Just then my phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Why is my husband not returning my calls?"
Oh boy.
"I don't know, Mrs. Cooper. May I take a message?"
I so did not want to talk to this woman.
"Yes. You tell that son of a bitch that if he doesn't start returning my calls, he better go and find a new place to live!"
She hung up, leaving me staring at the phone as if it had decided to sprout wings and fly away.
"I'll be sure to let him know."
It was well after lunch when Cooper returned.
"Your wife called," I said.
He rolled his eyes and face palmed.
Wow, the poor guy was definitely having marital problems.
"And what did she say?" he asked.
"Ummm. . ."
He frowned as his cellphone rang.
"Excuse me," he mumbled.
He answered the phone and closed his eyes.
"You can't blame me for your unhappiness, Helen."
Helen? Seriously?
Apparently that opening was all she needed, because she started to ream him big time. Thankfully I couldn't hear what she was saying (that would have been really awkward). By the look on Cooper's face, it was apparent that he had heard it all before.
He let her rant for several moments. Finally he responded, very calmly, "Well maybe if you hadn't cheated on me, I would still love and respect you."
What the Fuck?!
He hung up and smiled apologetically at me.
"Sorry about that, Natasha."
Whoa! Did he just call me by my first name?
"I'm sorry, too."
And I was. This poor guy had been through a lot in the past year. He didn't deserve this.
"Is there anything I can do?" I asked.
His eyes seemed to bore right through me. His jaw twitched as he physically bit his tongue to keep from speaking.
"No. Thank you."
I was too stunned to react before he turned and walked away. What was that supposed to mean? He was obviously going to say something, but had stopped himself. What was he going to say? My mind whirled at the possibilities. It had been an innocent enough question. Wasn't it?
I jumped in my seat as my phone rang again.
"Hello?"
"Natasha."
My eyes widened. It was Cooper. He was calling me from his office.
"Yes?"
"Could you bring me a cup of coffee, please?"
"Sure."
"Thank you."
He hung up and I couldn't help but turn and look over at his closed office door. This day is getting more and more interesting.
I gently knocked on his door, before letting myself in. He was standing with his back turned to me, looking out the window.
"Here's your coffee," I said as I placed it on his desk.
"Thanks."
He didn't turn around, so I continued to stare at his back. Again my thoughts took a turn to the dark side. I wanted to walk up behind and wrap my arms around his waist. I wanted to grab that magnificent ass of his and wrap my legs around him. My hands longed to tangle into his hair and pull his face down to mine. His beautiful face.
"Natasha?"
My face reddened. He was now facing me. Did he know I was just checking him out?
"Yes?"
"What did my wife say to you?"
Oh. This was getting awkward. No wonder he called me into his office.
"Well, um, let's see. She called you a son of a bitch."
His jaw twitched again, but he didn't say anything.
"And then she said that if you didn't start returning your calls, you had better find yourself a new place to live."
"Was that it?"
"Yes, sir."
He sighed and turned back around to the window.
"Things used to be so good between us," he murmured.
"I'm sure they were."
"Have you ever been married, Natasha?"
"No."
"Well, it's true what they say. You have to work at it. Nothing ever comes easy. I'm partly to blame. I didn't work as hard as I should have. Work started to consume me. I would get home later and later each evening. Some nights I wouldn't even come home. I was always faithful though. No matter what she may think, I was always faithful. So you can imagine how hurt I was when I discovered she had been having an affair."
"That must have hurt," I said softly.
"It did," he said with a sigh. "It still does. She gave me two beautiful children, whom I love more than anything. I loved her just as much. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt her. Apparently she didn't think the same way. Now she's threatening me with divorce. She wants sole custody of the kids, of course. I would only get to see them a few times a year. She wants to keep everything."
His eyes had softened. He looked like a wounded child. I wanted so badly to hold him and tell him that everything was going to be okay.
"I'm afraid she might try and have me killed."
My eyes widened.
"What?" I asked, shocked. "You're her husband! The father of her children! Why on earth would she want you dead?"
"Because of who I am. Think about it. If I were a normal guy with a normal job, she would just divorce me and move on. I work for the CIA. I made lead agent this year. Think of all the unwanted publicity she would get."
"I don't know," I said slowly. "You're upset, and rightly so, but don't you think you might be a little paranoid about this?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"You think I'm paranoid?"
"No! No . . ."
Suddenly someone was knocking on the door.
"Who is it?" Cooper demanded.
There was no answer.
"Get down!" he commanded as he pulled me down to the floor.
Just then the glass shattered as bullets began to whiz over our heads. It sounded like machine gun fire.
He pulled his gun, but I was too shocked to do the same. I couldn't do anything but watch as he stood and began firing his pistol at the unseen attacker.
Then silence.
He holstered his weapon and looked down at me.
"Paranoid, huh?"
"I misspoke."
We stood and surveyed the damage. The office space was riddled with bullet holes.
"This place has seen worse," Cooper reflected.
I started to laugh, but since I wasn't sure if he was joking, I decided to keep quiet.
Cooper's cell rang. He pulled it out and and stared at the screen.
"Oh, Shit."
We both looked up to see a man kick down what remained of the door. He was in his mid fifties, bald, and wore a serious expression on his face.
"Why are you trying to kill me?" Cooper asked.
"I'm not trying to kill you," Frank Moses said, "but I might know who is."