Presidents, Spies, and Boys, Oh My!

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I took the stairs of the foyer two at a time. Reviewing my phone's screen, I researched popular shopping malls in Washington DC. I may be a spy, but that doesn't mean I don't like to shop. Suddenly, just as I was walking towards the front door, I bumped into a rigid wall of muscle. Stumbling and catching myself, I saw my barrier. Joshua stood in front of me, apologizing. I brushed off my shirt, even though I hadn't fallen over, and forced a polite smile. Memories of what happened last night filled my head. His lips. His hair. His body pressed against mine as we made out as if there was no tomorrow. I cleared my throat, immediately feeling the awkward tension between us. 

"Hi, Joshua." I said.

"Hey, Ember. What're you doing? You look...different." he said, his beautiful eyes sweeping me over.

I tried not to stare into the pools of gray and go lovestruck as I met his gaze. He watched me too and I knew he was remembering our night last night as well. Wow. 

"Your father gave me the day off today. I'm going shopping." 

He opened his mouth to speak, a smile creeping across his lips, but I predicted what he was going to ask just by reading his mischievous expression.

"No, you can't come. I already invited my friend Hayley." I lied.

Hayley was actually in Arizona with her mother. She's a part of Project N but, instead of living in a foster home, she lives with her parents who are both CIA agents working in Project N. She visited last summer. We did ridiculous touristy things, taking pictures and laughing at stupid (and sometimes dirty) jokes as if we were just two normal teenage girls. I haven't seen her since but sometimes we do message each other over Facebook. She's the only real friend I've ever had that's my age. The only friends I've ever really had are my trainers and my colleagues, who are all over twenty one and adults. I wonder how she'd react if she knew about Joshua... Last year when she visited, she tried to hook me up with this cute guy we saw at the Washington Monument. Turns out he was an MI6 agent chasing a notorious drug lord who planned on laundering money from the UK government. Why is it whenever I go places, I always seem to attract other spies? Honestly. I went to the Smithsonian in seventh grade and I met three spies there...or at least I assumed they were spies. They surely acted like them and talked like them but one can never be truly sure. 

"Oh, well then, you ladies will need a dashing prince to protect you." he said, winking at me and smiling mischievously.

I laughed, despite my best intentions, and punched his arm just like last night...except harder. He laughed too, grabbing his arm.

"I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself just fine, thank you very much. If I can protect the First Family from a terrorist attack single-handedly, I can protect myself and my friend. Now, step aside, Prince Charming."

I skirted around him, smiling. I could feel his eyes watching me from behind. I also knew where they would be staring at . To mock him, I swayed my hips a touch more. He laughed. Yup, I knew it. He's a typical guy. Stepping outside into the fresh June air, I sighed and got ready to begin my day off.

After driving around for an hour in my black 2013 Audi A4 sedan (a gift from Jonathan when I turned seventeen and got my driver's license), I stopped at the Smithsonian instead of the mall. Tourists and summer camp field trip groups filtered among the crowds of people. I parked my car in between a white Cadillac and a midnight blue Lexus. Taking the keys out of the ignition, I threw them into my purse and slung my purse over my shoulder. Once outside, I locked the doors with a special little gadget remote Simon (my secret spy-ware designer guy. Or my "Q") gave me before a mission to Italy once. I hadn't had the same car then (I was stuck with a mo-ped in Italy. A mo-ped) but he programmed it for my car once I got my beautiful black Audi. 

Mixing into the crowd with ease, I started my trek through the vast museum. I love coming here. Even as a kid, everything they had here drove me crazy. I always asked Addison to drive me here every weekend. Of course, I didn't go every weekend. I'm not that much of a nerd.

Checking out each exhibit, and bouncing into the usual tour group to listen to the guide, I let my mind wander. This is my place to think. Everybody has a thinking spot. Well, mine is here. Don't ask me why, it just turned out that way. Just as I was checking out Dorothy's ruby slippers, I saw a man in a suit walk by. To anyone, he would look like a simple businessman. Only a spy like me could see the little earpiece in his right ear. I looked around, scanning for anymore spies. I didn't see anymore spies but I did recognize another person. He sat on a bench, reading a book, but I knew better. I walked over to the man and cleared my throat. He looked up and smiled.

"Hey, look who it is! Ember Rhinehart. How are you doing, sweetheart? I haven't seen you since you were twelve. My God, you've grown so much." he said, putting his book down and standing up.

He hugged me. I hugged him back, smiling. My old trainer. Oh My God. Who knew? He was the one who taught me karate until my black belt. He always used to be in awe over how fast I learned compared to the other trainees my age. I was his, shall we say, "star student." He let go of me, placing his hands on his hips. His hair had grayed and he had a faint stubble growing on his face. I recognized his kind brown eyes though. Other than the gray hair and the stubble, he hadn't changed a bit. Agent David Darrel had not aged a day.  

"I'm doing great, David. The CIA's been treating me good. I've been on way too many missions to even keep count anymore. It's been amazing."

"I'm glad to hear that. I always knew you'd enjoy the spy life. You were that kind of kid. How old are you now?"

"I just turned seventeen a few months ago." I answered.

"Lord, has it really been five years since we last saw each other? I thought you were twenty three!"

I laughed. I am tall for my age. That plus my slender body adds to more people thinking I'm older than what I really am. I've gotten so used to it, though, that it doesn't even matter to me anymore. It used to bother me when I was younger.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. So, what brings you here today?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm running a training exercise for the new recruits. Do you remember doing this?"

I rolled my eyes.

"How could I forget? I was the only one who got caught." I answered.

He laughed, nodding. It had been embarrassing. I hadn't heard the end of it for weeks until I gained the top score in my class on my black-belt test for karate. 

"Oh, yes, I remember that. The look on your face was priceless."

I shrugged. I wish someone had gotten a picture so I could have seen what I looked like. 

"Yeah. But I still kicked that guy's ass four weeks later when we had the-"

I broke off as I saw a figure dart away from behind a building. I glanced over David's shoulder, recognizing the black hair instantly. Joshua followed me here! What kind of a spy am I, unable to loose a tail from a guy who isn't even another spy? Dammit. David furrowed his eyebrows, glancing back to see what I was looking at.

"Um, I'm sorry David. I have to go. It was nice seeing you again though." I said, smiling when he turned back around to face me.

I started to walk away, him yelling over to me, "Nice to see you again too, Ember!" Anger made my blood boil as I saw the black hair under a baseball cap. When I reached Joshua, I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a closet marked "Employees Only." He protested but my grip was too strong. Closing the closet and guarding the door since it had no lock, I glared at Joshua in the small space. It was a maintenance closet filled with cleaning supplies and brooms and mops.

"You. You followed me here!" I growled, angry as hell. 

Joshua smiled an evil little smile and nodded. His cobalt gray eyes were still gorgeous even though I was mad and we were in a dingy, dusty closet. 

"Yes, yes I did."