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While the two of them argued, I sighed. I had meant what would happen withusafter the mission ended. Us, including me. But clearly that wasn’t on their mind at all.
Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?
30
Trish
Baku was an interesting city. A combination of old architecture and culture, but with a growing high-tech industry. As Kaylee and I walked to the market, I wondered: was this how most older cities were? Istanbul didn’t seem that way at all, and Oslo was more modern overall.
Visiting the market was mostly an excuse to get out and stretch our legs. We didn’t need to buy much in the way of food: the room service in the hotel were some of the best meals I’d ever had in my life. They had a wide menu, very diverse, and everything was exquisite. That might have been my small-town, uncultured opinion, but still.
Our food was delivered by the same friendly bellhop every day. He was in his thirties, with dark hair, a smattering of freckles, and a perpetual smile that seemed completely genuine. He always dropped off the cart of food and then quickly hurried down the hall to give me as much space as possible. After the third delivery, he started including a small disinfectant wipe on the cart.
“If you are worried about the containers!” he called down the hallway. “Use that to wipe them down before eating! We want you to feel as safe as possible!”
Kaylee started coming to help me get the food, because she liked feeling helpful. The bellhop always waved at her, and would sometimes contort his face into a goofy expression. Soon, Kaylee was giggling every time she saw him.
I kept my space around Harrison. Ever since he opened up to me—which was clearly what he had done, no matter what he said—he seemed to have his guard up. More than usual. I would have accepted it as just the way the man was in general, but it was a stark contrast to the caring way he acted around his daughter. He played with Kaylee throughout the day when he wasn’t reviewing his hourly intelligence briefings. He stretched his muscular body out on the floor and played K’nex with her. He patiently listened to her explain all the intricacies of her Minecraft world, including the best way to fight spiders. He was a gentle giant around her, a sight that warmed my heart and made me look at him in a totally different light.
One day, I was getting extra towels out of the hallway closet when he emerged from the bathroom. He had just taken a shower, and had only a towel wrapped around his waist. Beads of moisture clung to every inch of his skin, and I had to focus to avoid staring.
He’s not as lean as the others,I thought,but he’s definitely bigger. More powerful.
I realized I was standing in his way in the hall. I quickly stepped aside and mumbled an apology.
Harrison gave me a knowing smirk and said, “It’s your turn, you know.”
“I already took a shower this morning,” I replied.
He scoffed and disappeared down the hall into his room, leaving me confused about what he meant.
It took me a full day to figure it out. I was walking down the hall after putting Kaylee down for a nap when I noticed something off about the chess set. I had moved one of the white pawns forward… and now there was a black pawn advanced two squares.
That couldn’t be what Harrison meant, I thought.Could it?
I made another move, then relaxed on the couch to read a book. Harrison emerged from his room, made himself a sandwich at the bar, and then disappeared again. But for a few seconds, it sounded like his footsteps stopped. As soon as I heard his door close, I jumped up and tip-toed into the hallway.
A black knight was now sitting in the third row.
We spent the rest of the day playing the game like that. Harrison went to the kitchen for a snack, or a drink, or to make a phone call. Every time, another piece was moved. Eventually, I got sick of the charade and moved the entire chess set to the coffee table in the living room.
The next time Harrison emerged from his cave, I heard him pause in the hallway. His bulk appeared a moment later. I stared back at him with an eyebrow raised.
He poured himself a glass of water, slid the ottoman around to the other side of the coffee table, and sat on the edge. He made his next move, and then I followed it up by advancing my bishop. Harrison marched his pawns forward, and I countered by castling my king. It wasn’t speed chess, but it wasn’t slow, either. He made careful, methodical moves. Ten minutes later, I realized I was in trouble. Five minutes after that, my king was trapped in a corner with no way to escape.
“Good game,” I said, tipping my king to the side in defeat. “I never would have expected you to play chess.”
“Why not?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re kind of a…” I trailed off as he stared at me intently. “It’s just not like your personality at all.”
“Or maybe,” he said while getting up, “you never discovered my personality because you made some assumptions about me.”
I thought about that the rest of the day. On the surface, Harrison was pretty one-dimensional. A rough-around-the-edges soldier who was quick to anger and comfortable with violence. Then again, I had never taken the time to get to know him the way I had with Jordy or Archer. Part of that was because he had been hostile to me from the moment I met him. Part of it was my fault for never trying.
I was further surprised the next day when I went downstairs to run on the treadmill in the hotel gym. When I returned, I found Harrison and Kaylee sitting on the floor of the living room. Harrison’s legs were spread out in a V, and his daughter was sitting between him.
And he was skillfully weaving her blonde hair into a single, thick braid.
