Permission to get to know each other

Miranda Newman

Over the course of two weeks, my routine continued almost normally as it was before the punishment, with the only difference being that I had a Briton on my back every moment of my day at the agency. Not that I was complaining... God, it was so good to have that glimpse of paradise all the time, but I wished that vision didn't have such a serious expression. The man urgently needed to smile more.

My day started with training, where he insisted on giving me exercises that worked on my self-control. I swear, with his Zen lessons, he would eventually ask me to stand up and applaud the sun.

It wasn't all bad; despite everything, I had a lot of fun mocking his "I am a serious and responsible agent" attitude and occasionally amusing him with my provocations.

It was rare, but sometimes I could see a ghost of a smile on his lips. Like the day when I couldn't stop talking during yoga. Yes, he still insisted on doing that, claiming it was a great relaxation and self-control technique, and blah blah blah. I got it, he probably received instructions like "for God's sake, control Miranda Newman!"

But on that day, I woke up with high energy and needed to let it out. Since he only made me sit and meditate, I decided to tease him a little.

"You know, if I stay in this tree pose for one more minute, I swear I'll turn into a real tree."

Ah, if he knew what pose I wanted to do...

"You're exaggerating, Agent Newman," he replied, but then we changed positions. I realized I was in trouble when the next position required super balance, and let's face it, I've never been the most balanced person. Obviously, I could only perform it after a long time and many falls.

Dominic seemed to be holding back a serious posture while helping me get up again after falling for the fifth time.

"Seriously?" I asked. He looked at me confused. I explained.

"I make jokes all day and you don't react... Serious as a door. But me falling is the epitome of fun."

He finally gave a discreet smile. My God, how would he look smiling for real? Could he get any more handsome?

"You know what I think, partner?" I asked rhetorically. "I think destiny is a big bitch." He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. And so I did, presenting a theory that had been in my head for some time. "It put us together on this mission probably because it was tired of your stern face and decided you needed a dose of Miranda Newman in your peaceful life."

Dominic looked at me with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

"Is that so? And here I was thinking that we joined forces because you set your last mission on fire," he replied sarcastically. Wow, Dominic Green knows how to be sarcastic?

"That hurt, partner," I replied, smiling, not letting it bother me. I had faced so many teasing at the agency that I didn't care anymore.

"Let's go, Newman, you're stalling. Do the position already," he deflected as he moved away. Damn it.

In addition to training, we were preparing for our mission, carefully planning every strategy to ensure nothing went wrong. Our house had already been rented, and we were scheduled to move there in a week. We used as much of our time as possible to learn more about our target and create our fake couple story. Let's just say that part was... interesting.

I had to tell him every aspect of my life... my favorite food, the place I liked to go the most, some childhood stories. If they asked me to tell them the color of the underwear I was wearing, I wouldn't be surprised. As for him, he revealed things more superficially, more reserved. And it was definitely funny to see him uncomfortable with personal questions.

Dominic was evasive. By the end of it all, if I knew a little more about his name and age, it was a lot.

When I asked about his family, he only mentioned that they lived in England and didn't provide many details. When I asked about his parents, he briefly mentioned his mother, and when I asked about his father, he looked at me for a long time and changed the subject.

I only learned about his hobbies by observing him during our training. He was a simple man who enjoyed simple things. A book, a cheesy (and I mean really cheesy) song, and homemade food made him happy. But I knew there was much more to discover behind those brown eyes. I just didn't know what yet.

"Agent Newman?" Dominic called me, snapping me out of my reverie. I smiled at him.

"Soon, partner, we'll be married, so I think you can call me Miranda," I concluded with a wink.

"Miranda," he said, testing it, and I liked hearing him say my name. "We need to sort out something about the house. We're going to move there next week, and Stan thought it would be good for us to go there tomorrow as an official couple, to have a first experience and analyze the place and where we'll put the furniture."

I paused for a moment to think about what he was saying. Everything was happening so fast; things were starting tomorrow, and I couldn't wait.

"Okay, what time will you pick me up?"

"At nine. If Pavlov doesn't deviate from his routine, we'll have our first contact with him tomorrow, so be prepared to go as a couple right away."

I smiled at the possibility of teasing his British ass, already imagining a million situations in my head.

Yeah, I really can't wait for tomorrow.