Emily wasn’t singing along, which was disappointing but she seemed happy, so he continued: “Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name. But what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game…”
There it was again. Names. He paused for a moment as the song continued on about St. Petersberg and Anistasia. More self-contained musing on names, titles, roles in society.
Ah right. You can talk with Emily about this, these strange questions on the nature of humanity. Maria never could stand it: "Stop picking everything apart."
The smile faded back onto his face as he realized he had probably been silent for too long. He started singing again, just as loud as last time.
"…I rode a tank, held a general’s rank. When the blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank.”
A reassuring glace at Emily. This moment was perfect. Speeding down the highway with the Stones playing, a lovely woman at his side. One he could actually talk to without holding back because of NDAs and national security.
Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name, oh yea. Ah! What’s puzzling you is the nature of my game,
"So, why do you go by Emily outside of work?" The question sounded deceptively mundane.
Emily moved her hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. A chip on her fingernail distracted her and the action failed to be carried through. Inexplicably she wished she had remained in her room a few moments later to fix the lacquer. Of course Shane had seen her in need of sleep after endless nights of exercising her subject, but the small dent in her appearance brought down her pleasant mood. Perhaps to blur the imperfection, perhaps to match her conversant’s psychology, she too began to keep time on the interior door handle. It was enjoyable to hear him singing along so fervently even if she wasn’t too familiar with the tune.
She thought briefly on the man’s question though she was always on her toes with an answer. ”It’s a powerful concept, isn’t it? Names. I try not to make such a clear distinction. Work. Outside of work. It’s been the same for me for, goodness, decades now. It’s more a matter of formality, respect, if you will.” She shrugged, bowing her head slightly. The topic seemed to fascinate him so she continued. It was freeing to talk about matters that were outside the general realm of their organizations.
"I supposed it started way back when we were still part of the military. Or perhaps earlier, in med school. Regardless, it’s a name I happily chose to accept into my life. Though, to be completely frank, it is rather nice to hear a male voice say my name."
“Well, I’ll make sure to say it more often then.” With a deep chuckle, he turned his head for a moment and raised an eyebrow. Then he carefully reached out across the console to loop his hand over her shoulder. “Did I already tell you that you look lovely tonight, Emily?”
As the song came to an end in a chorus of ooh-ooh!s it faded into the first few chords of Stuck In The Middle With You, the whining strain of Joe Egan’s vocals and the acoustic-electric guitar, It was a good song in it’s own right. But then the associations that it held for him, the movies he watched growing up.
“Did you ever watch any Quentin Tarantino? Reservoir Dogs was my favorite growing up. They-- they used this song in one of the scenes. Uh, this one character Mr Blonde, he was.... someone I looked up to as I was growing up and trying to figure everything out.”
That was probably not the best way to set the mood while going on a date. In fact, he regretted it as soon as he said it. But Stewart-- no, Emily, was the only one who knew him inside and out, and knew about his violent side. He had never gotten a good read on what she thought about it, though. And while they were divulging secrets and everything. Why not?
“It’s a good song on it’s on though. They get that sound by taking an-- an electric guitar and playing without an amp, then they used a beer bottle as a slide. The, uh, the slide is on the neck of guitar.”
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