KIDNAPPED BY THE AGENT | Project Callister Book One

xxii. false presumptions

xxii. FALSE PRESUMPTIONS

The streets of Toulouse were filled with all sorts of people—businessmen, tourists, and students—occupied in their own bubbles. The breeze wisped my hair into the wind, filling me with purpose.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but let's go for a run," I state.

Ace raises his eyebrow in my direction. "Octavia Snow wants to run?"

My eyes roll to the back of my head. "Shut up, you wet sock."

"I know your mind is about as useless as a knitted condom, but can you please come up with some better insults?"

"Knitted condoms. So that's why you have so many STDs."

"Are S, T, D, and K, F, C the only letters you know? Tragic, what a limited vocabulary."

"If you spend another word on me, your wit will be bankrupt," I scoff.

Ace smirks. "Quoting Shakespeare can't save you now."

Annoyed and impulsive, I push him to get a head start and begin to run as fast as I could. My feet were burning with determination. Almost immediately, Ace speeds past me. He maintained a steady distance of about three meters ahead of me no matter how hard I tried to push past him.

After a pitiful five minutes of jogging, I start gasping for air. "Slow down Banana Bread, I have short legs!"

Ace turns to face me in disbelief. "You're going to die in the field."

"I hope heaven has a height cutoff," I spit.

"You're cute when you're trying to threaten people."

I flip him off. Finally, Ace leads me to the Canal du Midi, a historical body of water surrounded by a park. The sun had a bright diming glow and cast it's warm orange hue on the water which reflected into the entire scenery.

He takes on the bench next to the water. Trees stood before us, providing us with a blanket of shade and leaves against the sun. The brisk breeze blows some leaves past us.

My hair flows out of my ponytail. A weird moment of solace was found. I was transported back to a time without any trouble or worry—just us—by the water.

"Your father," Ace begins. "He was a great man."

My lips tug into a bittersweet smile. Ace doesn't say anything for a moment; he doesn't need to.

Suddenly, his burner phone buzzes. Ace lets out a sigh. After he gets off the phone, he stretches and stands up.

"We need to get back," he states.

"I'll meet you back there; I just want to watch the sunset."

He looks at me with hesitance. I return the condescendingly misplaced care with a blank stare. "Come on Banana Bread," I purse. "I'm an adult. You don't need to supervise me all the time."