I use a pair of headphones to listen to the tape again to finish translating the message, not hearing the bell being repetitively rung from beside me at the cash register.
I finally notice and look over to find Erica with her friends again. I sigh and slide the headphones around my neck as I lean on the counter.
Erica smiles. "I'd like to try the peanut butter chocolate swirl, please." She says innocently.
"No. No more samples today." I shake my head with an annoyed smile.
"Why not?" Erica asks, getting angry.
"Because you're abusing our company policy." I say.
"Where's the sailor man?" She asks as she looks around.
"Sorry, he can't help you. He's busy." I say as I turn around again and pick up the Russian English translation dictionary.
"Busy with what?"
I face her again and smile. "Spycraft."
...
"The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west." I repeat to myself. "A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly." I sip the drink in my hand before putting the notebook and the drink down and picking up the translation book again. "'Tread lightly'?" I flip through pages until I hear a knock on the door from beyond the window. I take the headphones off and put the book down before opening the window. I climb through and travel to the door.
I open the door to reveal a man in a delivery suit and a few boxes. "Delivery for you." The man says and I take the box.
"Thank you." I say and put the box down before turning to the man again and signing some papers.
I look at the logo on the man's shirt and hat reading, 'LYNX Transportation'. I furrow my brows and hand the clipboard back to the man.
"Have a move day." He says to me.
"Yeah, you too." I say before he leaves. I peek around the wall and notice the back of the man's shirt has a silver lynx on the back.
"Silver cat." I whisper to myself with a smile before rushing back inside. I grab the notebook and go through the door to the eating area.
"Yo, Y/n, you're not gonna believe who Dustin thought was a Russian." Steve says as him and Dustin come back into the shop.
"You did too." Dustin argues.
"No, I did not."
I ignore them and rush past them and out of the shop. I run to the center of the mall and stand on a ledge and look around.
"A trip to China sounds nice." I mutter to myself as I look around. I repeat it over and over again to myself until I lay my eyes on a Chinese restaurant and smile.
I look at the notepad again. "If you tread lightly." I mutter. I repeat it and look for more clues until my eyes land on a shoe store. I laugh quietly in triumph before looking at the notepad again.
"When- when blue and yellow meet in the west." I look around until my eyes land on a clock on the wall with blue and yellow hands. I stare at the clock with a smile.
"Y/n." Steve calls my name and I direct my gaze down to him and Dustin. "What are you doing?"
"I cracked it." I say with a slight amazed smile.
"Cracked what?"
I jump off the ledge to their level.
"I cracked the code."
...
After work hours when both blue and yellow hands of the clock were at 9, a.k.a the west, we traveled to the Lynx Transportation dropoff behind the mall. It's pouring rain and we have our raincoats on as we wait for specific shipments to come on the roof of one of the nearby buildings.
"Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes." I yell to Dustin and Steve over the sound of the pouring rain.
Dustin uses his binoculars for a better look at the shipment boxes. A man whistles as he unloads the boxes of Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes. Just what we needed.
"They're with that whistling guy, ten o'clock." Dustin calls to us as he points at the guy.
"What do you think's in there?" Steve asks as the guy stops outside a door with the boxes.
"Guns, bombs?" Dustin suggests.
"Chemical weapons?" I suggest.
"Whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth." Dustin says, pointing out the mean-looking guards with the guns.
"Great." Steve says as he wipes the rainwater from his eyes. "That's great."
Dustin watches as one of the armed men uses a keycard to open the doors and the guy with the boxes puts them in the room the doors revealed.
"Hey, what's in there?" I ask referring to the room.
"It's just more boxes." Dustin answers.
"Let me check it out." Steve says as he tries to grab the binoculars.
"No, I'm still looking." Dustin says as they start to fight over the binoculars.
"Lemme see it."
"Hang on!"
A loud thunder clap echos throughout the place and the guards heard us. They ready their guns and look around as we duck into cover.
In fear, Steve grabs my hand, interlocking our fingers. We sit there panting for a second before we notice our hands and let go awkwardly, our faces heating up.
Before we can get caught we run back inside and walk through the halls.
"Well, I think we found your Russians." I say to them as we continue to walk.
Another day.... *sigh* another journey.
*920 words