Prologue: Rosie
My neighbors were screaming outside on the front lawn.
Normally, this was not what I regularly expected of a Monday morning. Thunder shook the picture window that my cat, Betty, and I were both sitting by, watching the stormy soap opera outside unfurl before us. Though, I at least had a book to pretend I wasn’t spying.
“You’re never going to see what we have if you’re never here to spend time together. What party is so important?” Charles, my neighbor’s husband, was putting on a performance for the entire street, wacky, flailing arms and all.
“Don’t you dare try to insinuate I would do such a thing, Charles Edward! The last thing I’d ever expected from you—,” the woman’s voice, Lucinda, quieted as Charles gripped her arm and began speaking rapidly to her.
“YOU THINK YOU COULD UNDERSTAND—,” was all I caught of Lucinda’s outraged cry before he stopped her. He touched her cheek, then her chin, hips, his lips moving as a grinned creeped up Lucinda’s face. She seemed to relax into the touch as he murmured to her, then her free hand came up to touch his chest.
Charles suddenly broke out into a wide smile. His voice raised slightly, becoming an additional drone to the ambient sound of the street traffic. Both of his hands were enveloping Lucinda now, drawing her closer. Her shoulders jumped lightly as if she were chuckling, then she shook her head and slid her arms into his coat around his waist. They turned away as he guided them inside. I desperately wanted to know what they said to each other. I wanted to know how they fought and still loved and trusted each other.
I was absolutely enthralled. Seeing arguments and affection up close was so foreign to me. The parents I unwillingly received lost me to the state just before my ninth birthday. After bouncing around foster homes a couple times, I chose to stay in the background from then on. It wasn’t worth the effort to weed through the ambiguous conversations and ulterior motives. People were always unpredictable. It was exhausting, and so I kept to myself, preferring to exist on the fringe as an avid onlooker to society— that was predictable.
Relationships brought on an extra list of responsibilities and a level of accountability that some held in high esteem. To me, it always seemed terrifying. I had no qualms about sex, just the emotions part. Occasionally I would find a person to entertain me for an evening once in a while, but I didn’t believe in long term romantic partners.
So, I worked my job as a secretary at Abondance Marketing, had a social life with a couple friends and my foster siblings, enjoyed my few hobbies and went on adventures through the city. It was a lucky life, and I loved that it never really changed. Until today of course.
Today was the first day in a completely new position, at nationwide company, with stakes higher than I’d ever faced before. Not that anyone there would know how much was riding on this for me. Sighing, I pulled myself from the window seat, Betty mewling in protest as she readjusted to continue judging other passersby on the street below.
I had worked tirelessly as an assistant and strategist with Mr. Collingwood, the Chief Marketing Officer. Nearly five years had passed since I started designing advertisements and scripting commercials at the request of Mr. Collingwood, and I loved the niche I had found for myself.
Imagine my surprise when I found out I would no longer work for Mr. Collingwood a few weeks ago. Instead, I would be the spy for Abondance’s client Brew Inc, stealing the secret formula for the top selling canned cheese in the world from Laft Dairy. I was going to have to become a dirty rotten cheese thief.
