31 Waylaid persona

Irritation flashed across Jack's eyes. His lips pursed and he frowned heavily at the door.

"I don't have anything to say to you, B."

"That's too bad Jackie-chan, because I have some things to say to you. Let me in."

That persistent nickname got his eyebrow to twitch. She smothered a laugh, but he must have heard it, because Jack turned his disapproval to her. She mimed zipping her mouth. His eyes still lingered in suspicion. As it should be, really, because she was incredibly curious to why such a powerful CEO had gotten such a… quaint nickname. It was adorable.

"…Jack." Blake had lowered his voice, but it sounded more ominous than anything. "Is there somebody else there?"

Naomi simply raised an eyebrow questioningly at Jack who looked rather irritated at Blake's continued interference in his time with her. He stood up, coming around the desk and sharply pointing at her.

"You, stay right there." He pointed angrily to the chair at his desk that he'd just vacated and Naomi settled in, a look of amusement on her face. Jack stalked towards the door.

It couldn't be more obvious that he was trying to give Blake a very clear picture of where Naomi's place was. If it was in defiance of their previous arguments about her, she didn't quite know. What had caused their foul mood with each other? And why on earth was she involved?

Questions, questions.

She was getting sick of the lack of answers.

Still, she settled into his chair behind the desk, primly folding her legs. If he wanted her to play along, she saw no need not to.

Now she only had to wait for the resulting explosion.

Naomi eyed the crystal decanter of vodka sitting atop the desk as Jack grabbed the doorknob. If there was one thing, she had learned about these two men, then their taste in drinks was one of them. Impeccable taste, and costly, too. It wasn't a vice she particularly held a fondness towards but not one she would complain about. Maybe another future present to her teacher in the Agency? It bore some thought.

She watched with amusement as the CEO had paused at the door, taking a deep breath before lightly calling out, "Who is it?" An obvious ploy to make the man wait longer.

"Jack!" Another bang at the door.

"Persistent, isn't he?" Naomi said under her breath, lips curving into a smile. She ran her hand across the smooth leather of the seat as she thought back to the previous night's exploits with the seemingly inexhaustible man. Blake was very persistent, she knew, and proud. Which could explain the kick at the door as Jack continued to wait to open the door.

"Yes, that's me."

"If you don't open this door," Blake trailed off threateningly.

Jack finally yanked the door open wide, stopping Blake just as he'd raised his hand in the air to pound on the door again. He dropped it with a huff.

"Finally."

"What, B? I thought you made yourself very clear previously."

"Why not, Jack? What exactly or who, I should say, are you doing in here?" His tone lowered dangerously as he peered over his partner's shoulder into the office and locked on to Naomi, eyes widening slightly. Naomi waved awkwardly, standing up from the chair with a guilty wince, knowing how this looked. Wasn't their esteemed CEO known for bringing women inside his room?

Yeah. Probably not the best look for Naomi.

Jack shifted, blocking the man's sight of her. His shoulders raised slightly. She couldn't see his expression, but it was as if he was chagrined. Hadn't he noticed the predicament? Or was he acting?

Naomi could have sworn Blake's eyes flashed angrily for a moment before he was blocked.

She was more than confused at why these two men were suddenly at each other's throats, but what kind of a poor spy would she be if she didn't take advantage of this? Plans were so satisfying when they went accordingly, weren't they? It might be awful of her, blowing air at the fire and then running, but it was meant to incite their game of tug to twist into something she could use. A stress-test on their relationship with each other wasn't out of place either.

She moved around the table, eyeing the vodka canter one last time. The suspicion that Hunt had been close or inside the northern country famous for vodka recently was apparently true. A potential alibi, then. She would have to look deeper into it.

She made her way over and slid on her suit jacket.

Meanwhile, the argument continued between the two men. "It's none of your business what I'm doing, B! You're really crossing a line coming to my office like this –"

"I can't believe you, Jack! After the grief you gave me earlier today?" Blake grabbed his lapels, teeth bared at the other man.

"Hey, whoa, stop!" Naomi cried out as she hurried towards the door with a look of worry and concern on her face. "Listen, I'm going to go and maybe you'll both calm down."

"Wait, Naomi," Jack started to say, pushing Blake off him and taking a step toward her. Displeasure showed clear in his eyes as she shook her head.

"No, it's alright," Naomi assured him as she buttoned her coat swiftly. "I was supposed to meet up with Ryan and some other people at Sidoh's anyway." With the location casually dropped, she wondered who would be the first to seek her out. "Just uh, don't fight, please?" Naomi ran a hand through her hair anxiously, which only made some hair strands fall from the bun she had placed it in. She blew it away from her face exasperatedly and gave them a tight, forced smile.

The suspicion that had been underneath Blake's tension melted away, his shoulders dropping and feet shifting for balance. Had the thought that she had meant for all of this to happen burdened him so?

Honestly, what kind of girl did he think she was?

As she reached the door, she sidestepped Jack, but the man caught her by the wrist and stopped her anyway. She turned to look at him in surprise. "You don't have to go." He insisted, his eyes dark and determined. "B was just leaving. We have nothing to discuss."

"Yes we do, Jackie-chan," Blake bit out, stepping closer behind Naomi in the doorway and tugging at the wrist Jack held. "And I think she said she wanted to leave, so why don't you listen to the lady for once."

Both tugged at her wrist. What was she, a favored doll? Forcibly, she locked her knees and wiped her mind clean. Focusing on the matter at hand, she tried to take her wrist back without damage.

She had not anticipated them to react like this to her departure. To be honest, she was bewildered where she had calculated wrong in their characters. Was it because they had recently fought with each other? Or was there some kind of outside factor she was unaware of?

Hushed bickering was traded over her head, a moot point since she was close enough to hear perfectly well, but she was more focused on how they continued to press closer, eliminating the space between them.

"This isn't what you think– Stop trying to drive her away!" Jack snapped out at last.

"Do you ever give people a choice or just trample over them?" Blake bit out angrily in response, grabbing her hips to try and pull her back away from Jack. It only caused her to let out a gasp in surprise.

Derailed from his response, Jack stopped glaring at Blake long enough to take in her expression. She wasn't quite sure what impression she was making on him now, but she knew her face was flushed with wide eyes that kept skittering away. Her came out low and ragged.

Quickly, she turned her head away.

Escape plan. Now.

From her peripheral, she saw Jack sending her concerned glances. His grip tightened and he tugged her slightly closer to his side protectively. "I think she's perfectly fine where she is at the moment, B."

"I think she isn't," Blake retorted. Their constant way of talking over her head, both literally and metaphorically with their height and their constant dismissal of her opinion, it all finally made her snap out of the mentality she had regressed to. Her temper flared. The cliché she almost enacted, of a damsel in distress fought over by two men, burst into tiny little shards that she gleefully stepped on. She found the strength needed to squirm out from between them, managing to stumble past Blake and into the hallway. She didn't even look back as she started moving swiftly towards the elevators.

"Naomi!"

"Naomi, come back!"

She ignored the voices calling after her. Fists tightening, she pressed her fingernails against her palm. Stupid, how could she be so stupid? She ran a hand through her hair as she walked up and pushed the down button. Thankfully it opened immediately, and she hopped in, finally taking a deep breath once the doors were closed and she began her descent. The last sight of the two men gazing at her with equally as complicated expressions became seared into her mind.

What would Milton tell her to do? What would her old teacher tell this flushed version of herself? And worse yet, what would Ky say?

She closed her eyes and tried to imagine reassuring voices instead of the harsh berating she got from herself. This was not the mission she wanted for exploring flashbacks. Opening her eyes, she looked into the elevator mirror and sneered at the disheveled woman.

"Fix this shit," she told Naomi.

The woman pursed her lips and corrected her hair again into a strict bun, gaining a set to her shoulders that she knew meant that her famously stubborn trait had been regained and integrated into the persona. Naomi glanced at the mirror again, but she wore her resolve tucked close to her heart, invisible to the naked eye. The plan was everything at the moment. Naomi Barrett was made for the mission and she would be discarded once the mission was done with.

When the elevator doors opened, Naomi walked out of the building with large steps and hailed a taxi as she reached the curb.

"Where to?"

Naomi smiled brightly. "A bar called Sidoh's, please."