The knocking became more persistent, and finally roused Auggie from his troubled sleep on the uncomfortable couch of his metropolitan apartment. He fumbled around for a moment, found the remote control, and silenced the infomercial for the latest cleaning product that was supposed to change your life.
"I'm coming! Jesus..."
He nearly fell over the coffee table in his early morning delirium, but eventually made it to the door unscathed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he felt for the lock.
"What in the world could you possibly..." The door swung open, and he caught the tell-tale whiff of perfume. "Annie?"
"Good morning, sunshine," she said, speaking in the flirty drawl she'd used when pretending to be from the Gold Circle Club. "You're going to need two changes of clothes and your toothbrush. Get packing."
"Annie, it's..." He touched his watch, and it spoke for him, "five thirty-three AM."
"Yes, it is, and if you're not packed by five forty AM, I'm going to pack for you." She pushed lightly past him and walked into his living room, not caring to wait for him to wake up enough to invite her in.
"Hey, there, bossy. Care to give me any details?"
"Oh! Right. Casual clothes are fine, wear something you don't mind getting wet, and bring something to sleep in."
"Not what I meant."
"Well, it's all you're going to get. Now, are you going to get moving, or would you like me to follow through with my threat?" Grinning, she took another step towards his bedroom, but stopped when he sighed and called out to her.
"No way. I may trust you with my life, but I do not yet trust you with my wardrobe. Excuse me."
He packed with impressive speed, and once Annie had successfully pestered him into her car, he returned the favor with incessant questions about his kidnapping.
"Auggie, you'll know where we're going when we get there, we'll get there when we get there, and we're going there because I don't want to waste this perfectly good weekend. Now please, just relax and pick a radio station." She took his hand and placed it on the stereo dial.
"Look at you, being all assertive. The agency has certainly rubbed off on you," he quipped. She smiled a devious smile, and with that, the interrogation was over, and the mysterious road trip had begun.