Time Force

Zaidy

"Damn it Dave!", I yelled.

"You knew I had to be at work early today!"

Running into the bathroom, I quickly run a brush through my hair wrapping it into a messy bun, brush my teeth, and jump into my uniform as I head out the door without saying good-bye to the lump of a man still sleeping in the king-sized bed.

"I can't believe I married this fool", I mutter to myself as I run down the stairs rather than waiting on the elevator. This was the second time this week he's turned off my alarm. I knew things weren't all lovey-dovey lately but what was his problem? I sighed.  

"7:35 already?!", I groan as I glance at my watch.  I launch myself into my car and set the route. As the car pulls out into traffic I sit back, calming myself and pull up today's schedule and reports.

"Good morning Zaidy", the computer greets me.

"Good morning Juniper", I respond. "Pull up my schedule please."

The screen lights up with my schedule. As I scroll through, I notice it has been cleared. "That's weird", I say to myself. "Hey Juniper", I speak to the computer. "Is there a glitch in the system?"

"No Zaidy", Juniper responds. "Systems are running at an optimal level."

"Jupiter", I continue. "Who has cleared my schedule for today?"

"Schedule has been cleared by security officer James Allen", Juniper responds.

"I guess I'm fired", I say to myself. I sit back sighing. The car comes to a halt, parking itself. Lucky for me traffic had been unusually light today. I walk into the lobby, heading straight for security. I place my things on the conveyer belt and ready myself for scanning. "Good morning John", I greet the guard. I swear if I wasn't married, I would have hit that. Yeah, he was eye candy, but not much upstairs. So, it probably would have been a "fuck buddy" type of situation which at this point seemed fine to me.

"Morning gorgeous", his signature reply and killer smile. I wave and smile as I gather my bag from the scanner then scan my badge at the elevator doors. I ride up anxiously eyeing my watch again and willing the elevator to climb faster. When the doors finally open, I sprint toward the time clock to check in. Scanning my badge in record time I head to the break room, desperately in need of coffee. The break room was thankfully empty as I pulled my favorite mug from the cupboard and poured myself a steaming cup of joe. I open the fridge hunting for the hazelnut creamer.

"Hey Zay", I bump my head startled by the voice. I turn to face my partner leaning against the door frame smiling at me smugly. "Running late again?" Why did I work with such temptation? Oliver was my "work husband".  His brown locks and golden highlights were always perfectly styled. He took great care in his appearance, working out nearly every day. He never looked disheveled. I would frequent the gym simply because I wanted to ogle his perfect six pack. I mean what red blooded woman wouldn't? And I was lucky enough to be his partner.

"Earth to Zaidy", Oliver snapped his fingers in my face bringing me back to the present.

"Yeah, what can I say", I answer his question shrugging as I add creamer to my coffee, stirring it without another word. "Ahhh, caffeine", I moan as I take a sip in relief letting the warm liquid slide down my throat.

"Zay, what's up?", Oliver asks always reading me like a book. He knew me too well. I guess that's what happens when you work together for five years.

"Nothing you need to worry about Oli", I lie. Did everyone notice my odd behavior? My late arrivals? This shit with Dave needed to stop. Now it was affecting my work and people were beginning to take notice. I continued to sip my coffee in silence giving him the cue to let it go. After working together for so long we read each other well enough to know when and when not to interfere.