Two (Josh)

Devina rang the doorbell of a small, cottage-looking house that was a mile or two from hers. We were still in a rural area and it was safe to assume the nearest house was another mile away.

I shifted my weight between my feet as we waited for someone to answer.

Finally the door opened to reveal a tall, copper-haired man with blue eyes and an athletic frame.

“Finley!” he greeted Devina gleefully.

“Thomas,” she replied, kissing his cheek as she stepped inside.

I followed her awkwardly and stood apart from them in the entrance way.

Devina turned to me.

“Josh, this is my tech operative Thomas Kaiser. Thomas, this is Josh Hutcherson,” she introduced us.

Thomas extended his hand for a shake and I took it lamely. He was a bit intimidating in stature; the fact he no doubt knew my guardian on an intimate level emotionally made me feel like an intruder.

“Nice to meet you,” Thomas said politely. “Shame about the circumstances.”

“Yeah…” was all I could manage.

“I’m going to start breakfast,” Devina piped up. “Don’t know about you, Thomas, but I’d like to eat before briefing. “

“Oh, definitely! What do you need?”

“I brought things with me. I can find the rest.”

“Great! Thanks!”

Devina waved him off and headed to the kitchen. I watched her retreating form.  I wasn’t sure if it was my fatigue or my general loneliness that had caused me to pay attention to every little detail about her since she woke me this morning.

“Would you like to have a seat?” Thomas asked, pulling my thoughts away from Devina.

“Yeah, that would be great,” I replied.

Thomas led me to his living room. He sat in the recliner and I took the couch. The room was decorated in a very minimalistic way. There were no pictures on the mantel. It almost looked like no one lived here.  

“So you were referred to the amazing Devina Friedmann. Lucky you!” Thomas said.

I looked at his face. No hint of sarcasm on it or in his eyes. He was completely sincere.

“Yeah, I uh… I don’t feel so lucky,” I admitted.

Thomas’s brow furrowed.

“Why is that?”

“Well being in this situation is pretty unlucky. But uh… she was pretty mad when I showed up on her doorstep.”

Thomas smiled.

“Well I would imagine anyone would be mad if a stranger showed up in the middle of the night claiming to have been sent by an authority.”

“I didn’t choose this,” I defended.

“I know that. Devina knows that too.”

I looked at him in disbelief.

“Really, she does.”

She really shows it, I thought as I looked down at the floor. I clenched my jaw. I didn’t want to be in this situation! Why didn’t anyone seem to understand that?

“Look…” Thomas began.

There was a pause and I looked up at him. He was clearly weighing what to say next.

“Recently Devina was threatened and her cover was nearly blown. She had to run for her life and I followed her here. We’ve been in hiding for a little over a month. The party threatening her was jailed last week. We were just beginning to plan our move back to Washington, DC,” Thomas explained, trying to rationalize Devina’s attitude.

“Wow,” I breathed.

No wonder she was upset. I felt really guilty, though I knew her situation wasn’t my fault and I didn’t ask to be sent to her.

I thought I heard her sniffle in the kitchen. My chest tightened at the idea she may be crying because of this.

“Any advice?” I croaked.

“Try not to take things personally. She really does know this isn’t your fault. Trust her. It will be her job to put her life before yours and she won’t hesitate to do so. Be honest and open with her. It will make both of your lives easier.”

I nodded.

“Breakfast!” Devina called.

Thomas jumped up immediately.

“Alright!” he cried with the enthusiasm of a child, and scurried off to the kitchen.

Breakfast consisted mostly of Devina and Thomas talking together in another language. I contributed when the conversation was directed toward me.

After breakfast, Devina cleared the table and went with Thomas to a room in the back of the house. I laid down on the couch and closed my eyes. I couldn’t have been asleep very long when Devina shook me awake.

“We need you for the next part of planning,” she said softly.

“Okay,” I agreed.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I took a deep breath before I stood. Devina noticed.

“Are you okay?” she asked me. Concern was something I hadn’t yet heard in her voice.

“Yeah. I’m just really tired,” I answered.

“I know. We will go back to my place after this so I can pack. Then you can sleep in the car.”

“Where are we going?”

“Well, that’s what we are about to decide.”

I followed Devina back to the kitchen. The table had all kinds of papers and gadgets on it. She sat down and I sat next to her. I watched as her beautiful hands tapped on her tablet.

“So… first we need to establish a few ground rules, the most important of which being that you must be honest with me at all times. I can’t do my job if you withhold information from me. If I ask you a question, you answer me wholly and truthfully. Understood?” Devina said.

“Yes,” was all I could think to say.

“Next we need to agree on a word or phrase that you can give me if we become separated and you’re in danger. It needs to be obscure, something that wouldn’t come up in everyday conversation.”

I stared at her blankly. I was coming up with nothing.

“Uhh…”

“How about Romulus?” Thomas offered.

“Romulus?” I echoed, trying it out on my tongue.

“You know, like Romulus and Remus.”

Now I looked at Thomas blankly.

“The founders of Rome?” Devina said in a “Dude, this is so obvious” tone.

I was too tired for this. I shrugged.

“That’s fine. Romulus it is.”

“And finally and most obvious, do not leave my side unless I give you permission.”

I simply nodded.

Devina turned to me and put her chin in her hand. I was taken by her bright green eyes. They were so clear.

She raised her eyebrows.

“Josh?”

“Huh?”

“I asked what your upcoming schedule is like as far as filming and appearances,” Devina repeated.

“Oh… Um, I’m actually on hiatus right now. I don’t have anything scheduled for the next couple months.”

Devina closed her eyes and exhaled. She fell back against her chair and said something in that other language that Thomas was obviously agreeing with.

“What?” I asked.

“I said you just made my day. This will be so much easier. I feel better about this now,” Devina replied.

I smiled a little. She didn’t hate me.

“Glad I could help just a little.”

The corners of Devina’s mouth turned upward in a slight smile.

“So okay…” she began. “Why don’t we… make this into a sort of holiday? Neither of us have anything to do.”

“You mean go wherever we want?”

What? I really liked that idea.

“Yeah, just go city-hopping. Cincinnati and Union will be off-limits.”

“It would be a good idea to stay away from Los Angeles as well,” Thomas advised. “It’s a gigantic city but the chances of you being photographed are extremely high.”

“That’s true. But that still leaves the whole Eastern US for us to explore.”

“That would be great! I haven’t traveled much on the east coast.”

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

“Okay. So that’s decided. Now onto the bad news,” Thomas said forebodingly.

“Bad news?” I asked, my voice cracking.

“Well it could be worse. Your cover is you two are a couple. If you’re photographed together it would automatically be assumed. We could come up with a different excuse, but keeping you safe is more important.”

There was a long, awkward silence. Devina’s silence in particular was disconcerting.

“Well whatever. If that’s what needs to be done then it’s fine with me,” I finally said.

Devina sat with her hands folded in front of her face. She didn’t look at me. The little bit of hope I had felt about the situation left me.

This was not going to be easy.