Miss Classified (Book 3 of the Miss Series)

Thirty Two:

Aimee

I haven't seen Noah for months, but it feels like years. The last time we spoke was... a week and a half ago. Noah explained that he would still be in Britain for another four weeks. Another whole month. Which is the exact reason why I am so surprised to see him... He blinks in surprise as he looks at me, almost like a deer caught in the headlights. I crunch my eyebrows.

"Noah?" I manage to say, but it comes out as a tiny whisper, blinking in surprise. "Wh... Why..." I try to form the words, but for the first time in my life, I stutter, like a damned fool. "I thought you were in the UK?" He looks like a deer caught int he headlights, and he clearly thought that I would never find him.

"Let's go speak somewhere... more private..." He points a thumb at Jade, who looks deeply interested in our fight. I thought it might just be a simple "I came home early to surprise you!!" type explanation but apparently not. Not when he explicitly asked for us to speak in private. So what on earth is he doing here?

~~~~~~~~~~
When we arrive at the beach, Noah sits on the sand and I sit next to him.

"I left Britain a long time ago, Aimee." He confesses. My eyebrows raise in shock.

"You were in the US but you isn't think to tell me?" I blurt, and I can feel the hurt surge through my body, but I suppress it. No jumping to conclusions. We all know where that path leads.

"You don't have clearance for it." He defends and my mouth drops open. That must be the lamest excuse I have ever heard!

"Clearance?" I scoff. "I don't need clearance to know my boyfriend's whereabouts! That is completely ridiculous! It sounds like you are just making excuses!"

"So what if I am? I don't think we are going to work, Aimee." Noah pipes up. I blink taken aback by the statement, it's so out of the blue, that I'm literally speechless. My mouth opens and  closes and opens and closes again, and I will it to stop but it's like I have lost control over my body.

"I don't understand." I manage to get out, and my body somehow wills itself to hug my knees to my chest.

"Not yet, anyway. We can't have romantic ties to each other now. It's too dangerous. We should see each other as work colleagues for now. Aimee, I don't want to have you as my weakness. I don't want them to use you against me." He elaborates.

So he's breaking up with me. I can feel that I am in denial because I can't feel anything but anger. Surely I should feel some form of sadness or sorrow, because the man I love is leaving me... but all I can feel is this rage taking over my body. How dare he do this!

"No! That isn't up for you to decide! Noah, I'm not a civilian, I am a secret agent. Your motivation might have been valid for anyone else, but not me. I don't accept that! I can't accept that!" Noah shakes his head, and when I look at him, truly look at him, it looks like it is torturing and killing him slowly... He doesn't want to say it to me. He doesn't want to end things.

"I don't have much of a choice, Aimee. I... I love you too much for that... I can't let you be hurt because of me.  Let's get back together when it's all over, but for now... Let's just be colleagues and... friends." Noah pipes up. I shake my head vigorously.

"But aren't we better together? Are we better fighting this? You can take my hand and I can take yours and we can lean on each other... I'm not sure how this supposed solution of yours makes any sense to you. It doesn't make sense to me, Noah. Surely we are a force to be reckoned with together? So, I refuse-"