Agent Curt Mega had lived through many difficult situations, but he still felt nervous standing on the porch of his mom's house with his colleague Owen Carvour. Or were they friends? This was their first mission together, so maybe this was moving a bit fast, but Curt decided they were friends.
Curt was still a rookie, and Owen was just so much more experienced, so much cooler, and although Curt would never admit it, Owen was a much better spy. Curt really didn't want his mother to embarrass him in front of his new friend.
Still, Owen had insisted on a safe house, and this was the only safe place Curt knew. He wanted to be useful to Owen. He knocked on the door.
"Hey Ma, it's me, and I brought a friend with me."
"Oh Curtis, so lovely to see you!" Curt's mother replied in a thick Boston accent, opening the door and ushering them in. "And so nice to meet one of one Curtis' little friends." Curt could see the disappointment in her eyes to see that this friend isn't a girl like she hoped.
"The pleasure is mine," Owen replied, grabbing her hand and planting a soft kiss on it. Whatever disappointment her face showed is quickly replaced by a deep blush. Owen really knows how to lay on the charm, Curt thought.
"Well, aren't you just charming. Maybe you can teach Curtis a thing or two about how to impress a woman. He's such a handsome boy, but he's never brought any girls home to meet me. I'm sure that's not something your mother could relate to."
"Ma!" Curt interjected. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Oh yeah, I do need to leave soon. My shuffle boarding group meets at 2. Well, you boys have fun, and if you're going to roughhouse, do it in the rumpus room. I don't want you breaking any of my vases like-"
"Yes, of course, Ma" Curt replied, ushering her out of the door.
"Rumpus room?" Owen asked, amused.
"Sorry, I broke a vase once with a soccer ball fifteen years ago, and my mom has never let me live it down. Even as a grown man, and secret agent, she still treats me like a child."
"Your mother knows you're a spy?" Owen asked, concerned.
"Yeah, of course. She's my Ma. I tell her everything."
"Clearly," Owen replied, narrowing his eyes in doubt.
"What's that look supposed to mean?" Curt demanded.
"It's really not my place to-" Owen tried to dismiss the subject.
"No tell me. I want to hear it."
"You've told her you're a spy. And you say you tell her everything, yet she doesn't have a clue why you've never brought a girl home. It's clearly not your lack of charm." Curt freezes at Owen's words. He couldn't know. He doesn't mean. "Oh, don't act so surprised. I'm a spy. It's my job to uncover secrets."
"Whatever you think you know-" Curt tries to defend himself, but stops when Owen places his hand over Curt's. His skin was rough, but so warm.
"It's really alright, love. And just between you and me, I know how you feel."
Curt's eyes flickered to Owen's. He looked so sincere, but was this just some kind of act? Curt couldn't think of any reason for Owen to lie about this. But Curt couldn't think of anything else because Owen was slowly moving his face closer to Curt's. Curt couldn't remember how to breathe.
"I almost forgot my jello casserole!" At the sound of his mother's voice, Curt jumped off the couch away from Owen and tripped over the coffee table. "Hey! I told you boys, no roughhousing in the living room!"
"Ma, we weren't-" Curt tried to protest, but to no avail.
His mother ushered them both into an empty room with padded floors and padded walls. Curt suspected the ceiling was padded too, but he had never had the opportunity to test that for sure. It would have looked like an asylum cell, if not for the bright colors covering the floors and walls. It looked like a giant version of a playpen for toddlers.
Curt could have died of embarrassment. Owen Carvour had almost kissed him. And then his mother had to ruin it. Curt didn't think he could ever look cool in Owen's eyes again.
"Curt," Owen asked, after a few moments of standing there in awkward silence "Does this door have a lock?"
"Yeah, but only from the inside. Don't worry, she wouldn't actually lock us in here. We just need to wait until she leaves again and then we can get the hell out of this time-out room."
Owen examined the door for a moment, and then turned the lock. He then took a few steps closer to Curt, so that their faces were much too close. His eyes met Curt's. And then, Curt brought his lips to meet Owen's. Owen sucked on Curt's lower lip and Curt stumbled back into the padded wall, pulling Owen with him by the collar of his jacket.
Maybe this rumpus room wasn't so bad, Curt thought.