June Surprise

If the red circle around the date, June 13th, wasn't enough the exclamation points made it clear that something important was supposed to happen. The question was, what was supposed to happen? I had no idea, and since Ben was the one who had insisted on putting the calendar on the fridge in the first place, it was probably something for him. Ben. My ex. Thinking of him only made me want to cry. I thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives together and then one day he was gone. No note, no break up letter, not even a forwarding address for his Vogue subscription.

A ping from my phone distracted me. An unknown number text me. It was a simple and puzzling message: "Meet at the top of the Empire State Building. We need to talk. Ben." My heart beat out of my chest, as my phone fell to the floor. Only Ben would use an old romantic clichto get back together. The red marks on the calendar must have been his way of deciding when he wanted to reconcile.

As I went through my wardrobe, I couldn't decide on the perfect reconciliation outfit. Finally, I decided on a yellow sundress. Once my hair was piled on top of my head, I twirled in front of the mirror. Satisfied that I looked perfect, I headed out to be with the love of my life again.

Every time I rode the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building, my stomach dropped and stayed on the sidewalk of Fifth Avenue. After I stepped off the elevator, I walked to the railing and took in the view of New York City. Even the most jaded New Yorker had to appreciate how spectacular the city is.

"Lucy?" I turned to find a man that was built like an army tank. This was not Ben, but he was holding a cell phone. He turned it towards me and my stomach that had been left on the street found its way up my throat. There was a picture of Ben strung up, with his throat slit. "You're next. Unless you give us what we want."

"Wh-wh-what do you want?"

"The information that your little boyfriend stole from us. If it falls into the wrong hand, there will be serious consequences."

"What information? What are you talking about?"

"Ben was a spy and he stole the information and since he wouldn't tell us, we killed him. The same fate awaits you. Turn it over to us, you have 24 hours."

"What exactly am I looking for? Ben left me months ago, and took everything with him."

"Should we just kill you now then?"

A normal person would have run, a normal person would have done whatever it took to stay alive. I stayed cemented in my place, and watched as the behemoth of a man pulled a gun out of his pocket. Fear left my body and I accepted my fate. This is where I would die.

Without thinking, my foot rose and connected with his crotch. When he was hunched over, I ran to the elevator which opened immediately. On the way down, I tried to make sense of everything but it was a moot point. Nothing made sense, Ben was a spy. He had stolen information and had been killed for his efforts.

I collapsed into a kitchen chair when I got home. It was all too much for one person to take in. Fortunately, a bullet crashed through the window and shattered a picture of my mom and dad, before I could start thinking about everything again. Instinctively I fell to the floor and crawled to the living room. Whoever was shooting, would break in to my house and kill me.

Only I could go from reconciling with a man who left for no reason, with no word to being nearly killed by some spy agency who wanted information stolen by the aforementioned man. If I didn't die, I would have to seriously reevaluate my life choices.

"Damn it Ben. It was bad enough that you left me without a reason, and now you have put my life in danger. If you weren't already dead, I would kill you." Police sirens wailed in the distance, and I made my way to the office. It was a room that I hadn't been in since Ben left.

The door slammed behind me, and I locked it. Even though I knew that the thugs would break down the door, I figured it would buy me some time.

When he left, Ben cleared everything out. It seemed futile to look through the drawers but I did it anyways. A white envelope caught my eye, there was a yellow piece of paper in it. June 13 was scribbled on it, with the name Suzanne next to it. So, the SOB was cheating on me, on top of being a spy.

The door splintered open and standing in the doorway was a woman. She wore a no-nonsense suit, that matched her dark, curled hair. "I'm Suzanne, you're Lucy. Ben is dead because they found out he knew the secret. I have the flashdrive and orders to keep you safe."

"I'm sorry. You aren't a secret girlfriend of Ben's?"

"Sweetie, I'm sure this isn't the first time you dated a gay spy and it won't be the last. Ben needed a cover. You fit the bill perfectly."

"What?" As if my tear ducts were Old Faithful, they began filling and spraying tears. "Ben was gay?"

"I'd think you would be more upset that he was dead but whatever. My job is to get you to safety, not pacify you." She placed her hand on my shoulder, I shrugged her off. "Fine. You want to make it difficult, I can deal with that."

She lifted me up and carried me out of the house.

This was the beginning of a new story.