The cold from the air conditioner blew in my face with a distinct puff. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I laid back on my pillow the exhaustion creeping in on me. I sighed and rose from my mattress. The apartment that I lived in was a typical standard flat; the furniture was ordinary and filled the space with neutral tones. My only personalized item that was not government owned was my bed spread the white a purple textile brought warmth to the tiny flat.
I am a government agent and mainly used for my photographic memory. A long time ago I was taken to a compound by my "Mother". There I read tons of books and did research, I was unsuspecting of the fact that while I was absorbing and memorizing this information I was really stealing government secrets. Once the army got me out and this secret was revealed to me I decided to use my power to give back the secrets that I stole. For the last seven years I had been working with the military to remember the secrets that I had learned and give them information on what other forces were planning.
As I was reflecting on this I pulled my clothes out of my closet and began to dress. My standard black pants and white shirt along with my slightly worn out gray blazer gave me a slight look of professionalism. I grabbed my badge and pinned it on the blazer while picking up my purse a swinging out the door, but something caught my eye. On my front door step there was my standard newspaper, someone had written in crimson, "We're coming for you." My stomach lurched and I stumbled towards my government land line, but the light for a new message was flashing. "Rapunzel…" the voice sneered while a sly laugh was heard in the background, "Did you ever believe that you could get away… FROM ME." I did not recognize the voice because the audio was laced over by a deep electronic voice which was mixed with the natural voice of a woman.
My heart seized up in my throat and the message quickly died out. I was scared now and picked up the phone dialing, my dad's smooth voice answered. He used to be a general, but now took a simple desk job due to the stress he had to endure. "General John F. Blake here." he answered "Dad? Are you free this morning to meet me for coffee?" I said hoping he would take the hint. "Yes I am. Let's meet in about fifteen minutes how does that sound. The corner store?" he questioned. The corner store was code for a secure government building which put up a front as being a bodega. "Ya I'll see you then." I only used code because if someone was able to hack my secure land line, then they could also be listening.
I hung up the phone and with a new purpose walked swiftly outside to my awaiting Camry. As I drove to the corner store my mind was racing. Who had called, was it the "mother"? Or was it a new organization just pretending to be my mother? A series of other scenarios raced through my head each one getting worse. I parked and quickly walked in and to the back of the small store. I scanned my badge and found my father already there with a cup of coffee.
He gestured for me to sit on the other side of the desk and busied himself by getting me a cup of coffee. "Now what is this about?" he said his eyebrows drawn in concern. I began to explain "Well, I was walking out the door today when my regular newspaper was painted with a terrible threat written in blood and someone had left a disturbing message on my land line and so I ran here." I was still panicking and my father responded "I will dispatch a team to sweep your apartment and gather the newspaper and any other evidence. We will also fix the land line." I nodded knowing that this was standard protocol. "Rapunzel, I am assigning you a body guard" I began to object I did not need a body guard, I could take care of myself. "Now I know you don't think you need one, but your safety it very important to the government and to me." He explained this without a lot of emotion as if I were a normal government agent.
Ever since my mother passed away my father has grown distant and although I only knew my real mother for two years she was one of the most loving people I had ever met. When I was rescued from the compound she was one of the soldiers on the front lines and as soon as she saw my face she knew that I was the daughter she had been missing for the past twenty years. Over the next two years I got to know my real mother and bond with her, but then she went off on one of her missions and was killed in action. My father was devastated and he and I did not have as strong as a relationship, and I feel like he still blames me for what happened even though it was not my fault. I turned to him and answered glumly "Okay."
As I walked through the main government compound dread was eating at the pit of my stomach. I was scared to meet this new mysterious body guard; I strode into General Pascal's office. He looked up at me and gave a warm smile. His uniform was the standard deep green suit with his stars visible on his sleeves and his ID badge glinting. Pascal was in charge of my case and was one of my only friends, I liked his warm personality and he always met my presence with a smile or a fluid joke.
"Your body guard should be down in just a moment please have a seat." He offered kindly. We engaged in some idle chit chat and then after around ten minutes a curt knock came at the door. I tucked a lock of my shoulder length brown hair behind my ear and felt a clammy sweat break out on my palms. He was tall, his broad shoulders and brown hair suited him. His eerily calm and completely serious demeanor was unsettling. Most of the other soldiers at the compound were friendly and they were only serious when they were on missions. He extended a firm and calloused hand to me and I extended mine. We shook hands and I kept staring at him, only knowing him as the stoic and serious soldier. Pascal turned to me "Rapunzel, meet your body guard Flynn Ryder."