The muse has been busy today. I'll keep them coming as long as the muse gets fed. Chocolate & Chardonay are good, but reviews are better.
Disclaimer: I don't own, Auggie, Annie, Stu or Joan. They belong to the writers of Covert Affairs.
Driving in to work on Monday morning Annie thought long and hard on how to approach Auggie when she ran into him. They had connected deeply Saturday morning. Yes, they had decided that they were still just friends, but she could not deny the vibes that had passed between them. Even in their buzzed lust, she had been aware of tenderness in his love-making. He had taken pains to make sure that she was satisfied, when he could have simply satisfied his need. That was what she had expected. And, it would have been okay with her. All that she had really wanted was to be with him, to feel his arms around her, to feel him within her. Truth be told, all she had really wanted was to feel. To feel something besides the emptiness that had been her constant companion since her return from Sri Lanka.
His admission of not being with anyone for months had somewhat surprised her. But in looking back, she realized that he had not done the 'walk of shame' since she had returned from Sri Lanka. Nor had she seen him leave with anyone of the bevy of women throwing themselves at him in Allen's. Even his shameless flirting in the office had slowed. Except with her. His attentions toward her had not changed. Could it be that he, too, wanted to be more than just friends?
On her way in, Annie stopped at the Starbucks and got her usual latte, and Auggie's usual coffee. When she arrived at Tech Ops he was not there, but evidence of his arrival was apparent. His sport coat was draped over the back of his chair with his public cane tucked into a side pocket.
The main door into the room opened and Annie turned to see Stu with his hands full of files.
"Mornin' Stu," Annie said brightly. "Do you know where Auggie is? I've got his morning coffee."
"Morning, Annie. He's up with Joan. She wants to see you, too," he said in reply as he crossed the room to his work station.
Annie picked up the cup of coffee that she set down for Auggie and headed up to Joan's office.
When she arrived in Joan's office she was aware of the serious look on Joan's face and an equally grim one on Auggie's. He had pulled one of Joan's side chair up to the front of her desk and was reading the Brailed pages before him. There was a regular file on the desk in front of the other side chair.
As she entered the room, she closed the door behind her at Joan's gesture. She nodded her greeting to Joan. "Morning, Auggie. I've got your morning coffee. Where would you like for me to set it down for you?"
"Morning, Annie. Thanks for the coffee." He stopped reading the page and held out his hand. Annie brushed the back of his hand with the warm cup. He quickly grasped the cup and took a sip before setting it down next to his file on the desk.
Annie picked up the file and sat down. After reading for a few minutes she asked, "When do I leave? And I'm assuming that Auggie will be in my ear for the duration?"
"You will leave for the airport within the hour. Cover Ops has packed a suitcase with enough clothing appropriate for your cover for a week, and your cover passport will be delivered to your desk within the next half-an-hour. Auggie has not assigned your handler yet. He wanted to speak to you privately before he did. Do you have any questions about your Op or your cover before you leave?"
"No, ma'am. Seems pretty straight forward to me," Annie said to Joan. It was a pretty straight forward Op and cover. She was to portray a well-off twenty-something traveling the world to get over a failed romance. She could play that role in her sleep. The only thing different would be the well-off part. Hooking up with the male officer in London was the only part that she did not relish. A one-night-stand would not be welcomed, even if it was for the job. Maybe she could get away with some flirting and heavy petting and not have to go 'all the way'. Auggie clearing his throat and saying her name brought her thoughts back to the here and now.
"Earth to Annie," Auggie said once again.
"Sorry, Auggie. I was just running over things in my head," Annie admitted sheepishly. She looked around and noticed that it was just the two of them in the room. "Where'd Joan go?"
"She went to get herself a cup of coffee so that I could talk to you in private." He located his coffee and took a drink.
"Why do you need to talk to me in private? What's up?" The serious look on Auggie's face made Annie nervous.
Auggie fidgeted in his seat. "Annie," he began, "about the other night. I don't think I can be your handler on this mission given what you might have to do." He hung his head, his gaze falling from her head.
"What? Why?"
"I don't think that I can be objective listening to another man being with a woman I care about as much as I care about you. If you're to be with someone I want it to be with me. I know that it would just be for the job, but … I can't, Annie. I just can't."
"Auggie, did you tell Joan that we hooked up the other night?"
"No, that's just between us. I just told her that I wanted to talk over the reasons that I might want to hand you off to Stu for this mission. Stu's not had many lengthy Ops and I wanted to give him more experience there if it was okay with you."
"Could you handle some heavy petting? Even for the job, even if it's part of the protocol, I don't want to do that with anyone but you, either."
Auggie's head lifted and his gaze returned to her face. The hardness that had been in his features before softened a bit. "Really?"
"Yes, Auggie. I was trying to find a way to get out of going all the way with him if it even came to that. I'm supposed to start my period any day, and I know that's a turn-off for most men."
"It can be a turn-off, yes. Then I hope that Mother Nature visits you soon." A smile worked at the corners of his mouth.
"Auggie, we're too good of a team to not work together on this Op," Annie stated as the door opened and Joan re-entered her office. "Can you please train Stu with someone else?" Annie evoked a pleading tone in her voice. "Stu's a nice guy and probably a very good handler, but we're a team now, Auggie."
"Do you two have this worked out now?" Joan asked as she settled herself behind her desk once again.
"Yes, Joan. I'll be her primary handler in the critical parts, and will turn her over to Stu for the more mundane parts. If that's okay with you?"
"It's you department, Auggie. All I need to know is who's going to be handling my people," Joan said with a tone of dismissal. "Oh, Annie, could you stay for another moment? Auggie, close the door behind you please."
Once Auggie was out of the room and the door closed, Joan turned her attention to Annie. "There will be a fresh pack of condoms in your luggage. Just in case you have to use them. I do hope that they will not be necessary. We may, on occasion, jeopardize our officer's lives, but that is one area that we do not like to take chances in. I hope that you being in the middle of your period will keep you out of his bed."
"Huh? How did you know?"
"We know a lot about our officers, down to when our female officers are on their periods. This op is routine, and any of our female officers could have done it. You were the only one who would be on her period. We did not write the protocol for his operation. It came from their side. We're just doing our best to keep our female officer out of his bed if there's any way that we can.
"I also suspect that Auggie did not want to be your handler because of that possibility. He sometimes forgets that we can read his face, even if he can't read ours. I saw the anger in him when he got to that part of the protocol. I know he has feelings for you, Annie. You two are a good team; we don't want to break you up. I could have insisted that he be your handler, but I wanted to give you two the opportunity to work it out yourselves. There is a rumor that the two of you hooked up over the weekend. On one level it's none of our business, but on another it is. Auggie knows this, but I want to make sure that you understand it also, yes, dating within the company is acceptable as long as it does not affect you ability to work together as a team."
"I understand everything that you've just said, Joan. Are you having me followed?"
"No. Dismissed."
So different from 'In the Beginning'. I'm having fun with this one. Are you having fun reading it?
