"I hate him, mom." I cried out of exhaustion, throwing my body down onto the sofa that sat neatly in their suite.

She chuckled, "Aww don't be so harsh on 'im, baby. Give the guy a chance!"

"I've already given him plenty."

"You can hate him," my father chimed in, "but just remember you gotta work with him. Nobody is gonna be fooled by a couple that hates each other."

Right, the mission. I was never much for an actress, but I couldn't possibly imagine myself pretending to like Noah even a little bit. He was too hard to get along with.

His arrogance and entitlement. The way he mocks me and goes out of his way to give me a difficult time.

Agent Burke might as well have hired a dog to play his wife, because only a dog would actually like him enough to make it seem true.

There was a small knock on the suite door. It couldn't have been Noah judging by the dainty force since his knocks are usually harsh and demanding. Definitely not Dom, either.

"Ava? Are you in there?" His gentle voice echoed from behind the door.

I quickly stood up and made my way over to the door. Once I opened it, a calm and collected Burke stood before me.

"Agent Burke?" I asked, "Is everything okay?"

He nodded, "I was just hoping to take a walk with you."

"Oh. That should be fine." I smiled, giving my parents a small wave as I shut the door behind me and followed Burke out to the veranda.

The man strolled alongside me with his arms tucked behind his back. He wore a brown suit held together by a black belt and complimented with black shoes. Formal for just a stroll.

"I just wanted to address a few things." He claimed, a small sigh escaping from his mouth.

The matter seemed urgent and I couldn't think of why. Things were okay when I left Noah and Dom earlier after training. Maybe I wasn't progressing like he'd wanted? But it was only my first day.

"You're not in trouble," He smiled, "I just want you to know how important all of this is. What it means to not only us, but the world."

"I know it's important, It's just hard to process for me."

"I don't doubt it, but what you're doing is a wonderful thing. I know I'm asking a lot from you, but I wouldn't be if there were other options, and I didn't think you were perfect for the task."

The two of us continued to walk down the halls of the agency. An underground mall would be the best way of describing where exactly I was. Around us strolled other people who I'm assuming were also spies, or had some other important task.

"Perfect?" I scoffed, "You're asking me to pretend to be in love with the biggest pain in my ass."

Burke beamed under his tamed mustache, "You know, Noah just told me the same thing about you."

I frowned. If anyone was the pain in the ass, it was definitely not me. I never gave him a reason to feel so strongly against me. In fact, he was the one who started being rude the first time I met him.

Burke cleared his throat, "Noah seems like the difficult type, but there's more to him than what you've seen so far. Give it time though Ava, because you'll get to know him better than anyone during this mission. And maybe then will you start to like him- the real him."

The two of us stopped right before the cafeteria. Burke nodded his head towards the table in the back corner where Noah sat by himself— his nose stuffed in a large book.

"I don't know if I could like a man like that," I huffed, turning my head back towards Burke, "But I'll at least do my best to pretend to."

Burke grabbed my hand, "Do you promise me you're up for this?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

"There's always a choice," Burke looked at me with sympathy, "I just hope you realize how much of a service you'd be doing by choosing to go through with this."

"Out of everyone, you're the person who's been the most understanding." I said, "And even though you sound crazy half of the time, never have I thought about backing out."

Agent Burke squeezed my hand, "A blessing you are."

I smiled softly at him before turning back to stare at Noah while he continued to read his book. His curly fell gently on his shoulders, and his brooding eyes scanned the tan pages.

"You should go talk to him." Burke encouraged.

I laughed, "I would rather choke."

He nudged me towards the boy, "Maybe it's time you asserted some dominance."

And with a sly wink, Burke left me to stare and ponder if going over there was a good idea.

Definitely a bad idea.

Just as I was about to turn around and leave, Noah's eyes raised from his book to meet mine.

Great. Now I have no choice.

I started walking towards him as if I had planned to go over there the whole time. Once I started walking, he of course rolled his eyes.

I've never met someone more unwelcoming.

His eyes fell back down to his book as I approached him. I placed my hand on the chair across from his, but before I could pull it out for me to sit, the man spoke.

"Seat's taken."

"There's nobody else here."

Without bothering to acknowledge me, he kicked his feet up on the emptied seat, "See? Taken."

I've had enough.

I shoved his feet off and sat down with a huff, "I'm not doing this anymore."

"Doing what?"

"I don't know— this." I took the book out of his hands, and shut it, "I'm not going on this trip until you stop treating me like Im your younger sibling."

"Could've fooled me." He smirked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.

"It ends now." I demanded, "Or you can explain to everyone how your wife didn't want to accompany you. I don't think that would look very good, would it?"

He cocked an eyebrow, "Are you trying to threaten me?"

I hesitated. Threatening is not what I would call it.

Noah busted into laughter. I sat there dumbfounded at his response. Does he really think I'm that much of a joke?

He stood up and grabbed his book, tucking it neatly between his hand. "Cute." He stated, right before pushing his chair in and leaving me in the dust.

And even though I hated the man, my face still turned pink.