"You have what!"
"Amnesia-", "How!?" He asked, totally confused.
"I can't remember a lot but I do remember that day. A while ago, before I got hired for my job, I was kidnapped. Which now doesn't sound abnormal, but back then it was.", "Okay and what happened?"
"I was going somewhere that night, and I remember taking an Uber. He didn't seem very chatty. I was glad, but it seemed weird. I have no idea what happened but I then checked my phone. And there was a call, a message, I'm not sure. But it said that my Uber was outside somewhere."
"So that's how the Uber kidnapped you?"
"Yeah and after that I can't remember. But I woke up in the hospital, and they told me I had been in an accident.", "He crashed?", "I suppose"
"But you were missing for like almost a month", "I spent a couple of weeks in the hospital.", "Were you hurt?" He asked as she could notice his worried tone and expression. "Well.. not badly, but yeah.."
"And after?"
"Well, I had a lot of belongings with me so I was pretty much fine. But I had no way of knowing my address. So I've been staying at a hotel."
"What about your phone? Didn't you call someone or something?" He asked while they sat at the coffee table. "I lost my phone. This one's new." She said, waving her phone in her hand. "Oh, I see" They both sat in silence for a second before he took her phone off the table "What are you-", "Adding my number, you need someone" As he did, she just stopped to stare at him for a second.
"What?" He asked her, giving her phone back. She looked at the screen, where he saved his number.
'James Cullen', the screen read, "I'm sorry, but you haven't answered me", "About?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee. "Am I supposed to know you?"
"Well obviously, I know you", "Mhm," she said looking at her phone again. "We uhm,"
He started to say looking at her. "We weren't very good friends. We didn't talk a lot."
"I'm not surprised, you are annoying," She said, drinking her coffee. "Yeah," he said, with slight laughter. "Then how did we know each other?" She asked. "What? Oh uh.." he said, caught off guard.
"Neighbors" He almost yelled out. "What?"
"We're neighbors, that's how I know you were missing", "Makes sense," she said looking in another direction. "It does, doesn't it.." he said looking around for a server. "Excuse me!" He yelled out.
"So how much do you remember?" James asked after a while. "Not a lot. I forgot nineteen years of my life.", "How so?", "Well, I remember some stuff about when I was a kid. And my parents as well. But somehow I don't remember how they look, or their names.", "You don't know anything else?", "No, just a couple of memories here and there. But I can't remember anyone.", "No one?", "No one..", "I see."
After two minutes of James talking to Desiree nonstop, she left more annoyed than ever. She then noticed a woman looking at them. She was 2 tables across. Desiree couldn't see her face correctly because she had a hat on. And the way the sun hit the area, covered her face.
Desiree turned around to look around at the rest of the tables near the windows of the cafe. Everything seemed off to her. Everything, but especially that woman. "Desi?"
........
"Desiree!", "What?" She asked, almost jumping off her seat. "Are you okay?" James asked.
"Uhm, yeah. I'm just bored.." she said, as she kept looking around.
"..Bored?" He asked, staring at her. "Mhm..." She said, still looking around. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you!" he said, annoyed. "And I'm trying to subtly avoid it!" She said, half paying attention to what James was talking about
A moment passed as James seemed annoyed that Desiree was ignoring him.
"Vie"
"What?..." she asked, confused and ignoring the woman who she was paying attention to. "Oh finally, I thought you'd never pay attention," he said. Still annoyed, his mouth stuffed with bread. "What did you call me?" She mumbled, confused. Staring at him for a second. "What?" he asked, unable to hear her.
She thought for a second while staring at him. But out of the corner of her eye, she saw the woman she was watching earlier, moving closer to them. "What are you look-", "Do you trust me?" she asked him. He mumbled something she couldn't understand while eating another piece of bread. "Stop eating will you!" She yelled out. "Depends." He said, putting the bread down. "But no, not real-", "Smart man," she said, grabbing his arm and dragging him over to the outside of the cafe and a street corner. "Hey, what are you doing?" He asked, confused by what had just happened.
"I was eating a croissant!" He yelled out pulling back his arm. "No one cares about your dumb croissant!" She yelled out, pulling his arm near her. "Just tell me what you're doing!" , "You work for Nickolas, right?" "Then why is he spying on you?"
"What are you talking about?" He asked as she let out a laugh "A room full of spies and none of them can keep one thing secret." She whispered. "What?" he asked, as he looked back at the cafe. "Oh..." She turned around to him once she thought of something. "If Nickolas brought spies here, why not just go directly to him?" He asked, trying to make sense of the situation. "That's both the best and dumbest idea I've heard yet." She thought for a second. "Yet, it'll do."
One Hour Later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are we just going to watch him?" He asked as they hid in an unused room, near a conference room, where Nickolas Marques was. "What else did you think to do?" She turned to him. " Oh, I don't know. Ask him?" He asked her. "Are you insane! Then he'll know you know." She said, hitting his arm. "I'm sure he already does by the way you dragged me outside.", "Sounds like your problem", "That's because it is!" he whisper-yelled at her.
"I have no idea how we even got here!", "That's easy to explain," She said, watching the conference room.
"Yeah, okay. Explain.", "Not right now!", "Mhm"
"Dammit,'' She said as she saw the conference room door open. "What is it-" She quickly closed the door and left the two of them in the non-lit room. "Shh," she whispered. From outside the door, they could hear voices saying their farewells and leaving. After a minute of silence, she could hear them, not outside, but somewhere in the area. There was a string hanging from the ceiling. James supposed it was a light so he pulled on it. And for their sake, he was right.
They stayed there for thirty minutes but all that they gained was to get even more stuck. As they heard some voices getting closer from time to time. "What's our exit strategy?" James whispered as they both sat on the ground.
"Our what?" She whispered back. James sat quietly for a second, staring at her.
"Oh my god, we're going to die," James whispered, leaning his head back to the wall. But instead hitting it. "Damnit!" He whisper-yelled.
"Don't be so dramatic." She whispered, as she hit his head and walked away.
"Ow! Well, I wouldn't be if we had a way out!" James whisper-yelled, again.
"Or do we have a way out?" Desiree whispered, smirking as she looked at the ceiling. "What?"
After a while, they found a way to get up to the vents and tried to navigate a way out.
"We have better chances if we went to jail,'' James complained as they slowly made their way through the vents. "I'll tell you, jail is no fun," Desiree said.
James stopped and gave her a shocked look. "You've been in jail? In just a month?" he asked her. "Once, in Monopoly." James then gave her an 'unamused' look. "...You're lucky we're friends." "Wh-"
"Look at the exit door," he said, as they could see a door labeled 'Exit' through the opening of the vent. "I don't trust that," Desiree said, "And why not?" James asked, annoyed. "All I know is, one of us is right, the other one is you."
When they got down and near the exit, it was locked.
"Nice idea", "Who locks an exit?!", "I'm starting to believe you have a completely different job than this."
Desiree looked around and saw two halls one on her left and the other on her right.
"Take the left, I'll right", "alright"
"Wait," she said before he could turn around.
"Don't kill anyone, or get yourself killed. Find a way out, that's it."
"Oh come on, do you not trust me.", "no", "Well if you did, you'd know I wouldn't be capable of hurting a fly. Plus I would get fired. And I'm not in the mood for that", "I'm not saying you will, I'm just making it clear", "Alright, alright"
They split up for fifteen minutes, in that time James and Desiree passed through multiple offices before Desiree hit one labeled. 'Nickolas Marques' She was planning on heading back since there was no exit insight, but she overheard a conversation.
"What do you mean he contracted them?"