Mallory looked at him with surprise in her eyes. She matched his drink of wine.
“I’m a Denver girl. Through and through,” she said with pride.
“Oh . . . my . . . gosh,” Green said with as much disgusted enthusiasm as a Seattle fan hearing this information would show.
Knowing she was hooked, Green sat down in the recliner to the side of the couch, gave her an open arm invitation to sit on the couch so they could argue over who had the best hometown sports teams.
At one point Green rose, continued his dialogue as he walked into, then back from, the kitchen with the bottle of wine. He offered her the first refill and, again, she absently took the offer during her own retort to which team had the best player in the history of each team.
Over the next hour and a half, the two mock-raged over rivalries that became both wonderful and terrible family memories that followed wins and losses.
Green pulled out another bottle of wine and it proved to be the undoing of their ongoing conversation. She realized the time, acknowledged she had a little buzz, and realized she’d been talking for far too long with Green. She was clearly irritated at her lapse in professionalism.
“Can I have a glass of water please? I shouldn’t have stayed so long,” she said with open frustration.
“Sure, though it’s not an issue. I enjoyed talking you into becoming a Seahawks fan,” he joked while filling a glass of water. He only left the living room for about thirty seconds but came back to find that Mallory had stood and was putting herself together, an obvious stage of leaving.
“Thanks,” she told him, taking the glass and guzzling the entire thing before she handed it back and began moving to the front door. Green didn’t try to stop her, but found he was oddly disappointed she was leaving. She wasn’t his assignment, and he wasn’t sure why he wanted to keep talking with her. Before she exited though, he did call out to her.
“Before you leave, can I have a two-minute talk with you on a serious note?” Green asked.
The transformation back to the cold, steel-eyed, politician’s aide was quickly returning. If he was going to get through to her, he had to do it now. If she left, he probably wouldn’t get her to open back up for some time, if at all.
“Two minutes,” she said flatly.
“I don’t know what, or why, Senator Miller asked to meet with me. It’s cool, and I don’t mind the attention, and tonight was, well . . . interesting,” he started, giving his best to look small and meek, before starting again.
“I’ve always been a shadow. To my brother, to society, to my own life. So, to be invited to go to dinner with a senator, to drink wine at a wine bar like the one we were at, made me feel as if I couldn’t say no to any of it. My work found out about it, as you know, and they told me to leave work early just to make sure I was ready to meet with her. I’m not sure what comes next.” He left it hanging in the air, not quite posing it as a question.
The wall that had started going up instantly came back down. She obviously knew exactly the scenario he was speaking of. He was sure that many times in her life she’d felt as if she had no option but to say yes to someone who was in a much higher position than she was. It wasn’t a great feeling. Her empathy was on full tilt.
“I know I’m an attractive man, but I don’t flaunt it, and I don’t use it to gain any advantages, but I do know that’s all I seem to be to the senator. What exactly am I to her? A distraction? Candy on her arm? Was tonight it?”
Mallory stood still, contemplating how to answer the raw question. She was obviously surprised by his openness. He saw the wheels turning as he looked into her eyes. He watched as suspicion rattled through her. She knew something didn’t fit with him, but he was sure she was lost on knowing why she was feeling that way. That’s why he hated lies so damn much.
“What would you like me to say?” she asked
“I’m asking for your advice in this situation. Do you think I should meet her again?”
“You should make that decision for yourself. I know she wants to meet again on Sunday for a brunch. That being said, your awareness of the situation is fairly accurate. As a grown man you don’t need advice from me,” Mallory said, though there was no weight or feeling of honesty to the words.
“I might not need it, but I’m asking you for it,” Green said.
“I’ll answer you, if you can answer my question,” she said with defiance.
Green cocked his head sideways, thrown off by the inquisition request.
“Who are you? I’ve done a background check on you, read the file, and did a scrub on your life. It all looks legit, but it doesn’t fit. I’ve told the senator I don’t think she should have you around. So, who are you?” Mallory asked. Her eyes were curious but not completely cold. She was confused and Green could tell she didn’t like the feeling.
Green’s phone started ringing at the same moment she finished her question. He wanted to ignore it but had the feeling of needing a moment to find his way out of this conversation. Thankfully it was the restricted caller he knew to be the control room at the operation base.
“Hey, brother,” Green said in an overly exaggerated voice. “Do you know what time it is here? What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
Brackish was on the other end, “Tell her the truth of our investigation. I found info. She’s former military intelligence, has hidden in plain sight. On our side. Trust me.”
Brackish saying trust me was all Green needed. He looked at Mallory, and gave a fake smile, as if the conversation on the other end of the phone was humorous.
“You should be really sure about that,” he said in a sweet voice.
Brackish laughed. “Don’t want her to know it’s me on the line?” he taunted. “That means I could pretty much get away with saying anything I want right now.” Green had to fight not to roll his eyes.
“That’s correct,” he answered. “I’m unsure if I should do that.” Mallory looked at him with clear suspicion.
“You truly have to trust me. You can bring her in on this op. She’s as close as it gets to the senator. Make her a part of the team.”
Green paused for a moment as he made a decision. “Okay, kiddo, will do. I love you and miss you, but I need to go to bed. Yeah, it’s late here. Bye, bye.” He hung up and looked at Mallory.
“My five-year-old nephew. Can’t wait to get back at my brother for that one,” Green said while putting his phone away.
“Kids have a way of reminding us that any problem has a solution. Look at what they work through on a daily basis,” Mallory said. Green nodded. It was now or never.
“You asked a question, and I’m going to answer. Before I do, I’m going to get another glass of wine and pour you one. You don’t have to take it, but you might want it by the time I’m finished talking,” Green said while walking back to his chair. His manner had changed. There was no need to keep up the act now. His gait, his voice inflection, everything about who he was, was in that room, and Mallory noted the difference.