Things have been so hectic, I finally felt like I had a moment to just sit and think for myself, with the warm, cooling sun on my skin, heating me like a warm bath. I was an hour early to my meeting, and I just took the moment to breathe in the coffee and pastries around me. I have barely been out of Germany for two weeks, and yet it feels like that was months ago.
I hope Mama is ok back home; she should no longer be getting hounded and should be able to work in peace now. Papa's words did come true in the end. I'll always be here to take care of her, don't worry, Papa. I quickly school my smile that I did not realise I was released.
I hope cousin is well, hopefully he is not getting picked on anymore, and Uncle Kolya and Aunt Lena should be better now. Less scrutiny on them should relieve a lot of their burdens; people should be asking fewer questions and digging up what no one wants answered, especially me.
I take a sip of my sweet, delicious hot chocolate, breathing in the rich coco, which is already making me salivate again. The seat in front of me squeaks as it is taken away from me. "Excuse me, Sir, that seat-".
"This bitter weather, it … always grates on me, would you not agree, little lamb?"
Bumb, Bumb*
I slowly looked up from my bitter coco, meeting baring beastly eyes, watching every inch as I placed my coco down. He perched into the seat, smoothing out the white napkin and placing his black coffee atop it. I shifted back into my seat, giving my eyes a moment to look around the room, causing him to smile.
"Are you not going to answer my question?"
I swallowed my non-existent saliva. "The weather could be cooler, less stifling, I guess."
"I expect a faster response next time, little lamb." He grinned at me as my fist clenched under the table. "You have not failed on your first task, have you?"
"No."
He bored straight into me through my eyes, into my soul and beyond, a slight shudder ran down my back.
"No, Sir."
He grinded devilishly at me. "Whist here you shall refer to me as Frank." He waited, collecting my every reaction to his words. I had to control myself, trying to stop my arm from shaking as my finger crushed my thigh. He did not miss it; he lightly licked his lips.
"I already know of your comrades that you are working with, along with that boss of yours. Simple enough to find, but this mission of yours seems very interesting, little lamb." He gestured for me to tell my story. "Tell me about it."
Of course, he already knows that. I clear my throat. "We were tasked with getting back some Stark documents that were recently put on the black market. Something called Microcomputers. We tracked them down to some Mob bosses …"
After reaching the moment where we agreed to work with the CIA, he quietly sipped his coffee. "What did you think the CIA was after?"
"They were looking into a gun smuggling operation, Vince seemed to be one of the parts of it and was a go-between for guns moving over the place."
Frank watched me. "…"
"I got a couple of names that I could remember." I slipped him a piece of paper with some of the info that I could remember. He gestured for me to continue. "After that, we tracked Vince down to a …"
I finally perked up when it got to the moment of infiltrating GOLIATH DYNAMICS, and finally showed some emotion in his eyes when it came to the lab. "Did you get a look at the content of the documents?"
I shook my head. "I don't understand what they said; it was stuff that was too complicated for me. I had to escape to the lab." He does not need to know that I remembered the documents; a brief look was all I needed, but he does not know that, the white lie, as Papa would say, using his techniques again you. I grinned internally.
His eyes flared at me. I felt my heart plummet into my stomach. "Have you learned nothing from your father?" He shifted in his seat, moving closer to me, a grin infesting his ugly face.
I shuffled my feet as I thought of something quick. "I didn't get time to look at the document after that moment. James and Robert kept it locked in a sealed briefcase. I couldn't get a look at it again."
'Frank' studied me, stayed unnaturally still, as he looked over every inch, penetrating me with his eyes. I had to stop myself from squirming in front of him, as he was stalking me with his eyes.
"You will steal this document, create copies of it, and then bring it back to me."
I shook my head quickly, speaking. "I can't, Stark representatives came soon after we got back, the General wanted to get it to them as soon as possible, for security reasons most likely. But I got something else instead."
He looked displeased to say the least before he jestered to me. "Please me, little lamb."
"The CIA guy we worked with, Victor, seemed to have some connections to the gun smuggling, as he told someone where Vince and the documents were. He seems to do it for money. He can be a variable mole in the CIA."
He fell silent as he slowly drank from his coffee. I shuffled in my seat before stopping myself as he continued to drink. Finally, after a long sip, he placed his empty cup down.
"This will suffice for now. Don't do that again."
If only I could disappoint you until you explode in anger. I kept myself stiff as I let my heart start to cool down as I passed over Victor's information.
"From now on, all valuable information is collected through any means and passed along. Home is excited by your level and work in an agency we know very little about, with its recent formation. You have made a good start, but I want better; you mean little in front of the information that you gather. Do not forget your place at my need." He smiled 'kindly' at me. "You can leave now, little lamb."
I put on my best front and calmly left the table, leaving the café and heading for home. As I turn the block away, I can start to feel my blood start to boil as my rage burns inside of me.
Oleg Petrovich, it just had to be you who would be here. I know you planned every moment of this, every interaction; everything manipulated to your twisted, sick needs. Again, you are here to torment me. You know everything right, Oleg, well know this, I swear to God and everything that I believe, I will kill you, Oleg Petrovich. One day, it will be me who will take everything you love and care away from you. This I swear.