Simi placed a knick on the white don't and waited quietly for that familiar harsh voice.
"Come in"
Simi opens the door and they all walk into the huge glass-walled office.
They could see the whole academy from here and even the blind spots were visible from that floor of the office.
And John was staring out the wall in a mug in one hand and the other hand tugged in his pocket as his wrist blinged with a gold wristwatch.
This wasn't their first time in John's office. It was their first time seeing him look so...neat!
He had always looked stressed and frustrated with his job. They had caught him one time whining over the phone to whoever it was.
Maybe his wife?
In one word, John looked different and they weren't sure if it was a good thing or a bad omen.
"You look amazing Mr. John," Kat said smiling.
"Glad you noticed. Sit" John said
The girls exchanged looks and took cautious seats on the sofa.
John had not directly told them off for their last mission but Mia sure passed the message VERY well.
"What's wrong?" John asked, facing the girls with a little frown.
"First, you are freaking us the heck out by looking…..presentable and secondly why are we here?" Lauren said before Simi could nudge her to keep quiet.
"I never knew my look was an object of concern," John said, arching an eyebrow.
"Why did you call us? You ignored us all year!" Lauren snapped.
"Lauren!" Simi cautioned while silently grateful for Lauren's straightforwardness.
"Was it because of our last mission?" Kat asked quietly.
John sips his coffee, making the tension in the room grow even thicker and awkwardly annoying.
"I'm out of here" Lauren stood on her feet.
"You have more important things to attend to don't you?" John said in a stern tone.
"Yes. Run a lap instead of staring at you sipping your coffee" Lauren said.
"Sit down Lauren," Simi said, pulling her back to the chair.
John placed his mug on the table quietly and cleared his throat as he approached the screen on the left side of his table.
"Your last mission earned you a suspension from all missions for a year," John said.
"Felt like a vacation to me," Lauren muttered.
"One more word Lauren…" John threatened.
Laurie rolled her eyes and sank into the sofa. She was really mad at John for not letting her go home for their supposed Vacation.
"The disciplinary committee wanted that as your punishment. You are one of the best teams we have so we couldn't agree to dispatch your team." John explained.
"We have a committee?" Kat was surprised.
"Yes," John replied as though Kat had just asked a ridiculous question.
"You and Mia?" Lauren tried to hold back her laughter.
"And a few of our past team leaders," John said.
Simi sees how a little frown formed on Naomi's face.
Naomi's elder sister was part of the committee and as far as Simi knew, they were not on good terms.
"Since your punishment is over. You are back on track with the missions now" John announced as though it was a good thing.
"Yay!" Lauren said with sarcasm
"Mia will update you on your new mission and let me let you in on something. This mission is to prove your team worthy again" John said.
"And all our past missions that were successful doesn't count?!" Simi asked in subtle anger.
"We only had one failed mission, John. Just one" Kat said.
"And it was the biggest mission in the history of the agency and you blew it! You should have been more stern with your team members Simi. I am disappointed" John said.
"Try harder John. That mission wouldn't have failed if you had listened to Simi's call for help. We were outnumbered and one of us got shot already!" Lauren snapped.
"We didn't train you guys so hard to get shot in a mission did we?" John asked.
"It's our fault that we got hurt?" Lauren snapped.
"Enough Lauren," Simi said quietly.
"Can you hear what he is saying?" Lauren whispered.
"I said enough! " Simi said again standing on her feet.
"It's our fault the mission failed and we're sorry. We'll make amendments with the new mission" Simi said.
Naomi stormed out of the office in anger.
"We'll go meet Mia for updates," Simi said and they all took their leave.
Simi slammed the door shut behind her.
"Naomi, hold on!" Simi pulled her arm only for Naomi to shove her hard on the wall.
Simi groaned as she slips to the floor helplessly. Her back ached with a foreign pain.
It had been so long ago since she got into a fight.
"Hey! " Kat cautioned as she rushed to help Simi up.
"That's priceless" Lauren smirked
"What was that for?" Kat asked a bit angry.
What was wrong with Naomi?
"She's mute Kat. She doesn't need a reason to get upset does she?" Lauren said.
"I've never hit you before have I?" Naomi's voice was shaking with anger.
"She can talk? That's new" Lauren said again.
She was intentionally picking on Naomi for a reason they were all aware of.
Naomi's sister was a past team leader and must have gotten them into this mess because she dislike her sister that much.
"That's enough Lauren!" Simi said walking towards the both of them.
"You go tell your sister to stick her nose out of our team. She can't try to get to you by making all of us suffer" Lauren accused.
"Get out of my face " Naomi warned.
"Or what?" Lauren asked.
"Look what we have here. Team Holo in a fight" Rina said smirking.
"Who's the pest?" Lauren asked rolling her eyes.
"I'm not a mirror Lauren," Rina said.
"Just leave here Rina" Simi said walking forward.
Naomi walked past Rina's squad only for one of them to pull her back by her arm.
Naomi punched her across the jaw making the girl slum hard on the floor.
The rest moved away from her as though she was an alien.
"Where is Mia's office?" Naomi asked looking over her shoulder.
Simi, Kat, and Lauren followed Naomi to the office leaving Rina and her teammates stunned.
What on earth is wrong with Naomi?
Is she a psycho?