The Secret Service [KINGSMAN]

xviii. GRAY-EYED

EIGHTEEN.
GRAY-EYED

The pavement flashed under her feet as she ran. Bex dashed across the street, hardly pausing to check for oncoming traffic and ignoring the car horns that blared at her. Eggsy only lived a mile away, and with every street she passed, her smile only grew wider.

Her heart had grown wings and it carried her to him.

She reached his street and began to edge past the rows of identical apartments. Bex darted up the stairs, eyes seeking out the number 31. She stopped in front of it, her chest heaving. She reached out a tentative hand to knock, then instantly drew back, clutching her hand to her chest. Her mind and body froze for a moment. The thought of Eggsy being on the other side terrified her more than she was willing to admit.

Bex took a deep breath. She had to try.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she rapped on the door with her knuckles, wincing at the dull ache that bloomed from her bruises. Bex bounced on her toes as she waited, rocking back and forth to match the frenzied rhythm of her heart. The door had been painted over, but she could still see where the cracks in the paint had been. Bex's eyes traveled these tiny, winding fractures until the door suddenly opened.

Bex jumped in surprise and took a step back. The door only opened a few inches, chains and locks restraining it, but Bex could see a sliver of a woman's face. Her piercing gray eye scanned Bex from head to toe, and then narrowed.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice laced with suspicion.

"I'm... Sarah. Sarah Rogers," Bex lied. "I was hoping Eggsy was home. I need to talk to him. Are you his mum?"

"I am. How do you know Eggsy?" the woman asked warily.

"School. We had Chemistry together," Bex said, another lie slipping easily off her tongue.

The woman's face was beginning to soften, but her eyes stayed sharp and wary, the color of gathering storm clouds.

"See, after school, I went on to work for a pharmaceutical company," Bex explained. "They're looking for someone to hire, and I remembered how good Eggsy was at Chemistry and thought of him."

She nearly winced as how unconvincing her lie was. Pharmaceuticals? She might as well have told her that she raised unicorns and needed Eggsy to feed them glitter and smiles every day.

"Eggsy was terrible at Chemistry," his mother said, not bothering to disguise her amusement. "He set himself on fire. Twice."

She raised an eyebrow at Bex.

"Oh, darn, you got me," Bex drawled sarcastically. "I'm actually a spy in training with a secret organization and I need to apologize to your son for yelling at him after I was trapped in a tiny room with moving walls."