Page 5 of Welcome to the Friendzone

Instead of answering her, Oliver placed ten kisses on the top of Marta’s head, making her giggle like a teenager.

“It was worth the fight,” he whispered, before trying to pull her even closer, which wasn’t physically possible but Marta appreciated the gesture.

“What do you have in mind? For the date?” She asked into his chest, enjoying the tender caresses he was still making across her back.

“I’d love to go out and watch a movie with you.”

“I like watching movies but I’d prefer to do that here.”

Marta wasn’t comfortable with leaving headquarters, too scared that the mafia were still after her, although it was quite unlikely after all this time.

“But if we go out we won’t have to watch our backs the entire time,” Oliver sighed.

“Oh, you’re right.”

It was the first time Marta actually thought about the fact that she was practically dating someone she was responsible for. They'd been friends for years so it never was a problem, but she was his boss. She was making decisions with and for him and she was pretty sure the CIA wouldn’t allow them to pursue a relationship. There would be too many conflicts of interest. Holy shit, what did she maneuver herself into?

“You’re spiraling,” Oliver commented, trying to get her back to a happier place.

“Sorry. I was just thinking that we might not be allowed to date, because of the hierarchy and all the stuff that comes with that. What if I make a wrong decision in my job only because I fell in love with you and am scared to lose you? What if other people get hurt or even worse, just because I made that wrong decision?” Her voice filled with more panic as she went through all the what-ifs in her head.

“I don’t care,” Oliver said with a loving voice.

“But…”

“No buts. We just decided on ONE date. One date, Marta. Please stop thinking about everything that comes after that.” He sighed loudly. Had he thought about the hierarchy aspect before? Sure, but he really didn’t care. He always listened to his heart and gut and both had been telling him for months that this woman was someone he could imagine spending his entire life with. She came into his life broken, sad and traumatized but over the last two years he saw her heal piece by piece. It wasn’t that she was his fixer upper project, he’d gotten to know glimpses of her true self right after she moved into the headquarters, and he’d realized early on that this woman deserved happiness.

“Okay. One date, but we can’t tell anybody.”

“Sure. We got this, Marta,” he said and placed another kiss on her lips.

She couldn’t resist his charm and his infectious positivity. Being around Oliver seemed to make all the depressive and sad vibes of the world go away. He was like the first sunny days in spring that kicked people’s hearts and souls back to life after a long winter.

“We got this,” she repeated while a smile danced along her lips.

This man could cost her independence, maybe even her job, but he was driving her crazy and she was willing to re-discover a side of herself that she’d long kept buried away.

I’m here for you

THEN

March 2019

“Agent Gómez, this is your room. We already have some furniture in it, but you can buy whatever you want. Feel free to replace everything.” Director Burns said to Marta while they were standing awkwardly in the hallway.

He had extended his right hand out to her, expecting a shake, but as Marta’s right shoulder was still weak after being buried in a sling for a long time she extended her left one and gave the Director the weirdest handshake ever. The man shot her a pitiful look before he nodded and stepped along the hallway to the elevators.

Marta placed her ID Card on the lock panel, saw the light turn green, and opened it with her left hand. Her whole body was still trembling slightly, her legs still weak even after weeks of hard physical therapy but lying in a coma for two weeks did that to people. The doctors and her physical therapist were more than happy about her recovery, telling her over and over again that she was exceptional for being able to walk so early in the recovery process. She didn’t feel like that. All she wanted to do was get back on her feet as soon as possible so that she could run away from her past. Run away from everything that happened and start a new life somewhere. Where no one was in danger anymore just because they were related to her in some way.

The room she was standing in was bleak, the walls painted a sterile white, the furniture radiating the same vibe, like this had never been a home to someone. This was only a temporary station for most of the Agents so there was no need to make this room homey and cozy. No personal pictures, no plants. The room was as sterile as possible so that it was easy to clean.

Marta had never felt more depressed since the day her husband died. Standing in this depressingly clean room showed her, with all its brutality, that her old life and her happiness had died with Frank and the Peach last Christmas Eve.

Before she could dive deeper into the storm of intrusive thoughts inside her mind a loud knock came from the door. She had left it ajar so there was no particular reason for someone to knock. Did Director Burns forget something?

“Come in,” she said quieter than she wanted to, but whoever was standing in the hallway had heard it because she suddenly saw the light from the hallway shine into the room.

It wasn’t dark, but she hadn’t turned on the lights and the cloudy day outside didn’t really do much to lighten the room through the window.

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