Chapter 36
The following day, the both of us take the commute on the shuttle in complete silence. The entirety of work feels like a slog and my heart feels heavy.
Across the room, I spot Gabby laughing quietly with Fabian.
Then they both go courier.
Eventually, she makes her way back to my floor. It's lunch time. I need to make peace with her. The separation, and the whole silent treatment, doesn't feel good. It's impossible for my pride to override my need to be close to her and make things right.
"Hey," I say to her.
"Hey," she murmurs gently.
"Wanna eat lunch with me?"
She glances toward Fabian.
He meets our eyes for a second, then drops his gaze to his desk.
I narrow my eyes at the guy because I can't stand him. He's trying to sleep with my wife and I don't appreciate that.
Gabby ends up sitting with me anyway, and we actually have a nice lunch together. We're talking about all manner of things.
This time, I don’t steer the conversation straight to tech.
I turn to face Gabby fully and ask,
“If you had all the money in the world, what would you like to do?”
She laughs as if she's never thought about the question.
"I want to fly. Like being around the birds and everything. It just feels like, I don't know. I want to fly without fear of being struck by lightning," she says.
We both laugh.
"Like parasailing," I add.
"You see, no, not that because I've heard people get caught in updrafts and get stuck up there in those cumulus thundercloud situations. I don't want to do that. See, I'm too scared for that. I want something controlled."
"Like a jet?" I ask.
"No," she replies.
"Like a helicopter?" I press.
"Oh, hell no. I heard it's much harder to fly a helicopter.
And people die in those things all the time, even though they're supposedly good flyers.
We've lost like celebrities and stuff. No, they had all the money in the world and they decided to fly and tragedy befell them.
I just think that if they're not safe, I'm definitely not going to be safe. "
"Jesus Gab. What about zero gravity?" I suggest.
"How the hell would I achieve that? We can't go into outer space."
"No, but there is something that can replicate it," I assure her.
"What is it? And how expensive is that?" she asks.
"Let me see," I reply.
I snap my fingers decisively after browsing for the info on my phone.
"Okay, it's the Freefall Zero-G Experience. It's a parabolic flight aircraft. People call it the Vomit Comet, apparently."
She chuckles heartily. "Why would they call it that?"
"Why do you think? But you like roller coasters, so you'd like this," I tease.
"Well, what does it do? Does it make you feel like you're in outer space?"
"Yeah. Apparently, they fly in like these arcs, and when you're about to drop, or you start losing altitude, not really sure how it functions exactly, but they maintain that altitude in a controlled manner during descent to simulate zero Gs."
Her eyes widen with curiosity. "Is it safe?"
"Haven't heard anybody dying from it yet. It's not exactly flying, but you'd feel like you're in outer space while you're technically flying as well. Then there's also plane jumping. You know, you can jump out of an aircraft," I add.
She begins shaking her head vigorously.
"No, I'm good.”
"Yeah, I figured," I murmur.
"We could do that. The zero G," I offer.
"Yeah, I have to save up for a house. I'll have to get the house first and then do that."
"Yeah, it costs quite a bit, but I'm pretty sure we could work something out," I reply.
"Not right now. Besides, both of us are busy," she notes.
"You know, you don't have to do this job, right?"
"You know, I don't have a husband, right? That I could just stay at home and be a housewife for, right? Not anymore anyway."
My heart falls. Then she smiles at me reassuringly.
"I'm joking with you, Lincoln. I'm not mad at you anymore. I mean, yeah, part of me still is, but you have to be able to joke about it. It's one of the ways I cope."
Her being raw about that makes me feel privileged that she even wanted to share.
"I am really sorry about that," I confess.
"You don't have to apologize. We're no longer together, but we can still be friendly towards each other," she reassures.
I smile.
"Alright, well, break is almost up. Will you tell me when you're going to leave?"
"Yeah, I'll let you know," she promises.
I want so badly to kiss her.
So bad.
But she flips her wavy hair, throws out her garbage and takes mine and throws it out too.
"See you later," I say.
"Alright."
Whenever I'm outside the testing rooms, she's either nowhere in sight, or I'm treated to the delightful spectacle of her coquettishly bantering with Fabian.
The two are always together now.
“They're really hitting it off. That's husband and wifey right there," Sarah’s voice creeps up uninvited.
I roll my eyes and look at her.
"Just because two people are talking with each other doesn't mean that they're going to be husband and wife," I counter.
"You never know," she retorts.
I smile at her smugly.
"I do know. You and me, for example. We were in a situationship and you sure shit ain't going to be my wife," I declare.
With that parting shot, I stride away, catching the venomous glare she levels at me.
A moment later, she shoves me squarely between the shoulder blades with the flat of her hand.
I whip my head around, glaring at her over my shoulder.
"You do not have to be that nasty to me. I don't know what your problem is, but you need to fix it. Or it's not going to be pleasant working together anymore," she snaps.
"What's the problem? Why are you getting so emotional over that?"
"Lincoln, seriously? Did you hear what you just said?"
"What? Did you have any intentions on marrying me or something? Did you catch feelings? Because if you didn't, that shouldn't be an issue," I challenge.
"No, but you don't have to be nasty. You were never this nasty before. I hate to break it to you, but Gabby's never going to take you back. So I don't know what it is you're holding out hope for. But she sure as shit ain't going to be your wife again. How does that feel?" she fires back.
She then walks off.
Tom looks at both of us and then minds his business.
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