Chapter 9

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Everyone, happy Valentine's Day!! Sorry this is so late. I hope you have a great day single or not haha. This is the last of my pre-written chapters so now I have to start writing them in the week. School is super stressful now so I'll try to get it done in a week but we'll see.
Alright! Vote and review please! Enjoy!! :)

"What's first?" I asked excitedly. We were finally back in the spy game! I can relive my glory days!

Erica laid down lazily. "I think we should assemble the old spy school team if we can. Zoe, Mike, Jawa and maybe even Chip. I've missed them all. Honestly Ben," Erica looked me in the eye, "I've missed this espionage thing way too much. I'm glad we're doing this and that you convinced me to do it."

I smiled back at her. I was on top of the world. This is what I wanted the entire time.

"Well I know that Zoe is in Illinois. She told me when she came to visit. Mike-" Erica was cut off by my door opening.

We both turned to see Scott standing in the door, looking embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know I was intruding on something. Ben, I have your information for your flight. But if you want to cancel..."

"Yes please." I told him happily, "Please cancel my flight. I'm going to stay here a bit longer."

Erica smirked and Scott smiled.

"I'm glad you guys worked it out," Scott said, "I'm going to let you guys be now."

"Hold on!" Erica called just as Scott was about to leave. He turned back to us.

"Scott, I have to be honest. Don't freak out about what I'm going to say." Erica's words freaked me out. Was she really going to tell him about her former spy background?!

"I met Ben in middle school and there is going to be a huge middle school reunion. I know my schedule is packed for the next three months, but I really want to go. Ben just convinced me to make an effort to go. I think it would be good for me to step away from all this for a few days, or however long it takes."

Scott's mouth opened, closed and opened again. "What... wait what now? You're going to leave? Erica, you have to see this from my perspective. Do you know how bad it would look if I canceled these things?! You'd miss a Kardashian party, a fashion show and even a hospital visit! Your public relations is going to be awful! Zandra even started making a dress for the show! What am I supposed to do?!"

Scott was super stressed out. His voice was getting higher and higher per sentence. I could tell his mind was racing a mile a minute.

Erica gestured to calm down. She stood up and put a calming hand on his shoulder. It did absolutely nothing to calm his nerves.

"Scott, dude, you got to calm down. It's going to be okay. I didn't even want to go to the Kardashian party. This is a perfect excuse. The fashion show will be fine. I can personally call Zandra and tell her to just keep the dress until the premiere next month. It'll be fine. And I'll reschedule the hospital visit. About PR, just spin a story to the tabloids that makes me look good. I don't know, the public likes it when celebrities look like real people, so they can relate. But I don't really care what the press says. But the most important thing is to not tell the press where I'm going to be. I want this reunion to be a calm and regular event."

Scott just looked stressed out. I was impressed how Erica told Scott all the details we need him to know without actually telling him what we're doing. And it was super smart how she told him not to tell anyone about the reunion, because it doesn't officially exist.

"Um... okay. Okay. You know what, it's fine. It's all good. It's going to be okay." As Scott gave himself a pep talk, he left the room. Erica shut the door behind him.

"Alright, well we should get going soon. No time to waste. I'll pack and be ready in about two hours. You figure out our route to get everyone together. Let's try to end up in Washington DC. See you later." With that, Erica left the room.

I got on my phone to try to figure out how we're getting everywhere. I knew that Chip lived here in LA, so I figured we could just drive to see him and see if he's interested. Next, I figured we should fine Jawa. I checked his Instagram (with over a million followers) and saw on his story that he was in LA as well, doing press for the olympics. I figured we could see them together on a LA trip. After that, we'd need to fly. I found two tickets to Illinois tomorrow at 6pm. I figured that it would be the right amount of time.

I knew that Erica had a private plane, but we wanted to stay on the down low so I figured we could fly on a regular airline on an economy flight.

From Illinois, the only flight we could get to Boston was two days later. That means we'd have to stay in a hotel or even with Zoe (depending how the meeting goes) for two nights aka one full day.

Then finally from Boston we could drive to Washington DC. It wasn't too far, not impossibly far, so it might just be easier to drive. We would get to DC in five days at the latest.

I wrote down all the information on a piece of paper and re-packed my bags. I also considered the sacrifice that Erica was making for me and this theory. She has so much to lose these days. Her job, endorsements, everything. I had nothing at all to lose, ya know, since I'm homeless.

But I could tell this lifestyle could really take a physical and emotional toll on someone. Your life is examined by practically everyone. You live in a fishbowl. I could see how Erica wants to escape the craziness and enjoy herself anonymously. I could see how she would need a break.

I left my room with all my stuff and met Erica at the front door. Scott came running in.

"Okay, where should I tell the pilot to go? Also, I can all Hector, the driver, and he can come in the next fifteen minutes. Hurry because the pilot needs to be cleared for takeoff." Scott spoke really fast.

"We're actually going to be traveling off the grid and privately. So I'll drive and we can take economy and regular flights. We don't need Hector or John. I want to travel as normally as possible."

Scott sputtered at Erica's words, "Off the grid?! Are you out of your mind?! What about a security staff? What if you get bombarded?! Erica you're successful enough to not need to fly normally!"

"I want to though. Ben and I are going to the garage. See you in a few days or weeks, Scott. If anything is SUPER important, text me, but other than that, leave me alone. Your job while I'm gone is to make sure I don't get bothered over my vacation. Thank you, see you later."

Without waiting for a reply, Erica turned and I followed her. We went down this elevator and got to the garage. It was a modern, white garage with huge garage doors. Down there, there was every car imaginable. There were sports cars, such as a convertible Lamborghini and Maseratis. There was also a jeep, ATV and a town car. Erica decided we should take a "modest" Mercedes.

We put our bags in the back and Erica climbed in the front seat. I took shotgun.

"Ready?" She asked, grinning as she opened the big door.

"Ready," I said. And I was.

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