Chapter 11
Aaralynn
"So what's your story New Girl?" A very attractive boy with raven colored hair and these deep pooled green eyes asks coming up to my table. I sit alone with Cassie -I mean Kenzie- and he is only looking at me.
"Once upon a time a girl was asked what her story was and she didn't tell the guy. The end."
"Well that story sucks." He sits by Cassie -Kenzie- and winks at her.
"It's one that you asked for."
A few boys come walking over to our table they all surround me and Kenzie. I recognize one of the faces as Luke's, at least there is someone in that group that I know. "Oh New Girl is feisty I like that. So what is your name? I don't want to sit around here calling you 'New Girl'."
"It's a name that I'm not going to tell you cause I don't want you sitting around here either. Get lost." I say looking him in the eye. He is asking for a challenge and a challenge he will get.
"Fine, fine, I know when I am not wanted. But I will have you know that I always get what I want New Girl. If you are looking for a good time just ask around the school for Matt." He winks at me and walks off. A few guys follow except Luke. I'm not very happy with Luke at the time either so he better watch it or else I'm going to be yelling at him to split too.
"What's up?" He asks sliding down beside Cassie, he winks at her and looks back at me.
"Is that how guys greet girls around here by winking? We are girls not some kind of wild animal that you need to tame." Cassie says slightly pissed.
He puts his hands up in defense. "Sorry for even trying. I'm just trying to be polite, but it looks like I don't need to with all these friends that you have around your table here. I guess I could lay off."
"What are you even doing here Luke? Don't you have some kind of girl that you should be schmoozing over in the corner?"
"Okay someone is still mad about that, look Aaralynn I am sorry. I didn't know that-"
"Just forget about it. And here you call me Carter."
"Fine, fine, whatever. But I actually came here to give you a piece of advice. You need to become friends with someone here besides Cassie or Kenzie or whatever name you go by here." he says the last part looking at her, she rolls her eyes. "Like when the son of the best Convergent agent comes strolling over to talk to you, you could try being a little nicer."
"I plan on being a wallflower, I can get all the information better this way."
"I don't know, your brother looks like he could be getting a lot right now." He says and I turn to look at Granger, he sits with Jared at a different table talking to a group of kids, they look like they are in the middle of a serious conversation, but that ends soon because Granger says something sarcastic that gets the whole table in hysterics.
"I am not my brother." I hiss.
"Whatever, but knowing you. I bet you won't be able to keep your mouth closed all day. Or all week for that matter. People like you Aaralynn will have to be careful here. Your conscience will get the better of you and you will turn into the free-loving rebel that you are. So you better just start acting like yourself now and change it up a bit because there are people here who will be able to see right through you."
He walks away leaving me will Cassie. I growl a irritable response and Cassie starts laughing. "I hate it when people like him are right."
"Well you better get use to it, because you are going to find a bunch of them here."
Tris
"Your back pretty late." Agent Verda says as I walk into the old Convergent office. "How long has it been? About 12 years?"
"Life got in the way." I shoot back. I adjust the badge on my waist, and continue down the row.
"Yeah I heard. You found Mr. Big Shot Lawyer." I keep walking totally ignoring her. "Johnson knows."
I spin on my heel and face Agent Verda. She has about 5 inches on me, but that doesn't faze me. She knows how I feel about Johnson being in my life, and I don't like it. Verda smirks at me and crosses her arms. "Johnson told me that he wants to see you when you returned. Said something about 'wondering what took you so long?' Any of that ring a bell?"
"Who told Johnson about me?" I growl.
"Oh you know...Ben."
Ben? Shit. I bite my lip and look at the ground. "You know Natalia, Ben has been looking all over for you. He said something about 'wanting to talk' the last time I actually talked to him. But you know that's just pillow talk, of course it is pillow talk right from the source. You were right he does work magic." She laughs and I spin on my heel to get out of this place, but I can't I came here for more than actually talking to the same old bitchy colleagues. I walk up the steps towards a office and pause to knock on the door.
I actually came here to talk to Ben. Ben Blake. Benjamin Blake, Agent Benjamin Scott Blake. I've been avoiding him as much as possible since I left the agency. Of course they think that I never left, I've just been on a long break after my last mission.
When I finally get the courage to knock on the door, I am slightly shaking. But I wipe my hands on my pants and stop so people like Agent Camille Verda do not see me shake. Ben opens the door. He looks older, more tired, but when he sees me, he smirks. I know that he has recognized the person that left him so long ago, and he is pissed about it. I know Ben, he does not smirk at a person unless he is mad at them and he just got the opportunity of a lifetime.
"Agent Natalia Marx, it has a been a long time." He opens the door wider and invites me in. I walk in with my arms crossed glaring at the wall across from me.
"Its actually Special Agent Natalia James." I turn around to face him and he looks at me weird. Like I am a prize to be won again, he just loves a challenge. "I came here to talk. As much as I hate to say this but I need your help."
"Oh, well that's interesting, because I need to talk to you too."
Great. "I came here to ask-"
"Still the same old Natalia, straight to the point. You don't look much different either. How's your brother, Eric? Its Eric right?"
I roll my eyes at his attempt to divert the conversation. "Stop trying to get me off topic Ben."
"Fine, fine, what did your come here for Nat?"
I wrinkle my nose, not enjoying that he called me Nat. "I want the info to get back into Johnson's office building. His secretary is not letting me in and I know that he wants to talk to me. He left me a message about a week ago. If anyone had the info it would be you, I know you Ben."
He looks out the window for a minute acting like he wasn't paying attention, but I know he's listening. "Well I'll get you that info if you tell me why you left."
I scoff, "You know why I left."
"Why? Life was so good between us. I was happy you were happy, Matt was happy to have someone to play with. Matt had a mother for once-"
"Do not hold Matt over my head. I could not stay and you know that. Not-not when you did that thing to me. I'm done talking about this. Get me the information Ben."
He holds his hands up in a mock of defense. "Fine, fine." He walks over to his desk and pulls out a file and is just about to hand it to me when he pulls it back. "In here is all the information that you will need to be back in the office here." He looks through it and licks his lips. "I met your husband today Mrs. James, nice guy. I thought you weren't into big shot lawyers, I remember you telling me distinctively that you didn't like lawyers."
"Something changed when after you did that awful thing to me."
"Hm...he also seems a little too old for you, but then again you always looked younger than you were. How old is he anyway?"
I look him in his dark green eyes. "He is younger than you, only 34."
"Only 34?"
"Yeah, he is four years younger than you."
He smirks at me making me nervous. "Then again you always had a thing for older men." He hands me the file and I walk out of the office and then check the info. The door abruptly behind me. All the information is here and I walk out of the building with something ringing through my head. Still the same old Natalia, straight to the point. You even look the same. Oh that is not going to happen.
"Why did you do that?" Granger asks, voice is raised.
"Don't raise your voice Granger, all the neighbors will hear you, and I did this because I wanted to do something for myself. Besides its hot down here, too hot for long hair."
"But its change!"
"I don't know I like it. Pixie cuts are in now." Aaralynn says throwing an orange at Granger, who catches it easily.
"Thank you Aaralynn. See Granger, there are people in this world who do appreciate some change in life."
He rolls his eyes and then he looks at me, eyes bright. He has that look in them, when he has an idea. "Well there are those people in this world who don't appreciate change, and my father is one of them. Isn't that right Aaralynn?" He smiles at her and then he looks at me, evil gleam in his eyes.
Its my turn to roll my eyes, my son can be ridiculous sometimes. "Granger I am not afraid of your father's reaction, I believe that he will accept it just as Aaralynn. Trust me honey, I think I can handle him."
"Its like you've just been lawyered." Aaralynn says smirking at her brother.
"Ha-ha don't you think that you are so funny." He looks back over to be. "What's for supper? I am starving. Please tell me that its Chinese take out, because that's walk it smells like."
"No, no I actually made something for dinner, its a stir fry using this thing called a wok. It's pretty cool if I say so myself, and I probably do."
"You did?" Granger says shocked.
The door in the living room shuts and I hear Tobias shout, "Honey I'm home," and he chuckles to himself as he walks into the kitchen muttering how he always wanted to say that to someone. "Smells good in here. What is it, take out?"
"No, I actually made something using this thing that we had in the kitchen called a wok. Its was pretty cool."
"I don't know what I am more surprised about, that you actually cooked or that you cut your..." He points to his head. "...hair."
I look at my daughter and she smiles. "What are you like Granger and don't like it? He already expressed his hate for it."
"Well its different." He says kind of shocked.
I roll my eyes and move to the stove to check on supper. "Well supper is done, if Granger would set the table and we can eat."
"Are you sure that it's edible?" Granger says walking over to where the plates are at.
"If it's not edible then we'll give it to Bear and I'll order us pizza."
"Oh that sounds good." Granger says and he begins setting the table.
"Hmm this is the first time I've ever say at a table eating dinner with family when it's not over a holiday." Aaralynn says making her way over to the dining room.
"You don't sit at the table together?" I ask Tobias.
He shrugs. "Not really, we don't have a table at our apartment. We usually eat dinner in front of the t.v. or at the counter."
"Oh." I say and begin to bring the food to the table. "When I was younger I always ate with my family around the table, even at Dauntless when I wasn't with my family I was with my friends. Memories were made at the table and I wanted Granger to grow up that way."
"Makes sense, but I never really got that opportunity with my family."
"It's times like this where you see how different some styles of parenting to be."
"Yeah, I guess." He said sorely and sits down at the head on the table.
I sit next to him and beside Aaralynn. I watch as Granger slowly takes a bite and chews, then robotically swallows. "Well?" I ask.
"Well I haven't dropped dead right now, and it doesn't make want to puke, and it doesn't taste that bad. But that could be the result of me being hungry so we never know."
I roll my eyes and stay eating, it's not awful, like he said, but it's not amazing either.
"How was school?" I ask the kids.
"Eh...it's a high tech support agent school that thinks they're all that and a bag of chips, because they get a lot of money. So it's just like all the other schools like that I've been to." Granger says.
"It was a school full of snooty rich kids. It kind of reminds me of all the kids that go to Kang."
"What's Kang?"
"One of the three schools in Chicago. It's the best one out of the three of them, more the kids whose parents still push one trait from the faction system go to it." Tobias's says. "Not everyone accepts not having a Faction system. Lately that has been causing some trouble in the city."
"Convergents want a Faction system to rule. Their leader is strong and lately he's been pushing people to go to cities that once were factions, to get them to move back to the faction ways. Sometimes he even will go out and assassinate the leaders of those cities." I say looking at Tobias, but this doesn't seem to faze him.
Tobias's looks at me blankly and says, "well it's a good thing that we are going to kill this leader then."
We continue eating but the air around us seems thicker, like its hard to breathe. If this is how Aaralynn feels all the time I feel awful for her. Tobias stops eating and looks at me. "Do you know an Agent Blake?"
"Yeah, I know him."
"I met him today, he seems a little..."
"He's a dick I know."
Granger laughs like the immature teenage boy that he is and I know that Aaralynn kicks him because he stops in an instant and leans down to his shin.
"Yeah I guess that's a good word for it."
We continue eating then Tobias says quietly, "You know he wants to see both of us."
"He wants to see both us?"
"That's what he said."
I swear to myself and run my hands through my short hair.
"We don't have to go see him if you don't want to."
"If Ben asked to see us, then he will find a way to see the both of us. Might as well avoid the inevitable."
"It can't be that hard to avoid him. This is a big city and he is just one person."
"That's a positive way of thinking, but you don't know Ben. He is mean and he knows how to manipulate people and was a bounty hunter. He ready to hunt people down and if he has to he will kill them before they can even think. He will ruin your life and..."
"Geez Tris calm down. I think that I can handle this Agent Blake-"
"You don't know, you just don't know what he has done."
"Your right I don't, but I am not afraid of him. Not after what I have been through. People like that don't scare me."
I place my fork and knife on the table. "Do you remember Peter? And Eric?" He nods. "Well imagine Peter and Eric getting married and raising a child together that is trained to kill. Trained to kill anything or back stab anyone, no matter if he apparently loves that person. I've watched him hurt too many women to know all too well what he is capable of. He is the reason why I want the Convergent Agency to burn down to the ground. I want him to be in the building so I can dance on his ashes, to repay all the women who has been affected by him."
I lean back in my chair and glare at Tobias who glares back. "What has he done to women?" Aaralynn asks me. We all look at her surprised. "What? I know everyone was thinking about it."
I sigh, "Most of the agents who work at Convergent are not able to have children, apparently they do this so if the agent gets killed on the job they won't have to worry about the family. A good friend of mine was going to sleep with Ben, he seduced her. Ben slipped something in her drink, its like a serum that makes women loose their ability to have children. I told her not go with him that day, I knew what was going to happen to her. Because of him she lost so much."
I move away from the table and watch as Tobias throw down him napkin. I don't want to see anyone now, not when such old, bad memories have been brought up today in the mist of my good new ones that I was trying to make. "Goodnight." I move up to my bedroom, where I lock myself in the bathroom to start the shower.
"I'm sorry if I upset you tonight." Tobias says walking into the room, its 11 o'clock.
I curl under the covers more and I act like I am sleeping.
"I know that you are listening to me Tris."
Still playing the act out I do my best to ignore him.
"Granger says goodnight if you care."
Dammit he got me, but a good agent doesn't blow their cover until they are in trouble.
He leaves me alone for a while, but when he returns I'm cold. "Goodnight Tris, sweet dreams." But soon I am warm again.
