"Ms. Morgan," Agent Townsend yells from below. "You're late."
"Sorry," I tell him. I hold up my report. "Almost finished," I say, but he doesn't care about the paperwork.
He nods to the boy who looks just like him. "We have a lead on a rogue asset outside of Kabul. CIA wants the two of you. If you have the time?" Townsend asks, almost condescendingly.
The boy looks at me and smiles. "What do you say, Gallagher Girl? Do you?"
I take the envelope from Townsend's hand.
"Let's go."
Townsend led Zach and me to a small door in the back. He tapped the wood walls and a suddenly a small passage appeared in front of us. Townsend slowly descended into tunnel and Zach put his hand out to help me through.
"I can get in perfectly fine, Zach."
Zach gave me a boyish grin that made my insides turn. "Just being a gentlemen, Cammie."
I took his hand and rolled my eyes. "So," I started, looking at Zach, while still walking forward.
"Soooo…." Zach mimicked, obviously teasing me.
"Where were you? And when did you guys come?" I asked, curiosity suddenly overwhelmed me.
"We came around midnight from Langley. I wanted to find you, but dad said to wait until morning." Zach said, the word Dad still unfamiliar on his tongue. "So, how's Georgetown?"
"It's really nice, actually. It reminds me a lot of home. It sucks that none of you guys are here though. There was this one time in class, where we had to pair up, and of course everyone just had to know someone, and there just so happened to be an odd amount of students, so I either had to work with the teacher or by myself. I ended up working by myself, because my teacher is really annoying," I sighed, and for the fifth time this day, I found myself missing my old boarding school.
Zach let out a small laugh. "Glad to see you enjoying yourself. I saw your dorms the earlier today, they suck."
I exhaled a laugh. "Well, I missed you the most Zach." I finally felt the pang of sadness that my Gallagher Days were gone, and that I was at Georgetown now. I longed for Liz's genius remarks, Macey and her sarcasm, and Bex and her Bexiness. I missed Zach. I missed his touch, his kiss, and his smell. I wanted to kiss him now. To feel his lips on mine. But of course, his dad was in front of us, so I decided to reach behind me and tried to find his hand instead. He wrapped my smaller hand into his rough one, and I squeezed his hand.
"I'm here now."
"You were gone for so long Zach," I said softly, not wanting to look at him. It wasn't his fault, but I missed him anyways. He walked up to where I was and wrapped his arms around me.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, and then nuzzled his face in the crook of my neck.
But before I could respond, up ahead, Townsend stopped and opened a door at the end of the tunnel. A stream of sunlight came into to the tunnel. "Okay lovebirds. Since I'm a 'cool' dad, I'm going let you guys have some privacy, and get rid of your raging teenage hormones. It's driving me crazy." Like you and my aunt don't suck face, I thought, and I wanted to stick out my tongue at him.
"Five minutes," Townsend turned and closed the trapdoor dramatically. Zach rolled his eyes, and then turns me around to face him. "Finally, some privacy," he says laughing, wraps his arms around me and then trails his lips down the sensitive spot on my neck.
I pulled his face back up and pressed my lips to his soft, red ones. He tasted like mint, and smelled like the soap he used, lemon, and boy. He moved his lips to my cheek, then to the spot at my hairline that made me shudder.
The honk of a car's horn broke us out of our embrace. Five minutes already? God, that was fast I thought.
Zach grabbed my hand and pulled me outside. In front of us, Townsend was sitting in the driver's seat of a Ferrari.
"A Ferrari Zach?" I asked, running my hand across the roof of the shiny silver car. "It's not very inconspicuous."
Zach held the door open for me and motioned for me to get in. "Maybe we're going with noticeable, Gallagher Girl," he replied, with a small smile on his face. "Just kidding. The car's CIA issued, and Townsend liked this one." He motioned to me to get in again. I stepped into the car and was immediately hit with the new car smell.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"JFK Airport," Zach and Townsend replied at the same time, and it was uncanny how similar they sounded. Zach went on, "It's larger than these small airports here, and the CIA employees go there often, so the CIA have a special agreement with them. Special privileges."
"It's going to be a long drive Ms. Morgan," Townsend said, "And the flight is going to be around 14 hours. I suggest you and Zach rest now."
I didn't realize how tired I was. I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in a few days. So I leaned my head onto Zach's broad shoulder, and closed my eyes. He lightly put his chin on top on my forehead and kissed it softly. The last thing I saw before drifting off was the passing trees and townhouses, and the smell of Zach.
"Cammie," Zach shook my shoulder. "Wake up, we're here."
"Hmm…." I said, which was probably really unattractive, but hey! I was really tired!
"Cameron, your flight is in an hour, I suggest you get up now." Townsend added. He stepped out of the car and walked to the trunk. I heard it open, and from the side mirror saw him take out two small backpacks (it's hard to roll luggages when you're running from bad guys).
I got out of the car and looked around. Mothers panicking, children running around, and people trying their best to check in their bags and find their flight. I don't look at the clock because I already know the time. 5 o'clock. Rush hour. The best time to blend in with normal civilians. I took the backpack from Townsend's hand.
"Terminal 8. Your flight is in two hours. I'm not going in there with you. I have to leave now. Abby's waiting for me. She expects me to be back by tonight," Townsend said, rather quickly.
"You're staying with Aunt Abby?" I asked, trying to refrain the smile creeping on to my face. Zach smirks at his dad beside me.
"Yes," he says, then looks away quickly, but I can see the slightest tint of pink on his cheeks. Just like when Zach's embarrassed. Townsend closes the trunk, and start heading back to the front door of the car. "Goodbye and good luck," he says with a smile. "I'll be here 7 o'clock sharp in four days." He gave us a smile and then opened the door and climbed in.
Zach pulls my hand towards the terminal. "We don't need to check in," he says.
"I know, Zach." I looked around. "I used to love the airport when I was little. I went through an airport-slash-airplane phase when I was seven. It's just so exciting, you know, traveling the world," I thought of my dad, and how he used to share my obsession about airports, and I smiled sadly. "My dad loved the airport too."
Zach smiled then led me to the check in line. He took off his backpack and pulled out two passports. "Mr. Alexander Finley and Ms. Annabelle Richards. We're engaged, so there's a ring in there. By the way, I'm a CEO of Finley Co." He said all of this quietly, loud enough for me to hear, but not for the people in front and after us. Zach rummaged through his backpack and pulls out a small box. He opens it, takes my hand, and slips the diamond on my hand.
"Fancy," I told him. The ring was princess cut and had small diamonds bordering it. The ring sparkled under the lights. I turned it halfway, and the light made the diamond dazzling bright. I caught my breath. "It's really pretty, Zach."
"Only the best for my lady, Annabelle," Zach said, reminding me to get into my cover. "C'mon, it's our turn to check in."
THINGS THAT HAPPENED OVER THE TWO HOURS WE WERE AT THE AIRPORT
(A list by Cameron Ann Morgan)
1. The lounges. Apparently CIA has a lounge there. And the lounges are nice. Really nice. Filled with comfy sofas, blankets, drinks, and food.
2. Zach, being the sweetheart he was, went out for 20 minutes and came back with M&Ms. PEANUT M&Ms. Which are much better than regular ones.
3. One word: McDonalds. Don't blame me! I haven't had it for months, and now I have a sudden craving for it (PMS maybe?)
I looked up at the clock, and it time to board the plane. I stood up and shook Zach awake (he fell asleep sometime between me eating McDonalds and now). Zach opened his eyes slowly and rubbed them. Can I just say that he looked super cute?
"Is it time already?" he asked. I nod my head.
"We'll have a lot of time to sleep on the plane. First class tickets, so I'm sure you'll have no problem falling asleep."
Zach gave me a sleepy smile and grabbed my hand and led me over to the attendant checking boarding passes. "Enjoy your trip, Mr. Finley and Ms. Richards," she says, which sounds chirpy yet fake.
"I'm sure we will," Zach said, smiling slightly in my direction. I blushed. What else could I do? We walked down the airbridge, the smell of the airplane getting closer. We passed by the captain and Zach grabbed a newspaper from the stack near the door. We squeezed through the people trying to fit luggage in the overhead cabinets and found our seats. Two seats that could we could lie horizontally on, a pile of complimentary toiletries, and a blanket a pillow.
"I want the window seat!" I exclaim. My dad used to always let me sit in the window seat. I loved looking outside and pressing my head on the cool Plexiglass. Zach laughed and let me in to sit there. He put our duffels away, and then the captain started speaking.
"Hello! This is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard! All directions for emergencies are listed on the pamphlet in the pocket of your seat. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask a flight attendant. On with our flight! We are headed to Kabul International Airport right now, and it will take approximately 14 hours. It is currently in the high sixties there, with a possibility of rain today. Thank you for choosing Virgin America, and enjoy you flight!"
I collapse onto my seat and sign contently. Beside me, Zach was reading the emergency manual. I leaned over and read it over his shoulder.
"You reading that?"
"Yeah," he said, eyes still scanning the best way to exit the aircraft if somehow we crashed in the middle of the ocean. "Just a habit of mine."
By now, the plane was on the runway and taking off. Two minutes later, we we're soaring through the sky.
"You should get some sleep, Gallagher Girl," Zach said softly into my ear.
"But I'm not sleepy, Zach," I said, and my lips curled up into a small pout. Okay, maybe I was tired, but I could withstand it.
"I think you've mistaken me for someone else. My name is Alex," Zach raised his eyebrows, going back to his cover once more. "But really, sweetheart, go take a nap."
A soft fine tumbled out of my lips, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Zach with a small, triumphant smile on his face. "Sweet dreams," he said, and placed a kiss on top of my head. And then I slowly drifted off to sleep with Zach besides me.
Worst ending ever! Anyways, hi guys! I'm back from the dead! Just kidding :) But I'm sorry for being inactive, just school and "stuff", but United We Spy has inspired me to write this story! It's going to be short, but I hope you liked it! Please tell me what you think. It's also not edited very well, so if anyone wants to beta, ONCE AGAIN, IF ANYONE WANTS TO BETA, that would be lovely!
Okay, now moving on to my feels about UWS. FIRST, TOWNSEND IS ZACH'S DAD. Somehow, it wasn't that big of a shock (because someone already spoiled it on tumblr) but Cammie kept making these remarks about how they looked alike and so yeah. But still, Townsend and Catherine. Wow. TownsendxAbby is my OTP, but Townsend/Catherine is REALLY interesting. And then Grant and Jonas came like whaaatttt? Where did they go though? They were in there for literary 2 minutes, and were never heard of again. OH GOD, the Zach not wanting to have children part. Ugh, please stop messing with my feelings Ally. It's not very nice. But I bet somewhere down the line, they'll have children ;) The only thing that sorta disappointed me was the whole Rachel and Joe thing. It felt really rushed and Joe really didn't have a part in this book, which surprised me and yeah. But overall, it was AMAZIGN and ALLY CARTER NEEDS TO STOP TOYING WITH MY EMOTIONS. But I have a lot to talk about, so PM ME IF YOU'VE READ IT, SO WE CAN FANGIRL :) It's been a long and incredible adventure at the Gallagher Girl Academy with you guys, and it's kinda bittersweet to be leaving it :) I hope you enjoyed your time as much as I did!
Kisses,
Alice