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p; “Congratulations on your promotion.”
“Thank you. Undeserved, but deeply appreciated nonetheless.”
“If it was undeserved, they wouldn’t have given it to you,” Betty said.
“Well, I’m glad to see you,” he said. “And, oh boy, did you arrive at the right time!”
“Excuse me?”
“You can type, right? We’ve got a…”
“Charley, I’m not going to work for you. Where’d you get that idea?”
“What’s wrong with that idea?”
“A lot, starting with Joel’s got me a probationary spot in the protection section.”
“I’m not sure what that means.”
“It means if I work out and once I get a clear physical, I can be permanently assigned to the protection section. That’s what I want to do.”
“And you don’t want to work for me?”
“Be reasonable. That wouldn’t work out and you know it.”
“What if I promise to keep my hands off you during business hours and to call you Agent Schneider?”
Agent Schneider visibly did not find that amusing.
She sighed. “Charley, that wouldn’t work. I had a lot of time to think and…Well, what happened, happened. But there’s no future in it for either of us.”
“We can just be friends, right?” he asked, sarcastically.
“Frankly, I don’t even think that, Charley. I don’t trust myself. Or maybe it’s you. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“Have I just been told that I’ve been dumped? Just because I couldn’t get on the horn to tell you I was going to Paris?”
“One of the things I thought of is how often is that going to happen with you? ‘Sorry, Betty, the movie’s off. I have to catch a plane to Timbuktu and I don’t know when I’ll be back.’”
“This is what I do for a living. You know that.”
“I didn’t realize what it meant. Now I know I couldn’t live with a situation like that.”
“Can we talk about this?” Castillo asked.
“Sure, after I get settled. But there’s nothing to really talk about.”
“Let’s give it a shot. You never know. How do I get in touch with you?”
“When I leave here, I’m going over to Crystal City—near the Pentagon—where another agent is looking for a roommate.”
“What’s his name?”
Betty made a thin smile. “A female agent. If that works out, I’ll call Mr. Forbison and give her the phone number.”
Castillo nodded softly.
“Okay, Betty, you do that.”
