Chapter 10
"Macy." Amanda greeted her, "Nice to see you again."
The next morning Macy and Birkhoff had met Percy and spoke with him,, now they each had to debrief with Amanda. Macy had decided to go first. "Morning." She sat across from Amanda, crossing her legs once she'd sat down.
"I know we partially debriefed last night, but there is more information I want to give you now." Amanda explained, leaning over and pouring her and Macy some tea.
"Is there something else you need to know?" Macy was confused what else there would be to talk about.
"Nothing that I needed to know, more so an announcement." Amanda smiled.
Macy wasn't sure about this- it could easily be something bad- like terminating her assignment right when she was really getting interested in Birkhoff. "What's going on?" she asked.
"I have spoken with Percy and due to your excellent work on the last mission, doing exactly as asked, they are promoting you to full agent." Amanda announced.
Macy was confused. To everyone but Amanda she was a brand new recruit. They didn't know she was spying on Birkhoff. They had no clue Amanda had personally trained her over three years prior to her three years undercover. They had no reason to make her a full agent so soon. Apparently Amanda could read the confusion on her face because Amanda explained, "It is unusual, but I gave Percy a raving review of my parts of training I am responsible for. Without telling him of your status, I convinced him you were a good choice for promotion to agent and that I would oversee you to continue your training.
Surprise, Macy was glad she would be allowed out of Division, but she was a little concerned about how often she would get to see Birkhoff. "How will that work with Birkhoff?" she decided to ask.
Smiling, Amanda explained, "Because Birkhoff is a full agent,, per say, eh has an off-campus apartment. Off-campus you can be a little more open not under direct supervision. It will allow you two more freedom to extend my goals. I've also arranged with Percy that Birkhoff will also be monitoring your status as a teacher- giving you excuses to be together."
It made sense to Macy, but she was surprised that Amanda had gotten Percy and Michael and all the other head people to agree. "So now what" Macy questioned.
"I have arranged for Birkhoff to bring you to your new apartment." Amanda answered. "If you want you can head over to his office. He's expecting you."
"Anything else I have to do for you?" Macy asked.
Amanda shook her head. "I'll call you with any further updates."
"Bye." Macy waved as she left Amanda's office and headed towards Birkhoff's.
Knocking on Birkhoff's door, Macy was startled when it opened as she was knocking. "Come in." Birkhoff greeted her with a smile.
Macy walked in and Birkhoff shut the door behind her. Before she knew what happened, he had her pressed back against it, locking her lips in a passionate kiss. His body pressed hers against the doorframe. When he broke the kiss, Macy just gave him a smile. "Nice to see you too." She greeted him.
"Are you ready to go see your apartment." Birkhoff asked her.
She nodded, "I'm kind of excited but surprised they pushed this through so quickly."
"Me too." Birkhoff replied, "But at least this means it will be easier for us to spend time together."
They headed down to the vehicle bay. "The blue one." Birkhoff pointed to a full-sized car.
Macy climbed into the passenger seat as Birkhoff got into the driver's seat. "So how far is my apartment?" Macy questioned.
"Ah," Birkhoff thought for a few minutes, then responded, "About fifteen minutes from Division. A block from my place."
"Do they give us nice places?" Macy was curious what she was in for.
Birkhoff just nodded. "Usually. Plus, you are Amanda's pet and I like you, so that gives you bonus points."
"Bonus points?" Macy questioned.
With a laugh, Birkhoff replied "Bigger place, more amenities, better location."
"Are you telling me I should expect a nice place?"
"I did have a hand in picking out which place you should get." Birkhoff had a sly grin on his face.
"That scares me a little." Macy jokingly replied.
"Oh ha ha." Birkhoff mockingly laughed. "I'm hurt."
They drove almost exactly fifteen minutes to an apartment building. On the way Birkhoff pointed out his building for her. Then they parked in the lot and headed for the building. Birkhoff reached over and put the keys into Macy's hand. "There are your keys for the car and for your apartment."
"My car?" Macy looked at Birkhoff in confusion.
"Yeah. You're going to need a car after all." Birkhoff smiled in reply.
"It's the perfect color." Macy looked at the car in surprise.
"I hoped so." Birkhoff replied. "I guessed blue because of your bracelet."
Macy glanced down at her wrist at a bracelet with bluish-purple beads. Birkhoff had guessed correctly that was her favorite color. "How observant. Nice guess too."
Rewarded with a smile, Macy could tell Birkhoff had been trying to impress her and was excited that he had gotten that guess right. When they got to the door, he punched in the code, then held the door open for Macy. "Thanks." She replied.
Birkhoff came in behind her, gently placing his hand on her back, guiding her to where the elevator was. "Your apartment is on the tenth floor- the penthouse." He told her as he guided her to the private elevator or her apartment.
"The penthouse?" Macy was shocked.
Nodded, Birkhoff replied, "Division takes care of their agents."
They got on the elevator and rode up to her apartment. Birkhoff slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. "I think you really will like this place."
"What do you base that on" Macy teased.
"Don't know." Birkhoff replied, "Your file and guesses."
The door binged open to a small foyer with the door to her apartment. She took the key from her jacket pocket and unlocked the door. Walking in, all Macy could do is gasp in surprise. They had walked into a large foyer area opening into a large living room- double doors leading out from the far side of the room to a balcony/deck. There was a decent sized kitchen and dining area. Beyond that was a hallway leading to a bathroom that was also huge and two huge bedrooms. As she looked over the last room- the master bedroom, she turned back to Birkhoff, who stood behind her watching his arms crossed. A satisfied smile crossing his face. Macy ran over to him and gave him a huge hug. "Thank you, it's beautiful."
"You're welcome." He replied, "Whenever you are ready, we can go out and buy some things to decorate." He handed Macy a credit card with her name on it. "Anything over $20,000 has to be approved by Operations first."
"Okay." Macy smiled in reply, slipping the card into her pocket. "So now what do we have to report back to Division"
Smiling and shaking his head, Birkhoff replied, "You get a full day to get use to your apartment I figured we could do some shopping for your place, then I could make dinner."
You?" Macy hid a laugh, "I have trouble picturing the Shadow Walker cooking."
"I don't much. But for you I am willing to try. Just don't expect anything fantastic- I'm not that good."
"It's the thought that counts." She smiled in reply.
"So, I know we took off early this morning, so I doubt you got your shower in. I ran a bath for you if you would like to."
Macy turned back to Birkhoff in surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah. Really." Birkhoff replied, giving her a grin. "Don't act so surprised. Division's got their claws in me, but I still know how to be a chivalrous man."
He walked over to her and cupped her cheek gently. Leaning in,, he gave her a gentle kiss. "I'll be waiting." He told her leaving the room.
Heading into the bathroom, Macy slipped off her clothes and climbed into her huge bathtub that Seymour had set up a bubble bath in. After the last few days Macy could definitely use to relax. Slipping into the warm water,, Macy began to wonder if Birkhoff was being the real Birkhoff or his cover for Division. She figured it may be a mixture of both. Finally she got out of the tub and drained it, dressing slowly and combing her hair.
When she went into the living room, Birkhoff was waiting for her. "Did you enjoy your bath?" he turned around from the couch to greet her.
"Yes. Very much. Thank you." She smiled and leaned in over his arms, giving him a kiss. "It was very thoughtful."
"What can I say, I try." Birkhoff answered. "Honestly I needed a little time to think."
Macy sat down across from him. "About what?"
Birkhoff seemed suddenly nervous. "Ah," he started wringing his hands in front of him, "I've been trying to figure out how to tell you this."
Nervous, Macy wasn't sure what to expect. She had no idea what Birkhoff was going to tell her. "You can let me know." She reached out and took Birkhoff's hands in her own, "I don't bite."
With a grin, Birkhoff replied, "I want to be honest with you before I tell you the main thing." Macy arched an eyebrow in confusion, Originally after I insulted you,, Amanda assigned me to practice seduction on you."
"What?" Macy knew to make it real she had to protest.
"Amanda and Percy decided it would be a good idea for me to practice seduction. Because I had a fight with you they thought it would be amusing to make me practice on you."
"So this has all been a game?" Macy angrily shouted at him, "You have been playing me the whole time?"
Throwing his hands up to protest, Birkhoff replied, "No. It started out that way."
Macy eyed him suspiciously. She couldn't let him know she was aware all along, but her real interest in him caused her to not want to be too difficult either. "What do you mean started out? We've barely been dating."
"The elevator changed things for me." Birkhoff looked down at the floor as he admitted.
"Changed things?" Macy wanted more explanation.
"I realized that despite what Division forced me to do, I wanted to be doing them anyway." Birkhoff answered.
"What?" Macy questioned in disbelief.
"I like you Macy." Birkhoff finally admitted. "Apart from what Division has told me to do, I like you. A lot."
Looking around the room in a panic, Macy asked, "Isn't my place bugged?"
"Not when the tech wants to date you." Birkhoff replied, "I looped the video feeds so it replays clean video while I'm here."
"You've been planning this?" Macy was surprised.
With a nod, Birkhoff explained, "Ever since the elevator last night, I've realized that even beyond what Division wants me to feel, I really feel for you. I actually spent some time planning this moment getting to tell you?"
Macy stood up and sat on the couch beside Birkhoff. Slipping her hand into his, Birkhoff gave her a big smile. "So now what?" Macy asked him.
"What do you mean?" Birkhoff turned to look at her.
"Did you have anything else you wanted to ask or say?" Macy asked him.
Birkhoff turned bright red, but Macy just continued to smile to him. "I know we can't tell Division, but, I would really like to know if you would really be my girlfriend?" he asked.
Thrown off, Macy was surprised Birkhoff had gone that far, that quick. The night before she had assumed their make-out session only brought out the tech's hormones, not that they were real attractions and feelings developing. She was definitely happy, especially since she knew Amanda would allow it. She also felt bad- she had real feelings for Birkhoff- he was one of the smartest, funniest men she had ever met. It was still in her head that she would be hiding information from him about Amanda's involvement in Macy's first entry into the relationship. She knew she would tell him one day. Smiling to him and squeezing his hand, Macy replied, "Yes. Of course."
Gently pushing her onto the couch in reply, Birkhoff quickly leaned over and started kissing her in reply. At least for now they could be happy."