quickly, quickly

3

The steady hum of computers and the rhythmic tapping of keyboards filled the air. My dual monitors glowed with lines of code, the black screens streaked with green, white, and yellow text. I sipped my coffee—cold now—but barely noticed as I scanned the debugging output. My morning routine was always the same: coffee, code, and the occasional mental detour to thoughts of Josh.

I shook my head, refocusing on the task at hand. A bug in the code was causing a critical feature to crash. I hated these kinds of issues—random, unpredictable, and completely untraceable until you stumbled upon the right line of code by sheer luck.

"Hey, Tyler," a voice interrupted. I looked up to see Lisa, one of the junior programmers, leaning against my cubicle wall. She held a tablet and wore an expression that was equal parts curiosity and concern. "Got a sec? I'm stuck on the API integration for the new client dashboard."

I gestured to the empty chair beside me. "Sure. Show me what you've got."

As Lisa explained her issue, I nodded along, occasionally typing on her tablet to test different configurations. Helping her gave me a brief reprieve from my own frustrations, and I found myself enjoying the distraction. "There," I said finally, pointing to a corrected line of code. "You were passing the wrong data type. It should work now."

Lisa's face lit up. "You're a lifesaver. Thanks, Tyler!"

"Anytime," I replied, turning back to my own screen.

The morning blurred into lunchtime, and I grabbed my pre-packed lunch from the office fridge—the same one Josh had handed me this morning with a teasing smile. As I unwrapped my sandwich at my desk, a folded piece of paper fell into my lap. I picked it up, already grinning. Josh's familiar handwriting greeted me:

"Bug-free days and stress-free nights—love you more than anything. Can't wait to see you tonight. XO, Josh."

I leaned back in my chair, the stress of the morning fading. Even in the chaos of his gallery, Josh always found time for little gestures like this. It was one of the many reasons I loved him so much.

"Hey, Tyler!" a familiar voice called out. It was Mark, my team lead, holding a cup of coffee and wearing his usual half-smirk. "How's the debugging going?"

"Painfully slow, but we're getting there," I replied, gesturing at the screen.

Greg nodded. "Good, because we've got a client call at 2, and they're eager for updates."

"Of course they are," I muttered, earning a laugh from Greg as he walked away.

By the time 5 o'clock rolled around, I felt a sense of relief washing over me. The bug was finally fixed, and the team call had gone smoother than expected. As I powered down my computer and grabbed my bag, I found myself thinking about Josh again. His dedication to the gallery, his endless creativity, the way he could make any space feel like home. I couldn't wait to hear about his day and tell him about mine.

Soon, I thought as I stepped into the cool evening air. Just a few more hours.