Chapter 38
Sunshine.
That’s what I feel on my face until my eyes open. It’s early but dark. The sunshine was in my dreams.
Why is it so dark out here?
Looking over, I see my phone glowing on the nightstand. Picking it up, I see Sarah calling me.
I’m tired.
What does she want?
I swipe to answer, rubbing my face.
“Hello…” I mumble, my voice thick with sleep.
On the other end Sarah sounds like she’s been awake for hours already.
“Lincoln, are you up?” she asks a little too energetic for whatever time it is.
“I mean… kind of,” I mutter.
“We need to come in today,” she tells me without preamble.
“…Why?” I ask, already regretting the question.
“Voss wants us in. They ran another overnight sim and Auralis started glitching again… some… weird speech-loop. He wants us to look at the behavioral stack before the engineers screw it up. And he wants it done today.”
I sigh, dragging a hand over my face. “Did he uh… say what time?”
“As soon as possible. Preferably before 8:00,” she replies. Then her tone softens slightly. “I know you’re tired, babe, but…”
I groan quietly. Sarah hears it.
“Don’t do that,” she teases. “Get up. I’ll bring you coffee. ONE.”
“I really wanted to just sleep. Like, is it too much to ask just for a day of rest?”
“I know. Awww. And maybe if you’re nice to me today I’ll bring you something else too,” she adds, the suggestiveness dripping from her voice.
I close my eyes. I really don’t want this right now.
“Just… get over here,” she insists. “We really need to fix this before he starts yelling at people.”
“He's going to do that regardless.”
Her laughter lights up the other end of the phone. “He totally is. Haha, you're right.”
I sigh again. “Alright. I’ll be there.”
“Good. And wear the black shirt. The fitted one,” she says, half-joking, half-not.
“Too much… You’re already overloading me.”
“Wait til you get here. You’ll feel better once you wash your face, then after today, we can pass out together” she laughs lightly.
“That sounds very nice,” I'm murmur, wanting so badly to just fall back asleep.
“I know. LINCOLN!”
My eyes fly back open. I know she's smiling on the other end. “Don't fall back asleep.”
“Mmm.”
“Get up. I'm going to stay on the line until I'm sure you're out of bed.”
“FUCKING hell, man,” I gruff as I roll out of bed, almost tripping over my half asleep legs.
“There! Happy? Damn,” my hands rub across my face in tired frustration.
It's crazy how much I actually feel like crying.
“Okay, good. I'm so sorry to do this to you. See you soon.”
She hangs up before I can respond.
I stare at the phone a few seconds longer, the exhaustion still a lead blanket of pressure over me.
Another damn day.
So now I’m wondering how I’m going to get someone to take care of Morris, and if I can call Gabby.
As I start getting ready to go in, I chance it and give her a call, even though it’s super early.
There’s no answer.
Okay… let’s ring again.
No answer.
Third time’s the charm.
“Hello,” her creaky voice fills my ear.
“I’m so sorry to be waking you up so early,” I tell her, my voice dead with exhaustion, “but I’m going to have to go into work really early for some fixes and… you know… I was wondering if you could come over to watch Morris.”
“I thought I was off right now,” she says.
It’s going to be a fight. I already know it.
“Can you come in or not,” I say tiredly, my voice sounding like the undead.
There’s hesitation on the other line until she says, “I’ll be there but you need to pay me a good bonus.”
I wonder if this tired voice of mine does to her what hers is doing to me.
I’d already given her a temporary code, so she should be good.
“See you soon, buddy,” I kiss Morris as he meows longingly. “I know. I don’t like leaving you either, I’m so sorry. But our boss is insatiable right now.”
Tom and everybody are already in the swing of things. After about four hours, we finally get the problem fixed.
But I’m a perfectionist and want to make sure everything is done exceedingly well, so we do a few more tests on Auralis.
In the break room, Sarah sees me. She’s watching me.
“Yes?” I ask, knowing she wants to say something.
“So… how are things working out with the ex-wife?” she asks.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean she’s living with you right?”
“Not yet,” I say tiredly, too exhausted for this conversation.
Why does Sarah care so much? Yes, we fool around, but it’s not like we’re in an official relationship.
“Is there really nobody else you can find to watch Morris?”
“You didn’t want to do it, so you don’t really get to choose who I feel comfortable watching my cat and my house.”
“And after everything that went down with you and her and with me—”
“—your fault by the way,” I add.
Sarah nods. “Yeah, exactly. If you want to sleep better at night thinking that, but after all of that, you actually feel safe with her with your stuff? You’re not afraid she’s going to rob you blind and try to get revenge?”
I just smile, so tired the coffee isn’t even touching my nervous system anymore.
“You don’t really get her. She’s not like most people.
Maybe in the moment, if you piss her off the right way, she’ll let you know it.
But Gabby has never been the kind of person to hurt another living thing to try and get someone else.
When it comes to the greater good, she’s able to put her hurt aside. ”
“Yet she wasn’t able to do that when it came to your job when she was married to you. How convenient,” Sarah snarks, one eyebrow raised as she takes a sip of her coffee.
“Isn’t that your second cup?” I challenge her.
“I was up much earlier than you,” she counters playfully.
“That’s not an excuse. You put a limit on me, so you need one too.”
“I put a limit on you because you need it.”
“We’re supposed to be looking out for each other, are we not?” I shoot back.
Sarah walks to the break-room door and locks it, then slides her hand down my pants.
She always likes to do these risky behaviors.
“We almost got caught last time.”
“So? You like that don’t you?”
“Like what?”
“Almost getting caught.”
“I did get caught, remember? And then my life went to shit. Sorry but I’m kind of tired of that kind of excitement,” I say, gently pulling her hands away and walking to the other side of the break room to unlock the door.
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