Near Rick's Building:

"Where are you, I can't see you," Rick says over the phone looking on the streets for Laura.

"Turn back." Laura stops her car almost touching him.

"You were not just gonna kill me, were you?" Rick doubts.

"Who knows?" she replies calmly.

He gets in the car cursing his luck. "Here." Laura hands him a paper. "This mission is your type."

"What? Are we going to do some balance sheets now?" he says looking at the paper.

"See those papers carefully. You have to sneak in a house and get the whole file related to it."

"Me? And what are you going to do? Babysit me?" He chuckles.

She opens the glovebox of the car.

"I know, knock me unconscious." He leans on his seat, preparing for it.

She takes an earbud out and puts it in his ear.

"You gotta stop doing that. Touching my mouth, ears unannounced," Rick whimpers.

"Ah!! you wish I'll do that," she mocks him.

"Yeah, you'd rather put a bullet in my head instead."

She kicks in the engine. Nodding in affirmation.

--------------------------

They reach the house in an hour. It's a two storey bungalow painted in white. A 3 feet boundary wall is surrounding it.

She scans the area with a binocular. "Looks like no one's here," she says and signals to jump off the wall.

They both get inside the perimeter. "So here's the plan for you. Get in. Find the file. Get out."

"That's your plan huh?" he asks, raising eyebrows.

She nods her head. "I'll be watching the perimeter."

Rick looks for a window to get inside. He finds one big enough in the back of the building. He punches in the side corner. "Ouch." He feels like his bone broke.

"What happened, are you dead?" comes Laura's concerned voice in his earbud.

"Not yet thanks to your inspiring words." He opens the window. He gets in and scans the room. It's a kitchen. He steps out of the kitchen and reaches a wide hall. There are 6 doors to enter.

"There are 6 rooms here, which one?" he asks for help.

"Start from the left and check each of them," she says rudely. "C'mon you're the expert, where does an accountant hide his secrets?"

Rick accepts the truth of this being a solo mission, taking a deep breath. He goes through each of them and finds the file in the 3rd room. "Okay, I got it," he informs her.

"I got you too," comes a voice from behind him. He tries to turn towards it. "Don't do it." A man puts a gun behind his head. 

"How did you come from outside?" Rick asks holding the file with both hands. 

"I didn't," the man replies. "I see you're not alone." Taking Rick's earpiece out, the man says.

"Yeah, she's just waiting outside to kill both of us."

They both come outside the gate. The man is still holding the gun at Rick's head.

Laura points the gun at him. "Laura, look I know you don't like me much but this is a matter of life and death," Rick pleads to her.

"Yeah, put your gun down else I'll blow his brains out," the man threatens.

"Oh, go ahead kill him." She puts her gun down and turns back.

"Hey didn't you say she was your partner?" The man asks confused looking towards Rick.

"Did I?" Rick says with a puzzled face.

Laura turns back in a swift, noticing the man still looking at Rick. She shoots a bullet straight in his head.

Rick feels like the bullet touched his ears. "Ahh" he puts his hand on ear to check for the blood. But nothing's there. He still feels it messed with his eardrums though.

Laura takes the file from him goes into her car. She starts the engine. The sound of it shakes him out of his stunned position and he walks towards the car. "What? At least drop me at my office?" Rick demands.

"I don't wanna be late for my office," she replies sharply.

"Of Course, CIA where you take the unconscious people," he says in a bitter tone.

"No. The other one, my day job." She speeds her car away.

I wonder what that would be. Rick books a cab thinking. Mortuary I guess.

--------------------------

At The Frost Bar:

Jasmine is busy serving drinks to the customers when a familiar voice startles her. "How're you, Miss Jasmine."

"Oh Mr. Smith, Welcome." She passes a smile.

"Call me Adrian," he requests.

"Nice to see you here Adrian, what would you like?" she asks.

"Can we be at a quieter place?" He takes a look around the bar full of people and high on noise.

"Of course, can you?" Jasmine looks towards Adriana. She agrees to take turns.

They move to a premium lounge and take a seat.

"So what do you like to do outside this work?" he asks.

"Well, I'm not a party girl, if that's you wanna ask."

"Oh me too. I don't like noise much." He looks into her eyes.

They both seem to be lost in each other's eyes.

Jasmine takes her eye off as her phone rings. She looks at it. "Sorry, I gotta take this." She answers the phone.

"You need to get here now, Mom's having problem in breathing, I've called 911," Adam says over the phone almost crying.

"Okay Adam, I'm coming." She stands up hanging up. "Sorry, I gotta go, I'll make it up to you, I promise." She walks in a hurry.

Adrian nods his head. He takes his phone out and calls. "Edward, A bartender named Jasmine at The Frost Bar, I need everything on her"

"I'm on it sir," replies Edward.

--------------------------

At Rick's Office (Amy's Cabin):

"So you are in a relationship ?" Jared asks Amy. "Why did I not know about it earlier?"

"Told you, It was one sided at first," Amy covers up.

"Yeah you're in love for 2 years" he repeats her words. "And he fell for you just 6 months ago. So you waited on him for more than a year?"

I can wait my whole life for him. Amy shakes her head looking at her laptop avoiding any eye contact. "Yes, you're right."

"You should have told me. I would have made him sooner," he says with conviction.

"See that's why I didn't tell you. Love cannot be forced," she says taking her eyes off the laptop, facing him.

"Okay okay, don't be mad at me. I just care for you," he says and stands up.

She gets back to her work. He leaves her cabin. Amy heads towards Rick's cubicle.

--------------------------

Rick is clung to his laptop. "Oh Hi Rick," says Amy passing by. He doesn't budge.

"Rick?" she goes across the cubicle wall to stand behind him. "Rick?" she raises her voice.

He turns at her in haste. "Oh hi."

"What's up with you? too much load?" she asks. "I called you 2 times."

"Oh no, it's just." He puts his hand on his ear. A gunshot burst my eardrums. He recalls.

"What happened? let me see." She leans onto him. Her hair goes all over Rick's face.

He waves it away. "Nothing, just some water got stuck I guess," he lies.

She stands back straight. "How's that novel thing coming up for you?" she asks excitedly.

"Ah Novel." His mind gets puzzled. "It's going good so far."

"Oh really tell me about it." She grins.

"Okay so there's an accountant, he gets bored of his work so he joins the CIA. And there's a devil like boss who gives him very dangerous missions."

"Hmm. Interesting. Isn't there any girl character in this?" she asks.

"Of course there is, which novel can be complete without it?" he says thinking of Laura.

"So this girl does she love him? Do they love each other?" she asks picturing herself and Rick.

No, she wants to kill him. She sent him to a house loaded with bombs. She put her as bait to catch someone and also the latest she blew his ears out. He grits her teeth.

"No. They're just two agents working together. They're very professional." He breaks her expectation.

"That's so boring. Introduce some love into it. Maybe another girl agent who loves him," she says with a wide smile as if it's the idea for the next Booker Prize.

"Yeah, I'll give it a thought," he says nodding. She parts giving a thumbs up.

"This ain't getting any better," Matt says listening to their conversation since the start. He gets up and goes to Rick. "So you're writing a novel?"

"Yeah, that's why I wanted to leave," Rick clarifies his lies.

"But you'd said you got a job somewhere," He doubts.

"That job could give me flexible timing." Rick's phone rings. "Excuse me."

Matt nodding his head goes back to his cubicle.

"What's the update sergeant?" Ella asks in a stern tone over the phone.

"It's all going as per the plan, Major," he says. Except for everything! He exclaims to himself.

"Phew phew, I'm gonna protect my country, I'm gonna be in the army," she says mimicking Rick's voice.

"Oh c'mon Ella I was Just 15 then."

She laughs. "Guess what? we're coming home," Ella says in a cheerful tone over the phone.

"Why?" Rick asks in a concerned tone. "Why not?" putting on a cheering tone he repeats.

"Dad's partnering up with a lawyer in your town," she informs.

"oh okay."

"This is gonna be fun. Me & You, Mom Dad all together, like the old times." Her joy seems to be passing through the phone.

"Yeah Just like the old times," Rick agrees.

"Tomorrow 8 am. We're landing. Don't be late okay?"

"I won't. I promise." They hang up.

Great, I'm struggling to hide my identity in my office. And now my family's coming home. Worry takes him over.

-----------------------------------------------------
Hi Aeron here!

Did you like the fun part at the bungalow?

This Episode's been my favourite. I touched upon all the characters. Hope you liked it too.

It's only gonna be more interesting from here!!!

See you in the next one!!!