Call it What You Want

16 - Taking Swings

September 2017

Natalie's POV

A few weeks ago, Joe texted me to see if I would be willing to meet with Taylor. He told me that she just wanted to get to know me better since she knew that Joe and I were close. However, I was skeptical about her reasons for wanting to meet with me. She knows that I am the one who stole the data from MI6, so I had a hard time believing that she just wanted to meet to know more about my relationship with Joe. Though Joe and I have been friends for years now, we look out for each other like family. The only reason I agreed to meet with her was because I wanted to find out how much she knew about me.

So, here I stood on her front porch scanning her expansive and expensive looking property. Taylor had extended an invitation for me to have lunch at her home since we agreed to meet in L.A. While a neutral meeting place would have been best for a first meeting, I was too curious about her lifestyle. I rang the doorbell and waited nervously. When I heard the door unlock, I straightened up. 

Taylor greeted me with a cheerful "Hello!" I was about to shake her hand and introduce myself, but instead she pulled me in for a hug. "It's so nice to finally meet you. Joe has told me so much about you."

"Likewise." I tried to force a kind smile. To anyone else, it might have looked like a grimace. I wondered how much Joe told her about our history. Taylor ushered me inside.

"Is Joe here?" I asked, cautiously stepping into the foyer. 

Taylor gently closed the door behind me. "No, he just went out. He has some meetings for work but should be back in a few hours. I'm not sure how long you were planning to stay."

"Oh, not that long." I thought that I would at least be able to see my friend on this trip. To hide my disappointment, I awkwardly extended the gift I brought her. "Here, I brought you some tea from London. I hope you like it." 

"Thank you so much!" she exclaimed.  Her positive energy was more than I could handle right now. "We could make this up and sit out on the patio," Taylor suggested.

I nodded in agreement with her plan and followed her into the kitchen where she put a kettle on to boil. As I looked around the house, I noticed some of her awards perched in random places and instruments in various rooms. The house was very, how should I put it, unique?

Taylor tried to make small talk while we watched the kettle on the stove. "So do you travel to the States often?"

"No, not really. If I travel it's usually in Europe." I wasn't sure what to ask her next. I knew more about her than she probably would be comfortable with me knowing. I had read her agent file in detail. Of course she traveled for work, so I didn't want to ask about that. "Are your cats around?" was the first acceptable question that came to mind. Everyone likes to talk about their pets. 

"Yeah, they're around here somewhere." Luckily the kettle started whistling, saving us from having to ask more random questions. Once the tea was poured, we moved to the patio outside. 

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I tried to sound casual as I took a seat.

Taylor took a sip of her tea before answering. "Thanks for bringing the tea; it's great. But yeah, I just thought it would be nice to get to know each other. Joe has mentioned you several times. I wanted to put a face to the name."

Mhmm, you don't ask a person to meet you halfway around the world for that. A video call would have been just fine. I had to remind myself to be nice. "Alright, so what do you want to know? Wait, can we get one thing out of the way?" 

"Uh sure," she answered.

"Joe told me that you know that I work with MI6 just like him. I know that you work for the CIA. As much lying as I do for my job, I felt like we needed to get that out of the way since I think that's part of the reason you asked me here," I told her bluntly. 

"That's fair. I wasn't sure how to bring that up, so I'm glad you did," she responded. "Well, I guess I just wanted to know how you and Joe met and how that all went down. I know that you guys were involved with each other, but Joe doesn't say much more than that."

Alright, I thought to myself, let's just start with the most personal questions. Taylor was not going to waste time. "Joe and I met when we were in training together. I don't know what your training is like, but we spent a significant amount of time together. When we finally completed our training program, we were assigned to go deep under cover with each other. We played the friendly neighborhood couple for a few years while doing jobs on the side. During that time, we grew really close as you could expect. We planned to get married when our assignment ended, but when it did our new assignments didn't allow us to stay in touch. We decided to split and see what happened with our new assignments. I guess that generally brings you up to speed."

I could see Taylor processing this information. There was no way that she knew Joe and I had planned to get married. The silence was painful, so I added, "You know, we don't have feelings for each other like that any more. The way Joe talks about you I can tell that he truly loves you."

We went back and forth asking questions about each other's lives. We might have similarities as agents but, I lead a much different life than her. I don't have the crazy fans or paparazzi invading my life in addition to my agency. To a certain degree, I felt bad for her. She was trapped even more than I was. Trapped people do desperate things which concerned me.

"If I may speak candidly," I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts. Taylor nodded and set her tea down, sensing the conversation shift. "I'm trying to protect Joe as I am sure you think you are doing," I told her.

When Taylor didn't say anything, I continued. "You seem nice, and I know how much Joe cares for you. I'm afraid that he has let his guard down  since being with you. I am well aware that you are one of the CIA's top under cover agents. I thank you for getting the device to the CIA, but I'm not convinced that you are removed from the situation yet."

Taylor started to get defensive. "What are you trying to say?" Her rising level of concern nearly confirmed my suspicion that she was still working for them.

"I think that you are a manipulative, self-interested liar."

"That is one bold claim," Taylor told me keeping a level tone.

"Your loyalty lies with your work doesn't it? Until you are relieved of your CIA duties, you will remain with them just to cover your ass." I was really hitting the right buttons now.

"You don't know anything about me," Taylor raised her voice.

"Oh don't I?" The more unnerved Taylor became, the more I gained confidence. "I'm the one who got all the data. Of course I read your file. Hell, we've had people following you before Joe did. I cannot have you screwing up an operation that I have carefully planned for years." I didn't know exactly what Taylor's level of involvement with the CIA was currently, but I couldn't have her getting in my way. I just had to make her think I knew everything. "It's too bad that you got involved because you and Joe both could have been in the clear by now. How many more lies can you keep up with, Taylor? Joe doesn't know about your work following leads on the data does he? I suggest that you avoid mentioning our involvement otherwise, I will tell Joe that you've been working against us the whole time. You're smart. I know you can come up with a new plan that benefits us all."

By the end of my rant, Taylor looked at me coldly. "I do not accept threats. It is time for you to leave."

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Wanted to get something up. We're almost at 1K reads!!