Free with You

Chapter 3: Reunion

Sammy POV

Teeth or no teeth?

I’m back at my mirror practicing my smile. For some reason, living alone and without a job for a few years has done damage on my acting skills. Faking a smile seems harder now.

I let out an exasperated sigh, ready to give up, when I hear my phone *DING!* for a text message.

I pick up the phone and see it’s from my old handler.

Max:

“In town. Meet at spot. 1300”

Me:

“K. I’ll be there.”

I’m not sure why we continued to be so cryptic when I’ve been retired for a few years, but Max always had a reason for why he acted a certain way. I figured I’d followed suit.

When Max mentioned “the spot” there were only a few places I could think of.

The dog park, the playground of an abandoned elementary school nearby, or the small coffee shop down the street.

I looked out my window to see the misty fog but no rain. Since I knew it would be cold outside, I put on layers of clothing, a ball cap, and a pair of combat boots.

“Let’s go Kubo! Your lucky day!” I exclaim as I pepper my dog’s face with kisses and click on the leash to his collar.

**

*15 min later*

**

“Haven’t lost your touch…Sam” Max says with his deep voice.

He’s leaning against the wooden fence that wraps along the grassy, off leash area. I drag my feet on the rocky gravel towards him, with Kubo to my side.

There’s a glint in Max’s piercing blue eyes as he gives me a once over. I’m guessing, he’s checking me out —to see if I’ve changed.

Max hasn’t changed much from three years before. He still looks to be in his mid 30s, 6 feet tall, brown hair styled neatly to one side, with a light stubble.

I used to tease him that he closely resembled that pompous boxer, Tommy Fury. But I might’ve only encouraged him with that joke, because he started getting serious with boxing after that.

It’s true that Max has always been undeniably handsome, which is likely why ops normally didn’t put him on field missions. He would stand out way too much.

Even I can tell, with his large coat that he hasn’t let down on his training.

The man is huge!

He towers over me, before he puts his firm hands on my shoulders, “really glad to see you” he says before he leans over to give me a tight hug.

For a moment, I could have sworn he brushed his nose along my hair at the base of my neck, before he pulled away.

Was he…smelling my hair?

I quickly brushed it off as my imagination to avoid making the situation awkward.

“Glad to see you too…Max” I say with my practiced smile and monotone voice.

Max lifts his eyebrow like he doesn’t believe me. Then he looks out to the field where the dogs are out chasing each other.

“You, too, noticed that on a cold day, it’s too crowded in a coffee shop, but too suspicious to meet in an abandoned park. A dog park is the best place to blend in and have… privacy,” Max says with a smirk showing his dimple on his right cheek.

“I figured this meeting warranted privacy given the cryptic message,” I say using my hand as a guide to the trail to say “after you”.

Max walks ahead after I offered he lead the way. We walk in silence for a bit, the only sound is of Kubo chomping on the weeds again.

“Sam… how have you been?” Max asks suddenly, without looking back or stopping.

Oh great, a loaded question.

“Yeah, I’m good…really! Just been trying to find a new career path, you know, working here and there and…” I’m starting to stutter, feeling a bit like a cornered cat.

“And how long do I have to wait until you can be honest with me?” Max turns around suddenly, his cold eyes to the ground.

“What?” I ask feeling a bit startled at his boldness.

I guess he sees right through me…

“It’s actually why I’m here Sam. I’m here…because I know you haven’t picked up a job since…he died and I’m worried about you…”

He drops the bomb I’ve been dreading to hear. His eyes move up to meet mine and he gives me a look of pity.

Why did Max have to bring up the one person I was trying to forget?

I can feel my cheeks warm up in embarrassment.

“I’ve had my men watching your moves Sam, and I know all you do is go on hikes and stay locked up in your home,” he moves a couple steps closer to me, but I start to walk a different direction, away from him, pulling Kubo with me, until he says “—I need to see that you aren’t going to wither away on me.”

“If you already did your investigation on me, then why bother asking me?” I say bitterly, unable to face him now. “I don’t need a babysitter, Max. Is that why you’ve come all this way? Just to…” I can feel my chest starting to tighten, throat constricting, and eyes starting to water.

“—just go home, Max. C’mon Kubo let’s go” I mutter to myself and turn to walk back to the car. Max starts to chase me.

“Wait! Sam…Sammy…you know I care about you…” he says his arms wrapping around me like a boa constrictor.

I can smell his minty fresh breath along my cheek and I start to feel hot from this level of intimacy. The only sound is from our feet shuffling against the gravel.

What is going on?

This is Max we’re talking about!

Retired marine, survivor of the CIA’s top 5 most dangerous missions, and my handler for the last 10 years. We’ve always just been close professional friends, but the way he’s acting is making me uncomfortable.

I slightly shrug my shoulders to get his arms to let go of me, and I face him to look straight into his blue eyes.

I cross my arms, with the leash in one hand, to play off what just occurred between us.

“There’s more,” I say lifting my eyebrow at him.

“There is,” he says looking a bit hurt from my act of rejection.

“I’ve got a job for you. It was originally assigned to my new partner, but I figured you could really use this opportunity to get back in the flow of things… or even as a way to find closure?” he says with a bit of hesitation and adds, “—you would be perfect for the role, plus you’re Japanese! Easy to infiltrate just based on your knowledge of the culture and…”

He glances at my hair “your looks” he says almost affectionately.

“I’ll take the job.” I say emotionless.

“We need a real veteran with experience to pull this off and…” he says and stops, “—wait, did you say yes?”

“Yeah, I’ll take it” I say again. Max suddenly releases a breath like he was holding it in and grins widely.