Searching for love

16

The house was quiet when I entered. I made a way to the kitchen. My appetite was back. That conversation had taken a lot more energy than anticipated. As soon as I entered four pairs of eyes stared back at me expectantly. "Where's Axel?", asked Serena. I ran my hand through my hair and shrugged and said, "um...he left? We broke up...". Silence followed my declaration and then chaos erupted. "What do you mean? Why? What happened?", screeched Rose. "But I thought you guys were in a really good place...like as soon as you got here you couldn't keep your hands off each other", Serena yelled. "Wait! Did he hurt you? I'll kill that bastard!", My dad's voice boomed loudly. Eren sipped on his wine as he stared out the window. My stomach clenched. Why I thought that he would be happy was beyond me. "Jeez, people! Calm down! It was mutual. We both decided we were not in this relationship for the right reasons and deserved better. We're still friends though. Axel never did anything wrong. I just don't love him romantically. That's all. Now I'm hungry so if you excuse me".

I stuffed my face with spaghetti as the room was silent once again. Abruptly Eren got up and pulled my father out of the kitchen. "We're going to go do some work. So, if you'll excuse us", Eren said breaking the silence, leaving with my father. As soon as they were out of sight Seren sighed and said, "Well, I guess Eren isn't as clueless as I thought. Let's have a girl's night". With those words, she headed to the refrigerator and grabbed some ice cream while Rose grabbed the candy and headed out. "Well, aren't you coming?", Rose said turning back to face me. I smiled a watery smile and followed them out.

This was my first girl's night and it was a different experience. It was wholesome and fun and the best time I had in my life. We watched movies while pigging out on ice cream and candy and then gossiped and danced all night long. "Thanks guys, for doing this. I feel much better and refreshed. I feel like I can face anything now", I laughed and said as we all caught our breath for the intense dance session. Rose giggled and said, "That's what we're here for. You can always depend on us. We'll be here through the good and bad times. I just wish that you lived here so we could spend more time together". I too wanted that. I wanted to live here with my father and friends. Now that Axel and I broke up living together would be weird. He was still my friend but I knew I couldn't live with him anymore. Truthfully he was all I had at Texas. "You know, I heard that they would select one of the trainees to move up to HD based on their performance. So there's a chance you could live here", Serena said breaking my thoughts. I quickly got up from my position and sat upright and said, "Really? That would be amazing! But I'm a specialized security agent and adept at the decoding, analysis, and monitoring field which is what HQ is for". Rose stood up and faced me and said, "That's true. Most of the people working in HQ aren't field agents and only focus on data collection and gathering but I heard that your father is thinking of including more field agents. There are only a few agents who are cross-trained like Eren, Serena, and myself. We rely on the CIA too much when it comes to fieldwork, so Aiden thought it would be a good idea to increase the number of agents who could go out in the field and work on data gathering and decoding. There's only a few of us who could go out like that, specifically only my squad which consists of ten people. There are a few other units that hold those cross-trained people. But they are needed at the HQ and can't go out to the field a lot". Serena nodded and said, "You'll probably need to go through a lot of training and won't be out in the field as much but it's always an option. You should talk to Aiden about it".

I padded softly to my father's office. Rose and Serena had just left. It was around noon and I had freshly showered. My hair was still wet and I was in some yoga pants and a tank. I heard Eren and my dad's voice from within the study. Were they still working? I wanted to talk to dad, was it a good time? Well, they need a break anyway. I headed to the kitchen, whipped up some sandwiches and some coffee, and headed back to the office. I knocked on the door before entering the room. My dad was standing by the window, reading some documents while Eren was typing away on a laptop. At my entrance they both stopped what they were doing. "Hey sweetheart, how are you?", my dad said softly leaving his papers on his already littered desks. I smiled and set the tray with food down and said, "Good. Rose and Serena left a bit ago. I got lunch". My father smiled and grabbed a sandwich and his mug of coffee. Eren too got up and stretched a bit before grabbing a sandwich and coffee. His hair was tousled and his coat was off. His tie was loose and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled to his elbows. My father too was looking similar in appearance. "Thanks", Eren muttered before taking a bite of his sandwich. I smiled and grabbed one too and sat down on the floor. "Hey, dad. I wanted to talk to you about something. Is now a good time?",I asked hesitantly. "Yes of course. We were just about done anyway", he said. Eren made a move to leave but I called out and said to him, "you don't have to leave! You can stay...", I trailed off. He simply sat back down and took a swig of his coffee. "So, I was thinking that I would like to move back...home. I don't have anything for me in Texas and want to...well stay with you. I was just wondering if there's any way I could transfer her? I know my ciphering and coding skills aren't that strong. I only started working on it two years ago...but I was hoping there was...something".

"Do you like working at the NSA?", my father simply asked. Stunned at the question I stared at my father. Did I like working here? I mean it was a decent job. At points, it was stressful and sometimes exciting, but truthfully I never really enjoyed it. I just did it because? Why? I don't even know why I joined. "Umm. I don't really know. But I-", I paused and stood up and paced the room as I tried collecting my thoughts. "I love working at the NSA. When I first joined I had another perspective of the job, in the end, it wasn't anything like I thought it would be. Some of my friends who joined the NSA with me ended up leaving and joining the CIA or FBI. So, it's okay if you want to switch to something that suits you better", Eren said calmly looking into my eyes. "Being in the NSA made me feel closer to the people I love. My father, Axel...I met people really important to me here and that's what kept me here so long. Thank you Eren! Thanks, dad! I think I know what my next steps are!", I said excitedly and bounded to hug my dad. He laughed and hugged me back. I smiled warmly at Eren and said, "Thanks! What you said, really opened up my eyes". He nodded at me and raised his coffee mug and took a sip. With my mind made up I left the study in search of my future.