Ottawa, Canada

This girl keeps looking at me. She also keeps smiling. 'God she's so annoying. Beautiful but annoying.'

I signal left on Prince of Whales and turn into Hunt Club. From here it's a few minutes to the start of my route on Uplands Drive.

"Our first stop." I point at the Community Mail Box (CMB) at the corner of Uplands and Lillico a few minutes later.

I park the Step Van right beside the CMB. "Hand me the first flat tub, please." I request.

She unbuckles her seatbelt and walks into the spacious interior to grab the first flat tub on the bottom shelf.

I slide the passenger door open and walk up to the CMB. I unlock the panel doors and scan the bar code inside. This lets the people who monitor these scans know that I cleared the outgoing mail from this location and that I delivered the mail to residents registered to this CMB.

Nancy gives me the first flat tub. "Thank you, Nancy." It doesn't hurt to be polite. Even if she was the most flirtatious and annoying girl I have ever had to deal with.

"You're welcome, Rene." Again with the dazzling smiles. Ugh.

I ignore her for the next few minutes while I sort and deliver the mail. Scan the parcels and put them in the compartment lockers. 

She watches everything I do. 'At least she's paying attention.' I think. 

"Any questions?" I ask as I lock the panel door.

"No." She says simply.

"No? Why No?" Isn't this the whole reason she's on this ride along. 'Fine. I don't care.'

She just shrugs.

We drive to the next stop on the mapped route. Again, I finish delivering the mail in a few minutes. The work goes much faster than my old walking route. I know I was put on this route so I can finish early and spend the rest of my shift doing the real work the higher-ups need.

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Twenty-three stops later, and I am done. The girl wasn't much help but at the same time, she didn't get in the way. It took an hour to finish the delivery from start to finish. That and an hour at the station and my day at Canada Post is over.

The girl doesn't talk as I drive back. Neither do I. What I am, is on edge. I keep expecting her to try something. Not sure what, but definitely something. 

I drive into the parking lot and head straight to the docks. I unload my mail and equipment and get the Step Van ready for tomorrow.

The girl walks into the depot and I sigh in relief. I have been on edge from the moment I met this girl. One thing for sure. That girl is no mailman.

I park my truck, grab my kit and walk into the depot. 

"Hey mon ami. Ça va?" Linda asks from my right.

I pause before I answer. "Meh. Comme ci comme ca Linda. I'll let you know later." I change the subject, "So tell me about the wings." I smile.

"Okay then. You like?" She spread her blue wings. At close range, I can see they are transparent. I reach out and touch them.

They are solid.

'Scarlett, what are they made off?'

[She's able to manipulate hard light. It's a type of force field. She can shape it into anything she can imagine. It's a powerful ability.]

'Thank you, Scarlett.'

"Tres belle Linda." I compliment her wings and how she made them.

She must have picked up on my bad mood. "Hey mon ami, what's wrong?"

"Dan gave me someone to ride along. She's all kinds of wrong. I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid." I tell her.

"You want I should have a talk with her?" she asks and I can see that she was serious. I nod my head yes. "Okay you stay here I'll go and ask. If she doesn't want to talk I'll just beat her up." we both laugh. 

Linda leaves to get cleaned up and maybe beat up Nancy. I am laughing inside but as I get ready to leave an errant thought enters my head. 'Did I just send Linda to beat u a girl just because I was suspicious?' God, I hope not. Still, I don't hear any screaming. I'm sure they're fine. Linda is kinda scrappy and if my paranoia is working properly then Nancy is trouble.

I sign out and head over to Danno's office.

I knock at the open door. "Hi, Danny, you got a minute?"

"Hi, Rene. All done?" He asks.

"Yep. So...Nancy?" I don't add anything else.

"Yeah...that. Not my choice really. Did she do anything..." Danny was fishing for information. I know he had my back but I also know the kind of pressure management can apply to anyone they have in their sights.

"She's all kinds of wrong Danny. She had no interest in anything I had to show her. All she did was flirt." I complain.

"Is that a bad thing?" Dan saw me frown and he was quick to add, "She didn't do anything...bad, did she?"

"Not really bad Dan but her behaviour wasn't something I would call good either. And yes Dan it is bad. You know Marie. She'll either laugh it off and tease me mercilessly, or she'll take my ass over the coals. And let me tell you lately she's gotten a lot more dangerous." I can see that he understands where I was coming from.

"Yeah, I see your point. I didn't have a choice, Rene. It was pretty much 'do it or don't bother to show up tomorrow.' They were absolutely serious about this. I checked with Marty and Arsen and they confirmed that their hands were tied. Be careful Rene. This looks like interference from beyond Canada Post. We're just the messengers and fall guys." Dan believed everything he was telling me. As far as Dan went this was a dead end.

If I want to dig any deeper into this l would have to look outside of Canada Post for answers.

"Alright, Dan thanks for the heads up." We bump fists and I leave. His office was right by the front door and in a few seconds, I'm in my car.

Nancy saunters over and stops by my open window. She bites her lower lip and gives me the puppy dog eye treatment. "Rene, are you going anywhere near downtown?" She asks while she sways in front of from leg to leg.

"Yeah..." I can see where this was going.

"Can I please get a lift? My ride bailed on me." She explains.

'Sure it did.' Not believing a word.

"What about OC Transpo?" I point at the bus stop.

"I'm new to Ottawa and I still don't know which route to take." She really had her excuses ready.

"Sure. Get in." At this point, I just want to see what her pitch was. Why was she after me? And who was behind her?