In the following weeks, Zach tailed Cammie, trying to find out her schedule. He knew that she went jogging every morning and got bagels for breakfast. He knew that following this she got on the subway. He knew that after this, she inexplicably vanished. Zach had used every tailing method in the book, right down to sitting within 5 feet of her on the subway car, and nothing seemed to work. One glance away and she would be gone, as if she was never there to begin with.

It was a little frustrating.

However, every night, she would return from the same subway stop and head back to her apartment. She would pick up dinner and then turn in for the night. It was impossible to figure out where she would go for so long during the day.

So, Zach decided it was time to interact with her.

Early the next morning, as Zach began to jog the same route that Cammie ran every morning to her favorite "hole in the wall" bagel shop. He slowed as he neared the shop, and he glanced over his shoulder, looking for Cammie. Taking a last glance around he slowed to a walk. Just when he might've given up all hope, a small blonde body smacked into his back and fell to the ground.

Cammie stood up frantically, running a hand through her wavy ponytail.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!" She exclaimed, not recognizing him from their brief encounter at the bar.

Zach let a lazy smirk fall across his lips. It was quite endearing and ego-boosting to see her get so flustered in his presence.

"Don't worry about it," He said, brushing some imaginary dirt off her side.

She seemed to realize his game as she took a step back, eyeing him more warily.

"Well, don't let me hold you up."Cammie said, letting some of her annoyance seep into her voice. She side-stepped him quickly, reaching for the door to her favorite bagel shop.

Much to her annoyance, Zach beat her to the door, holding it open for her. Cammie couldn't help but roll her eyes at his gentlemanly façade, but strode through the door none-the-less.

"So," Zach started, "the least you can do is buy me a coffee to make up for the inconvenience."

"What inconvenience?" Cammie asked, raising one eyebrow.

"You ran straight into my back, I don't know what damage you could've possibly done back there. In fact, the more I think about it, the more sore it feels. I should probably call my doctor right now for my own sake." He teased, pulling out his phone.

Cammie rolled her eyes again, laying a hand on his arm in mock understanding.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, unless you're a lot more fragile than you already look." She replied with a smirk, and turned around to order. Cammie ordered her usual bagel and coffee combo and headed for the door.

"Hey!" Zach called.

Cammie paused at the door and looked over her shoulder. "Yes?" She questioned.

"So I don't even get a name?"

She pursed her lips and thought for a moment. "Talia."

"Talia." Zach repeated, letting her fake name roll off his lips.

"Yup." She replied. "Now bye Zach."

And she turned and headed out the door, down towards the subway station.

Zach sat back in frustration mulling the situation over, and then remembered. He never told her his name.

Cammie boarded her subway train and sat down with a huff. Yeah, it was kind of fun to flirt with civilians, but that didn't mean it was a good idea. And, to top it all off she had slipped up. Of course she had remembered the boy from the bar, but she didn't want him to remember her. She had used one of her other alias that night, and she didn't need him messing around with things he didn't understand.

But she had called him Zach before he had formally introduced himself, and she could only pray that he was too dense to pick up on that, or remember her from the bar.

She shook her head in frustration, she was sloppy. The last thing she needed was to get compromised because she was flirting with a civilian. She had a bad enough track record with civilians to begin with, and her heart sank a little as she thought about Josh.

Cammie was jerked out of her thoughts as the subway car pulled into her station and she stood to exit the train. As she climbed the stairs to street level she glanced around discreetly to check that she had not been followed. She strode down the street, sipping her iced coffee and pretending to window shop and blend in with the foot traffic. With the millions of people in New York City, it was a spy-in-hiding's dream.

Cammie continued walking until she reached her destination, a small bookstore named Gallagher Books at the end of the block. As she pushed the door opened, bells jingle and she slipped inside. Cammie made her way through the familiar store and browsed the selections of books. She strolled through the stacks until she reached the back corner and pulled an old leather bound book off the shelf.

She turned and held her breath as she opened it, glancing discreetly around her to make sure no one was around. From the front of the store the bells jingled again, but the store was otherwise empty. Flipping the cover open, she breathed a sigh of relief. The inside pages of the book had been carved out, leaving a secret compartment inside. A small package was left inside of the pages; a successful dead drop. She pocketed the package and turned to go, shoving the book back on the shelf.

Cammie turned to go, and smacked straight into a wall. Well, not a wall. It happened to be a person, in fact the same person who she had run into earlier. As she picked herself off the ground, she let out a huff of annoyance.

"Hey," he said, smirking down at her. "Fancy seeing you again."

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Cammie gave a tight smile back.

"Who would've thought I'd be so lucky, twice in one day."

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Zach asked as he leaned back casually against the shelf, giving her an odd look.

"Oops, it seems my luck has just run out." Cammie said as she checked her watch. "I have a meeting to get to." She said, moving to push past him and heading towards the front door.

"You know," He called from behind her. "I'm not sure how the management will feel about the destruction of their merchandise."

Cammie took in a sharp breath, not used to being caught so off guard. How had she let herself become so sloppy? Cursing internally, she turned putting on a mask of innocence.

"I'm not sure what you mean." She said, widening her big blue eyes.

Zach smirked again, brushing his hand across the book that she had shoved back onto the shelf.

"Don't worry Blondie," he said, taking a step forward and leaning down so he could whisper in her ear. "Our little secret."

And with that Zach made his way out of the store, not looking back to see if she followed him.

Cammie stood in frozen in place, running a hand through her loose curls. She regained her composure, taking a deep breath. As she left the store, she stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets.

She felt through her pockets and found a scrap of paper. She pulled it out and unfolded it. Inside was a phone number scrawled in messy handwriting, signed "-Z."

Cammie rolled her eyes again, wondering what his game was, but he had another thing coming if he thought that she would actually call him.

taking another shot at this, had some free time so im updating all of my stories. most were written when i was much younger and some parts are a little cringe worthy so I'm going to be doing some editing. For now, enjoy this update.

sorry for the cliffhanger, im at a little bit of a crossroads for where I want the story to go so i had to leave it there while i develop it more. i make no promises about the update because my updates are as consistent as something that is not very consistent (my brain is tired)

regardless, thank you so much for reading, and leave a review on your way out if you don't mind. they keep me going :)

xoxo