Twice Upon A Time

Part 16- Meeting Josh

Aubrey's POV:

"Wait. I'm coming with you." The mechanic fixing the neighbor's car shouted.

Oh. It's Dad. I have to get used to his ridiculous disguises.

"For what?"

"Your meeting with Josh tonight."

"You're not coming, Dad. Me and Mom are going already. I would have gone alone, but Mom didn't want to leave me alone in a terrible situation like this."

"But I have to."

"It's not gonna happen, Dad. You were never there in my life in the first place anyway. So why now? Leave. And go back to whichever hole you crept out of."

"Aubrey, listen to me! Listen!!"

Wait. Was that a British accent? (British, as in Londoner's accent?)

"I've known that chap much longer than you have known him! Josh's a brilliant bloke. But we have some unfinished business between us. I'm coming, regardless if you like it or not."

"Wait. Are you British?!" I exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Mom came out finally to drive me to the petrol pump nearest to our college. She seemed thunderstruck as well.

"British?! Who?!" She enquired.

"Brad Pitt!" I exclaimed sarcastically. "Dad! Who else?!"

"But that's impossible. I've known him for more than 20 years. Believe me honey, if he was, I'd be the first to know."

"Well, it appears you aren't. I'm indeed British. Born and brought up in Chiswick, London. It appears that I have concealed my accent rather remarkably well. As you know, most agents are surprisingly good with fake American accents, if not with their families, and especially... their daughters." Dad nodded at me.

I rolled my eyes.

"A'right, get in, ladies. Buckle up and le'me drive."

And he was about to start the car,

"Oh and erm, one other thing. My name's not really Brian. So you actually ended up taking the wrong name at the altar. And also while filing for a divorce."

"Just do me a favor? Don't get married to Josh." Mom whispered to me. "Don't marry a mysterious, cocky British agent whose actual name you won't know even at your deathbed."

The journey was brisk and it didn't take long before we reached there.

[Author: Pic at the top depicts Josh in his signature leather-coat and dark-shaded jeans]

Sweet Jesus! There he was!! All handsome, and smiling and... gorgeous, just looking a bit rough and scrubby, which's to be expected of course after having to run here and there for several weeks on end.

"Oi, darling, my sweetheart!" He greeted me with a warm, long kiss and lifted me up in those strong arms. Finally we parted, the sense of my parents' eyes on me, but the thought of the kiss was still lingering and kept me blushing.

Josh hugged Mom. And...

"Oh..." He was halted in his tracks to see Dad, but still not surprised.

Dad walked up to him. And he just... punched Josh.

"Well, good to see you too, ol' mate." Josh replied.

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!" I shouted at Dad. Mom joined in...

"HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND? THE LITTLE THAT WAS LEFT ANYWAY?!"

"You're... You're one... You're a... Le'me tell you. You're a... You're.. erm. What's the word? Yes! A chameleon!" Dad seemed to fish for the worst insult available. And that seemed to satisfy him.

"Be nice. I did save your life though, Arthur."

"Arthur, so that's your actual name then?" Mom enquired.

"Aaron, you made me go through hell! Just because of your incompetence!! That was not. Part of the plan."

"Don't be daft, Artie. That was my only option. And contrary to popular belief, saving your life was indeed important to me." Then he turned to Mom and said, "Well, yes and no, Mrs. Smith. Neither of our actual names start with A." And then, just as I was about to open my mouth, he said, "No. Not even Aarush. We go by many different names. We never use our actual names even in life-threatening situations, mainly because all our personal identities before becoming agents are erased from every database available to mankind."

"We?!" Mom asked.

"MI6. Both of us. The British Secret Service. Year 2014. Josh stops an underground railway station from being blown to smithereens. Part of the MI6 plan to save our recruits on that train. Josh ended up being unable to save anyone, memories which haunt him even now. And everything else thereafter was an arrangement. Thanks to Lithium-1, the terrorist organization which has been committing mass murder all around the globe, the CIA wanted Josh on loan from the MI6, under the false pretense cover of a college freshman or whatever. Luckily for us, we have still got one or two friends left in the CIA. The CIA wanted Josh desperately. The British Government got what it wanted in exchange for him from the US Government:- the US Government's support in Great Britain's legislature to leave the European Union. Yeah, some bloody past he's got. But he's a good man nonetheless. A brilliant man in fact, ignoring the fact that you tried to kill me." Dad shot him a stare.

"I didn't. Station M? Remember? The Russian KGB said they wouldn't leave unless they saw your dead body. I made the only arrangement I could."

"So you blew my cover?! Do you even have the slightest notion what I've been through because of that silly decision of yours?"

"Of the many things you can call me, for heaven's sake, listen to yourself, Arthur! Just listen to yourself! I'm not dull. How else would I have saved your arse?! The handover was coming up. And I made the only decision I could if I wanted to keep you alive. The KGB would have killed you, after torturing you for days. You know it bloody well. Blowing your cover meant all the insiders and terrorists knew who you are and your life was threatened. But also the fact that you would be rendered useless. And the KGB would be better off without a non undercover agent. In my defense, I know the enormous set of skills you possess as a senior MI6 agent. Snipers would still be pawns to you. I gave you a 50%, or rather I'll say 70% chance of survival from a 100% guaranteed death situation. You do the math."

"Oh, thanks a ton, mate. We are good. I'm grateful." Dad replied in a seethingly sarcastic tone.

"Oh, don't mention, Artie. I love you too, mate." Josh replied in an even more sarcastic tone.

"So... How many more secrets have you been keeping, Josh? Or whatever your actual name is. But I'm just gonna stick with Josh for now."

"Well, Bree, apparently, I'm not the only one keeping secrets. Actually, I asked you to visit me here tonight not because of my troubles and my past, for a change. But because of your own past."

"What do you mean?!"

"Really? Do I have to be the one to tell her everything? Seriously?" Josh looked at my parents.

"See? This is what he does. He destroys my life." Dad blurted out.

"Aah yes! Keeping the truth from your own daughter is soooo morally honest. How can you sleep at night lying to your own daughter day in and day out? Both of you."

At this point, I was really getting freaked out.

"Well, don't just stand there!! Talk to me!!" I screamed.

"Dad???!! C'mon, say something."

"Mom...?!" I asked like a five year-old begging her parents for ice-cream.

"Well????!" I enquired.

The silence was really killing me. So annoying.

"Stop this soap opera and answer me!! ANSWER ME NOW!!"

Mom bit her lip. She spoke up.

"Okay, sweetheart. But before telling you anything, you ought to know that whatever we did, it was for your own good. So no matter how much you hate us after hearing this, at the end of the day, you will realise whatever we did was for your own welfare..."

And then came the biggest shock of my life.