Chapter Eight

Jacob was sitting in a lobby with his best mate, waiting for these brits to let them go.

The waiting room, as it was aptly named, was sparsely decorated with signs that said what not to do, what to do, and oddly, a missing cat poster.

Staring at a picture of a cat gets boring really fast, especially when it's a grey cat named Jessica. Who names a cat Jessica? He tried to start some small talk with Adam, but he seemed too nervous to chat, which was a shame.

They were the only ones sitting in the lobby, practically everyone else was walking by in a hurry or stopping to briefly chat with someone else. They all seemed very busy.

Adam was fidgety, and kept glancing at the passerby. In his mind, Jacob had no real reason to be nervous about anything. They're probably going to have a little talk with whoever was in charge, and be on their way. If not, well, what's stopping him from leaving anyway?

In fact, he could leave right now, without having to deal with this. He could leave Adam behind too. He could figure this out on his own.

Jacob dismissed the thought almost as soon as it came. He needed Adam, because he had great people skills, he begrudgingly admitted. Jacob, on the other hand, burned the bridge when he came to it. Except not metaphorically.

People apparently didn't appreciate burning actual bridges.

Just then, a woman waved them into her office. Jacob looked around. Nobody else was there except them. He reluctantly nudged Adam, who was daydreaming, or at least not paying attention, and gestured to the lady. He understood at once, and they both walked in.

The lady paced around a mostly bare desk, save for the several potted daisies and tulips. They were vividly yellow and pink, and for the most part, were the most decorations either of them had seen all day.

She caught them staring, and gestured in the direction of two chairs. Adam sat down obediently, like he always did. Jacob suspected that he distrusted her just as much, but he sat down anyway to show he was compliant with authority.

Jacob, on the other hand, continued to stand.

Adam shot him a warning glance, which seemed to say 'she is important, and generally you are supposed to obey important people, dipshit'.

Jacob ignored him.

He had just noticed that the lady was glaring at him.

"Impertinent, aren't you? I don't tolerate insolent people, you know."

Jacob looked as though he had just noticed she was there. "Sorry, I prefer to stand," he said, eyeing her.

Adam sighed. Yes, he was being difficult, but she hadn't struck him as trustworthy, either. He would continue until she proved herself.

"Right. Well, sit, stand, it makes no difference to me," she said, although, she sounded like it did matter, and she was judging him. Judging both of them.

"I am Deborah Brooks, Head director of this facility. You two are?", she continued.

Jacob answered first. "Bond. James Bond," he said, trying hard not to smile.

Adam sighed, this time not bothering to hide it.

Brooks looked like they were ready to strangle Jacob, right then and there. Her glare was nothing short of murderous. "Very funny. I see you've been waiting to say that. And you?", she said, directly asking Adam.

He straightened up a bit, in an effort to look less nervous. "Adam Saddler. And my very funny companion is Jacob Persing," he said, without looking at him.

Now it was Jacob's turn to sigh. "I can introduce myself," he said stiffly.

Adam turned to him quickly. "Hardly. I bet you couldn't even say your name without making some obscure joke."

He turned away from him. Jacob frowned. "James Bond isn't obscure. Anybody worth their salt has seen at least one movie. There are tons of th-"

Jacob couldn't finish grilling Adam for not watching a famous action movie series, however, because Brooks suddenly slammed her hands on the table, startling both Adam and Jacob.

"Quiet, both of you! I've been informed two days ago that a certain person made of with top-secret data, and know you two twits come to London! I don't even know what to think of this!"

Adam hung his head, evidently already guilty. Jacob spoke right after her. "Actually, were both here to investigate that. If you could just message the director from the place in Texas, he'll tell you."

Adam whispered to him while she was typing. "We didn't come from Texas," he said.

Jacob looked annoyed. "Well, duh. I'm stalling."

"For what?"

Jacob suddenly looked up as though he remembered something.

"Ah, silly me, I meant Florida, not Texas. There are a lot of sites in America," he said, convincingly pretending that he had forgotten.

Brooks sighed. "You know what? I'm just going to tell my assistant to send it. I'll be right back."

She left the office, looking frustrated.

Jacob leaned over and whispered to Adam. "Run."

Adan looked taken aback. "Run?"

Jacob threw open the door and sprinted out, and Adam followed suit.

Now, at least three blocks away and out of breath, Adam and Jacob stood in front of a coffee shop nonchalantly. "Why'd you run?"

"It would be a pain to explain to that lady, she'd probably send us back no matter what we said or did," he said simply.