The contents were unbelievable.
The SIA wanted Olivia to make herself even more vulnerable than she was in the vampire den. At least in that place she was allowed to be armed. In the corporate world, they wouldn’t take kindly to her wearing guns or knives. "Ian Novak," Olivia groaned as she tossed the folder containing the briefing of her latest target. "CEO of RK Nielsen. His appearance makes my skin crawl and he's got to be at least fifteen years older than me." Beeps coming from a heart monitor were making it hard to think straight. The wires and tubes all over Olivia were making her feel itchy, but it wouldn't be right to throw a tantrum like a child. As she turned her head towards her present company, Olivia felt like the entire world was shaking. Blood loss wasn't something to mess around with, it turned out. For her entire twenties, she had worked so hard to become someone the agency trusted with hard missions, but for the very first time, she failed. They had overlooked a detail out of her control and she lost Q, her partner from the moment she finished basic training and was shipped out to the agency in China ten years prior. Failing her mission wasn’t only that. She failed someone so dear to her. She made an irreversible mistake and was haunted by it every moment she had been awake since leaving that vampire den. She was certain she would have been turned into a vampire if she had been there a moment longer. That would be a fate worse than death, in her opinion. At least Q didn't face such a fate. She could find comfort in that much because he hated the bloodsuckers as much as she did. The loss of her partner hadn't fully struck her quite yet. She hadn’t been able to have a good, earth-shattering cry while she reflected on the loss that was eating away at what was left of her heart. Olivia pushed away the tray of food she had been slowly eating. After reading the information regarding the next target, she became restless and her appetite was gone. Having Mission Director, Nova Harrington, in the room didn’t help her restlessness. She felt on guard at the mere sight of the woman. The silence was uncomfortable as Nova stood at Olivia's window and stared at the Taipei skyline outside. She seemed preoccupied which made Olivia wonder why she bothered coming in the first place. It wasn't as if she could do anything about the sudden mission assignment. "Why does it have to be me?" Olivia kept pressing. Nova turned from the window and strode towards Olivia's bedside, though she didn't sit down. Her leather high heels clicked on the linoleum floor until she stopped. Breaking the bounds of Mission Director and one of her agents, she pushed Olivia's hair over her shoulder. "It has to be you because you're pretty and he's that sort of man," Nova said. "And, while your skills are sharp, Ian is not going to care about keeping you around because of that. You'll have to keep his interest somehow." Olivia didn't like the way they were going about that mission. Normally their agency operated along the lines of sending agents in only after they had a full profile and each detail down to a t. His lack of readable background or profile was unsettling. For once, she was the agent and the information gatherer. This entire situation was a slow burn she didn't like to feel outside of books. Lack of planning was also why she was fresh from a failure. They should have planned more and taken every detail into account. She shouldn’t have pushed. Since Nova had knocked down all her arguments so far, Olivia decided to use her final excuse. "I'm not fit for an office setting," Olivia reminded the director. She held her forehead after speaking. It was getting harder to ignore the dizziness. She had another blood transfusion being brought to the room. It couldn't come soon enough. "I'll get fired on the first day. If not fired, the cover will be blown quickly," Olivia continued. "How will anyone believe I studied to become someone's office slave? I'm not a submissive woman." Nova sized up Olivia for a few moments. While it was true the agent had a fit build and domineering personality, there were excuses for everything. It wasn't as if she was the first woman with a desk job who also happened to have a muscular physique. "You're going to have to develop an active hobby," Nova reasoned. "Keep in mind that you won't be sent to London without proper training. You're a sharp tool. Learning how to schedule meetings for executives won't be rocket science." "I would rather try to learn how to build rockets than something like this," Olivia admitted. Nova was just about done with their conversation and she had done her due diligence in making sure her agent was awake and responsive. Considering it was late in the evening, she decided to subtly excuse herself first. "You won't fail a mission again," the director responded, her tone determined. "You wanted to prove yourself as a solo agent and repair anyone's doubts in you after this last loss. It's time to step up to the plate. You're getting sent a pitch, what you do with it is up to you." Olivia extended her hand when she realized Nova was walking towards the door. If she wasn't attached to so many things, she might try to do something extreme like chase after her. "Please rest and heal quickly," Nova said just before escaping the room. "Nova, wait!" Olivia called. In a last-ditch effort, she called, "Mom!" She didn't want to be alone. Even though her mother hardly treated her like a daughter, she was better than the loneliness of healing all by herself. Every time there wasn't a nurse or doctor in there checking on her, she would start to think about Q again. She didn't know how to handle it. Olivia had been trained to push past emotions and act like nothing hurt her, but it hurt her deep inside. She didn't know how to cry to release the feeling. The professional facade was gone. It was late anyway and Olivia dropped the act. She needed her mother to talk to her as her daughter and not her director for a moment, but Nova was quick to escape–a common theme that certainly scarred Olivia throughout her childhood. Some women were too cold to have children. Nova was one of those women. Not everyone in the agency knew of their relationship especially because Nova insisted on not giving her daughter special treatment. If anything, Nova gave her daughter even worse treatment than the others because she saw a lot of herself in the younger woman. For a moment when Nova first arrived, Olivia was disillusioned enough to believe Nova was there to check up on her. When she saw the folder in her hands, the illusion was shattered. As resistant as she was to the mission set out before her, Olivia found herself reaching for the manila folder containing all the information they had so far. Ian was a handsome bastard, she had to give that much to him. His luscious blonde hair would make someone think he was angelic if it weren't for his demonic, shapeshifting red eyes. Even through the picture provided on the top of the paperclipped stack, his gaze was piercing, as if he could see her scrutinizing him. It was unfortunate he likely used his abilities to get into such a prestigious position as CEO for one of the biggest conglomerates in Europe or, rather, the world. He needed to be neutralized somehow.Leaving the hospital without a family member or friend to pick you up would have offended most people, but Olivia wasn't like others. A car had been sent for her that would immediately take her to the airport. She would undergo a month of training at a top-secret base in China before relocating once more to London. After multiple calls between her and the agency, she finally decided to participate in the mission. It wasn't physically dangerous but shapeshifters were known to be slippery. They were cunning and strong. All the SIA was there for was to neutralize them and even the score. These people could live out in the open with full rights, but they had to follow strict rules if they wanted to participate in human businesses. It was clear that Ian Novak was doing everything but that. Once she was finally in the private jet that would take her away, Olivia went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the dingy lighting. At least she looked more alive than when the agency found
Settling down was easy enough.It wouldn’t be uncharacteristic for her to feel and seem lost in a new city as old and busy as London. The aimlessness she felt until she was able to get into the office was very much real. The dread of having to go to work on Monday was real as well.She was no longer allowed contact with anyone in the SIA except for the information division. That would be her lifeline for familiarity. In her prior briefings, it was suggested to make friends so it would seem like she was truly working there. The thought made her cringe. She would rather be alone than around people unfamiliar to her. Her trust in others was nonexistent in a world full of supernatural beings.Her first day was a success mostly having to go through HR required training and being shown the simple nature of her job.Olivia survived a few more days then a week as Executive Account Manager Percival Whitmore's secretary. She hadn't stepped on toes or gotten so irritated with incompetent people
Dark hair and the sickening scent of cheap cologne. Ian couldn't be such a talented shapeshifter that he could fake his own scent, could he? The man pinning her to the wall wore a plain suit. His quick way of neutralizing what he deemed to be a threat was practicing self-defense used by security guards to hold down someone but not harm them. Since they were security and not law enforcement, they could get into trouble if harm came to someone even if they were doing something bad. Olivia's years of training made her recognize this immediately. The look of astonishment was genuine. She thought for sure Ian had caught her and her cover was blown. The man asked her who she thought she was following and she had to come up with a believable excuse. "I-I'm new here," she spoke timidly and unlike her usual self. "If you would let go of my wrist I could show you…" She brought a sticky note with her to remember the executive's coffee order. There was also a slip with instructions on retr
In Olivia's line of work, death was around every corner. It was something she lived beside often and had grown to accept. At first, it wasn't easy to adopt such callousness. It went against human nature to live alongside death and not fear it. Yet she had to become cold or she would crumble and become a failed agent. It was never certain where people like that went. They had seen too much for civilian life but were no longer usable to the SIA. She knew she had to keep her feelings to herself. In the situation with Q, it was the first time she was hit hard with the reality of never seeing someone again. The impermanence of life scared her for a while, but she had to train those thoughts out of herself and remind herself that the life she worked so hard to achieve would be ripped from her grasp if she was afraid of death just like the others. She would never be a failed agent.Despite thinking Executive Whitmore was an incompetent human being with the privilege given to him by comin
Olivia knew she was staring when her brother walked through the door with an SIA badge hung around his neck and his arms crossed over his muscular chest. His expression told her that he wasn't playing around. She wasn't entirely sure if this was a message from the agency or because he couldn't make direct contact with her without compromising things. Was it personal or business?From the moment she heard of Executive Whitmore's death, red flags were raised in her mind. She had a couple of avenues she would like to explore regarding the cause but she supposed it would be best to hear her brother out first. She was sure not to reflect her familiarity with the agent in front of her. Appearing small would be better with her hands hidden in her sleeves and shoulders slumped."I can take over from here," Jose said to the detective. "Thanks." The detective left without another word, knowing that he couldn't interfere if there was a federal investigation happening. The SIA was a well-known
To say Olivia woke up on the wrong side of the bed was an understatement. The night before, she skipped dinner because of being called into the police station. Then she tried to go to bed at her usual hour only to toss and turn at the irritation that her mother was getting involved in her life in such an unsavory way. Nova had told her to carve her own path with this mission and that she was going to have minimal involvement so it would seem more believable. How would it be believable if people around Olivia started dropping like flies or disappearing? It seemed that her mother also crafted it to look like vampires or werewolves were the ones who killed her boss. She was trying to stay out of supernatural crimes so that people wouldn't suspect her of being involved. Particularly, she didn't need Ian to think she had any privy to supernatural beings. She wanted to seem like a regular human who feared them just like everyone else. She didn't fear them, however, she hated their divi
Olivia was permitted to finish off the rest of her week at the office of the late Executive Whitmore. There was a lot to do regarding filling in his partners on the situation. She spared details and spoke politely if they wanted to call. Even though she wasn't much of an actress, she was getting to exercise that side of herself much more than she ever had before. People tried to comfort her and she had to act receptive despite having only known the man for a couple of weeks. Some even shared anecdotes of why he was a good man and she stomached the stories with words offering comfort. She felt lucky that most of the conversation was done over email. By the time she sent the last notice to a partner, she was burnt out of talking to others. Hearing another inspiring story about the man who used to ogle her breasts each time she didn't dress like a nun was becoming harder and harder. On top of cleaning up the man's professional life, Olivia had the horrible privilege of being the firs
Olivia arrived at the office with a health smoothie and coffee in tow, going against her very nature to bow down to someone who asked for things so disrespectfully, She even grabbed her own caffeinated beverage at the cafe in hopes that it would carry her through what was going to likely be a hectic morning. At least she didn't think they would put her in front of the CEO right away. It would be cruel to subject a newbie to that on her first day.When she was a secretary, much of it was spent training and she imagined similarly for her first week there.'May the matcha latte gods carry me through this morning,' she prayed silently and sarcastically. She wasn't religious but she needed all the help she could get.Matcha lattes were Q's drink but she grew to love them. She wasn't always sentimental, but it felt like he was still with her when she drank them and she needed his steadfast encouragement that day.On the elevator ride to almost the very top of the skyscraper, she took a few