A/N Edited.

"Are you done with the ending?" I asked as I glance at him. I was lying on my stomach with my elbows propped over on the bed while fiddling with the keyboard of my laptop. On the other hand, Wade was sitting by my desk. He looked focused on doing the animation with his brows furrowed together with a big amount of concentration on each segment. I didn't know why but a small smile crept on my lips while looking at him. If he looked like that every day, you wouldn't have known he's a narcissistic and arrogant jerk.

See? This is definitely a 100% yes!

Still a no, now zip it.

"Shut up, I'm almost done, don't ruin the mood," he replied while still keeping his eyes on the computer monitor looking intently. "Chill, I was just asking," I replied as I raised my hands up in surrender indicating that I had no intention of starting another argument since I just asked

*****

After a few reruns and polishing, we're done. "Finally! A masterpiece!" he exclaimed. We were at my desk and I turned to look at him, surprised to actually take this subject seriously. He leaned back on his seat, smiling victoriously as I raise my eyebrows impressed that we may have actually finished the whole animation ahead of our classmates.

The animation started with a female spy who hiding behind the bushes near an abandoned factory. A guy comes into the picture as he walks his way home until he notices the spy. Because of curiosity, the guy went to her and asked what she was doing there, etc. which ended up with the guy being dragged into the situation. They get chased and the guy madly runs behind the spy. They hid somewhere along the dark alley hoping to blend in with the darkness and shadows. They were able to get away from the situation. To their surprise, the next days, they were schoolmates. So they always ate lunch together because they needed to talk about the situation and the spy explained that she needed to retrieve the Jade stones because the bad guys took it and it was the treasure of the country, Jade. They came up with a strategic plan. It succeeded but the spy got into a tragic car accident, she got hit by a car which resulted in brain damage that left her in a coma.

Not so happy ending. I smiled in satisfaction, "That was beautiful, I like it," I said as Wade and I, who seemed to be also smiling, turned to each other at the same time. Now we were staring with smiles on our faces, a few inches apart. I got lost once again in his blue eyes. Dammit. After god knows how long we were looking at each other and slowly realizing that it has becoming weirder by the second, we simultaneously looked away and I felt my cheeks blush. I heard Wade clear his throat.

Just as on cue to save me from humiliation, "Jess! Time to eat dinner!" Mom shouted from downstairs. I immediately shot up and scrambled from my chair, leaving Wade who had a shocked look on his face.

"We're coming, Mom!" I shouted back as I headed out of my room.

******

Wade's POV

I didn't what possessed me to actually become serious about a project for once but when we both watch the animation we made together, I can't help but be very sad about the ending. Although I felt a small pang of disappointment, I was still happy with the outcome. I was sitting beside her on the cream-colored desk and two chairs in her room. I took a small glance at her and saw that she was smiling to herself as she watched her part of the animation unfold. Seeing the way her eyes sparkle and her lips turn in a slight smile makes me feel uneasy.

Once I was done with my work, I smiled victoriously to myself. We decided to merge our parts and watched the animation unfold from beginning to end. "That was beautiful, I like it," Jess breathed out as she smiled. It was different from the smiles that I have usually seen. This time, there was an ounce of sincerity and a tinge of another emotion I couldn't point out. I glanced at her. She's beautiful to me, although she doesn't even know it because she thinks I only see her as her nerd disguise, even when she's wearing it in school, she's still beautiful. More than those prissy girls (brats) I used to date. Something about her makes me want to get to know her more. We were inches from each other and I could see her features more closely. I couldn't help but notice that she actually had a small unnoticeable scar on her right temple.

I didn't notice that we were staring at each other's faces for quite a while now and snapping from my reverie, we simultaneously looked away and I cleared my throat. I wouldn't want her to think I was weird or something.

"Jess! Time to eat dinner!"

She quickly got up and headed out. "We're coming, Mom!" I heard her say.

I also jolted from my position resulting in falling butt first on the floor and accidentally hitting the standing lamp beside the study desk. I am more surprised when I started to hear weird sounds from the bedside counter and it suddenly began to move!

Holy moly! There, revealed a small door enough to crawl inside. This must be a secret passage to a secret room. Because of curiosity, I slowly and cautiously crawled into the small hole leading me to a room.

Jess is not here and there is another room in a wall of her bedroom. What are you supposed to even do? So I entered, knowing really well she'll kill me. Well, at least I'll die with my curiosity satisfied.

The room was white, very white, in fact, it almost blinded my eyes plus the artificial lights hanging on the ceiling. I squint my eyes as they adjust to the brightness of the room.

I scanned the whole room before me. I saw guns. Yes, guns. Different kinds are stacked on the wall similar to a department store. I looked in the far corner of the room and saw polaroid pictures hanging by the walls, some cut-out pictures from newspapers and magazines, and the typical set-up for detectives. My eyes scanned the pictures of random people, some were even mugshots, and one picture caught my eye.

Is that me?

I walked closer to examine the picture. I don't remember this being taken since it was a photo of me sleeping. It's the time when I came over to her. I had very messy hair and my eyelids were closed shut. When did she have time to take this picture? Why didn't I notice it?

"Where are you? It's time for dinner!" I heard a voice and I immediately panicked. Yes, I am panicking that she might actually really kill me or something. I scrambled quickly and crawled my way out of the secret room.

"What took you so long? What were you doing?" she eyed me suspiciously as she crossed her arms over her chest. I gulped. What do I say? Should I say that I accidentally went into the room on her wall, thinking it was the way out? So dumb, I know.

"Um...Ah....Eh.....," I mumbled as I think of the most reasonable reason while scratching the back of my head. I got nothing. I sighed in defeat and she seemed to keep up with what happened.

"Why did you enter that room?" she took a step closer to me and I felt my breath hitched. She was glaring at me as she tapped her foot on the floor, waiting for my reply. I looked at her eyes then darted towards her lips. Why did it look so soft? Wrong time, snap out of it, you idiot!

I shook my head, "Because I thought that was the way out?" I reasoned out. I had no other choice, man. In a blink of an eye, I was on the floor clutching my stomach. "What was that for?" I shouted as I clutch my stomach in pain.

"You went into that room!" she fired back with the same intensity my voice had. I didn't know why she made this a big deal. It's not like I stole a gun or something.

"What's the big deal?!"

"THE BIG DEAL IS......you know what, never mind. Just get the hell out of my room," she sighed exasperatedly and she opened the door for me to get out. I didn't move at all. She dragged me out and pushed me towards the door. She was surprisingly strong.

"Do you also want me to push you and let you fall down the stairs? I would do a favor to humanity," she snapped. I raised my hands up in surrender and went to greet Mrs. Parker.

"What took you two so long?" Mrs. Parker asked with a smirk on her face as she put the food on the table. The aroma of a Hoisin-Skillet Salmon and Chicken Fajitas. The mere aroma of the hoisin-glazed salmon made me emotional because reminded me of something from the past.

"So how's school?" Mrs. Parker started off and broke the awkward silence.

"Good," we both said in unison. Mrs. Parker chuckled.

*****

Jessica's POV

I am so mad at that shameless, thick-headed prick! I could feel my blood boiling and the heat radiating off my head because of what happened earlier. Of all the places he could have winded up, it had to be the private room.

After dinner, I immediately shoved him out of the house and bid my goodbyes. He seemed to have given me a confused look but I just glared at him and shut the door in front of his face. Good thing my mom also left after eating. I think she needed to take care of something at HQ. I quickly went to my room upstairs.

I can't have him walking around the private room. I glance at my window and saw him get on his vehicle and drove off. I walk by the desk and moved the standing lamp to reveal the entrance to the private room. Every time we move for a mission, we were given a private room for discussions and weapons storage. Him going in there will only cause trouble, not only with my parents but with the agency if they found out since Wade is a client.

He is only a client, nothing more, nothing less. I thought.

I told you, it is a yes, 100 times yes.

Shut up! He is a client. Nothing more, nothing less.

Keep telling yourself that, cupcake.

I rolled my eyes. Just then, my phone buzzed inside my pocket and I checked my messages.

2 New Notifications

Martha: Get ready in 10, let's finish the side mission quick. Don't forget to bring your equipment in case all else fails.

Greek God: Can we talk?

I'll deal with Wade later. I need to get this side mission over with. I walk by the wooden cabinet on the left side of the room and put on my black pants and black jacket. On the other side, I grabbed an FNX-45 tactical pistol gun and placed a silencer on the muzzle. I placed a taser and a few loaded magazines on the side of my belt.

I tied my hair in a high ponytail and put on my cap, and black face mask. I pull out my phone from my pocket and texted Martha.

As I went downstairs, I wore my glasses, put on my earpiece, and turned it on. "Martha? Mark? You there?" I asked as I turn on my earpiece.

"Yep, we just pulled up outside. Hop in," Mark replied as I spot a black Audi waiting for me outside. Then we drove off.

"Let me remind you, Jess, all you have to do is just receive the highly classified document from Safe Technologies through Mr. Echo and safely deliver it to Mr. Foxtrot," Martha said for the nth time as she glanced at me through the rearview mirror. I simply rolled my eyes. "Yes, I know. Avoid violence as much as possible, blah blah blah, be back safely or else I'm doomed and you'll hunt and kill me again," I replied, tiredly, as I looked at the busy street outside. I know the drill, I've done this as long as I can remember, even if I'm anxious I won't get back yet I do every time.

"The last thing we need is attracting attention from the bystanders and the DAA intercepting the exchange," Mark said as he typed codes on his laptop. "Yeah, we wouldn't want that," I said as I skim through my phone to read the notice one more time.

We stopped by one of the buildings and headed to park in the basement. "We're here," Martha said as she parked the car and turned off the engine. "Remember, the 58th floor, room 596, Mr. Echo," Martha said as I open the door and walked towards the entrance. "Got it," I replied as I waved my hand but did not turn back to look at them. I removed my face mask and cap to look less suspicious at the entrance but will put them on later when I reach the room.

You could definitely say that the building was prestigious and classy. Earlier, when we neared the location, I saw that this building was connected to another building by a bridge on the uppermost floors.

I could smell the expensive scent booming off the whole place as soon as I entered the main lobby. I wisely avoided all the CCTVs since Mark oriented me on the way earlier about the blind spots not covered by them.

I entered the elevator and pressed the 58th floor, which was two floors away from the penthouse, and patiently waited on the corner. I could hear jazz music playing on speakers. As the elevator was closing, a hand suddenly popped up thereby the elevator opening again. I looked up to see a young man, probably the same my age or in his twenties, wearing a velvet tuxedo jacket with his hair slicked back.

I shuffled my feet and just looked at my watch. It was 8:17 pm. I was just right on time once I reach the 58th floor. But I noticed that the man did not press anything on the elevator buttons and I cleared my throat.

"This is not good," I heard Mark from my earpiece as my heartbeat quickened. I was starting to sense what was about to happen in a matter of minutes.

"What floor, sir?" I asked as my eyes scan his coat and pockets for any weapons. My eyes flickered over the inner pocket of his tuxedo. Based on the delicacy of the handle, it was a combat knife. I noticed that he had a small dragon tattoo on his right wrist which meant one thing. He did not reply as he took a glance at me.

And there it was. As if something has clicked, my glasses were able to identify just in time who the person was in the elevator with me. It was Tyler Smith, an agent working for the DAA and my ex-best friend.

Holy shit.

As soon as he met my eyes, surprise quickly flashed but only for a short while before being replaced with disappointment, anger, and is that regret? I couldn't pinpoint what it was, "So much for avoiding trouble," I heard Martha sigh over the earpiece and I could really tell she was frustrated because of the time-sensitive situation.

"T-Tyler? Is that you?" I asked while furrowing my eyebrows. "At first I thought I was seeing things, but would you look at that, it's actually you, Jessica," I flinched when he mentioned my name with distaste. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"That's none of your business," he snapped as the elevator stopped at the 18th floor and an old man got in. "What floor sir?" Tyler asked with all the elegance radiating as he smiled at the old man. "What a fine young man! The 23rd floor, please. Thank you," he pressed the 23rd floor then returned his glance back at me.

I looked over the upper corners of the elevator and noticed a CCTV flashing red light indicating that this view was recorded. "On it," Mark said as I heard keyboard sounds in the background. He was probably hacking into the system to shut this CCTV off.

How did he end up working for the DAA? When did he start working for the DAA? Why did he start working for the DAA? I had a lot of questions in the back of my mind to which there were no answers to it.

Awkward silence and jazz music playing on the speakers. I look at the elevator screen flashing in red. 19th – 20th – 21st...

Once it hit the 23rd floor, the elevator opened and the old man stepped out. "See you around!" He bid goodbye to him and Tyler just smiled. He did change a lot since the last time I saw him. When we were still kids, I could remember we would fight about the smallest things, we were five years old for god's sake.

I cleared my throat, "Why are you working for that?" I asked, my eyes flickering to the small dragon tattoo he had on his wrist. "How do you know I was working for...Wait a minute. Don't tell me you're working for..." He asked as realization took over his face when he looked at me from head to toe, "...the SIA?" He looked back at me with disgust flashing in his eyes as he said the word, SIA.

"Jess, enough with the chit chat, just get on with the mission, yeah? We have like 10 minutes left before the scheduled exchange," Martha said. I groaned, this would be the last thing and least expected encounter for the night. Wait, let me rephrase, the least expected encounter of my life.

If he was working for the DAA, then that means...

I looked back at Tyler, who was standing across from me, and also realized the situation we both came across.

We were both on a mission and pitted against each other. He was the agent whose mission was to intercept the documents between the two companies.

Great, just great.

A/N

I was finally able to introduce Tyler to you guys! What do you think about this chapter? What can you say about Tyler's character? Can't wait to publish the following chapters in the following weeks!

Vote ❤️
Comment
Follow