Cryptogram

The Date in Paris

// Carmellina Gomez //

"The Pawn has landed." Santi said through my earpiece. My earrings were designed so that a white pearl was on the front of my earlobe and the lock, a larger pink pearl, was on the back of my earlobe. I was thankful that this restaurant had a distractive enough ambience that only I could hear Santi's weird statement about Kim's arrival.

We conversed with the waiter back and forth, en Français. I ordered sautéed duck and Kim ordered escargot. He also picked out a bottle of wine.

"So, you look lovely this evening." Kim smirked but I kindly set boundaries.

"I'm here for business." I said as I popped in a piece of duck in my mouth. "Let's talk business."

Kim raised both his arms in defeat. Quickly after, he wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Okay, business." He covered his mouth with a fist and cleared his throat. "My name is Kim Coleman. I'm a weapons developer." He winked, for some apparent reason.

"Carmellina Gomez; amateur spy, former DJ/music producer." I responded. "What do you have that my team and I will benefit from?" I asked. "We both know what you want."

"Oh, I have the most priceless thing in my hand; time." Kim said in such snobbery. Though I couldn't quite get it, I cocked my head to the side. "Like I said, I can take you off the Interpol watch list. Buy you time to find disguises, prepare for possible raids and attacks. And, I'll provide the weapons and other stuff your team needs."

I raised my eyebrow. "You really want this iPad don't you."

"I wonder why." Santi said through my earpiece.

"Have we even tried decrypting it?" Sue's voice came in. I realized neither Kim or I have said or done anything the past seconds while I was listening to my friends' conversation. I took my knife and sliced myself another piece of duck.

"We could have, but it would have wasted our time. If we stayed in Montpellier to decrypt it, we'd be arrested by now." said Nic. "Lena, you haven't said anything to Kim."

"You guys are being noisy!" Marie whined. "Lena can't communicate with Kim while we're communicating with her."

The line went quiet. I watched as Kim picked at his snails. A waiter passed by and I called for his attention. "Excusez-moi, Je voudrais un banana split." He nodded at me and Kim looked at me with furrowed brows. "You're paying for this." I told him while I finished the last of my duck.

His then furrowed eyebrows raised. "So we have a deal?" Kim leaned in closer. I nodded. He happily scoffed in surprise and smiled. "Great!" I placed the iPad discreetly on the table. His large hand lay on the iPad, ready to grab. I lightly slammed my hand on it and pulled it closer to me.

"Nuh-uh!" I said. "After I finish my dessert."

He leaned back and fixed his suit. His elbow leaned on the table and supported his head. Kim had a thinking face on. Eyes were squinting at me. "I get the iPad now, you tell me when your team is free and I'll fix you up with Hamilton tickets."

I sat there, dazed. Obviously, for me, yes. I waited for the others to respond.

"Say yes!"

"Yes!!!"

"Oh my God."

Santi, Nic, Marie, and Sue practically destroyed my earpiece with the overlapping noise they were making. A high pitched screech suddenly blasted through my eardrum. I flinched and covered my ear.