An Elegant Exchange

Kreg watched from behind the bar as Alaina walked around the back of the restaurant to leave. She could have brought her glass back inside…geez. With two guests at the bar, occupied with their afternoon bites of hummus, fresh seasonal vegetables, and an organic raspberry wheat beer, Kreg walked out front to retrieve Alaina’s empty glass of wine.

Her life is about to change, and she doesn’t even know it… Kreg grabbed the glassware by the stem and made his way back to the front door, picking up a napkin off the ground on his way back. Nearing the bar, he saw Birun walking through the kitchen — the white in his round eyes contrasted like night and day against his dark skin.

“What it do?” Birun walked out of the kitchen, having just arrived for his evening shift. He moved with the agility of a gazelle, with a stride as long as the Great Wall of China.

“Hey yo,” Kreg nodded as they crossed paths on his way back to the bar.

“Today’s her lucky day, huh?” Birun questioned.

“Dude.” Kreg widened his already large eyes, glancing sideways.

“What? No one’s around us,” Birun mimicked Kreg’s expression.

Kreg rolled his eyes. “Yep.”

“Alright. Well, I’ll get my swag on while she figures this whole thing out.” Birun smiled and tied his forest green apron over his khaki pants. He smoothed out the popped collar on his pale yellow, short-sleeved polo, glanced at the floor chart, and made his way to his section of tables on the side patio.

. . .

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Alaina straightened her posture as she shook Aurelia’s hand.

“Well, let’s get started.” Aurelia reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope. “For starters, this belongs to you.”

Alaina accepted the thick, sealed envelope with 300 one hundred dollar bills. She set the envelope on the shelf next to them as Aurelia handed her a larger folder with another set of papers. “This is a little history on the Waiter Task Force, including bios for the other agents. You’ll have one week to review all this and soak in the responsibilities of your new life before any formal training or assignments occur, so don’t fret.”

“So I just go to work as usual, and you just trust that I won’t tell anyone about this?” Alaina asked.

“Exactly.”

“You sure know how to pick ‘em…” Alaina mumbled, knowing that she was actually trustworthy with something like this.

“You’ll see. It’ll be easier than you think,” Aurelia acknowledged. “And here is your I.D. badge and a new driver’s license.”

“A new driver’s license?”

“The I.D. badge will give you access to all the necessary locations, so don’t lose that. The new driver’s license has a special code — if it is ever swiped or processed by local authorities, it will get you out of a situation without a ticket or legal trouble. The local authorities are not aware that the W.T.F. exists. However, they are familiar with code that processes as ‘Government Favoritism,’ letting special agents off the hook for traffic violations, theft, and any minor — or major — incident. That’s how much we trust our agents.”

“Something about this seems counter-productive,” Alaina pointed out.

“How so?” Aurelia asked. “Because we might incriminate ourselves to catch criminals?”

Alaina gave her an almost annoyed look as she nodded in agreement.

“Correct. Our hope lies in our method of selection, not the rules we play by. Hence, why I’m standing here talking to you right now.” Aurelia somehow justified Alaina’s argument — perhaps it was only because there was a hidden compliment in there.

“You’re the expert. I’ll learn,” Alaina looked at the I.D. badge and new driver’s license. The I.D. badge didn’t have her picture, only a small eight-digit number in geometric, semi-bold, san-serif font, and an elegant drawing of a heron standing on one leg. The driver’s license, however, looked precisely like the driver’s license she had in her purse.

Alaina held up the I.D. badge with her right hand so the number and heron faced Aurelia and gave a questioning glance.

“What? I thought it was appropriate,” Aurelia said as she gathered her things and walked out the door.