Interior, KLeenaGirl [best authors to read .TXT] 📗

I tried to brush him off by stomping into my office quickly and closing the door. But he stopped me by putting a foot in it.
‘Aww, c’mon, Alex. Don’t be like that.’ He mocked me, before he got in.
‘David, I really appreciate your help, but I’m good. No worries’. I smiled at him.
He eyed me suspiciously.
‘Alex…’ He said in such a gentle way, my resistance broke down.
‘Okay, okay, it’s these nightmares. I can’t seem to get rid of them. I mean, how long has it been since the incident? A year or something?’
‘Guess you’re right’, he replied laying a hand on my shoulder, ‘everyone can understand why it’s still bothering you. It’s okay.’
‘But I feel stupid for it. I am a spy, I mean I work for ISO and I’m still not able to deal with some stress.’ Consciously I let my shoulders sank.
‘C’mon. Don’t you think you’re the only one who has problems managing all the stress. Though, maybe you could take some weeks off. It might help you’ he advised me.
I stared at him and let myself fall into the chair. Taking off some time? ‘No, I don’t think I will. Work is the only thing that can distract me.’
‘Alright then, I leave you alone now, you workaholic. If you ever need anyone, y’know, to talk the worries from your heart, I’ll be there.’ He smiled reassuringly at me for the last time, before leaving me behind in my office.
More sleepy than awake I began to deal with the paperwork.
This was going to be a long day.


Chapter 2


Lazily I walked up the school yard taking a glance at my watch.
‘Damn, 9.30 already.’ That meant I was late for school…again. Not like it bothered me much anyway. What was troubling me more, were those nightmares. They were the reasons I had overslept again today.
Sneaking quietly into the classroom – oh the joy of being a trained spy – I sat down at my desk.
‘How nice to see you at school, Miss Thomson’, Mr Hatcher, the history teacher, said. ‘May I ask what has occurred to make you show up here?’
I really hadn’t got the nerve to stand up to Hatcher now. ‘I’m sorry, Sir. I won’t be late again’, I said in a hushed voice. Giggles could be heard from the rest of class. I just wanted to crawl up into a ball and forget that this day had even begun. While being in ISO I had many good friends, I was not much of a social active person in the outer world. The majority of my classmates ignored me or made fun of me, there were only some people I could really call my friends. And to those nice people no one of my teachers belonged. The school staff constantly scolded me for being absent, even though my marks weren’t that bad. And some of the teachers really enjoyed torturing me, I could tell. Mr Hatcher was one of them.
‘Silence’, he shouted at the noisy class. Everyone stopped moving. ‘Alexandra, I want you to go to the headmaster’s office after the lesson. Is that clear?’ He asked sternly.
I nodded.
‘I didn’t hear you.’
I cleared my throat. ‘Yes, Sir.’
‘Alright’, Hatcher began, ‘who can tell me the goals of the Marshall-Plan?’
I received a slight nudge into my side and stopped listening instantly. I looked up into the worried face of Sebastian Beale.
‘You okay’, he whispered, his gaze all concerned. I did my best to put up a smile ‘Yeah.’
The rest of the lesson I stayed quiet. Sebastian didn’t push the subject…for now, but he kept looking at me from the side.
The bells rang and the class rushed out. I began walking slowly towards the headmaster’s office. I prepared myself mentally for another talk about responsibility in life and the importance of good education, he always gave me that one. Funny thing was, that even though Mr Donny was the only one who knew about my part-taking in ISO, it didn’t seem to stop him from taking me to task. But honestly, those preaches of his didn’t matter much to me. ISO had a contract with my school, so he wasn’t allowed to throw me out because of minor occurrences. Another advantage of being a spy, I guess.

‘So, where were you this time?’ Sebastian asked joining me to stroll over the school yard.
‘It isn’t important’, I said not even bothering to look at him. That was obviously not what he wanted to hear. He suddenly grabbed my shoulder making me turn around and face him.
‘`Dammit, Alex’, he replied in a loud voice. ‘This is the eighth time this month you were absent.’
‘I was…ill.’ I excused badly. Of course, he would see through the obvious lie.
‘Alex, don’t give me that.’ Sebastian let go off my shoulder, but took one step towards me. His gaze fell down directly into my eyes. ‘What’s the real matter?’
I couldn’t stand this situation. His pure blue eyes were boring through my mind, so I quickly averted my eyes. ‘I can’t tell you.’
‘Okay’, he answered angrily. ‘Forgive me for being worried. I just thought that’s what friends are for.’
‘Sebastian, don’t use that against me. It’s not fair.’ Now, I was getting angry myself.
He growled. ‘What right do you have speaking about fairness? Why can’t you talk to me about it like normal people would do?’
‘So what?’ I started to shout, ‘am I not normal?’
‘Alex, that’s not what I meant.’ He tried to calm me down, reaching a hand out to my shoulder yet again.
‘Then what do you mean, Sebastian?’ I said coldly pulling myself away from him. ‘Why should I tell you?’
His blue eyes were suddenly filled with deep disappointment. He let his arms fall down and straightened up. The hint of pain made its way into his voice.
‘I thought we were friends, Alex. I thought you would trust me by now.’
The school bells rang again announcing the afternoon lessons. Sebastian turned and went off to the school building.
I followed just a few seconds later. Fortunately, I had a different course now, so I wouldn’t have to face Sebastian the next hour.

Still drained, I walked up the street thinking about the day’s events. Why was life so hard sometimes? If there weren’t these terrible nightmares, maybe things would have worked better. I thought back to Sebastian’s reaction. Had my behaviour really affected him that much? I know he was more of a sensitive guy, but I would have never thought he cared so much about me. I remembered the look in his eyes and instantly felt guilty. It hadn’t been fair of me to brush him off like that. And it hadn’t been even the first time I had done so. Though, I actually hadn’t a choice in the matter. I was supposed to keep quiet about my secret ISO activities and no question how badly I wanted to blurt it out, I wasn’t allowed to.
But I guess, I could have been nicer to Sebastian anyways. He had always been there for me in the past months, and he was one of those standing by my side, no matter what.
After all, I considered him as my best friend. At least, in the outer world.
Sebastian was a great guy. He was a year older than me, being in the same class as me for like two years. His jokes made me smile and the fact he gave me the feeling of not being alone, made me feel a little more comfortable outside of ISO.
Having made up my mind, I pulled out my mobile phone

Sebastian,
I’m sorry for today.
I really want to make up to you, so if you’d like,
meet me tonight at The John Soane Museum
at Lincoln's Inn.
I’d be happy to see you
Alex

I quickly typed into the phone and pressed ‘send’. Sighing, I put the mobile into my back-pack again. I wasn’t sure how Sebastian was going to react to my message. Would he accept? Or would he ignore it? I went on to reach my apartment soon, in order to prepare myself for tonight. Hopefully he would show up.


Chapter 3


After I had slipped into some comfortable jeans and my favourite sweater, I made my way to Lincoln’s Inn. So many thoughts filled up my mind. Would he be here tonight? Would he accept my apology? Did I still have a chance to save our friendship?
Taking a deep breath, I sat down on the steps leading up to The John Soane Museum. There wasn’t anybody here yet, so I glanced at my watch. It was only half past 7. Nervously I fumbled with my necklace. Damn it, why was I so nervous? I was a trained spy, prepared for the most dangerous missions out there, even for killing people, but I couldn’t stand waiting for my best friend. What the hell was wrong with me?
The street lights turned on. I looked up into the sky where a few clouds hindered the perfect view at the full moon. Even though, it was September already, it was a pretty warm evening. Good enough to go without a jacket. The sweater held me warm, as I sat forlorn and desperate there.
I checked the time once again, half past 8. Oh no, he wasn’t going to come. I knew I had been too mean to him this time. Why did I have to be such a bitch about his concerns? It was my entire fault.
I clutched down onto the pendant of my necklace, cursing myself silently for being such a fool. ISO members were supposed to live an ordinary life, so they wouldn’t be too noticeable to the outer world. I guess losing the only friend in real life didn’t fit that idea well. Suddenly, I felt utterly lonely. I realized that outwards ISO nobody was there for me. I had no parents, no friends anymore and teachers hated me in general. Why, oh why, did that happen? Was that the price for saving the world almost every day? Didn’t I deserve some love, too?

I was about to leave, when I heard some slow, rhythmic foot steps. I turned my head to see a tall boy with light-brown, short hair, wearing some jeans and a blue pullover. His piercing blue eyes avoided my gaze.
‘You wanted to talk to me?’ he said, his voice hoarse, as if he hadn’t spoken in a while. When I didn’t answer immediately, he took a seat next to me on the cold stone steps. He looked at me expectantly.
Taken aback, I tried to find the right words. ‘I’m glad you came’, I whispered faking a small smile.
‘So?’ he pushed the issue.
Swallowing I collected my self-confidence. He gave me the chance to save our friendship, so I had to take it.
‘Come with me’, I said and stood up waiting for him to do the same. Puzzled, he got up as well, and I walked towards a high tree about 50 metres ahead of us. I tensed up when he appeared right next to me, walking along. When we reached the tree, I climbed up some of the bigger branches to a flat in its middle. I lay down on the wood staring right up between the leaves at the beautiful sky. The clouds had faded and now the moon shone in all its glory, drawing the tree into a soft glowing light.
Sebastian had followed me without saying a word all the way up to the tree; he even lay down beside me. We