Janis, I know so far I've labled everything as fucking important as shit, but I truly mean it this time. Do not, ever , let your emotions get in the way of a mission. Worst comes to worst, the agency has a therapist in the firm, and it's free. She's a very nice lady, if you forgot that.
One time, Karen and I got left behind on a mission. Gretchen almost failed our task because she went back for us. (I'm like 99% sure if Karen wasn't there she wouldn't have but)
Anyway
You have to trust your partners and believe in the fact that they can handle themselves.
Sure, after leaving me to presumably die, Damian really had to take advantage of a firm therapist, but we all have had to after one harrowing mission or another.
In our line of work, priorities are the mission, not our lives. It's shitty, but it pays well and hey, free therapy.
It's easiest to just block out all emotions while on a mission. Protect your head, and maybe your heart too.
"So, Cady." Damian said with a grin.
"So, I'm married." I say, twisting the pasta on my fork. It was dinner in late January after another uneventful day at work. Ever since learning the plastics were so close by, the five of us constantly had dinner together, and even introduced the plastics to our neighbors. But this was another Damian, Janis, dinner.
"She knows we're platonic." Damian pointed out.
I look up. "You'd be okay with cheating?"
Damian shook his head. "It's not cheating . It's an open relationship. We just need to remember to communicate, like now. Which you are doing an amazing job of by the way. Besides, I've caught by eye on a cute neighbor too."
"Shane." I say knowingly.
"Mhmm." Damian takes another bite of food. "I'm not saying they'd be down for an open relationship. I won't assume that, but we're best friends. I'm not worried about you fucking girls. Just do so in your own room and when I'm not home."
"So kind and generous. Letting me have my own sex life." I roll my eyes.
"Another dollar in the jar missy." Damian says pointing to the mason jar on the counter.
That damn sarcasm jar was the reason I was losing all my fucking money so fast. There's got to be like eighty bucks in there by now.
"Then be nicer to me." Damian shrugs.
I hadn't realized I was complaining out loud. God I'm tired. I slip a dollar in the jar and scoop up my plate.
"I'm gonna tap out early tonight." I say emptying the rest of my food into the garbage and dropping the plate into the sink gently.
"It's only like nine thirty hun."
I nod. "Long day though. Well, slow day, so it felt long."
Damian nods. "You don't have to explain yourself, as long as you're okay. I'll clean up after dinner, you head up to bed."
"Okay." I say before turning into the hallway. "Love you."
"Love you more." Damian's voice calls from behind me.
-
"You got a date or something?"Aaron says as I check the clock for the eight time.
"Kinda." I turn to him. "Damian and I have old town friends coming over for dinner, the three you, Cady, and Shane meet last time. Damian is gonna be home late tonight which means the second my shift ends I gotta bolt to beat them home." I explain.
Aaron and I often walked home together, enjoying the town and talking about nothing important, but this time I had a clock to beat.
"Alright, Leigh, it's a slow day, I'll clock you out." Aaron says shaking his head. It takes me a couple seconds to realize what he's saying.
"No you don't have to take over, I can make it I just have to-"
"Go!" Aaron waves me away, not taking any of my bullshit. "And grab one of those bouquets that are gonna die for your dinner table or something. We can't be having wilted flowers in the window.
I nod and throw off my apron. "Thanks Aaron, I owe you one!"
"Damian's tomato sauce recipe would be a great way to make it up." Aaron winks.
Damian makes amazing tomato sauce from scratch. I joke it's the reason I married him, but we know it isn't true. Aaron has been dying to get his hands on the recipe, but Damian won't tell anyone. Not even me. I can't be in the room as he makes it.
"I'll try, but no promises." I say before running out the door.
It's a nice afternoon with the winter sun setting early behind the trees. The area in between where town ends and residential area was one of my favorite places to walk. The sidewalk trailed away from the street and became a path through the woods. It wasn't thick trees so you didn't feel isolated, but it was pretty. Especially in the fall. There was a man walking ahead of me, also speed walking. He looked like-
"Damian?"
He turns around and sure enough, it's my husband. It was getting less and less weird to say that .
"Don't tell me we had the same, leave work early to beat the plastics because the partner is still working, idea." I say shaking my head before running to catch up to him.
"It appears we did."
"Aaron's gonna kill me, I made him close shop alone."
Damian tsks. "Remember when I talked about communication?"
I laugh. "So much for that. I also have these." I hold up the bouquet I picked. They were a variety of oranges and reds, just like the fall leaves I love painting so much.
"Pretty." Damian says taking them from me to inspect. "Are we trying to impress our friends?"
"Nah, they were gonna die soon."
"Oh. They're pretty." He repeats himself.
"Thank you, pick ' em myself." I say.
We fall into a comfortable silence as Maple Court approaches. I could see the house from here. It still felt weird to call it our house. My brain hasn't gotten over the fact that this could very well be a permanent thing.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Damian asked. He should get his own jar for when he says that, bc may it might be more often than my sarcasm.
"Just, thinking."
"You do that a lot."
"Mhmm." We make our way up the driveway to our house. Our driveway and the Heron, Samuels, Omen residency driveway are right next to each other with the houses mirroring one another. Cady was sitting on her porch reading a book.
"Where Aaron?"
"Closing shop." I respond. "I had to leave early because we've got guests coming over. Tell him I said thank you again when he gets home."
"Of course." Cady smiles.
Damian unlocks the door and lets me inside first. Van circles around my feet meowing.
"Hello to you too sweetheart!" I say scooping her up.
"You sweet talk the cat more than your own husband." Damian fakes offence.
"You don't seem half as delighted to see me come home. Where's Leonardo?" I ask. The damn tabby hates my guts and has it out for me. He's always running under my feet or sticking his paw out to attack me. I needed an eye on him at all times.
Damian shrugged. "Either mind his own business or waiting to fuck with you."
"Probably the latter." I sigh. "You start dinner and I'll clean up around here." I place Van down, much to her dismay.
"Bossy bossy." Damian tsks, but he walks to the kitchen anyway.
I grin and begin fixing the living room. Our house isn't messy, but the plastic apartment was always gleaming . To be fair, they were giving a small three room apartment but we were given a full ass two story house.
I walk into our laundry room and grab the load I had thrown in the dryer before work. As I'm carrying up the stairs to Damian's room, basket on my hip, I truly feel like a domesticated housewife.
What the fuck.
The load was both his and mine, so I took out the folded clothes for Damian and left them on his bed. Like hell I'm putting away his clothes for him. I'm not that much of a housewife.
I make my way to my room and begin to put my own clothes away.
I have recently grown more into my room. The wall my bed was on had a mural I painted of the autumn leaves.
I really had a thing for those .
I think it's because the firm was in New York City, and the big apple isn't known for its extensive forest. To be surrounded by them now was amazing.
My painting stuff has taken over an entire corner at this point, with completed works hanging all around. There's a good number of them in Damian's room as well. The rest of the house still looks like a generic airbnb, but two rooms is a start.
I finish putting away the last shirt when I hear the doorbell ring.
"Janis!" Damian calls.
"I'm getting it!"
I run down the stairs and excitedly swing open the door.
"Hey guys!"
The plastics stood there grinning. "We brought dessert!" Karen said holding up a cake.
"Yes!" Damian called from somewhere in the house.
We all make our way into the dining room where Damian is serving food onto plates.
"Such a trophy husband." Regina laughs.
"We both have our days." Damian responds, motioning for us all to sit.
We begin the meal in relative silence, as normal. It's not awkward, we're just all eating.
Once we all begin finishing up, that's when the small talk starts.
"Somebody was talking about Vincent Van Gogh's art in work today." Karen smiles sadly. "Made me think of the agency."
"For risking our lives all the time, I actually really loved the job." I say.
"Hey, free therapy," Gretchen said. "Always an added bonus."
"Oh definitely." Regina nodes.
"I feel like we should have moved on more by now, like, I dunno about you guys, but I think about the firm all the time." Damian says.
"I think it's hard to move on when it still feels like we're living an undercover mission." I say, earning nods of agreement from the table. "Like if you sent Janis Sarkisian here to live with her best friend, I think it'd be different. But I'm Janis Leigh and I have a husband. I'm so concentrated on not breaking character or whatever, that it doesn't feel like a new life. It feels like another one of our mission identities."
Regina nodded. "It's been getting better, but super slowly."
"Agreed." Damian said. "I called Janis my wife the other day without thinking about it. But it's been almost five months. We should be past that."
Karen shook her head. "Nobody really told us how fast to move on. We could be doing it all right."
"Or completely wrong." I point out.
Karen's blue eyeliner was replaced for a black cat eye. She dressed more gothic now, but a cute on the down low goth. Gretchen dressed the same, but her hair is pin straight now and her clothes, like Damians, were all brand named. Between her, goth Karen, and book chic Regina, they looked straight out of a netflix comedy about unlikely roommates becoming best friends. It felt weird to see them like this.
"So, cake?" Damian asks with a grin.
"Oh of course!" Gretchen says. "Let me help you get it."