Chapter Twelve: Elena
It seemed that the saying “time flies when you are having fun” really was true, the five days that their trip to Barcelona was supposed to take flying by faster than either of them realized. They had a wonderful time, going out and about and exploring the myriad of activities that Barcelona had had to offer, but as Elena had been packing her things she hadn’t been able to stifle the small amount of regret that began to well up inside of her. Tomorrow would signal the end of the seven days that Charlie had given them for vacation, which meant that soon their phones would be ringing with another mission for them, and that was something Elena almost didn’t want to have happen. It was the first time she had ever really had such feelings, the hesitation to return to work and start making money surprising even her.
Even when she had been back with Jeremy, she had never felt distaste at the thought of returning to work. Why that was she couldn’t say for certain, but what she did know was that she didn’t want this vacation to end. Gerard had made the last five days almost magical, the man seeming to have been prepared to allow her to indulge in ever little fantasy that she had. He had bought her countless souvenirs without so much as a single complaint and had even insisted on her going to buy some clothing from a local boutique, though she suspected that had only been because he liked the way she looked in the exotic clothing. She wasn’t about to complain, knowing that the combined cost of her souvenirs had probably managed to surpass the amount that she had paid for the airfare and hotel.
What if work makes us start to argue like we were before? We seem to be on such good terms now that I couldn’t imagine being like that again. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Gerard clearing his throat loudly, Elena’s head turning to look at him with a curious look on her face. It seemed that he had been trying to get her attention while she was lost in thought, a look of mild irritation on his handsome face. “Earth to Elena, do you read me?” he asked playfully, zipping his suitcase closed before straightening up, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“Sorry, I got a bit lost in thought there. Did you need something?” she asked, doing her best to offer him a smile in return.
“I asked you if you think that Charlie is going to get in touch with us in the next twenty-four hours to assign us to a new mission. You know how he is when it comes to being timely, so I just figured it would be fun to have a little wager going on just how much time we have before he puts us back on the clock,” he said amusedly, grabbing his suitcase by the handle and letting it fall to the floor so it could move on the built-in wheels it had come with.
“If he doesn’t have someone waiting at the airport back home when we depart I’ll be surprised,” she said, laughing gently. “It wouldn’t be the first time he has taken me by surprise when I was coming back from a holiday.”
“You mean like that time you and your boyfriend went to visit New York for New Years that one year, and Charlie and I came to get you straight from the airport just so we could end up taking a plane to Russia a few hours later?” he asked with a laugh, shaking his head at the memory. “Your boyfriend looked so confused when we told him we needed you for business stuff and sent him away with his own driver.”
“To be fair, I would have been just as confused if I had been witness to something like that. You guys ended up ruining the plans we had made for later that week by keeping me out of the country for two whole weeks. I can’t tell you how hard it was to explain that when I did finally get home,” she said petulantly, biting her bottom lip to try and keep herself from frowning. “I can’t help but wonder if it was stuff like that that was the reason Jeremy and I didn’t work out. Maybe if I had been willing to keep him in the loop about stuff like that more often we would have been able to make things work.”
“Do you regret that the two of you didn’t work out?” Gerard asked softly, his tone coming across as far too neutral for Elena’s liking.
She smiled then, her hand moving to gently cup the side of Gerard’s face, or at least try to. “No, Gerard. I would never regret how wonderful you’ve been to me the last week. This time that we’ve spent together here has been amazing, and if I can look forward to even more days like these then I will be the happiest girl on earth. You’ve been the kind of man that I didn’t realize I deserved but always wanted. Though, with that being said, don’t think I’m just here because you can spoil me with pretty things,” she said with a giggle, gesturing toward her suitcase where all of the souvenirs he had purchased for her were safely put away.
“I would never have assumed you were just in it for the money, but thank you for the reassurance,” he said smoothly, leaning down to plant a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Good to know I’m good for something other than my playboy good looks and vast wealth,” he added playfully, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.
She smacked him playfully on his chest, giving him a mock-stern look as she did so. “I’m afraid you won’t find a brainless gold digger here. I am a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need a man,” she said, trying very hard not to let herself smile.
“I think I’m going to choose to not respond to that,” he said with a deep chuckle, throwing his arm around her lightly. “I wouldn’t want to go and say something that gets me into trouble.”
“Wise choice,” she replied with a laugh.
With the time for their flight drawing near, the two went down to the front desk to pay for their room and get a cab called to take them to the airport. It didn’t take very long for a cab to show up, something that took Elena slightly by surprise. A small alarm went off in the back of her mind as she and Gerard stepped out of the hotel to find one of the black and yellow cabs waiting for them, the fact that all their previous cabs had taken at least ten minutes to show up making the speedy arrival of this one slightly suspicious. She gave Gerard a glance out of the corner of her eye, noting the tiny inclination he made with his head that served as the only bit of communication between them. They had done this kind of thing countless times before, so they knew what to expect and how to react. They had trained for these kinds of contingencies.
“This is our ride, huh? They were a lot faster getting here than the last guy was,” Gerard said conversationally, tugging his suitcase toward the back seat of the cab and motioning for her to follow him. She nodded and moved around to the other side, making sure to watch for cars before slipping into the cab beside Gerard. The interior of the cab was a little dark, but that didn’t prevent her from being able to see into the front of it. The driver was a lot older than she would have originally assumed, the blue eyes of the driver suddenly causing a smile to spring onto her face.
“We were just talking about you. I must admit, I didn’t think that you were going to be the cab driver. Is there a reason why you are wearing a fake tan, though?” she asked, motioning toward Gerard with a slight inclination of her hand. “Look, Gerard, it’s Charlie.”
“Ah, so it is,” Gerard said after a moment, reclining into his seat and pulling his seatbelt into place. “I guess when you speak of the devil, he really does appear,” he said playfully, crossing his arms gently.
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t let you two come back on your own, but I have urgent need of you to take care of something. It was simply easier for me to collect you myself and redirect you onto a new flight. I’m afraid you won’t be returning to London just yet,” he said, adjusting the rear-view mirror so that he could look at the two of them. “Duty calls you to action once more, agents.”
The two agents sighed gently, offering one another sheepish smiles as Charlie pulled the taxi away from the hotel and merged into the leaving traffic. “I guess there is really no reason for us to refuse after you went through all of the trouble to come find us,” Elena said gently, her hand reaching over to squeeze Gerard’s gently.
“If you have somewhere that we need to be, all you have to do is send us there. You are the boss,” Gerard said passively, returning Elena’s squeeze of the hand while he offered her a small smile.
“I was hoping that you would say that,” Charlie said, his eyes twinkling in that mischievous way they did when he was about to send them on a new mission. “I knew I could count on the two of you.”