Chapter 1- I Miss You

S,

I'm officially here! Took me long enough I guess, huh? F always has me in the stupidest places on assignment. Sorry about the initialling, can't say too much in case this is intercepted or anything. When N suggested letter-writing to keep in contact with you, I overestimated how easy it would be. It's hard to find something to write in a letter to the love of your life when you know you're going to be away from him for who even knows how long.

How are you? How is everybody? I miss you like crazy, you know. I've been away for two days and it feels like forever. God, I'm already out of the loop back at S.T aren't I? I bet T has already done something problematic. I bet B hasn't been out of his lab since I left. As for Th, is he back yet? Or is he still visiting his family? Ugh, I hate all of this coded shit. Sorry for the language. I know you don't like it very much. Apart from…well, you know.

I don't really know what else to say, nothing has really happened yet. Listen, I know that you're still scared about everything we discussed before I left and I want to assure you again that we're solid. As long as you want us to work, we'll work. I know this isn't going to be easy since we can't call or Skype each other at all until I'm back, but I know that we can get through this, S. N says we can and I agree. Let me know how things progress with N and S.W. If nobody tells me when it happens, I'll be furious. I've been rooting for that since day one.

Make sure you give F a good kick to the crotch for sending me out here. He couldn't have sent anyone else? Not to sound ungrateful, but I'm sure that S.L would have done a much better job at this. He's better at the smaller things. I hope that made sense. I'm sure it did, you're smart enough to understand initials.

I miss you. Again. I'll say that as many times as I need to until I'm home again. This is going to be the worst time of my life and I hope you know that I love you so much. So much. I bet all of this just sounds really corny and melodramatic but I know you understand. Obviously, you miss me too, I'm a catch. ;)

I'll eagerly await your reply.

I love you.

C

C,

I'm glad you had a safe journey, even though I'm still bitter that you had to leave. Don't worry, I've been on F's case every day since he gave you the instructions. He's not even speaking to me anymore. I guess that's a good plan, you've always been smart with these things. You're lucky that N understood that you were purposely omitting details; I would not have got that. And yes, she is reading these letters before I do because she's slightly paranoid and, you know what, it's also a good idea. After growing up in an age without emails and cell phones, letter writing is surprisingly simplistic. Yeah, I'm a fossil, you've told me plenty of times. But I get what you mean, I have so many things that I want to say to you, but none of them seem to be appropriate. And no, not in the way you're thinking.

Everybody's good. T has been surprisingly good, actually. I think he secretly misses you, even though he would never say anything about that. B hasn't left his lab, you're definitely right about that. J sent him some food through delivery services but I don't even know if the man is alive in there. N is okay, even if your departure is hitting her harder than we thought. Come back soon, yeah? She keeps making us watching movies in Russian without subtitles. Th is still gone, but we're not sure when he'll be back. Hope it's soon though, I miss having the big guy around. I can excuse the language because I love and miss you.

I know, I know, we're solid. I'm being dramatic, as usual. I have been told by a good few people that I have a flair for the dramatics. Hey, I lived through the twenties, you can't blame me for that. See, I'm even getting good at using contractions and not using the full word. I have every belief that we can make it through this. People have made it through worse than this. We just have to keep positive, then. You'll be back as soon as we know it. Right? I'm not exactly too sure what you're off doing. F won't tell me anything.

I'll definitely keep you posted about the widow and the birdman, they seem to be going good. He's just about the only one she's speaking to right now. I've gotten a few words in, but your absence is hitting her pretty hard. You'll get regular updates on everyone, I promise.

As much as doing that would be, I'm sure F could literally murder me in my sleep. Who would write you letters if I'm dead? Yep, the little guy probably would have been perfect for whatever job you're doing (not that you aren't brilliant at what you do, I'm just biased because I'm missing you so much). You're making perfect sense, actually. The company are training me to do better with hidden messages as such. This would probably sound really sketchy so just pray nobody finds this. Actually, speaking of, I don't even know where this is even going. N says she'll handle it and I don't think I even want to know what that means.

Anyway, there's not much left to say at this point. I miss you so much. I love you even more. I know this is going to be a tough time for us both, but at least we can talk this way. I'm sorry it has to be like this. You most definitely are a catch, so don't go collecting hearts while you're away. It's mine forever.

I guess we'll talk whenever you can.

I love you too,

S