For the third time, her cell phone rang. Angrily Kitty picked up the call just to hear Jack's voice on the other side of the line. "Punctuality isn't your little toy's strength, is it Kitty?" His laughter was so loud Kitty almost heard it not only from the phone but also from the surveillance van parked one blog away.
"He'll come." She stated coldly and hung up. She put the phone back into her black purse and tugged at some of the folds in her ankle-long purple dress. She looked up again searching the sidewalk through the restaurant's windows. He was late. Not that this was a novum, but usually she wasn't doubting if he showed up at all.
The long message she had sent at night two days ago remained unanswered but was seen. The date, the whole operation, could be a farce. Kitty tried not to think about the implications for their relationship if he didn't show up.
It would take another ten minutes and two calls from Jack until she could sigh in relief. There he was walking on the sidewalk towards the entrance holding a cell phone to his ear. He gestured agitatedly as his shoes touched the restaurant's hardwood floor which was polished so thoroughly that she could see her reflection in it.
As he moved past the marble pillars which gave the room a certain antique feeling that was counterpointed by the round wooden tables and their modern cutlery, Kitty could hear at least his side of the conversation.
"… I do know it is expensive, Agent Lewis, it's a whole new building after all." He stepped closer to the table but kept a courtesy distance of a few steps and kept talking. "What do you mean they won't budge? Do I need to be… Fine fine, tell them we'll reschedule. Oh, and tell the chief I am thankful for his help… Yes, I know he did nothing, that was sarcasm. I have a private thing now, I'll catch up with you on Monday. Get Agent Rodriguez if you need some help with something. Bye." He pushed a button on his phone and put it back into his suit jacket's pocket before focusing Kitty.
Kitty stood up from her chair and the two of them closed the gap between them with a hug.
"Sorry that I'm late." He sighed as they moved apart again. Both sat down on the table before Dudley added. "A lot of stress at work."
"I heard that… Agent Lewis?" Kitty put a confused smile on her face. "Why don't you just call him Rick?"
"You might haven't heard it…" Dudley said, and Kitty could clearly hear that he put great effort into not sounding bitter. "The chief graciously put me into your position."
"What why? No offense but you hate paperwork."
"Yes, and I still do but I am the longest serving under the high-ranked agents, so I am in charge of… almost everything." He shook his head and then let out bitter laughter. "And then I was stupid enough to ask for a governmental grant to expand the prison."
"Oh the grant process… I haven't touched that dumpster fire in a while." Kitty chuckled feeling his pain.
"Thanks for the heads-up." Dudley grumbled.
"Okay but still, why 'Agent Lewis'?" She probed intrigued.
"As it seems our style of leadership diverges, Kitty."
"Uh, word of the day app?"
"Yup." The waiter came and the two ordered. Kitty took the salmon tagliatelle with white wine sauce and Dudley, much to her surprise, ordered a mushroom risotto.
"Uhm… this is new…" She commented and Dudley let out a little chuckle.
"I had pizza 5 times the last week and the remaining two days I ate burgers… My chest is starting to feel weird so… maybe something light would be an idea."
"I have to admit I did not eat a lot healthier. Coffee and whatever rests I can find in the office kitchen."
"About that…" Dudley's still rough-looking face showed signs of anxiety asking the next question. "Where were you sleeping the last nights?"
"In my office," Kitty said nonchalantly, not understanding the subtext of the question. It took her a few more moments before hastily adding. "Oh god, no, alone. Please."
A sigh of relief came from the dog, and he seemed to relax a little. "I am sorry for asking that it's just… I think we don't have to pretend that things aren't good right now."
"And you suspect me to run off with someone?" Kitty said rather surprised than angry that he was thinking she would stoop so low.
"Of course not I just wanted to get that out of the system right away."
Kitty sighed again with a sympathizing feeling in her chest. "I kind of understand… I mean it was also my first thought when you were disappearing to meet with this 'friend' of yours."
"This secrecy sucks…" He laid one hand on his face seemingly pondering about something.
"Dudley I… need to apologize." Kitty coyly touched the hand of his that remained on the table. "Back then in the chief's office I… I was just so angry about you keeping this secret from me that I…"
Dudley's fingers slowly crawled over her hand. "I know that… and I can at least understand your anger. It really hurt though."
"I know, I'm sorry." She said and quietly added. "I don't want this to end."
"Me neither, Kitty." His hand was fully embracing hers now. "I still love you and I also know that I should have been more open with you but…" He started groaning and then laid his other hand on the table in a gesture that felt grand, at least within the boundaries of the table. "…there is no other way than letting you peek at least a little behind the curtain."
"So, you want to tell me what you really do?" Kitty whispered and leaned forward. Dudley nodded and did the same. Their faces, just centimeters away from each other, were so close that Kitty could smell the number of mints that Dudley must have eaten before the date.
"I will not go into too much detail Kitty." His voice sounded stern like this decision was irrefutable. "If I do you will be dragged into this and this is the last thing I want."
"But Dudley, I could maybe help you…"
"I do not need help your help Kitty. It is hard enough to save my own skin out there, worrying if you are as lucky as I am is not helping."
"Dudley I am…"
"I know how capable you are…" he interrupted once more. "But that doesn't mean a thing. The things are different out there."
"Fine, I'll stay out of it." She said rolling her eyes.
"Promise?"
"Promised."
"Okay." The dog took a deep breath and started. "I work with a person that… knows a lot of things. For 5 years now I have been doing some work for him. It is often small work, seldom bigger stuff. The smaller can be more important because it can trigger a chain of events that lead to bad things not happening. The bigger work… he describes it as emergency caretaking."
"That sounds ominous and barely legal," Kitty said feeling a lump forming in her stomach. She started to not want to know what Dudley did for the Advisor. But then again, the guys in the van were listening, and for them that must have been a goldmine right now. Dudley was telling them the things they wanted to know, and it was probably also enough to arrest him if he would choose the side of the creature.
"It kind of hits the nail on the head, but to quote my client." Dudley cleared his throat and imitated an awfully strange-sounding way of speaking. "The question of morality seldom correlates with the problem of legality."
"Yeah, that makes it sound even worse," Kitty said now mirroring her inner fear through her face.
"I know how that sounds but… it's mostly smaller things to do. Like I am lately collecting several flash drives that are everywhere in the city."
"What? For what reason?"
"These are dead drops of some agency that is up to something." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Whoever hid them did a poor job, they are quite easy to find."
"And how do these big things look then?" She was afraid of the answer and almost ready to hear about a murder Dudley had committed.
"Do you remember my accident in this portal facility two years ago?"
"You mean the one after which you allegedly traveled through time?"
"I did travel through time." He stated seriously. "But yes. Destroying the portal was also important to S… my client."
"But wouldn't these have been…"
"Potential weapon of mass destruction? Yes."
Kitty pensively looked into Dudley's eyes, the first time he talked about these things she didn't feel that he was lying to her. After all, this was a point in his defense, he had swallowed whatever bait this creature had thrown out for him. It seemed like there was still a chance to save him.
"And this client of yours, who is he?"
"He is… a puzzle in his own way," Dudley smirked, and Kitty couldn't help but notice a certain smugness in it. "Not the most likable character but he grew on me."
"So… you're friends?"
"Friends is a strong word. I don't know if someone like him could have friends…" Dudley's eyes wandered to the ceiling for a few seconds, and he said with a voice so deep it sounded like a graveyard. "Although, over the last weeks he was the closest thing to a friend I had."
"So, he's just using you basically?" Kitty tried to build him a bridge, she just hoped he would cross it.
"Oh boy… I talked with him about something similar, which turned into a discussion about determinism. Anyway, in a way, yes. But also, in a way no… It is complicated."
She was taking a sip of her water and almost spit it out. "You, talking about determinism?"
"I usually just go with the flow, but Sam thinks I am asking the right questions." Dudley shrugged and smiled.
"You are an enigma, Dudley." She said and shook her head smiling.
"I know right? Dark, gloomy, and mysterious." He chuckled and the two of them smiled at each other. Kitty felt a certain excitement, old but known, returning to her.
The same feeling she had the first time he had invited her on a date. Accompanied by the feeling of ease which always set in the longer she was around him. A calmness she had taken for granted for a long time.
The plates came and the two of them started eating both just using one hand because none of them wanted to let go of the other. The conversations extended over a catching up to Kitty's new job. She told him everything she was allowed to, which wasn't much. Dudley took every question he asked which was just answered with the words "Sorry, can't tell" with a stoic nod.
That was him, he just accepted things and moved on. Kitty thought that, if their roles were swapped, she would have had a much easier time keeping this advisor thing secret from him. The evening slowly dragged into the night as they kept talking about minute things and finally decided to order dessert.
"I can't remember the last time we had done something like this." Kitty smiled while they shared the tiramisu.
"Probably four months ago, but definitely before your birthday," Dudley said as he took just small fork-fulls of the dessert.
"Oh, I remember! The bad movie marathon we watched… that was good." She smiled longingly.
"Oh, you know, we still have movies at home so…" he gestured towards the door and both of them started smiling.
"That sounds… enticing." She grinned and he quickly stood up.
"Give me a moment, I'll handle the bill." Almost running Dudley disappeared searching for the next waiter. The moment he was out of sight Kitty's cell phone rang.
She took the call without hiding her displeasure about it. "What is it?"
"Calm, sugar plum, you don't want your lover to be suspicious." Jack's voice boomed in Kitty's head making her angrier by the second. "Orders from Hobbs. He wants you to stay close to him and don't let him wander off alone. He could trust you enough to be so dumb to at least lead you to one of their meeting spots."
"I doubt so, but Roger that." She said remembering Dudley's words about keeping her out of it.
"Yeah, I reckoned that staying close wouldn't be an issue. You will probably be closer to him than anyone else tonight." The rabbit started laughing and Kitty simply hung up without saying more.
Seeing his behavior now confirmed to her that breaking up with him was a good decision. Of course, not only his behavior had brought her to that back then, no the countless affairs he had had been a reason too. Kitty tried not to waste too much energy thinking about her new old partner, something that wouldn't really work until a pair of hands were gently placed on her neck.
"The bill is paid." Dudley softly said and massaged her neck. Kitty immediately started purring but still waited before standing up.
"Who drives home?" she asked enjoying his warm hands softly moving over her neck. He always knew exactly where the tensed muscles were.
"I had a little wine, you had a little… taxi?"
"One with a comfy back bench would be preferable." She moaned as he rubbed a particularly hardened muscle on her shoulder.
Only a few minutes later the couple sat on a taxi's backbench making out like a pair of teenagers. The few parts of her brain not fallen victim to the rush of hormones tried to peek through the car's back window. The surveillance van was nowhere to be seen and so had the final surrender of her rational come. It was a whirl of emotions, and she willingly gave in to it.
The cab driver was paid without looking at the amount, which resulted in an immense tip for the old Labrador, and the two ran towards the entrance of their apartment complex. They had to slow down their advances a little otherwise the elevator had seen more than it was supposed to.
As their apartment door closed the wild whirling vortex in her brain engulfed every precaution. Pure lust was the commandment as the clothes dropped to the ground and every motion and every action became expressions of it. Lost in the storm that raged from their living room to the kitchen and finally reached its full might in the bedroom.
Minutes seconds days hours everything pointless concepts as their unification proceeded. And suddenly, like announced by a last mighty thunder, the things gained back their known structure again. Time made sense again. And Kitty collapsed onto Dudley's chest panting as heavily as he did.
His hands found their way on her back where they prevailed giving her a small protection against the cold that slowly crept up on her.
"We… haven't watched… the movie…" Dudley wheezed and Kitty started laughing.
"I think… that's something… we can try tomorrow…"
"Will you be here tomorrow?" He asked hopefully through his attempts to catch his breath.
"I will be here the whole day… I'll have the day off."
"You should have told me… I got the night shift tomorrow."
"We can still make the morning count." She kissed his nose and then grabbed the blanket and pulled it over the two of them. "I love you, Dudley." She whispered and cuddled onto his chest.
"I love you too, Kitty." He whispered back and closed his eyes.
-Heyho, there was a little break on my side but I am back on the schedule, next chapter coming soon. As always, don't forget to review and stay tuned :)-