Inside Scotch's Apartment

“What would you suggest?” Pen asked. “A kiss?”

“That would be an appropriate option.” Scotch agreed as he removed keys from the pocket of his jacket.

Pen did not respond for several moments. Scotch jiggled his keys.

“Are you afraid that you’re going to lose your audience?” Pen asked. She looked at the black SUV that had parked two doors down. “Whomever is in the SUV does not look like they are in a hurry to go.”

Scotch’s keys jiggled again.

“Very well.” Pen leaned in close as if to kiss Scotch and turned her head. She smiled, gave him peck on the cheek, and relieved the spy of his keys. Pen blocked the view from the SUV with her body while Scotch entered the security code on the building’s keypad. Pen entered the building with Scotch close behind. Both waited for the elevator door to close before they continued their conversation.

“That was a smooth trick you pulled outside.”

“I did what you asked.”

“A peck on the cheek?”

“A gesture showing our new friends that I am sorry but I have no interest in continuing the discussion in public. My taking the keys from your hand was a good indicator that your apartment is familiar to me and I have been here before on multiple occasions. It was a perfectly reasonable way to sell the needed scenario.”

“I have to admit that it is reassuring to know that while we’re alone in my apartment you won’t try to take advantage of me.”

“Of course not. That wouldn’t be professional.” Pen responded.

“No. You are always professional.”

“I am.” Feeling a bit impatient to exit the elevator and the conversation, Pen watched as the numbers above the doors lit up and darkened indicating that the next floor had been reached. Finally, Scotch’s floor, a semi-private one, had been reached. She exited the elevator and waited.

“Turn left.” Scotch instructed. “The door at the end of the hall.”

Pen stopped at the door and looked the keys in her hands, choosing the most likely candidate she pushed the key into the lock and turned it, opening the door. She was already standing in the foyer when Scotch caught up with her.

“A lady should always wait for a gentlemen to lead the way into his abode.” Scotch whispered.

“The same way a gentlemen should always wait to be invited into a lady’s domicile?” She asked, raising her brow.

“Touche, sweet Pen. Touche.”

As they walked into the apartment further Pen looked around, then looked at Scotch, and returned to the sight of the room in front of her. “There’s an awful lot of white in this room.”

“Sorry?”

“The furniture, the cushions, the rugs, etc… They all accentuate a base palette of white.”

“Did you picture an apartment full of dark walls, rich woods, old books, cognac, and leather wing back chairs sitting next to the hearth?”

Pen nodded.

“This way.” Scotch led Pen through the living room, dining room, and along a narrow hallway. “I hired a professional to do the decorating. My mother had to take a hand in it as well, she has become concerned about my future.”

“What is it that she wants for you? A spouse? Children?” Pen asked.

“Mum is not so unreasonable to expect that a man in my line of work might ever reproduce but she would like it if I had a steady special friend that was presentable on formal occasions.”

One corner of Pen’s mouth turned up in a smile.

Scotch continued. “I insisted that the master bedroom and one other room be decorated to my taste and mine alone.” Scotch stopped at a door near the end of the hall and opened it. “It appears that my interior preferences are too dark and traditional to attract a woman into my life.”

Pen peered inside. There it was. A nice sized room with dark paneled walls, book lined shelves, ornate richly colored rugs and a large fireplace with a pair of black leather wing back chairs sitting in front of the hearth. “You had it right Pen. Almost exactly right. Except for the drink.” Scotch crossed the room to a waist high cabinet and opened the doors to reveal a set of decanters, all holding liquids in various shades of amber. "The finest scotches in the world all at my disposal.”

Pen cleared her throat and pointed to a small decanter set on a lower shelf holding a liquid with a decidedly reddish brown tint to it. “What is that?”

“Cognac. My brother stops by from time to time during the winter for a bit of peace and quiet. His club opened up the bar to women on the night that he normally goes out. He finds the way that men act around women tiresome at times. I told him that he could stop by here for a drink when needed to. He detests scotch.”

Pen nodded.

“Drink?” He asked. Pen shook her head. Scotch closed the cabinet and continued the tour. Opening a set of polished wood doors, Pen followed him into the master bedroom. The master bedroom was a larger room with an antique four poster bed, a fireplace, and dark polished wood. Touches of burgundy were in everything from the bedding, and rugs to the heavy drapes that covered the windows.

“As you can see the doors open to the study, turning this master bedroom into a richly masculine suite.” Scotch narrated.

“You are full of surprises, yet strangely enough, I have to say that this room is perfectly you sir.”

“With spy touches included for additional security. Your job until I return is to stay here.”

“Where are you going?”

Scotch ignored the question. “The bathroom is through that door. There are extra toiletries available. The closet to your right has lady’s clothing should you want to change. I keep snacks in the drink cabinet below the cognac. Get some sleep.”

“What will you be doing?”

Scotch looked out the window to the street below to verify that their new friends were still watching. “Do me a favor? Put on one of the negligees and right before you turn in for the night, stand in the window where are friends can see you.”

Pen looked at Scotch.

“It will sell the whole ‘lovers in secret’ story line. The pictures will probably keep them busy for an hour or two at least.”

“You’re going out to do whatever it is that you’re doing while I’m locked up in here like some newbie that can’t handle themselves?”

Scotch crossed the room and stood next to Pen. “No. You are here to keep them busy. If they're busy I can do what I need to without anyone getting killed. You are my insurance policy.”

 *This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.