Guardian [Completed]

Three (Devina)

Josh slumbered soundly in the passenger seat of my SUV; his Cincinnati Reds hat over his face. I had been driving a little over three hours now.

It felt like so much had happened since I woke up this morning.  Thomas had gotten us ready to go and already he was tracking a lead.

Driving was clearing my head. I felt more relaxed and had fewer reservations about this assignment. Granted, I still wished I was driving back to DC – or even flying back home to Germany – but I had given myself a long talking-to.

My career was my life, and just because my personal life wasn’t in order didn’t provide a good enough excuse to not give Josh my best. Plus, this was also a vacation! I just had to pretend to be some mega movie star’s girlfriend. That was simple enough. I’d had harder assignments.

Josh stirred next to me. I briefly glanced over at him to see him put his hat on his head and fumble around to sit up.

I glanced over again to find him looking at me.

“Hey,” he said, his voice groggy.

“Hey,” I replied softly.

“How long have we been on the road?”

“About three and a half hours.”

He pushed his seat into a normal sitting position but didn’t speak any more. We fell into a silence that seemed to last a year.

“Let’s play a game, “ Josh finally said.

I looked over at him. I hoped he could read my unamused expression, despite the aviator sunglasses covering my eyes.

“What are we – five?” I asked harshly.

“No,” Josh replied as I turned back to the road. “Not all games are for children, you know.”

I wondered if he intentionally meant for that to have a second meaning.

“I don’t know hardly anything about you. So, I will make assumptions about you and you tell me if they are true or false. It will be up to you if you want to elaborate.”

I did not want to play this game. The less he knew about me, the better. Not to mention I was shit at opening up to people.

“And you can assume things about me too,” Josh added, as if it would make this ridiculous idea more appealing.

Still I said nothing.

“First assumption: You are not from the US,” Josh began regardless.

“True. I come from Germany,” I answered reluctantly.

“So that’s the language you and Thomas speak,” Josh realized.

“You really couldn’t figure that out, given our last names are Kaiser and Friedmann?”

“I’m not good at identifying nationalities.”

“What nationality is Hutcherson?”

“American.”

I snorted. Indeed.

“What?” Josh asked curiously.

“Nothing,” I replied.

Josh was silent for a moment, clearly unconvinced.

“If you’re German, you must love beer,” he assumed.

“False,” I answered.

“False?! I’ve never met a German who didn’t like beer.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”