What do I do?! I haven’t gotten clearance to accept a marriage proposal.

She stared at him for a long minute.

This assignment was originally only supposed to be for a few months, but I already got roped into continuing this charade for a few years now!

“Please get up.” They had attracted the attention of even more diners. “Let’s talk about this.”

“Does that mean no?”

She winced. “I don’t know what it means yet. I’ll have to think about it.”

Allan continued to kneel, rooted in his spot. “But… I don’t understand.”

“I think we need to slow down…” She frowned as she recognized the symbol for the National Security Agency with an urgent call that began pulsating in her augmented field of vision.

“Hang on. I need to take this.” She pressed the side of her temple.

“Hello?”

A live video feed connected her to her superior officer.

“Agent Wilson.” Commander Arlington addressed her, using her real name and title, “I’m sorry to disturb you, but it’s an emergency.”

Thank goodness.

She muted the call and turned back to Allan. “I’m so sorry Allan. Let’s have a serious conversation later.”

After returning to the lobby, she addressed the caller again. “What’s the problem?”

“One of our agents was gathering intelligence without proper clearance when he accidentally triggered the security system. Now the whole building is on lockdown and he’s trapped inside.”

“What kind of intelligence?”

”It’s regarding the surveillance of CyberBolt Entertainment.”

“But that’s my assignment!” she interrupted. “He will blow my cover!”

“I know. I’m not happy about it,” he said in a hurried voice. “The police are on their way. You’re the only one familiar enough with the building to get him out of there before they arrive. I’ve got transportation zeroing in on your location right now.”

“I’m on it.” She recognized the unmarked van through the window of the lobby and waved to Agent Miller in the driver’s seat.

She rushed outside feeling relieved. Agent Miller smiled as he punched a button on the dashboard to slide open the side door. “My, my! Don’t you look fancy tonight?”

“I had a date with one of my assignments.” She stumbled as she almost tripped on the uneven pavement. “He proposed.”

“Oh boy, that’s awkward.” He leaned out the window, “Did you accept?”

“Of course not.”

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She slid the door shut, and they took off with a screech of tire rubber. The van swayed as Agent Miller dodged traffic. She placed her hand on a DNA scanner to connect to the NSA’s virtual network and pressed the side of her right temple to activate it. Her fingers tapped away on a virtual keyboard invisible to the public eye, and her eyes dodged between six virtual computer monitors. To an outsider, it would look like she was having a seizure.

Despite the swaying of the vehicle, she worked at a rapid pace while several programs ran simultaneously. Streams of code poured onto the virtual screens as she accessed the back door she had long ago created to bypass the company’s security program. Most of the screens were still running live video feeds from multiple cameras hidden throughout the headquarters of CyberBolt Entertainment. On each screen she could make out flashing red strobe lights going off in alarm.

“This doesn’t look good,” she murmured.

“Brandi?” a familiar voice called over the headset.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “It’s Lily now. Jason? Is that you?”

“Yes.” Jason muttered. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”

She flipped through the surveillance footage. “Where are you?”

“I’m in Timur Demyan’s office.”

She located the live video feed. “What’s with the scraggly beard? You look terrible.”

He jerked his head around in surprise.

“I’ve got the whole building rigged with hidden cameras.” she explained.

“How soon can you get me out of here?”

“I’ve almost finished bypassing the security program. I’ll have you out in two minutes.” She paused. “Thanks for freeing me from my date.”

“A date, eh? With who? Is it serious? Do I know him?”

“I told you, save your breath. We’ll catch up later.”

“Now you’re being evasive.”

“Now I’m saving your life.”

“And also being evasive.”

“It’s nothing serious.” She rolled her eyes. “Details later. For now, just shut up.”

Lily continued to hammer away at the virtual keyboard as she felt the speeding van violently swaying through traffic. A few minutes passed before Jason broke the silence.

“So.. since I’m in the area, I was hoping I could ask you out.” he suggested. “Just like old times.”

“Well… umm…” She paused. “That’s going to be a bit difficult, seeing as how Allan just proposed tonight.”

“Wait… what?” he stammered. “You didn’t say yes, did you?”

“Of course not.” she scoffed. “Accepting an arrangement like that would only be at my commander’s direction.”

“Then how about dinner tomorrow night?”

“I’m afraid I’ll have to pass.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “I’m confused. You told him no, correct?”

“I told him we should talk about it later.”

“That’s ridiculous.” he scoffed. “You and I both know it won’t go anywhere.”

She had no words. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t get attached to Allan, but her heart had different plans.

“You don’t plan on accepting his proposal, do you?” he asked.

“Well, I… uhh…”

“You can’t be serious!” There was no mistaking the hurt in his voice. What about us?”

“That was a long time ago. I’ve moved on.”

A look of dismay crossed his face. “But you promised!”

“I know I did.” She sighed. “And I’m sorry.”

“What’s gonna happen if he finds out who you really are?” he seethed.

“Well I…” She entered the final algorithm she needed. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

“Let me tell you what will happen.” he said with an edge of steel. “If he stumbles across even the tiniest piece of your true background, you will get reassigned and you will never see your boyfriend again.”

She let those words simmer in her mind as the van screeched to a halt. She slid the door open a crack and recognized her surroundings. Police sirens wailed in the distance.

“Jason, focus,” she said, changing the subject. “I need you to listen to me carefully. The police are almost here.”

“Go ahead.”

“I’ve disabled the magnetic lock on the door to your right.” she instructed. “Leave Timur’s office and go to the end of the hallway. I’ve overridden the security protocols and have sent an elevator to meet you. Take this elevator to level C of the parking garage, and I’ll meet you there.”

“Roger that.” He saluted.

“And most importantly, don’t get caught.”