Retirement is something I've been thinking of for a couple years now. I've been a Wetworks operative for over 12 years now, and many times I've come close to getting killed. Nowadays my shooting hand sometimes aches, and it's a bit harder to get up in the mornings. Most importantly though, my 35th Birthday is just a few months away, and I want to better my chances of seeing it. Some of my fellow agents think that my attachment to Chloe is making me want to leave the agency. This is partly true, but even before Chloe came along I was thinking of getting out. You can only risk your neck for so long before you slip up and get killed.
Yesterday after dinner, I told Chloe about her past. To my surprise, she took it very well. I then proposed to her. She accepted. After we made love, we spent the rest of the night planning the wedding. We're aiming for the middle of Spring, probably May. The main reason for this is because the agency finally agreed to let me and Chloe go around that time. Well, actually, we're going to be transferred to less active positions. When needed, we'll have to train new agents in our fields, and occasionally play the role of a safe house for agents on missions. Other then that, we can pretty much do as we please.
Me and Chloe have been planning out a restaurant for some time now. Apart from cooking, Chloe has also shown a bit of a knack for sketching designs. One of the features of our restaurant will be a large, gas fireplace. We're still debating on whether it should be set against a wall, or out in the middle of the dining area. We're undecided on the chairs and tables. There are so many elegant, and practical designs to choose from. On the other hand, Chloe has the kitchen planned out to the finest detail.
I thought about the wedding as I headed to our meeting. These meetings used to be every day, now however things have relaxed a bit and we have the meetings once every few days now. Dominic soon joined me, followed by Jennifer.
"I finally dropped the bombshell on Chloe, and to my surprise, she took it very well." I said.
"What did she do?' Dominic asked.
"She said she was content with me and she asked me a couple questions, nothing major. Then... then I proposed to her." I replied.
"You proposed? Did she accept?" Jennifer asked.
I nodded.
Both of them congratulated me. Then they began to talk about what was going with their girls.
"I think Zana is seeing someone. Actually I'm sure of it. She's been leaving more often, and she usually comes back tired. I'm working on finding out who she's seeing." Jennifer said.
"Things have never been better with Carissa. Since we, um, you know... She's been calmer and seems happier." Dominic replied.
That was our meeting in a nutshell. What had previously been a formal meeting in a private room had turned into a brief conversation initiated while walking down a hallway. It's been clear for awhile now that the girls, Zana included, are pretty stable. There are some quirks, mostly with Zana, but overall they're doing very well.
I found an empty room, and I sat down to think. Oh, I wasn't having second thoughts about marrying Chloe. No I was certain that I wanted to marry her. I wanted to think about why I was marrying her. I certainly liked being around her. Seeing her smile was quite moving. Something else though. She trusted me with both her body and her mind. She hadn't been programmed to do so. Her programming consisted of her obeying my instructions, and performing her duties as an agent.
The fact that she came to trust me so deeply was a major reason why I wanted to marry her. She trusted me, and she needed me. She never came out and said as much, but she needed me to be there, and she trusted me to guide her and help her. Guiding her also made me feel better. The image of when I first saw her had left a haunting impression. While there were certainly other factors in why I wanted to "retire", one of them was that I wanted to be around to take care of her for as long as I could.
Now however, Chloe had an assignment pending. I opened the door and entered her quarters. It was early morning, and she was still asleep. I went over to her bed and caressed her face. Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled at me.
"Is it morning already?" she asked.
"Mmm hmm, and you have an assignment. We've retrieved some documents that were written in of all things, Mayan writing."
She blinked and tilted her head. "Mayan? That's not something you see everyday." she said.
"No it isn't. That's why they asked for you."
"Okay. Just let me get a shower and I'll be good to go." she said.
As I watched her walk to the bathroom, I smiled and closed my eyes. Lots of marrages fail for various reasons. I was certain however that ours would succeed. I imagined both of us old aged, waking up together, and smiling at one another. We'd probably be dealing with many of the problems that old age brings with it, but we'd be dealing with them together. I was sure of it.