𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞

Vanessa Vaughan

"Welcome back, V, how was it?" A familiar cheerful voice greeted her.

The agent didn't look up to meet her best friend's eyes. "Uh, it was good."

"Really? I wouldn't consider you would actually know since you've been glued to that phone of yours the whole time."

"How would you know?" She continued swiping and replying to a bunch of emails, one by one.

"Your mom called me, she said you even suggested your stay in Aspen to be cut short because you couldn't stop focusing on work."

Vanessa looked up and noticed Giselle for the first time that morning. "She wasn't supposed to tell you that."

Giselle rolled her eyes. "V! Your Christmas vacation with your mother is supposed to be relaxing."

"But there's so much to do and not enough time-"

"To do it? Nope, there's plenty of time. You're a crazy workaholic, and I don't understand why you let it ruin your poor mother's Christmas."

Vanessa looked up at her friend. "Oh come on now, don't give me that. You'd be a hypocrite for saying you haven't done the same."

Giselle scoffed, sitting on the arm of a chair that stood in front of Vanessa's desk. "At least I don't take my work with me on vacation."

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "So what do you want me to do? Ignore everybody?"

Giselle shook her head, her voice remained calm. "I'd like you to do what you said you would, leave work behind for a week and enjoy vacation. Especially at Christmas."

Vanessa felt a spark of guilt, but tried to suppress it. She knew Giselle would understand, she would just give her a hard time now but it would all be over the moment she walks out of here.

Vanessa sighed. "Alright, but now that I'm back, I really have to focus."

Giselle continued as she stood. "You promise me right now that you're going to make it up to your mother."

Vanessa's mouth hung slightly open. "I didn't do anything! We still had Christmas, it was very good."

Giselle took a stern stance, a lot similar to the one Vanessa's mother would stand when she about to get her in trouble. "You have to promise."

Vanessa sighed, dreadfully she surrendered so Giselle could leave. "Fine. I promise I'll call her or something."

Giselle shook her head. "Alright, now that you're back, we need to focus."

"Uh, hello, that's what I've been saying this whole time," Vanessa smiled.

Giselle was about to leave when Darla came through the door. "Good morning, Giselle."

"Good morning and good luck," Giselle teased as she walked out.

"I take it you're still playing the 'I'm-too-busy' card?" Darla walked in and stopped before Vanessa.

Vanessa sighed. "It's not a card, it's an actual excuse. The work keeps piling and I just can't ignore it."

Darla was always one of the few people Vanessa could trust would somehow understand what busy meant. As the head of secretary and the assistant of not only her former boss, but now Vanessa and her co-workers, she sure knew when it was time to bow out.

Unlike certain people lately. She thought about Giselle and all of her mini lectures.

"I'm sure you have a lot of things to do since getting back. How was Aspen, by the way?"

Vanessa looked up from her computer monitor, seeming uninterested to discuss the failed vacation once again. "It's really beautiful this time of year."

Darla raised a brow, as though she didn't believe her. Vanessa decided to change the subject. "Why? Planning on going somewhere with a certain someone."

Darla stood taller, her cheeks slightly warmed. "No. It was just a general question," she cleared her throat, "I'm glad you had a good time, that's all."

Vanessa smiled to herself. Out of all things, she always had the time to dish certain things out, especially when it came to romance in the workplace. Since Bourne's unofficial retirement, she didn't see him as much anymore, which meant she had to get the recent news from somebody else's mouth, leading her to tease the only person she could.

"So, anything updated since I left?" Vanessa was eager to learn.

Darla pulled a few sheets of paper out of a folder. "These men, they've been discovered and arrested."

Vanessa reached her hand out to retrieve the papers so she could inspect it. It had been almost five months since the Warner case, and only recently had they fully terminated it. Warner was in jail and had been due to suffer for a while. As for his men, they had been finally found and put behind bars now as well.

"Finally. Now we can move on and put this all behind us."

Darla gave a small smile. "Yes, although we still have to make sure we're monitoring those kids."

Vanessa looked up at her. "Of course. Oh, how is Blake doing?"

Darla's smile turned brighter. "Well, let's just say he's getting there... very slowly."

Vanessa chuckled. "Poor kid, doesn't know who he's dealing with."

The corner of Darla's eyes slightly crinkled whenever she showed a real smile. "Yes, but I think it'll be good for him, and for Micheal."

No matter how many times Bourne has said he was leaving the agency, somehow he still shows up to "check on things" and make sure his agency hasn't come crashing to the ground. Although one would think it'd be annoying, Vanessa secretly loves it when he comes around to visit her. Most recently, though, he's been taking the opportunity to help out the new recruits in their selective field, and rumour has it that he's having a blast doing it as well.

"Well I'm happy for them," Vanessa smiled.

Darla returned to her regular assistant role and started outlining Vanessa's day. "At noon you have a short meeting with the tech subdivision and work out some functions of a new program. Then after that you're pretty much clear for the rest of the afternoon, although your boss would like to see you once before you leave."

Vanessa inwardly cringed whenever anybody would mention him as her boss. He didn't feel like her boss. She didn't think of him as one. And he definitely didn't see her as his employee... they were more of co-workers. Partners. Friends, even. It made a weird feeling in the pit of Vanessa's stomach. In all honesty, she was slightly nervous about seeing him in his office today. She didn't know what he wanted or what he was going to say.

Until then, she had to keep herself very busy, which felt the easiest at the moment.

"Thank you, Darla," she called before the woman proceeded to walk out of her office.

Vanessa's mind began to swirl a little more than before due to the immense amount of emails she was receiving and all of the things she had to catch up on since her leave. She hoped things could start to calm down for once.

I can only hope at this point.

A/N

first chapters r always hard 😫
[but i hope you enjoyed lol]