I had expected an international Black Market dealer to want some sort of privacy for her meetings. When our taxi dropped us off in front of a crowded coffee shop, I realized just how wrong I was.
We had left Montana before the sun came up, and arrived in the sunny city of Toronto early in the morning. I was exhausted, but we had no time to rest. Our flight out was tonight.
"Listen," Rin said, turning to me in front of the doors as our taxi drove off. "She's very… distrustful of new people. I don't want you to sit with us."
I furrowed my brow. "What? But if I'm with you-"
She shook her head. "She's gonna be put off by a new face. She'll be sitting on the right side of the cafe. I'm gonna go over to her, and I want you to grab a coffee and go off to the left. Try to act natural."
"But… but what do you want me to do?"
"Keep watch. Nothing should go wrong, but if it does, you're back up."
I nodded. The plan was unappealing to me, but I knew I had no choice.
"Alright. When I leave, wait a minute or two and then leave after me. We'll meet here."
"Okay."
She turned her gaze to the door and pushed them open.
All the unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells of the shop filled my senses. I had frequented the bars in LA much more than I had frequented the coffee shops. The air smelled like coffee grinds and caramel. The sunlight poured in through the windows peacefully, almost tricking me into thinking we weren't here on assassin business. I wore my civilian clothes, as did Rin, but my bag slung over my shoulder was a constant reminder of why we were here.
Rin said nothing as she veered off to the right, clearly catching sight of Meiko. I didn't watch her as she left. Instead, I walked into the line with my hands in my pockets. All I have are hundred dollars bills. Hopefully, they could break for change. Guess I'm ordering food, too.
A haze of human voices hung over the room. With my newfound suspicion of anything and everything, I found it much easier to focus in on one conversation and then switch to the next. It was like over the last few weeks I had become a professional eavesdropper. Two girls sitting at a table near the counter were talking in low voices about one of the baristas, a businessman a few tables down from them was ranting into his earpiece about a "fucked up project" in work while he typed away on his laptop, and the baristas themselves talked about anything and everything, from customers' orders to what they were doing after work today.
I glanced over in the direction Rin had wandered off to. She had seated herself in a booth next to a girl I didn't recognize, but assumed was Meiko. She looked much older than us, old enough to be Rin's mother. With her shorts and tank top, she blended perfectly into our surroundings. The two of them were talking already, Meiko shooting glances in my direction. She must have seen us walk in together.
I ordered my food, ignoring the dirty look the employee gave me as I handed them a hundred dollar bill. I ordered, like, thirty dollars of food, dude. Jeez.
"Name?" He asked, prepared to type it into the computer.
"L-" I caught myself, trying to remember the name on my ID. "-Oliver."
He typed it in, oblivious to the fact that I had basically forgotten my own name.
"It'll be ready in a few minutes."
"Thanks." I moved off to the left side of the cafe, watching the girls out of the corner of my eye.
I leaned against the wall next to the counter where they would set my food. I crossed my arms, scanning the cafe in front of me. This eavesdropping thing, though pretty nosy and rude, was pretty fun. I kept zoning in on certain conversations, curious about the lives of these normal people. There was a couple arguing near the window. A lady talked on the phone with her landlord in the corner. A group of teenagers snickered at a video on one of their phones. All these normal lives.
"Oliver!" A female barista called. I almost forgot my name again, grabbing the bag from her with a grin.
The only empty table was near the far corner of the store, completely opposite where Rin and Meiko were. I had tried several times to hear what they were saying but they spoke with low voices and were too far away to hear. Occasionally I could make out Rin's voice among the others, but it was never clear enough to make out specific words. Especially over the sound of the blenders behind the counter.
I took a seat, leaning back in my chair and picking at my food. I wasn't especially hungry, but I picked at it slowly anyway.
Allowing myself to pay more attention to the girls, I noticed curiously that Rin's poker face was strained. I could tell by the slight furrow in her brow, the way she leaned forward as the older woman spoke to her, and the way she tapped her fingers into the table. Whatever Meiko was telling her, it was either troubling or exciting.
They spoke for a much longer time than I had expected. My eyes found the clock often, watching as the hand passed fifteen after, then thirty after, and then forty-five after. I was suddenly thankful I had slowly picked at my food. It would have been long gone before we finally left. And Rin's expression remained that same curious stare all throughout the meeting.
Finally, Rin nodded a final time, then stood. She left Meiko to her laptop, which she stared at intently. With a quick glance in my direction, she exited the room.
As instructed, I waited a few moments before following her.
"What was it?" I asked in a low voice, exiting the cafe to find her leaning against the building.
She shook her head. "We'll talk about it when we get home. It's… it's big."
I took a deep breath. I'm gonna have to go, too.
"Come on," she said, glancing towards the street. "Let's get to the airport."
"The airport? Already?"
"The job is done, Len. What else are we gonna do?"
"What time is our flight?" I looked up and down the street. Pedestrians walked past us with smiling faces.
"Nine."
I furrowed my brow. "It's noon."
She shrugged. "We'll have plenty of time to rest before the flight." On the road, she was looking for a taxi.
I rubbed at the back of my neck. "Do you guys… like, ever do anything fun?" I asked.
She huffed. "We're here on business."
"And the business is over," I reasoned.
Putting her hands on her hips, she turned to face me. "And what do you want to go do?"
I shrugged. "I've just, like, never been to Toronto before. I wanted to see it."
"You just want to walk around?" She asked with raised eyebrows.
"It beats sitting there in the airport for nine hours."
She seemed unconvinced, staring up at me with a sneer on her face. "Fine. For a little."
I smiled. "Sick."
"Where we going?"
We had two options. Right on the sidewalk, or left on the sidewalk. I pointed to the right. "Let's go see what trouble we can get into."
"Oh God," she groaned. "Don't say that. You're gonna make me change my mind."
I grinned. We started down the sidewalk.
It was a perfect day. Warm, but not uncomfortably so. The occasional breeze sent a cool chill down my spine. The sun shone overhead with the occasional cloud passing over it. People walked by with smiles, laughing, talking, humming to themselves. The sidewalk ran along a busy street but there were no annoying honks or angry drivers.
"Check it out," Rin nodded towards a park as we passed it. It was a small, square park with four paths leading up to the middle where a grand waterfall stood. Standing on the edge of it was a man dressed in a fancy suit, a violin on his shoulder. The high notes reached my ears before the applause of the crowd around him. I could only catch glances of the man through the people.
"Damn. He's good." We kept walking, and eventually, the notes faded into the distance.
It felt weird, in a pleasant way, walking through the streets like any other person. With every person that passed, I imagined being in their point of view, seeing a guy and a girl with two bags casually walking down the street. Definitely not assassins, or anything.
We walked the hours away wordlessly. With all the working out I'd been doing, I didn't feel tired, either. The two of us were silent onlookers to the world around us. It was a comfortable silence.
We had found ourselves walking along the sidewalk bordering Lake Ontario near Old Toronto. We passed the Toronto islands, caught sight of the crowd of tourists taking pictures of the Prince's Gate, and never stopped. The sun was beginning to drop behind the city to the west.
Rin took a deep breath. "We should really get going soon," she said.
"How long is the drive to the airport?"
"About a half hour. We'll have to hail down a taxi, too."
"And what time is it now?" I walked with my hands in my pockets, enjoying the endless horizon of the huge lake stretched out to our left.
She checked the watch strapped around her wrist. "Six."
"We still have three hours."
"But security and everything-"
"We have plenty of time."
She let out a huff of air and crossed her arms impatiently.
We continued walking. The sidewalk pulled off from the side of the street and wound through a field of grass. The traffic on the path suddenly picked up, as if we had entered the pedestrian rush hour.
"What's going on?" Rin asked, trying to peer over the crowd that had formed around us.
I could see over them much easier. "I think there's, like, a fair."
She rolled her eyes. "Can we leave now?"
"What?" I asked defensively. "You don't want to get beat at some carnival games?"
She glared at me. "We need to go."
"We have three hours."
"Len, I fucking swear-"
I picked up the pace, glancing at her with a sly smile, before pushing through the crowd. Her frustrated self had no choice but to follow me.
I was right. The crowd was headed towards a carnival of sorts. The massive carnival rides stood on either side of us, their lights still off in the waning daylight. The sidewalk had disappeared from under us to reveal a dirt path leading through the rides. I could smell the deep fryers in the food booths, hear the angry sighs of people losing at their games, and the screams of the riders around me. Rin was right. We needed to go soon. But I was so eager to experience civilian life for just a little longer, I found myself able to go against her wishes.
No matter how angry she became.
"Len. We're gonna miss our flight."
"We have… two and a half hours."
"Len."
My eyes fell on one of the booths. There were small water guns positioned at the side with stools in front of them. Across from them sat targets. An array of stuffed animals hung from the roof, some larger than the girl next to me. I grinned. "Hey, Rin."
"What." She spoke in a monotonous voice.
"Let's shoot some targets." I pointed in the direction of the game, smiling sneakily.
She cast her eyes in its direction and frowned. "You're an idiot."
"I'm an idiot who's about to prove that I'm better at shooting than you."
"With water guns? We could actually test that claim back at the base," she snarled.
"But what fun is that?" I didn't wait for her answer, instead beelining for the booth. A bored host manned the booth.
"You intend to pay him with hundreds?" Rin called after me.
"I've got plenty of change from the cafe."
"How would Flower feel to know that you're spending her money on fucking carnival games," she muttered.
I shrugged. "What she doesn't know won't hurt her."
The host perked up as we walked by. "Three dollars a game!" He called.
I pulled out my wallet, smacking a five and a one on the table as I took a seat in front of gun number three. "Come on," I waved to Rin."
With her arms crossed, she continued glaring at me for a moment before letting out an exasperated breath. "One. Game. But only because you insulted my skill."
She dropped her bag in the dirt between us and took a seat at gun number two. Some other kids ran up, joining in our game, but we paid them no attention.
"Shoot at your target to raise your bar. First person to reach the top wins!" The host called in a robotic voice. He sounded like he was reading directly from a script.
I took careful aim with my squirt gun. It was not leftie-friendly.
"Three. Two. One. Go!"
The kids next to us giggled while they aimed their guns wildly. Rin stared at the target like it was alive. The water shot out of our guns in pathetic little streams. Rin hit her target perfectly, but I wavered for a second.
"What?" I called, panicked. "This thing is not made for lefties!" I called, finally finding my target.
Of course, only a few short seconds later, a bell dinged and Rin sat up straight with a triumphant smile. "You want me to win you a stuffed animal, Lenny?" She taunted.
I frowned. "Rematch."
"You're on."
The kids left, leaving us alone. I set the money on the counter once more. The host waited a moment to see if anyone wanted to join before starting the game with just the two of us.
This time, I was ready. I corrected my aim, hitting the target perfectly from the start. In my concentration, I started shooting half a second before Rin did. We both hit our targets perfectly. But I won the second round.
She huffed. "Bullshit. I wasn't ready."
"Well, we're tied now. We have to play again," I reasoned.
Despite her clear annoyance, a small smile tugged at her lips. "One more."
More money. The bell sounded again. Somewhere behind us, a loud ring sounded out from another game, followed by a chorus of cheers.
We started again, both hitting it perfectly, both starting at the same time. By some force of God, she won.
"Hah," she laughed, leaning back. "This is why I'm the one training you."
"Whatever," I grumbled.
The host offered us our choice of stuffed animals, which we refused. No point in lugging one of those things through security.
"How's it feel to eat your own words?" Rin gloated.
"How's it feel to brag about winning a game with water guns?" I countered.
She looked at me accusingly. "This was your idea, not mine. Just accept defeat. I'm the better shot."
"Well you have been doing this way longer than me," I reasoned.
"True. Know your place," she joked as we walked away from the booth. "Second place."
"What about that one?" I pointed to another game. It was a much more realistic range, with real pellet guns, shooting at a small piece of paper across down the booth. "I think that would be a better judge."
Her smile disappeared. "We really need to go-" her voice was almost pleading.
"Would it kill you to have just a little fun?" I asked.
Her eyes hovered on the booth, and her shoulder slumped in defeat. She glanced at me again. "You just want to lose, don't you?"
It turned into many, many games, and we almost missed our flight.
Almost.
Flower, Rin, and I entered the base hastily. Everyone was waiting for us.
"What is it?" Kanon called excitedly.
Anon clapped her hands together. "Tell us! Tell us."
Rin set her bag on the table, digging out a folder with a man's picture paperclipped to the top. He was wearing a suit.
Flower peered over her shoulder and grinned at the picture. "He looks… important."
"Bruno Maretti," Rin began, taking a deep breath. "He's a Spanish CEO but recently moved his company to Beijing. The client wants him gone."
Yuma grinned. "For how much?"
At the question, Rin opened the file with a small grin. "The client already paid Meiko. She'll deposit the money electronically into our account when the job is done."
"But how much?" Yuma repeated. The entire room held their breath.
Rin's smile broke through. "Ten million."
"Ten million dollars!?" Yuma's mouth dropped open. "Holy shit."
Anon and Kanon shared mirrored grins. Even Flower looked stunned.
Rin sat down, digging through the files. "So," she began. "Where do we start?"
Finally! The action begins next chapter!
Well, the main action :)
Thanks for reading!
