Snippet #2315364

Someone up there was smiling down on her with mercy, because Madison didn't hit a single red light as she sped through the city en route to her meeting. She did, however, make a brief detour to pick up a dozen cupcakes from a bakery as a peace offering, calling ahead with her order and quickly forking over the cash at the door to save time in the purchase. She'd made sure to get something Scarlett liked to placate her, and hoped things were going well at the meeting so that she wouldn't have to deal with too much grief.

The clock read 6:12 by the time Madison reached the parking lot. The guard on duty, familiar with Madison's lack of punctuality, barely batted an eyelash as she juggled her purse, laptop case, and the baker's dozen plus and flashed her ID card all at the same time. "Good luck!" He called out at her retreating back. Madison waved at him over her shoulder and ducked into the elevator just before the steel doors closed.

6:13. Aw, daaaaaamn. "I really should've written a will," Madison mused as she waited impatiently for the elevator to reach the appropriate floor. "Scarlett is going to kill me, and and who will feed my fish after I'm gone?"

Wasn't talking to yourself the first sign of insanity?

Thankfully the elevator dinged open a moment later, revealing a large, polished hallway that seemed to stretch on forever. Green potted plants dotted the doorways at regular intervals, not that Madison really noticed. Her nerves had finally woken up at the prospect of meeting her fellow undercover agents for the first time and her stomach was suddenly queasy. This was her first active assignment, and it was a big one; usually Madison served as Scarlett's back up in these situations but had never operated on her own before. Well, there was only one way to deal with this...

Taking a deep, reassuring breath, Madison threw open the door and breezed in cheerfully. "Sorry I'm late!" She spotted Scarlett and, grinned at her, but knowing how annoyed she probably was, immediately held out the box of cupcakes as a peace offering. "Just remember that I'm your favorite partner and you can't kill me because I'm too useful, okay?" She tossed her purse on the floor, once again missing the $1200 price tag still attached to the strap, and dumped her laptop on the couch beside her friend before turning to the two strangers in the room. Alright. She could do this.

"Hi guys, I'm Madison. Sorry I'm late."