Hey guys,
First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you who contributed to this fic reaching over 100 followers and over 100 reviews in so little chapters.
This means the world to me, and really motivates me to write in late hours and limited free moments I have. Even if it takes me forever, when ever there's a positive review I find myself writing some more lines in my draft for the next chapter.
Secondly, I've changed the rating to M, as there are some issues this chapter onward that are adult matters to my opinion.
And without any more delays…
Five French-manicured fingernails, painted light beige with a delicate white stripe at the end.
Four white knuckles, almost as white as the stripe on the nails.
Three blue veins starting at the bud of the knuckles, running the back of a hand, blood noticeably gushing through them.
Two opposite hands, both featuring the same look.
One metal bar going along the wall of the staircase, held tightly by two hands, each with three gushing veins, four white knuckles and five painted fingernails.
Her entire existence was narrowed down to this moment. Her world shrunk to the width of the stairs and the distance still remaining to the top landing.
Her head was leaning against the wall, and she slowly opened her eyes.
Focus on this, Andy.
Take a deep breath and climb the last six steps slowly.
That's it! You can do it!
One step at a time.
Slowly you'll get there.
Breathe.
Don't think about how late you're going to be, or how aching your muscles will be in an hour.
You'll stretch at the end, and get your breath back to normal and then take the elevator up to the office.
You know how this works, and you love it.
You can do it, and you will!
The voice in her head was screaming to be heard above the music in her ears, the effortful breaths and her throbbing heart rate.
Sam stepped up towards the car parked in front of the building. He got here by foot and checked no one was following him.
He approached the passenger side and quietly climbed in. The car took off immediately.
In the car, Steve handed him a medium-sized brown paper bag and Sam looked at him, measuring his wrinkled attire, disheveled hair and day old stubble.
He felt sorry for the guy.
"You look tired, Peck. Go home and get some sleep."
"Will do, Swarek. I was up all night to get you this goodie-bag on time. Check it out."
Sam peeked into the bag and began taking out items and placing them on his lap.
"Two passports. Great. This one looks used" he raised a questioning look at Steve, looking at both sides of the passport.
"Well, apparently Miss Van Der Vooman flew a year ago to go on a family hunt in the Netherlands. Too bad she didn't find any relatives." Steve supplemented with a smile and a smirk. "It would look too suspicious if both passports looked brand new." He explained.
Sam opened the passport and checked Andy's picture. It wasn't the same one from the night before.
She looked so clueless in this one.
Steve noticed how Sam looks at the photo and cleared his throat "Academy application forms."
Sam nodded.
He didn't bother to check his own passport, and moved on to the next item in the bag.
It was a heavy metallic utensil, and Sam checked it out.
"TPD's version of 'be prepared'?" He chuckled "Is this a farewell gift?"
"It's a Leatherman's multi-tool kit. It has all you might need wherever you are in the world. There are scissors, a can opener, screwdrivers – four kinds - flat, cross and Phillips, a bottle opener" Steve counted with his free hand while the other was on the steering wheel.
"Pshhh" Sam let out an impressed puff as he opened the various folded tools and Steve continued
"There are two types of cutters, two types of pliers, a beer opener, a..."
"a nail sharpener?" Sam interrupted him and muttered "very manly".
But Steve will not be side-tracked here, he finally got to the good stuff "... a water proof GPS chip that will follow you around the world, and it's not a nail sharpener, it's a metal/wood file, and it has an S.O.S. transmitter that is activated by rubbing something on it. Wherever you are in the world, the nearest agency will pick this up and come to your rescue. Canadian police, FBI, CIA, Interpol, Scotland yard, Mosad, M5, M6, KGB, Somalian police, you name it. Any headquarters of a first, second or third world country agency or police will receive this S.O.S call with your GPS location."
Sam was speechless, and pursed his lips.
He looked at Steve, beyond being impressed.
After a couple of seconds he moved on and pulled out another item from the bag.
"An eye shadow?" This was so stereotypic. The man gets the tools, and the woman - the makeup.
"Couldn't find anything else to bring her. It was actually my sister's idea. She said something about McNally being wrong with her first impression theory, whatever. The S.O.S. call here is triggered by pulling out the inside mirror."
"Your sister knows Andy?"
"Yeah, they've been through the Academy together."
Sam filed this piece of info in his head, placed the eye shadow on his lap and moved on to the next item. It seemed like the bag was bottomless, and there were more things in it than what it looked like.
"A USB drive". Sam looked at Steve, questioning look on his face.
"I want McNally to copy anything she's working on. Maybe we'll get him for something else as well. It's just a safety net, so she doesn't have to do it if it's too dangerous. When she downloads the files to the laptop she has at home, I'll have backup and access through the net drive."
Steve prompted Sam to check the bag again. In it he found two packets of pills.
"The ones she wanted and some morning-after pills until she can start the new pack. The doctor said she knows the drill." Steve supplied matter-of-fact-ly, hiding well the fact that he never went to an Ob-Gyn doctor before, not to mention received contraceptives' instructions.
"Sam, I hate to ask it, but I have to, it's my job." Sam looked up at him, waiting for the question. "You and Andy... is there anything I need to know?"
"What?" Sam was still holding the pills in his hands, and suddenly realized how it might look to Steve. Why else would Andy need her pills now?
"No man, no. Nothing happened and nothing will." Sam sounded mostly confident, but not entirely.
"Cause the pictures suggest something else" Steve tilted his chin, and Sam took the last item out of the bag.
Apparently, the photographer printed the pictures of him and Andy together and placed it with the passport photos without telling them. Sam had a flashback of how Andy slid the photos' envelope to Steve without looking what's inside.
He now checked them one by one, a small smile gracing his lips and his eyes sparkled.
This was enough for Steve to know these two must be watched after. He had no doubt that Sam was a professional. He was TPD's best undercover cop. But he never saw him like he was in these pictures. So relaxed, so at ease, so... in love?
The thought hit Steve like a lightning.
Oh man.
Yeah, these two will definitely have to be looked after.
The elevators' doors pinged as they opened and Andy walked in, turning around on her heals to face the sliding doors. Her left hand lifted to clear some stray sweaty bangs off her forehead. She knew that when she's at the office she'll have to go straight to the bathroom to freshen up to look more presentable.
She took a deep breath and lowered her hand into her new work bag, hooking the earphones off her ears.
When her hand was in the bag to turn off the music from her phone, a throat was cleared behind her, startling her.
She lifted her eyes and turned her head backwards, focusing on the person whose throat was just cleared.
Her eyes were widely opened when she realized it was Edmonds.
Her mind was racing with last night's list of do's and don'ts Steve gave her, and she once again forced herself to breathe. Without thinking too much she allowed the hand in her bag turn the camera on before gliding the hand out. She then easily shifted the bag so the camera will face the man in the elevator.
"Morning, Mr. Edmonds." Her words were faint but noticeable.
"Good morning, Miss Rachel. We already agreed on first name basis, didn't we?" His smile was friendly, but there was something really unnerving lying under it, and Andy felt the Goosebumps on her skin pop up.
"Yes, Mr. Edmonds." He raised a questioning brow and she corrected herself immediately "George", a little smile on her face.
Andy felt Edmonds' eyes gliding on her body, measure her top to bottom and up again. She shifted uncomfortably in her place, and wondered what she could do next.
First, she took a look down on her dress, to see maybe something happened to it while she climbed the stairs. She wore a new dress today, light brown. It was a double buttoned dress with a round generous neckline, and a thick belt hugging her waist. Her attire was completed by new 4-inch-heels brown pumps.
No. her dress was fine. But her skin? She now noticed her skin was still a little shiny from the sweat, and her breath a little strained. Oh oh.
Edmonds didn't say anything, but his look on her made her feel uncomfortable. She thought maybe she could say something about losing her employee card and getting off at the next floor, but there were no buttons inside the elevator.
Stupid smart elevators! You can't change your mind in the middle of the ride. Not until you reach your destination. Damn it!
Before she had time to think of other ways of getting out, the elevator reached their floor and they both got off.
C U 4 LUNCH?
Andy's phone rang once with the new text coming from JD. She smiled and texted her approval instantly, happy to get out of the office and get some fresh air. Plus, she hadn't yet seen him today and she realized she kind of missed him.
Twenty minutes later they walked together to a nearby workers' restaurant they liked because it was mostly populated by the common people and not the white collars from their firm. Sam noticed Andy's limp was a little more noticeable, like she couldn't move, but decided against asking her about it.
He checked their surroundings before placing the bag and its contents on the table while they waited for their food to arrive. They went one by one through the items, and Sam explained to Andy everything Steve told him. Andy quickly placed her items in her bag, and started telling Sam about her morning.
She liked the fact that she can talk freely with him. He was a good listener, like he wanted to know things about her. Never quite gave back something from himself, though.
"So… I've activated the camera today." Sam's eyes popped up and he waited for her to continue. He knew she could not hold back from talking.
"I've been really motivated last night after our… dinner. So I've decided I need to get back in shape and need to start exercising. I woke up really early this morning, all motivated and all, and I got to the bus like 20 minutes too early. Which means I got to the office 20 minutes too early. So I've decided to climb the stairs. Get back in shape, you know. First two floors were a breeze. Then the third was a little harder, and the fourth, I got stuck on the fourth. It took me forever but I made it. When I got my breath together I got on the elevator, and guess who was there." Her hands were in the air waiting for his reply.
He simply widened his eyes and asked dryly "who?" biting the fries he just picked up from his plate.
"Edmonds. Good old Mr. Edmonds." She continued her story, and Sam reached one crucial conclusion. He immediately implemented it, and notified Andy.
"From now on you come to my building and we work out together, there's a gym near the lobby. You don't need to exercise alone. I don't want you to exercise alone."
Andy squinted her eyes, trying to decide how it's related to what she just told him, and why he's taking control, but shrugged it off
"Fine". She muttered, and they finished their food quickly and went back to work.
When Andy got back to the office, Miss B came looking for her and asked her to get into Mr. Edmonds' office.
Andy grabbed her cellphone, a notebook and a pen and went straight inside.
Edmonds was standing by the large window, looking down on Toronto.
Andy contemplated for a brief moment if she should join him by the window, and strategically decided to sit on the sofa, her body only half way in, her legs crossed in the ankles. This was a painful position for her strained muscles.
When Edmonds came and sat by her side, she cringed and regretted not choosing the armchair.
He started dictating, and Andy's left hand dropped the phone on the sofa next to her, so she could write.
When his left hand was placed on her right knee, she wondered why she didn't turn the recorder on when she walked in.
When his hand started moving on her thigh, her hand stopped moving and she froze.
When he started whispering affectionate words in her ear, she felt her lunch climbing up her esophagus.
When he moved his mouth closer to hers, she wished and prayed he would be stopped.
A/N: I'm mean. I know...next chapter will be up soon, promise.