Betrayal's Embrace

Enemies in Transit

Katy's Point of View.

"You can't really tell me that you're still sulking over everything that happened. You know this operation could end with me dead, right? You still want this round?"

Jackson sighed as we made our way to the airport. He wouldn't even stare into the rearview mirror. At this point, staring at my face annoyed him.

"If you know that you might not return, then why are you still choosing to pursue this?" His question stung. Now it was my turn to look away.

"You would take this if you were in my shoes."

He gave a dry laugh. "Oh, so now you're trying to guilt trip me, huh? I see you're tired of being nonchalant."

"I'm just doing my job. Trust me when I say it has nothing to do with the unnecessary feud we've both been allowing to go on between us for the past five years."

"Yeah, right." The way he said that made it quite obvious it was nothing but a bluff to him.

"Look, if you're going to be my backup, we need to squash whatever this is, at least for now."

"I kind of have no other option, so yeah. I agree. And kindly personally tell Mrs Smith I am not a fan of her games. She knew we were at odds and somehow I find myself driving you to the airport like we're buddies or I'm your boyfriend, whatever it is, I'm not a fan."

"Well, first of all, you might want to pass on the message yourself. After all, you've always been known as the gutsy one and secondly, you might want to smile. Trust me when I say I do not like sitting in this van with you either, it's just something that happens. Enemies get paired sometimes."

He finally looked into the mirror with an expression, I immediately knew what his little mind was thinking. "It seems you've been doing a lot of contemporary romance reading."

"Boy please, don't let your head wander. I meant exactly the opposite of what you are thinking."

He thought this for a second, a smirk clinging to his lips. "Ah, if you say so. But I know what I heard."

I thought I was frustrated to my limit already. Maybe I wasn't. "Okay, I would really appreciate it if you just kept quiet. I would kill for a quiet ride at this point, alright? Alright."

He didn't say any other thing, but that irritating smile remained. I knew he was just doing that to earn my annoyance and boy, was it working. When we got to the airport and I collected my luggage, his words weren't exactly kind but they weren't harsh either when he asked me to be careful out there.

"Thank you," I said. Maybe this moment could mark our friendship to its beginning, right?

"Yeah, whatever." He said and put the car back in gear. Definitely not going to be friends. Never.

I knew what I had in my heart and the further I walked into the checkpoint, my heart thudded into my ears. My stomach grumbled loudly and the headache I had been fighting for a while ached. Watching TV shows all these years, we always screamed our faces out to the television when something was about to go wrong. At this point, I was back at that place.

I felt like screaming because, for some reason, I couldn't point out, it seemed like something was going to go wrong anyway and no amount of intense training to train me for everything this job required, would shake that.

***

According to Mrs Smith, it was all set up. I was going to land in Washington DC and someone would be waiting. Yet, here I was, sitting sitting in the waiting room and nibbling on a half-done burger. Great! Job hadn't even begun yet and I was already having bad experiences. Just as I was about to get up and take a stroll, a stern-looking man walked into the halls with a cardboard over his head;

: JOSIE PHILLIPS.

"Finally," I muttered, raising my hands over my head and waving. He walked in my direction.

"I'm sorry that I did not get here at the scheduled time, I was kind of in a pickle. The pick-up truck developed a flat tire, it was not expected. Sorry." He said, grabbing my bag.

I didn't want to begin being a kill buzz.

"Oh, it's okay. Besides, I'm hungry. Very starved at that."

He smiled small. "Hmm, good for you. Cook was in the middle of preparing something wonderful." I liked the way he said it, it was music to my ears. We both started making our way to his car. "Okay, see the thing is we don't really say we're hungry in front of the boss. He doesn't quite like to hear it."

Ridiculous, still I tried my best to keep my brows down and my lips... 'unpursed'. Deciding to ask the more important question, "Huh, so what do we say?"

"We wink at each other."

I laughed at that. When he didn't join in... Oh, he was actually serious... This man had to be a beast to ban such a natural statement like that. "Wait, you're serious."

He nodded. "Mm-hmm, cook requested that I tell you as soon as I get here. Thank God you brought it up."

"Well, what if I say I'm hungry without seeking to be disrespectful, what then? He'll have my head in his soup?"

"Perhaps." He shrugged. He must have seen the look of terror on my face because he went on to shake his head. "No, no. I didn't mean it like that. I meant... Just don't try to do it. It does not really end well to go against what he has commanded."

"Ah, but he hasn't really told me anything... So, I'm still kind of excused even when it comes to that aspect."

"Yes, but you do get to have a small talk with him. That's where he tells you everything. You can't escape it. Sorry."

"Great."

By the time we were home, I was exhausted. The plane ride didn't quite do the number on me like the bumpy ride back home did. My toes felt like rubber as I walked out of the car. The house was on a lonely ground. We'd only passed two to three houses for a mile before getting here. Either this man really preferred his privacy, or the man was a stone-cold killer with a small sense of responsibility. It definitely wasn't the first option.

"You didn't tell me I was going to be on another plane ride," I said, stretching as I walked. He chuckled.

"Okay, you didn't tell me you were a comedian."

I smiled. He wasn't the only person who had said that. "Well, I try to be. I'm not exactly Charles Benton, now am I?"

"No, you're not."

I scanned the environment. The trees were tall and the birds that was as audible as an opera singer. The water that surrounded the house calmed the fear that I felt creeping into my heart. This place was isolated. Perhaps too isolated. Somehow this discovery suddenly seemed more stern than the numerous exclamation marks the chief gave me. That is after Mrs Smith had done her own talking.

"Wait, so how do you get groceries down here?"

"There's a private jet."

"Ha ha, very funny."

He kept a straight face. "Well, thanks but I wasn't really looking to be."

"No way."

"Yes, way."

"Well, if there's a private jet, why wasn't I just picked up from the airport? You could have saved yourself a whole lot of stress there."

"I'm his bodyguard and I've never been on that jet before. It's so much more than just a ride."

"Ah, how very... Kind of him." I said and he chuckled, reminding me. "You know, I didn't really get your name. What was it again?"

"Morris, sorry I kinda forgot to tell you before. And I forgot to ask yours, I mean I know, but for manner's sake... Um... What is your name?"

He was cute. "Josie Philips."

He smiled. "Nice to meet you, Josie."

"The pleasure is certainly mine, Morris." I had questions and since Morris was being kind, which was completely opposite of his leather jacket. "I have a question for you, it might sound crazy being that I have a job to get onto and all that but—"

"Just ask your question."

"Hmm, well, what do housekeepers do here basically, and this cook, well... Is it a she or a he?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but never did. Someone else was speaking.

"Well, you basically keep the house. And cook's a lady." His eyes... His eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue, but I knew that if I didn't stop staring now and say something, anything, really.

"Um... Hi. You're... You're the guy..." Oh, why did I say that? Four years of training and that was all my smart head could utter. Mrs Smith would weep if she heard.