Eww I hate finals so much. I'm posting this now because I'm stressed af about these 2 finals weeks. (This and next week). So I probably won't have time to post on the normal day. Please enjoy. And good luck to anyone who has finals

Aunty Sandy's French Café and Bakery
Washington DC
1304 hours
January 10

Audrey finally arrived at the bakery. It was her favorite meeting place. The ladies in there were super nice, the food was good and it was relatively quiet.

She really hoped Ben had arrived. Audrey hadn't had seen him in ten years and she was looking forward to seeing him and catching up with him. But mostly, she was intrigued to see what information he had. The CIA was investigating this new case and she wondered if it had anything to do with what Ben had found out. Or maybe this whole thing was a ruse to get her to meet him. She had no idea, but she also had nothing better to do this afternoon, other than sleep. Audrey was super jetlagged from being in Syria on an intel-gathering mission on a recent terrorist group.

Audrey also felt super bad because she was half an hour late to meet Ben. Her flight had taken longer than it was supposed too and the traffic in Washington DC is horrid.

She walked in and the familiar ding went off. Audrey quickly scanned the area, an old habit, and her wandering eyes found Ben Ripley.

The first thought in her mind was he looks crappy. Not that he wasn't good looking (he had the potential to look handsome with his chiseled jawline and sandy brown hair) but he overall looked bad. He had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was all messy and his shirt was wrinkly. He was also way skinnier than she remembered and was super pale as if he was sick. Audrey found herself being concerned for his health. It wasn't looking like he was taking care of himself.

But Audrey took all this in in a split second. When he noticed her, his face instantly brightened (probably in relief that she didn't stand him up) and he gave her a big smile. Audrey gave him an apologetic smile and gestured that she was going to get a coffee (seeing he already had one) and made her way over to the counter.

The old lady, Aunty Sandy, stood at the counter smiling at Audrey like she always did. Audrey went to this café once a week if she wasn't on a mission, so she knew all of the workers well. Aunty Sandy was an old, sweet woman who worked the counter every time she came in. She also knew Audrey's order by heart.

"The usual, I'm guessing, Audrey?" The older women smiled kindly at her.

Audrey gave an exhausted smile, "You know it."

"You look tired, my dear! Are you getting enough sleep?" Aunty Sandy reminded Audrey of a sweet grandma and she was always concerned with Audrey's health. The time she had come in with bruises from a mission, Aunty Sandy almost had a heart attack.

Audrey chuckled, "I am, I just came back from a trip and am super jetlagged."

"You overwork yourself! You come in a five in the morning for a coffee some days or at six in the evening for one. And you have impromptu business trips! Your schedule is always crazy! What do you do?"

She gave a knowing smile, "Too much work, that's for sure."

"Bah, that's true! Take a break! You're a young, pretty girl! Don't work so much! Live your life! Or you're going to regret it later!"

"Okay, Aunty Sandy," Audrey gave the women a kind smile, "Gosh, I feel so bad. I am over half an hour to meet someone."

The older women raised an eyebrow, "That young fellow sitting in the corner?"

Audrey didn't need to turn around to know she was talking about Ben, "Yeah, that's him."

"Oh good! It least you're here now. I was worried. I kept going up to him and he kept saying he was waiting for someone. I thought that poor boy was being stood up for a date. I gave him a free coffee since he's been waiting for about forty minutes now. Go over to him, now, young lady! Don't make your date wait!"

Audrey chuckled, "No, it's not a date. I'm meeting an old friend."

"Ah, nonetheless, go over to him. Do you date? You should date him! You really need to get a life." Aunty Sandy lectured her.

She couldn't help but smile at the older lady worried about her social life, or lack of. Audrey did have a social life though. She was lightly dating this guy from the agency, but she couldn't tell Aunty Sandy about her secret job.

"We'll see, Aunty. Well, I better go over there. I haven't seen Ben for ten years." With that, Audrey walked over to the table.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Audrey walked into the café. I couldn't help but let out a little gasp. She was gorgeous. Audrey had always been pretty, but time had really been kind to her. She was tall and skinny with perfectly tanned skin. She had long, perfectly straight blonde hair and light makeup. Erica is known for being stunning, but her sister is just as pretty. I could tell that the guy sitting in the front of the café was totally checking her out. And his girlfriend, sitting right there, was not too happy. 

She scanned the room and her gaze fell on me. Her blue eyes were intimidating but looked exhausted as well. Her mission in Syria must have been tiring.

Audrey gave me a smile that said I'm-really-tired-and-really-sorry and gestured she was going to get a coffee. I nodded. She spoke to the kind older women who gave me the coffee (and felt bad for me) for a while. Finally, she came over to the table.

"Hi Ben, how are you? It's nice to see you again." For a second, I couldn't breathe. Up close, she was even more beautiful. I felt like a teenager again, seeing a pretty girl. My love life has been non-existent for the last few years. I used to lightly date at my accounting firm but I couldn't get Erica out of my mind so there hadn't been any serious relationships.

"Uh... hi. I'm good." I managed to stutter out.

She gave me a somewhat dubious look. She was a spy, of course I couldn't lie to her.

"Fine, actually not too great."

"What happened? Are you okay?" She asked softly. Great, the last thing I need is her pity. I already have it from all my family and my boss. I guess I'm not leading that 'great' of a life right now, I get it.

"Well, I just got evicted from my apartment today, so I'm currently homeless."

"Oh my gosh. Are you doing okay? Do you need somewhere to stay or do you need a loan?"

I shook my head, "No, no I'm okay for now."

"Where are you going to live?" Audrey asked me.

"I'm actually taking this opportunity to travel a bit. I've taken time off work."

"Where are you going? Anywhere exotic?" Audrey smiled at me.

"Uh... ha no, I doubt it, but I don't know yet." That was actually a lie. I was going to spend this time finding Erica.

"Ben, did you know you have a tell?" Audrey smirked at me.

"A tell?" I asked, very confused, "What's a tell?"

She gave me a somewhat confused look, "You don't know? That is literally espionage 101. You didn't learn it at the um... course you took?"

That "course I took was" spy school but I have no recollection of this at all.

"No, I don't remember. What the hell is a tell?"

"A tell is a feature giveaway when someone is lying. You have a very obvious tell. Your left eyebrow twitches at every lie. You've had it since I've known you." Audrey gave me a sly look.

I felt panicked for a quick second, "Did Erica know this?" The real question is could Erica tell whenever I lied to her about liking her?

"Yeah, probably. It's kinda obvious. So why are you really taking time off? Wait, what are you doing an occupation now?"

"I... uh... work at a private equity firm as their top accountant." I was kind of embarrassed to tell Audrey this, as she has such a cool, badass job.

Audrey whistled through her teeth, "Wow, those corporate jobs pay a lot of dough."

"Yeah I guess," I said, feeling slightly awkward.
"So with all that money, I bet you are going somewhere good."

I decided to tell Audrey the truth. Plus, I need her help finding Erica's house. "I'm actually going to look for Erica, as I have some suspicions about the new congressman, Joshua Duncan. I suspect he's Joshua Hallal."

Audrey barely blinked, "Oh yeah, I know. I'm like 90% sure he is."

I could hardly contain my shock, "What?! You know?! Why didn't you tell anyone?! This can be really dangerous!"

Audrey leaned forward and signaled me to calm down, "Ben! Stop yelling!" she hissed at me, "And I didn't say anything because I basically can't. I work for the government as a full time agent. We aren't supposed to have vocal opinions about our leaders. Plus, do you think you're the first person to notice? He's a politician! Their lives are practically under a microscope."

"But not Joshua's." I pointed out. Normally, when there is someone running against you for a position such as congress, they try to dig up as much dirt on the other as possible. But Joshua had no one running against him, except this lady but she wasn't trying to win, so no one investigated him at all.

"Okay, true, but..." she lowered her voice to a whisper, "We had some intel that said-"

But before she could finish, Aunty Sandy approached their table very suddenly. Audrey jumped back and put her finger to her lips behind Aunty Sandy's back.

"I'm so sorry about this!" The older lady rambled, "But there is this fellow over there who insisted on buying you a crossonint, Audrey. I told him you both were on a date and that it was inappropriate to do so, but did he listen? Oh no ma'am he didn't! So I-." Audrey cut off Aunty Sandy's rambling.

"Again, we're not on a date. But tell the gentleman thank you." Aunty Sandy left and Audrey looked over at the man to give him a nod. Most likely, he was a guy who thought Audrey was attractive and wanted to get attention from her.

But when I looked over, he didn't seem too interested in her. Plus, I saw Audrey narrow her eyes suspiciously at him. He was a middle aged man, around thirty or forty years old. He was not American as he seemed like he was middle eastern. But he gave me a bad feeling in my gut. He didn't seem like a normal guy who found Audrey attractive. This feeling wasn't because of his ethnicity or age though. It was that deadly look he was giving us.

Audrey turned back around to me and pretended to be unaware. But I could see the wariness in her eyes. She was paying very close attention to the mystery man behind her.

"So what I was saying is that the US government employees aren't supposed to have a verbal opinion in leadership. Also, Joshua Hallal hasn't done anything suspicious for the last ten years. We don't have enough time, resources and money to focus on him. Pus, it would look really bad if the US intelligence started investigating a man who looks like he didn't do anything wrong in his life. Sure, it may not be what's best for the country in the long run, but the whole government is about politics. Even if it's what you think is best, you have to consider what the public or other people will think about the decision. And I promise you, once we start investigating this Joshua Duncan, a kind man who is taking over for this small district, the whole US government will look bad. So drop it and forget about it."

"But, Audrey, I-" I started, but she cut me off.

"I said drop it Ben. Nothing you can do about it. Like it or not, you're not part of the government anymore, so you have no authority on this." Her words were harsh, but I could tell how carefully she was picking them. She never outright said she was in the CIA, only the government. I knew what she meant, but anyone who overheard might not catch on. I had a feeling this had to do with the suspicious man still staring right at us.

"Okay," I said, "I'll drop it. I won't bring it up with anyone else."

Audrey smiled at me, but this time it wasn't as genuine, "Thank you." She then leaned forward and gestured for me to as well. We were only inches apart. I felt like she was going to tell me something important, but all I could think of was how good she smelled.

"The man sitting directly behind me," Audrey whispered so quietly I could barely hear her, "I recognize him from Afghanistan when I had a mission there a month ago." I started to pull my head up and look, but Audrey quickly grabbed my arm and yanked me back down.

"Do you want to cause more trouble?" She snarled, "This man works for a terrorist organization that runs human trafficking rings! He's super dangerous. And last I remember, you have the fighting and self defense skills of a mole rat. Now laugh at something I said, like I just told you a secret."

I gave a fake laugh and we both sat up. She kept smiling at me, but when her back was turned to the terrorist, she gave me a glare that said I wasn't doing a believable job. Some things never change.

"I know right?" She said, laughing, pretending to finish her story. But from behind her, I could tell this guy wasn't buying it. As she was laughing, she grabbed my hand. My heart fluttered for a second, only to realize she was secretly slipping me a piece of paper.

But before I could look at it, the terrorist reached into his lap. All I could see what a flash of a gun barrel and I yelled, "Audrey!"

But she was already in motion. She whirled around, while producing a gun she had concealed.

"And I really liked this place," Audrey grumbled as she started shooting at the man. He shot back.

Luckily, there was only one guest besides us and the man, but the baristas were screaming and so was the guest. And I think I was too. I kicked our table on its side so I could have protection from the stream of bullets. The other guest, a girl who looked like she was in college ran behind the counter and crouched with the rest of the employees. Aunty Sandy came out of the kitchen after hearing some bangs and immediately screamed.

"Audrey! What's going on?!" Aunty Sandy shouted.

Audrey ran towards the terrorist, shooting her own gun and dodging his bullets. The man was getting cornered in the corner but kept shooting at her. Luckily, he didn't seem interested in any civilians. Finally, once he was backed into a corner, Audrey whipped her foot up and kicked the man's wrist that was holding the gun. You could hear it break while he screamed. He dropped the gun and Audrey kicked it away from his reached.

"Get on your knees and put your hands on your head!" Audrey snarled while putting the gun right to his head. I have to admit, Audrey is terrifying when she's like this. Her eyes were stone cold and her body posture was threatening.

The man followed Audrey's orders. But as he was on his knees, he suddenly whipped a leg out, catching Audrey by surprise. She fell on the ground and dropped her gun. The man quickly got up and went to grab the gun, but Audrey, still on the ground, kicked it far away again. She got up and kicked him right in the stomach. He groaned and tried to punch her in the side, but wildly missed. She grabbed that arm and held him close as she repeatedly punched him in the face. His nose started to bleed and Audrey released him and he fell to the ground. Towering over him, she kicked him in his side, gut and face. He kept swearing and threatening her, but she was unconcerned, as she had won the fight. She put her foot on his neck and pressed down as he gagged.

I felt as if it was safe to come out from behind the table and Audrey looked over at me, playfully smirking.

"You were super helpful," She joked.

I smiled, "Well, I think I would have gotten in the way."  As much as it is great to not almost die every day, I've missed all of this. The action, the adrenaline, the bad guys. It made me miss being a spy even more.

"Get everyone out through the back. I can handle the rest." The man was still struggling under her foot.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, get everyone out. It was good to see you Ben. Hopefully we'll see each other soon. I've missed you. Also, I am so sorry about the place, Aunty Sandy. Someone will contact you to pay the damages."

Aunty Sandy looked beyond shaken when she emerged from the kitchen, "Um... okay, don't worry about it too much dear. Wow. This makes me wonder what you do for a living even more."

Audrey shrugged with a sly smirk on her face. I rounded everyone up and got them outside to the back alley. Some of them were crying.

"Go home and don't worry about what you saw today." I told them as most of them left for home.

"Shouldn't we call the police?" One of the employees said.

I nodded but said, "I'll do it. I can explain the situation to them better." I know that the CIA has missions that the city police don't know about and to ensure the CIA's secrets are kept, I didn't call anyone. I figured Audrey knew what to do.

Speaking of Audrey, I realized I was still clutching that piece of paper she gave me.

Taking it out, I read it. It was an address for a home in Beverly Hills, California and a note that said: I can't investigate Joshua with the CIA, but you two technically can. Let me know if you need any help. Good luck.

I smiled to myself. I had the address. I was going to find Erica Hale.