She didn’t know I was leaving. Technically I didn’t even know for sure, only that now that I had completed my assignment it was time for me to move on. A part of me wished I could prolong to takedown, I had made the mistake of putting down roots and getting too attached. The Company had had me on standby for two months and the date they choose to pull me fell smack in the middle, April. I had moved much of my work and equipment when Christa had moved in, the dog had moved to Christa’s family’s house two months ago and the clothes were all replaceable. They always gave me a generous stipend if we had to change job locations. I was going to Europe. I opened the folder they had dropped in a deposit box, Leilani Nevins was my new identity. Johnson
…show more content…
I’ll tell you what I know and you fill in the blanks. You’re not who you’ve been telling me you are. You’re not the person I’ve been dating. You’ve been maintaining a façade for some unknown reason. I’ve been tracking you down ever since you slipped up three weeks ago when you were supposed to be looking for work. I’ve followed you around town to deposit boxes and locations you would have no reason to go to. I’ve scoured all my contacts, all my networks. Nobody knows anything about you.” Christa paused. “Well nothing about the real you I mean. Your persona or whatever just appeared in the world a little more than a year ago, before that I found nothing concrete when digging beyond that faux background you must’ve used to get hired. So tell me the truth, who are you?”
“I...”
“Who are you!?”
“I work for a company…I work with computers for… to bring awareness to corporations who are abusing their powers. I travel around the world when they need me.”
“And you have to use different alias? That would only make sense if…. Wait you travel around the world, you working under some sort of cover, you use computers, and you would’ve told me if you worked for the government… your work is illegal. You work in cyber crime.”
I look away from her, my eyes landing on the window panes. It was raining outside.
“You’re a fucking cyber terrorist!?”
“No! We’re not terrorists! We don’t harm people, we help. Those big corporations are horrible for our society! They need to be …show more content…
I walk towards her but she raises her hands against me, “It was real. I know that’s a line you hear in the movies but we…we were real.”
She looks away this time, “was I a piece of your cover?”
“No.” She looks at me with disbelief lighting her eyes. “No,” I said again. “I mean yes, full disclosure, I needed a girlfriend for the job, but you weren’t picked or anything. You were just chance. We were just chance and I never thought it would turn into what it has.”
“Oh, only chance? And here I was thinking it was love.” She turned away from me. “Leave. That’s what you were planning to do anyway huh, so leave.”
The door of our bedroom closed, that click of the oak door frame confirming the ending of everything she had opened the possibility for. It was over. It calls me back to mind that first time she closed my front door behind her; when she left her hat behind. This time, I am the one leaving something. But I knew I couldn’t show up on her doorstep to come back for it.
“Stay.” I turn to see Christa in that doorway, that hair of hers unbounded, eyes red and wet.
“I…,” words fail to find me in this moment.
“Or take me with you. Just don’t leave.” Her hand lands on my arm, soft and
I’ll tell you what I know and you fill in the blanks. You’re not who you’ve been telling me you are. You’re not the person I’ve been dating. You’ve been maintaining a façade for some unknown reason. I’ve been tracking you down ever since you slipped up three weeks ago when you were supposed to be looking for work. I’ve followed you around town to deposit boxes and locations you would have no reason to go to. I’ve scoured all my contacts, all my networks. Nobody knows anything about you.” Christa paused. “Well nothing about the real you I mean. Your persona or whatever just appeared in the world a little more than a year ago, before that I found nothing concrete when digging beyond that faux background you must’ve used to get hired. So tell me the truth, who are you?”
“I...”
“Who are you!?”
“I work for a company…I work with computers for… to bring awareness to corporations who are abusing their powers. I travel around the world when they need me.”
“And you have to use different alias? That would only make sense if…. Wait you travel around the world, you working under some sort of cover, you use computers, and you would’ve told me if you worked for the government… your work is illegal. You work in cyber crime.”
I look away from her, my eyes landing on the window panes. It was raining outside.
“You’re a fucking cyber terrorist!?”
“No! We’re not terrorists! We don’t harm people, we help. Those big corporations are horrible for our society! They need to be …show more content…
I walk towards her but she raises her hands against me, “It was real. I know that’s a line you hear in the movies but we…we were real.”
She looks away this time, “was I a piece of your cover?”
“No.” She looks at me with disbelief lighting her eyes. “No,” I said again. “I mean yes, full disclosure, I needed a girlfriend for the job, but you weren’t picked or anything. You were just chance. We were just chance and I never thought it would turn into what it has.”
“Oh, only chance? And here I was thinking it was love.” She turned away from me. “Leave. That’s what you were planning to do anyway huh, so leave.”
The door of our bedroom closed, that click of the oak door frame confirming the ending of everything she had opened the possibility for. It was over. It calls me back to mind that first time she closed my front door behind her; when she left her hat behind. This time, I am the one leaving something. But I knew I couldn’t show up on her doorstep to come back for it.
“Stay.” I turn to see Christa in that doorway, that hair of hers unbounded, eyes red and wet.
“I…,” words fail to find me in this moment.
“Or take me with you. Just don’t leave.” Her hand lands on my arm, soft and