“We have two days to meet the target in a semi public location. Our objective is to take him out, but if we have to we can blame it on a homicide suicide in the name of love,” I informed him, trying to get us back on track.
“Where do you need me? Across the street?” he asked as he pulled us onto the road and to our secured location a few blocks from here.
“We’ll see. I’m still thinking about it.”
He choked and almost swerved into a tree. “You’ll think about it? We need laid out plans, Nikita. I need the details so I can act accordingly. You can’t just do this on the fly!”
I looked at my nails and then out the passenger side window. “I did pretty well so far, didn’t I? Your plan of luring him to the dump yard and then taking him out by the trash would have been a flop. Why would a businessman like Mr. Anderson even be caught dead in a place like that? We needed something a little more cunning.” I finally turned to him, my energy bouncing. “And how perfect was it that he just fired his last therapist? It was brilliant of me and you know it!”
I giggled and steepled my fingers like a mad man as he pulled into our secured location and looked at me.
“Oh, don’t burst my bubble just because my idea worked!” I pouted before getting out of the car and leaning over the top. “Admit it, womanly wiles are what gets you into places you can’t even fathom. Even as a sniper.”
He rolled his eyes before leaning over the top of the car and mirroring me. “I could have flirted and got the same results. What’s your point? You’re sloppy. You need to think things through a bit more. I mean, look at us! Now we have to wait a couple of more days before we can take the hit. I could have been done with this by now and gone home to eat some pizza back at the U.”
“Whatever. Don’t take your hangry attitude out on me, Mr. I know it’s hard to admit when you’re wrong. So, I’ll do it for you.” We both made our way to the door of the lower apartment in a shady side of town. Sticking the keys in, I looked over my shoulder with a smirk and made an Archer impression. “You were right, Nikita. I was wrong.” I mimicked, taunting him.
“I do not sound like that,” he pouted as we both went inside.
Closing the door behind me, I shook my head. “Look, I’ll order a pizza and you’ll be right as rain. You’re just grumpy because you’re impatient.”
He shoved his shoes off at the edge of one of the beds and looked at me incredulously. “No, I’m grumpy because you’re sloppy! How did you even make it through your last assignments?”
Oh, we’re going there, are we? “I’ll have you know, I successfully completed all my missions without a hitch and on my own. Don’t lump me into the category of your friends.”
Archer scoffed as he took off his jacket, revealing the veins on his arms. I caught myself ogling but quickly schooled my features. “Friends? What friends? You mean the other top snipers at the U and my roommate? Pfft. I wouldn’t take them on a mission with me anyhow. No one needs that kind of distraction. I work best alone when it comes to a gun and me.”
I rolled my eyes and took off my own shoes, looking through my phone for the closest pizza joint. “Too bad for you, you’re partnered with me then, huh?”
I admit it, his statement stung me a little. I wasn’t that bad to work with. My skills were unparalleled. In fact, he should feel lucky he's working with me because I’m the one who likes to work alone.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying, Nikita,” he sighed, but I ignored him, my pride already stung.
I quickly dialed the number for pizza and put in the order under my breath.
“Are you ignoring me now? Don’t be so touchy, Nikita.”
My hackles rose and I shot him a look over my shoulder before ending the call. Archer was laying on his back with his hands clasped behind his head. “Me, touchy? You’re the one who's talking all high and mighty over there.”
He turned to look at me. “Me? High and mighty? That rich coming from miss heartbreak warfare over there. In fact, I am impressed with how easily you convinced our target in doing exactly that… breaking hearts on his next luncheon.”
I pointed a shaky finger at him and gritted my teeth. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. I suggest you stop before you dig your grave any further. I might just take up your offer to take out a target at the dump… one who goes by the name of—”
He hopped off the bed with his nostrils flaring, stomping his way toward me. Archer stood a good head and a half taller than me but I wasn’t scared of the likes of him. “What are you saying, Nikita? Do I smell a challenge?”
I stepped up until we were toe to toe, the tension between us thick. “What if I am?”
He opened his mouth to respond when the doorbell rang.
“Oh! It's here! I got it!” I shoved Archer’s chest and almost tripped over his large feet trying to get to the door.
The delivery boy looked at me curiously while I panted at the door. “Uh, an extra large pizza with everything on it and a two liter soda?”
I clapped my hands like a little school girl, my mouth watering from the aroma. I patted down my pockets and pulled out a single ten. It wasn’t enough. I lifted a finger for him to wait and quickly ran to Archer who stood there with a question on his face as I patted down his pockets.
“Hey! What are you doing?” he exclaimed in a higher pitch I was used to.
“Stay still, would you?!” I shoved my hand in his front pocket and pulled out another wad of cash with a triumphant ‘yeah!’
Running back to the front, I shoved all the cash at the boy, grabbed the goods, and subsequently shoved him out the door. Kicking it close behind me I tippy toed quickly onto my bed and opened up the box, squealing.
“Did you just—did you just order pizza without me?!” he whined beside me, sadly sitting on his side of the room.
I shoved an entire slice into my mouth and looked and tilted my head at him. Was he seriously pouting over there? My heart twinged a bit at his deflated body while he stared on the floor with his hands clasped in front of him.
Ugh. It wasn’t like I wasn’t going to share, I just needed to shove a slice in my mouth first. Swallowing my bite, I let out a sigh.
“Archer,” I called out to him. He peeked from beneath his brow and I stifled a laugh, patting beside me. “Get over here.”
His eyes sparkled as he jumped to his feet and leaped onto my bed almost launching our food in the air.
“Would you quit?! Do you want us both to starve?”
“Starve? I just had to watch you shove an entire pizza slice into your mouth! I was dying over there and you just let me suffer,” he pouted again.
“You weren’t dying.”
“Yes, I was!” he lifted his shirt to show me his stomach and I almost choked. He was stacked with more muscles than I could count with whatever brain cells I had left. “See! Look at the indentation of my stomach region!”
Oh heavens.
I slapped his hands until he released his shirt and shoved his shoulders away from leaning over me like a heathen.
“Don’t be mean, Nikita!”
“I’m not mean! I’ll prove it,” I snapped, grabbing a slice and feeding it to him.
He took a large bite that almost took my entire hand off and both of our eyes locked on each other. The tension from before simmered into something new and I quickly shoved the rest of the crust into his mouth and turned away, pretending to grab another bite for myself.
“There, now you’re not dying. Are you happy?” I hope he didn’t notice the crack in my voice as I shoved another large piece in my mouth to prevent myself from saying something else stupid.
Why was I feeling so hot all of a sudden?
He chewed quietly before getting up and grabbing some paper cups we bought earlier. He came back with two, filled with soda and quietly handed me mine.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, watching him as he reached his strong arm across my chest to the other side of me in order to grab another slice. It was a good thing, I ordered an extra large.
We both made quick work of the meal and tossed the pizza box onto the little table provided in our room. For being such a prestigious school, the amenities they offered us out in the field were not up to par. But we weren’t graduates. Who knew what kind of amenities they had once they left the U.
We both cleaned up and laid on our respective beds, watching a mindless show on the TV that was hanging on the wall. Archer began flipping through channels, annoying me until he landed on a reality show about couples trying to get together before they could see how each of them looked.
“Pfft, you know good and well they wouldn’t have chosen the other person if they had seen them first,” I mumbled.
“That’s the point of the show, Nikita. Not everyone can be as pretty as you and always get what they want.”
I looked at him and waited for him to elaborate but all he did was switch channels and finally turned the TV off, tossing the remote on the side table between us.
“I’m going to sleep. We have a long day of planning tomorrow. Night.”
Quietly, I turned off my side of the lamp and laid down, closing my eyes. Snores filled the room and immediately my eyes shot open. I turned to look at the hulking figure on the other side and lifted my lip. How could he fall asleep so quickly with his light still on?
Grumbling, I got to my feet, softly padded to his side and looked at his peaceful expression. From here, I could almost see the boy he kept talking about when reminiscing about his past. Without his scowls, I found myself drawn to who Archer was as a person. He was a guy who took no crap, one that was confident in his abilities—one that was a pain in the butt when he didn’t get his way.
He reminded me so much of me.
Turning his light off, I whispered a goodnight before padding back to my side of the bed. With my belly full of food, my eyes became heavy quickly. On the verge of being pulled completely under darkness, I thought I heard Archer whisper another goodnight.