grit my teeth, sick of the way he was treating me, and walked over to him, grabbing his wrist and dragging him into my room.

"What's your problem, Luke?" I growled, staring up at him and trying to look as powerful and assertive as possible, which was difficult considering he towered above me. He glared at me evenly, standing tall and breathing steady, before turning, and walking back into the living room. I groaned, walking out the front door, and slamming it behind me.

I knocked on Alice's front door and waited. Her house was huge, with at least four floors and a neatly trimmed front garden. She opened the door and laughed slightly.

"What's funny?!" I frowned, looking at myself.

"You're gonna need to borrow some of my clothes. I mean," her face scrunched up as she looked at me. "You look great but, for clubbing you need to look sexy, show Jason how lucky he is."

I rolled my eyes at how shallow the thought was, but nodded. If it made her happy.

I sat at the table in the clothes I came in, obviously not going scantily clad to a dinner with Alice's family. Her father, Mick, smelt of cigarette smoke and expensive aftershave, a choking amount of it. He was dressed in casual clothes, but the kind that screamed 'I cost more than your house'. He ate greedily and excessively, explaining the layer of fat that splurged over his belt when he stood to get more wine. Instinctively, I was repulsed. And thinking about all of the disgusting things he was managing behind closed doors made my disgust even more distinct. I tried to mask it with polite smiles, and focused on my food.