The spy

“Can you meet me after the seminar?” That’s what the folded note said. The one that landed on my lap in the middle of a seminar. What is this? Primary school? I looked at the note-thrower, it was George. I had noticed him walk in the hall, all sweaty and nervous. I knew him but not well enough to get notes thrown at me at my old age in the middle of a seminar. “Why?” I wrote at the back of the paper and tried as discreetly as I could to throw it. I was still good; it landed perfectly, in the middle of his legs. “I have to meet someone” the returned note said. Aha!The day has finally come. I had waited for this day for as long as I could remember. The day when accidentally, I would be drawn into the underworld of spies. They still existed I knew and now finally, I would be made an accomplice. There would be no way out once I got in. I took a deep breath and made the decision. “Okay” I wrote back. I waited patiently for the seminar to be over and threw glances from time to time at George whose mouth was now twitching uncontrollably. I wondered who we were going to meet, a fellow spy I suppose…and only I would notice his stained teeth… from drinking tea with sugar stuck between his teeth…his boots worn out from the snows of Siberia…his slight Russian accent…I will notice all these…

“So, what is this all about?”

“Oh, I am meeting Johan for coffee, just thought you might like to come along”