AUGUST

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SEPTEMBER

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OCTOBER

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NOVEMBER

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DECEMBER

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JANUARY

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I looked in the tiny mirror as I applied my favorite red lipstick. I checked my makeup all around then put everything back into my clutch. I looked at my watch. 5:13 pm. My client usually arrived around five, but I decided to give him a few extra minutes just in case he was running a little behind today. I inhaled deeply and held it in, counting to ten, then slowly released. I rounded the corner and walked down the sidewalk, the light flutters of snow drifting around me. The pub's "Open" sign hung crooked on the door and I considered fixing it as I went inside. The lighting was dim and the people were scarce. I immediately recognized my client sitting alone at the bar and took a seat eights stools away.

"Whiskey. On the rocks. Please." The bartender smiled and nodded, walking away to make my drink.

And that's all it took.

"It's only the first Monday of the year and already you're alone in a pub drinking before the clocks even struck six?"

I looked down the bar and locked eyes with the familiar stranger, pretending to be surprised by his comment.

I laughed a little. "Yeah, pretty pathetic, isn't it?"

"I guess that would depend on the reason."

I smiled at him then looked down, twiddling my thumbs. "I got stood up. Again. You'd think after the first time I'd learn my lesson. But apparently even three times wasn't enough to teach me." The bartender set down my drink. "Thank you." I immediately lifted the glass and took a sip quick enough to bypass my tongue.

"Well I suppose that's a good enough reason. Although I do agree, you definitely should have learned your lesson by now."

I smiled and played with my glass. "Apparently fourth time's a charm. I will definitely not be making that mistake again." I looked up to find the man staring at me, smirking. "Sorry, I don't usually complain to strangers."

He stood up and made his way down towards me, taking the seat next to mine. He held out his hand. "Gerald Fillmore."

I firmly grabbed his hand and shook it, pretending I had never heard the name before. "Scarlett Jones."

"A beautiful name to go with a beautiful face. I should not have expected any differently."

I gave him a smile that was all too big and fluttered my eyelashes playfully. "It's very nice to meet you Mr. Fillmore."

"Everyone else calls me Mr. Fillmore. You can call me Gerald."

"Aww I feel so special!"

The next hour went along the usual way. He was a typical client, too dull to even remotely realize how over exaggerated I was in my flirting. At this point it would have been nice to have more of a challenge on my missions. This job was becoming all too easy. I'd have to mention it to Jim later on.

Finally conversation drew thin and I put on a yawn and stretched adorably. "I guess I had better get going. Since that mistake of a man lied to me, I now have nowhere to stay. I should probably start walking and hope to come up on a motel or something. Wish me luck!"

I shifted as if I were getting ready to leave and, as expected, he put his hand on my wrist, stopping me.

"My dear you have no place to stay?! You don't even have a car?!"

I shrugged a little and pursed my lips. "I guess I'll figure something out."

"Scarlett, you do realize it is dark out and there is snow flooding the streets."

I looked down and bit my lip, acting like I was in deep thought. The truth was that I was waiting for my client to make his move.

I didn't have to wait long.

"Listen, Scarlett, I know we just met and all, but if you want, you may come stay at my place. Just for the night, until you have made other arrangements and get on your feet. I have a spare bedroom you can stay in. I don't want you to think of me negatively for asking this of you, but I would not feel comfortable allowing you to roam the streets at night alone in the cold."

I gave him big, enduring eyes. "Are you sure? I would hate to be a burden."

He chuckled somewhat. "Nonsense! You are a very sweet girl and a pleasure to be around. You deserve better."

With that we left the pub. On the way out the door I made a point to straighten out the open sign.

I walked around the guest room slowly, pacing, waiting for the opportune moment. I was hoping my client would maybe watch the television for a little while, or maybe read or something. It seemed he wasn't going to be in bed at his usual time. I looked at my watch. 7:47 pm. My ticket out would be here at exactly eight thirty and would remain put for no more than two minutes. I had less than an hour. I needed to act fast.

A quick knock at my door broke me from my thoughts.

"Come in!"

He peeked his head in and smiled. "How do you like your room? Do you need anything?"

My brain worked fast, seizing a last minute opportunity.

"No, I'm alright. I was actually about to head downstairs and make some tea."

"Oh no miss I'll do that. You just stay up here and relax. I'll be back in a minute."

I listened close, hearing his heavy footsteps fade down the hall then down the noisy staircase. That's when I quickly made my way to the door and opened it slowly. I tip toed as fast as I could to the office a few rooms away. The center of the floorboards were creaky, so I skidded on the edge of the hall up against the wall. I carefully opened the office door and snuck inside. His laptop was on his desk facing away from me. I wasted no time and went to the desk, moving the mouse and opening a protected search of the whole computer. It took only seconds to spot the ghost folder marked "BANK". I pulled out the flash drive I had in my pocket and stuck it in, copying the folder's contents onto the drive. It was taking longer than expected and I began to worry. I looked at my watch. 8:02 pm.

Suddenly I heard footsteps nearing the bottom of the stairway. I frantically watched the data being moved on the screen in front of me, mentally screaming at it to go faster. The footsteps were now halfway up the staircase. My heart raced as the blue bar neared the 100% mark. It finally finished and I worked fast to close all the windows. I ripped out the drive as the man walked into the room.

I jumped almost a foot off the ground. "Oh God you scared me to death!"

He also looked slightly taken back. "Oh my I'm so sorry I didn't mean to! I figured you heard me coming down the hall.

I shook my head innocently. "Guess not." I looked around a bit. "Oh and I'm sorry about, you know, being in here. I really shouldn't snoop. I just saw all the books and it peaked my interest. You have lots of interesting things."

My client smiled proudly and set the tray of tea he was holding on a small side table. "You most definitely do not need to apologize! If anything I'm flattered! I don't have many guests over, so my prized possessions never get noticed. I'm glad someone else is enjoying them as much as I do."

I smiled sweetly and looked around at all the trinkets on his desk. I hadn't really noticed before, but he did have an impressive collection of old world treasures. Lots of old maps and oceanic souvenirs. There were also lots and lots of pictures of an old trading ship. In all the photos the ship had "THE RIGBY" carved into its wooden side.

I briefly glanced at my watch. 8:09 pm. Shit.

"It's getting late. I should probably be off to bed. Thank you for the tea."

The man looked confused as I grabbed a cup from the tray and swiftly walked out. The second I was in my room I closed the door and got on the guest bed. I swallowed hard as I heard heavy creaking getting closer and closer. It stopped right outside my door.

"Do you need anything before bed?"

"No thank you! I'm fine!"

The man hesitated. "Are you sure? Do you have enough blankets?"

I rolled my eyes in frustration. "I'm good. Don't worry. Goodnight!"

Though he didn't respond I knew he was still outside my door. Dammit, how long was he planning on standing there?! I looked at my watch. 8:13 pm. Seventeen minutes seems like a long enough time, but with these sort of missions you never know. My client finally turned and left. But instead of going into his own bedroom he went downstairs. And into the kitchen.

Shit shit shit. The kitchen was not only placed directly below me, but it also overlooked the front lawn. I decided not to leave just yet, hoping the man would soon find his late night snack and go to bed.

But he didn't. I slowly took a look at my watch. 8:28 pm. I had run out of time waiting. I now had no choice. My mind went into high gear as I grabbed my tall black boots I had taken off earlier. Lining the insides were two thin cables. I connected them and fastened one end to a bed post. The other end clipped onto my belt buckle. I grabbed my boots, checked my pockets to make sure I had the flash drive, then made my way to the window hoping for the best. The window lifted silently thank heavens, and without giving myself a second to think it through I leaned out the window and began making my way down. I continued reminding myself that I could do this.

Just like you practiced Evee. Just pretend this is another practice.

Before I knew it my feet hit solid ground. I unclipped the wire from my belt buckle and bolted down the long green lawn. I tried my best to remain in the shadows of the tall hedges lining the yard, but the full moon gave off too much light. I could easily be spotted. My heart began hurting as I sprinted, but I didn't pay it much attention. I could only think of not being seen. It was very possible my client could see me from the kitchen. I hoped I would not hear the sound of the front door opening and the man yelling at me. That thought made me run faster.

Soon I got to the front gate. I slipped through the cold metal bars and turned right. Only a few yards away was the car, parked but turned on. I breathlessly grabbed the door handle and fell inside.

"Go!" Even though I never heard anyone chase me, I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could just in case. The car lurched forward. I threw the boots I had been carrying in my hands on the ground and stripped off my cold wet socks.

"You ran barefoot? Ew."

I looked up at Rupert smiling at me from the passenger seat. I gave him a breathless laugh.

"As much as I love running in heels, I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could."

"Why did something go wrong?"

"Please tell me you got the files." Trevor spoke to the steering wheel, not taking his eyes from the road.

"Don't worry I got the files. My client just decided tonight he was not going to go to bed at his usual time. He came up the stairs while I was moving data, so I wasn't able to place a false tracker code on the original file. He'll be able to tell the info has been 'copied and pasted'. He also wouldn't leave me alone and when he did finally go, he went to the kitchen that overlook the yard."

"Basically your client was a pain in the ass."

"Precisely. It was just a sloppy job. I hate leaving a mission so careless."

"Hey, as long as you got the job done and didn't leave any evidence, you'll be alright. You did wear false fingertips correct?"

"Yes, I did." I looked down and began peeling off the thin rubber tips covering my fingers.

"Then you will be fine. Sometimes things don't go according to plan. It just comes with the job.

When we got home the welcoming smell of roast filled my nose.

"Ah you've made it home! Just in time for dinner!" Viktor smiled up at us as he flipped through the TV channels in the living room. I went up to my room and changed into warm comfy clothes, including fuzzy socks. My feet still felt numb from the run. I made my way down to the kitchen and joined the rest of my newfound family.

"Scarlett! I hear your mission was a success, yes?"

I smiled at Jim as I cut into my piece of roast. I was extremely happy at the choice for dinner. "That would be correct. The mission was a little rough and didn't exactly go as planned, but I got the files and got out in time."

"And that's all that matters. I feel like this job is getting to be too easy for you."

I smiled again. "You said it, not me."

After dinner Jim and Trevor took the small hard drive and put it in a computer, only to find the information was password protected. Trevor went to start up a password decoding program but I interrupted and told him to try "RIGBY".

It worked.

I showered and got ready for bed, smiling wide for most of the time. I had done a pretty good job today, and being able to break the password on the first try made it even better. Jim had complimented me, and we had my favorite dish for dinner.

I walked into my room and was greeted by Viktor who grabbed me by the waist and pulled my lips to his. I happily obliged and kissed him hungrily. He began petting my short hair. It was about the same length as his, just not as curly.

"You've been doing a wonderful job Scarlett."

I smiled and kissed him again. "Thank you Viktor. It means a lot to me."

With that I allowed him to pull me over to his bed.

As I lay in Viktor's bed, my head on his chest, I thought of what my life has come to. I was now a consulting criminal. I played secret agent spy for a living. I live with the most supportive group of people I know. We all look out for each other and have great fun together. I'm always laughing and I never feel the need to keep my guard up. My jobs are sometimes dangerous but they're fun and exciting, always keeping me on my toes. I have a beautiful lover who was my rock. It was perfect, because I didn't have to be in a relationship, and no complicated feelings were involved. I didn't "love" him, and he didn't "love" me. It was strictly sex. And very good sex at that. Although I never think of my life before this, I do remember that life was full of hurt and confusion. I remember feeling torn half the time, and sometimes very bored. But not this life. This new life of mine was fun and bright and exciting and extreme and crazy.

I was finally happy.