"I've got it from here," Ernie had told her a few minutes ago sending her up to her room for some relaxation. She had wanted to stay and help, but Ernie had insisted that he could finish everything himself. He just needed to encrypt and send a few files, so he was probably right in thinking that it wouldn't take long for him to do that himself.
She opened the door of her hotel room relieved to feel a wave of cold air hit her. Normally, she liked the travel that came with her job as a spy, but Thailand was never her favorite. She always felt hot and sweaty, and she hated having to look hard for something to eat that didn't burn her mouth. Besides, there were all sorts of sketchy people around Bangkok, and missions in Thailand usually brought she and Ernie face to face with them.
This mission had been no exception. She and Ernie were given the task of uncovering the details of an Other Side plot to kidnap the US ambassador. The Organization spy who had caught wind of the plot had been captured and tortured, and Ernie and Marisa knew that they were facing a similar fate when they were sent in. While Ernie was assigned the perhaps easy job of hacking the Other Side's servers, Marisa had to go undercover as an adventurous American college student. Wandering from nightclub to nightclub, she had finally located the Other Side spies and eavesdropped on conversations that had yielded the information necessary to understand the emails Ernie discovered. Now, the case was finished, and once Ernie sent the information to the US embassy they could leave for home.
Marisa took off her shoes with sigh and flopped on the bed relieved to finally have a moment to relax. She had left the action packed world of the mission and was finally safe. She closed her eyes hoping sleep would claim her. However, she felt her heart racing and knew from experience that that would take awhile to stop.
In an instant, she was back to where she had been during her Christmas break. Instead of basking in the glories of her successes, she was still struggling to make sense of her life. Right after Christmas, she had broken up with Bryce. Although she had been sure she was making the right decision, it had been the most painful experience of her life. She could still see the look on his face as she told him goodbye. Thinking about that face had made her Christmas vacation absolutely miserable. Granted, she was relieved to have the breakup over. However, she had been dogged by internal turmoil that left her unable to do anything more than sit in bed and watch Netflix. She had welcomed missions and the return to active duty as something to improve her mood and hopefully restore some of her confidence.
This mission and the one before it had gone well, yes, but she barely felt better at all. No doubts rose to trouble her. However, she still found herself wondering what she was doing with her life. She felt dissatisfied as if everything she was doing was somehow not enough.
But how could it not be? She was established in her career as one of the Organization's most trusted agents. She traveled all over the world for her job and spent every day making a difference. Best of all, she got to share these adventures with her best friend and be one half of a strong, healthy partnership. When she got home, there were people who loved her waiting for her. And she had a loving, successful boyfriend or she had had one. She had gotten off with that one somehow, but still her life was a good one.
Yet, it all felt wrong without Bryce. Despite her success, she felt unrecognized and unappreciated as if she were quietly wiling away her days doing work no one noticed. Her job was one that many people would envy, but more often than not it felt like a daily grind. She sometimes found herself wondering if it was meaningless even though she was deeply aquatinted with its purpose. Worst of all, she felt alone although she was surrounded by friends and family who often told her how much they loved her.
She sat up with a start. She had to stop this negative thinking. Like she always reminded Ernie, being negative gets you nowhere. Putting her hands together in a power pose she had learned at an Organization profession development session, she caught sight of the arrow tattoo on her right wrist. It took her back to her first year of college. Drowning in the work of a double major and Organization training, she had felt like quitting and going to cosmology school instead. She had gotten the tattoo to remind herself to never stop chasing her dreams. Her life was an arrow that could go as far as she wanted it to. Whenever she had been tempted to go out when she needed to study, she had looked at that tattoo.
Here she was living those dreams. All of her hard work had payed off. She had been able to make it through the Next Generation program and join the Organization right after college. Now, she was well respected senior agent. Yet, she was feeling dissatisfied with it all and acting like a kid ready to run away from home. No, this was the wrong decision. She couldn't let a few negative feelings rain her parade. It was time to embrace her life until she loved it again. She belonged here. This was home.
Duh-Du-Du-Duh came the sound of the knock at the door—Ernie's knock.
"Come in," she yelled without getting up.
He walked in with a smile on his face. "I finished the mission, so we can just chill until our flight at seven." He locked the door and plopped down at the end of her bed. "You really should keep your door locked. You never know who might come in."
"Chill," she scolded. "It's not like some Other Side agents are just going to find our hotel, get my room number, and barge in here."
He stared at the door intently, and she watched worry wash over his face. "Ernie, they're not coming. I told you that."
"But that's just the signal that they're coming," he said turning to look at her before glancing back at the door. "That's how it always happens."
"In the movies," Marisa reminded him. "And the dumb spy tv shows you always watch."
"Whatever," he grumbled.
"You really should stop watching those so much. You know they just make you worry."
"You doing alright? You seem tired," he asked with evident concern.
"Yeah, I'm a little tired. You know how missions go."
Ernie smiled. "You were so tough. I'm proud of you. I got the easy part, while you had to go into those slimy nightclubs."
She felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks at his praise. "All in a day's work."
"Taking it like pro you are, I see. Is there anyone I should talk to? I'm ready to go after a nightclub owner if anyone was bothering you."
"No, it was fine," she said feeling grateful that her experiences had been annoying at worst. Studying the pattern of bedspread, she felt an uncomfortable feeling rise in the pit of her stomach. She knew she really needed to tell Ernie what was going on. They had gotten along well on the mission, but a secret like this could hurt their communication and in turn their partnership. With all the challenges she was facing, the last thing she needed was problems in their partnership. She took a deep breath and found herself tracing her tattoo with her finger. "I broke up with Bryce," she said quietly not daring to look up.
"I know," he said simply.
She looked up in surprise. "What? Who told you?"
"Uh, no one," he replied. "I could tell. You seemed different—single maybe?" He laughed. "No seriously, I know you. I knew you were going to choose this in the end. Your life is here, Marisa; and you've always known that. I knew you'd remember that once you had enough time to think it through."
He was right, but his words made her feel slightly uncomfortable as if he were assuming they'd end up together simply because she and Bryce had broken up. "Yeah, this is where I'm meant to be saving the world with you as my sidekick."
He gave her a playful shove. "Not sidekick, partner in crime."
She laughed. "Partner in crime, it is. But I'm not agreeing to date you, you know that right?"
"Yeah, I know." He looked disappointed although she could tell he was trying to hide it.
"Not yet at least," she added. "But the future is open season. Who knows where life will take me? All I know is that my home is here."
He grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Mine too," he said. "Mine too."
Looking down at their hands, she felt a sense of peace wash over her. She didn't know what the future might throw at her, but she knew that she was ready. She was home.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading. It means so much to me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it was a satisfactory ending to the story.