"Okay," she said, "what now?" His smile faded, and he paused.
"NIKITA," was his only answer. She shook her head, and proceeded to open the door. Then, stepping to the side, she motioned him to enter. Once they were inside, she turned and closed the door.
Throwing her keys on the counter, and walking over to the fridge, she spoke. "You know, one of these days, my CHARITY towards you is going to run out. I LOVE you and all, and we have shared a lot, but you are working my last nerve."
He paced around the room, taking in her decor, and submitting it to memory. "But," he began. She closed the door to her fridge, and twisting off the lid to her Mountain Dew bottle, took a large gulp. Then, placing the lid back on, she turned to him.
"But what?" He looked down, and fidgeted with the tiles on the floor with his toe.
"But, when SIMONE was alive..."
She shook her head, stopping him in mid sentence. "There will be no mention of her name in my house, you understand. You are my FRIEND, but there is just so much that I will endure, okay?" She waited, and after a few moments, he shook his head in agreement. She then walked across the room, and plopped down on the couch. After a long and awkward pause, he walked over, and sat down in the chair next to her.
"You know, they are thinking of bringing her up on TREASON charges," he said, "and when they asked my opinion, I said go ahead but you will have to take care of the other problem as well." She turned to him, as if confused. "You know. Her MOTHER put her up to it."
A look of disbelief crossed her face, and she flung her head back and laughed. "Has all intelligence suddenly made a mad ESCAPE from your brain?" she asked. He only looked on, in complete silence. "Or are you just living in a land of GRAY confusion?" He continued to look at her, not really registering any understanding. Then, feeling as if she had no CHOICE but to hear him out, she tried to RESCUE the conversation.
"Okay, lets just assume her intentions were INNOCENT, and when the moment came, she figured that the GAMBIT she was running would be in the best interest of the RECRUIT." He stared at her, squinting his eyes, as if deep in thought. Thinking to herself *geez, lets not bust a blood vessel here* she just let the idea sink in. Then, thinking maybe he needed more coaxing, she continued.
"She didn't come off as OBSESSED, perse, in my opinion, but there was definitely something 'MISSING' if you get my point." He nodded his head, a smile forming on his face, so bright, that his eyes twinkled. "And all the NOISE that was being made, could have been mistaken for VOICES, considering that they were practically in a WAR zone."
"Yeah," he said, "I guess you could see it that way. But then, it is a bit of a stretch. But I can see it being plausible." He stood, and walked across the floor. After a few moments, he turned and headed for the door. Opening it, and crossing the threshold, he turned back to her.
"Let me know when the VERDICT is in, and don't let them BRAINWASH you into believing anything but the reality of it, okay?" she asked. He nodded in agreement, still smiling. As he shut the door, she turned to the window, shaking her head, and speaking to no one in particular, said "Lord have MERCY on us all."
*******
Getting up and walking over to her steps in her apartment, she slipped on something, and had a HARD LANDING on the floor below. After a few moments, she regained her senses, and stood up. *What a way to start the day* she thought, then shook her head in disbelief.
She was supposed to have a meet in a little less than an hour, with some new SPECIAL OPS individual. The higher ups had thought it necessary to bring in a THIRD PERSON to help out with the current problem. That all suited her fine, because with the decision deadline rapidly drawing near, she felt as if she were APPROACHING ZERO anyway.
She had considered the possibility of going into MANDATORY REFUSAL, and just running away. Running as far and as fast as she could, but that was not like her. But, she had to admit, ever since the NEW REGIME had taken over, nothing was like it had been. She felt as if her life, or more accurately, her HALF LIFE, was no longer any part of her. She felt as if she were wandering in an unknown land, completely detached from herself. She knew that if she could get herself to understand the DARKNESS VISIBLE, as he put it, she would be okay. But that was easier said than done.
Opening the fridge, and taking out a Mountain Dew, she slammed back a big gulp, as the phone rang. She walked over to it, in serious contemplation of letting the answering machine get it. Then, thinking she would be better off meeting her problems head on, with an OPEN HEART, she picked up the receiver.
"Josephine..." the caller said. She rolled her eyes, and sighed.
"How many times have I told you, don't call me that. It freaks me out!!" The caller on the other end chuckled for a few moments, then stopped and cleared his throat.
"Well, they are willing to meet with us, on what we discussed. They say this will be considered our FIRST MISSION if the profile goes through. What do you think? Are you up to it?"
She didn't answer right away, while she tried to run all the possible scenarios through her head. Then, feeling that this early in the morning, that the FUZZY LOGIC she was enduring would give her one monster headache, she answered.
"Okay, when is the meet set for?" she asked.
"Well, you being the PSYCHIC PILGRIM that you are, I thought maybe you had picked up on the 'vibe' already." he answered playfully. She stood, tapping her foot in irritation, and waited. When she didn't answer, the caller got the point, and continued.
"Okay, the meet is at three this afternoon." he replied. As the finality of it all set in, she felt as if her stomach was being turned INSIDE OUT. When she didn't answer, he spoke again. "Hey, you okay there?"
She cleared her throat. " Yeah, I am fine. Its just, looking back on this all, it is a SOUL SACRIFICE on the line here, and I am not sure if I like the idea of that. I mean, OLD HABITS are hard to break, and even more so for these people."
The caller paused on the other side of the connection, then lowering his voice, tried to calm her fears. "As long as we stick together, we will get through this. The last time is no indication of this time. That NOT WAS anything like this time, and it will have no bearing on this outcome." He paused for a moment, then spoke again, a more playful tone in his voice.
"So, we still on for that DOUBLE DATE on Friday?" She smiled, and giggled, her mood suddenly lightened. He had always had a way of making her feel better, no matter what the situation.
"Yeah, we are still on. But listen mister, one hint of you getting anywhere OFF PROFILE, and the date is over, understand?" she replied.
There was a pause, the he answered. "I hope you are not referring to the LASTNIGHT we spent together. That was not my fault. How was I supposed to know that would happen?" He stammered, as if nervous, and she covered the phone receiver, giggling and enjoying every bit of it. "Besides, I swear, I had no idea that escargot was French for snails...who knew?"
She removed her hand from the receiver, and taking the most serious tone she could, she answered. "Just consider yourself warned. I would hate to be placed IN BETWEEN a rock and a hard place here." she warned.
"I totally understand," he replied. "Hey, think maybe I can make it up to you by taking you to that cute little restaurant on the shore...what's it called...ADRIANS GARDEN?"
She smiled. "I think that would do just fine. Then, we will see what type of END GAME we want to shoot for, okay?" He agreed wholeheartedly.
Before they hung up, he reminded her that he would be over soon to pick her up for the meet. As she placed the phone back on the cradle, she smiled, and walking up the steps to her bedroom, she hummed cheerfully.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She shifted uneasily in her chair, and he placed his hand on her leg, to calm her. She placed her hand on top of his, and glanced sideways at him, winking.
"I hope all our hard work and planning pays off," he said.
She continued to smile at him, then nodded a reassuring nod. "It will. We have thought it all out logically, and they will have no choice but to see it our way." Just as he was about to reply, the auburn haired woman came up to them.
"They will see you know," she said, then walked away. They both stood, and looking to each other for support, walked through the door, and entered the room.
As they took their place at the head of the briefing table, they began. "Hello, my name is Trace, and this is my partner Joel Surnow, and we are here to pitch an idea at you for a new television series....loosely based on the French movie....LA FEMME NIKITA...."
...........THE END