The hotel was dark enough to mercifully disguise how dirty it was. It was large and well out fitted … and probably at one time had been a nice place, but it wasn’t anymore.

I walked down to the small bar near the lobby and took a seat two stools down from Sydney. Vaughn was next to her on her right; they seemed to be having a good time.

They noticed me when I ordered a drink and each prolonged their smiles while they evaluated how to react to my being there. I let them off the hook and shot them a smile.

“Hey” said Sydney.

“I didn’t think you were on this.” said Vaughn.

“I’m not,” I smiled “I’m here … on business.” I explained with a sideways nod. They gave a nod.

I knew what their mission here was, I’d been at the briefing - but they didn’t know why I was here. Vaughn looked perplexed and pressed the issue a bit. “It’s unrelated?” he asked.

I shrugged as I turned back to my drink. “So it seems.”

Sydeny indulged in a playful and wry smile and raised an eyebrow. “So,” asked Sydney “what’s your mission? Is it Hot?” (”Hot” is the new “Cool” or “Sweet” … “sweet” is so five minutes ago).

I really wanted to tell her, because it was cool (I can’t say Hot … just can’t do it… a gorgeous female super spy can do it…but I can’t). I wanted to tell them all about the amazingly cool and dangerous mission I was on and would in a matter of minutes begin. And I knew they wanted to hear it. But I also knew, as did they, that all of that would have to wait until we were all back home and had been debriefed. I turned to her and smiled. “It’s just a mission.”

In the distance from the corner of my eye and through the large ferns in the seating area I saw a man walking past the front desk. He was important to my mission. I took a final swig of my drink and put it back on the bar as I quickly turned from the two and distractedly offered “I’ll see ya’ later”.

Unfortunately, this is when my alarm clock went off and I woke up. I really wish I’d gotten a chance to find out who that man was, why he was important, what my mission was that I was so excited about, and how Sydney and Vaughn would inevitably be involved. Why was I, an operative, REALLY in the same shady hotel half a wold away as two others? What was it about my mission that I so wanted to tell them?

DAMN ALARM CLOCKS!!

DAMN THEM ALL TO …. ALARM CLOCK HELL!