Hidden Tracks | ✓

40 | burning red

"Kaia."

I was having breakfast at the hotel with Miranda, trying my best to pretend everything was still platonic between Soler and I.

But apparently, she was having none of it.

"What was going on with you and Marco last night? And don't lie to me, Agent. I'll be able to see right through it."

Shit. When she used the Agent card, I felt compelled to tell her everything, somehow.

I gulped, my eyes not meeting Miranda. "Um, some stuff happened, that's all." When I saw her glaring, I finally gave in. "Fine, we kissed. But it won't interfere with our mission in any way, Miranda, you don't need to worry about our professionali--"

"I don't care about that! I know you two, and of course you won't let this mess with the mission! But oh my god, Kaia, you don't know how happy this makes me! I've been noticing this tension between you two since day one, ever since you started bickering on the plane."

She was sporting a wide grin. My jaw dropped. "What?"

"Yeah, even when you were fighting on the plane to London, I could tell there was something beneath the surface, under all those glares and smart remarks. You're forgetting I've been in a relationship for a long time now, and Agent Gupta and I kind of--well, we kind of started out this way too."

I leaned forward. "Really?"

She nodded, and for the first time in my life, I saw Agent Miranda Liu's cheeks colour. My lips stretched involuntarily in a slow grin.

"Yeah, um, Soraya and I were partners in an assignment but we didn't get along at all at first. Our fights weren't as heated as yours were, definitely, but we still weren't on good terms. But then, towards the end of the mission, I saved her from the attack of a rogue agent, and after that she finally warmed up to me. And gradually, after returning from the mission, we began to spend more time with each other, and...well, it led to a relationship."

I smiled. "That's a pretty great story to tell your kids. How I met your mother."

She laughed. "Shut up, Kaia. We're not thinking of kids anytime soon, and yeah, before you say anything, I get your reference."

I hesitated. "Um, can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Go on."

"Did you always know you were part of the LGBTQ+ community, or did you realise it after meeting Agent Gupta?"

She seemed unbothered by my question. "No, I'd figured out I was a lesbian at about 15 years of age. I was at the agency, and I used to watch other female agents train, so I could learn from them. But soon I realised I was getting attracted to some of them, and at first I dismissed it as a phase, but then later on, I saw it wasn't. That's when I knew. Agent Gupta was different. She figured out she was bisexual after we developed feelings for each other."

I nodded. It was hard getting accepted as a lesbian couple, but I thanked god everyday that TIA wasn't like that. We were an open minded agency which didn't prohibit relationships at work (straight or not), as long as they didn't mess with professionalism.

Just then, Soler came sauntering over to our table, freshly showered and sporting a charcoal grey t-shirt with jeans. His dark hair was still wet and just looking at him made my stomach flip a little. So I looked down at my food and pretended to be engrossed in the strawberry yogurt.

I couldn't believe how far I was from the girl who'd started out on this mission. That girl would never feel these things towards him, would never let her heart beat faster when she saw him come close. That girl would scoff at the idea of ever developing feelings for him and would gag at the thought of kissing him.