Clashing Obsessions

Chapter 10 - Agent Cassanova

"Rachel."

I stare at my cereal bowl, pushing a few flakes around aimlessly with my spoon. Ignoring the voice.

"Rachel, come on." The voice persists. I continue to ignore it. Oh, how interesting this cereal flake is...

The voice sighs. "We'll have to talk about this eventually."

"Oh, you want to talk about it?" I snap, looking up from my bowl to lock eyes with Becca. "Why the hell did you let my parents in? I told you—"

"You told me you had 'family problems'," she says, emphasizing the term with air quotes. "Clearly, there's more going on than that."

"That shouldn't matter! I told you we didn't get along, that should've been a good enough explanation for you! Instead, you, what, invite them in for dinner?"

"I didn't invite them, they just showed up at our door. What was I supposed to do, turn them away?"

"Yeah. That's exactly what you should've done."

"Well, I— Maybe I would have, if I actually knew what was going on. With everything. Working late, ignoring my messages, whatever this, this feud is with your parents?"

I've had enough cereal. While carrying my bowl to the dishwasher, I answer her in an annoyed monotone.

"I'm working late because I have a busy job. I wasn't ignoring your messages, I just forgot to check them. And, frankly, my parents are none of your business."

As I head upstairs to get dressed for work, I try to block it all from my mind — my parents, my conversation with Becca, everything but the day ahead. I don't want to think about the monsters in my family anymore, let alone talk about them. They've taken too much from me already, even invading what was supposed to be a restful sleep. Despite having tried to push the thoughts out of my headspace, last night I dreamt of dark closets, cold, icy rooftops and echoes of shouting in the dark.

I snatch my UNBI windbreaker off the back of my desk chair and throw it on, then march down the stairs and out the door, determined not to think about how today started. I'll feel better once I'm at work, I know it.

* * *

Upon arriving at the UNBI office building and scanning my ID on the check-in monitor, a message pops up telling me to meet Captain Rhonsen in five minutes. I hurry up the stairs and into his office, where he and Agent Grey are already waiting.

"Agent Cassanova." He nods in greeting as I walk in, and gestures to an empty chair.

"Captain. Did I miss anything?" I ask, sitting down, and Grey tells me that they were just waiting for me.

"I've read Agent Grey's report on your progress on the Codebreaker case so far, and I'm quite impressed," the captain says. "Your plan with Evan has been greenlit by the board, and in order to help you better run the operation, we'd like you both to travel to Tokyo and oversee it from there. If that's OK with you, of course."

A quick glance over at my partner tells me he's considering the possibility.

"It's OK with me," I say. For a second, my girlfriend comes to mind, but I dismiss the concern. I'll let her know after the meeting, and it's just one case, I'll be back as soon as it's done.

As if he was reading my mind, Grey asks,

"What about Becca? Shouldn't you ask her?"

"She'll be fine with it." Well, I can convince her, anyway. "This is more important. I mean— I don't mean more important than her, just, you know, this is urgent, and— uh, she'll be fine with it."