Achievement Unlocked

Chapter 18

I awoke to the sound of my front door opening and closing. I slowly got up and rubbed my eyes, walking out into the living room to see Dani sitting on the couch, taking her shoes off.

“Dude,” I mumbled tiredly, “why’re you here?”

“Got bored.” She replied quietly.

“It’s like, 6am.”

“Your point?”

I shook my head softly and walked into the kitchen, retrieving a coffee filter from a cabinet and began to prepare my favorite morning drink.

“You’re going to have to leave in a bit. I have work to do.” I yawned.

“Why can’t I stay while you work?” She asked, leaning over the edge of the couch.

“Because you’re too distracting.” I replied.

“Am not.” She stuck her tongue out at me.

“That’s exactly what I mean. Look, I have a lot of stuff to get done.”

“I can stay…” She pouted. I shook my head and walked back into the living room, taking a seat next to her on the couch. I absently played around with the hem of my pajamas while making a to-do list in my head. Goodness, there’s a lot. Let’s see, check my bank account for the payment for the project I finished yesterday, update my resume with said project, possibly download a few more templates, answer emails from prospective clients, and there was one other thing, what was it--oh, I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of something beeping, sounds like the coffee’s ready. I looked to the side and noticed Dani staring at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Dude, you look so weird when you think.” She whispered.

I softly sighed and shook my head once again while standing up and making my way into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. I grabbed a mug from the shelf above the stove and poured some of the bitter drink into it. I popped a few ice cubes in to cool it down to drinking temperature before returning to my place on the couch, picking up my laptop on the way. Once I was seated, I opened it and started it up, hoping to squeeze in a little bit of work before Dani left.

“God, you’re so--”

“Responsible?” I said quickly, trying to finish her sentence.

“Boring.” Dani groaned, slumping in her seat.

“There’s a difference between being boring and paying the bills.” I rolled my eyes.

“You’re starting to sound like my dad.” She commented. I shrugged and opened a new template, picking an appropriate background while listening to Dani whine.

“We never do anything fun.” She complained.

“We went to the mall the other day.”

“Yeah, but for like, 30 minutes.”

“You seemed to be having fun.”

“Yeah, but come on. Cleaning Gavin’s house? Boooring.” She groaned once again.

“Hey, you’re the one who agreed to help.” I argued.

“Not the point.” She huffed, crossing her arms.

“Here,” I sighed, “if you leave me alone and let me work, I’ll take you to that fair thing tomorrow.”

Dani’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” I replied, my eyes not moving from my computer screen.

“Yay!” Dani shouted, throwing her arms up into the air.

“Wait.” She paused, looking over at me.

“What?” I groaned.

“You have to take Gavin too.”

“Don’t you think him and I need a bit of a break from each other?” I asked, still focused on my computer.

“Yeah, but, it’ll be fun!” She smiled.

“You’re killing me, here.”

“I won’t leave until you tell me you’re going to take him too.” She crossed her arms.

“Fine. I’ll take him too.” I huffed.

“Good.” She smiled. “I’ll see you two tomorrow.” She stood up and made her way to my front door.

“Uh, Dani, your shoes.” I looked up at her and pointed at her sneakers that were placed carelessly on the floor.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter.” She shrugged and walked out of the door.

“God, you’re crazy.” I whispered and took a sip of my coffee, spilling a bit on my shirt. I shrugged at the stain and returned to my work, quietly repeating “Control C, control V, enter” over and over. Suddenly, my phone buzzed on the table, breaking my concentration. Dani, you can live without me for five minutes, I thought, rolling my eyes, but that reminded me that I needed to send out some emails. I opened a browser, and when my email page loaded there was a new message from Doubletex. The company I submitted my last project to. You little shits better not be asking for more revisions, we went around in circles for a month getting it just the way you wanted. With a feeling of dread, I opened it and started reading. Two sentences into the message, I almost spit a mouthful of coffee onto the screen.

“‘Your design portrays exactly the image our company wants representing our online presence,’” I read aloud. “‘As we are currently expanding our overseas presence, we will require a new web site, and we would like you to design it. We are willing to double the amount paid for your last submission.’” The smile that was stretched across my face grew as I read the email over and over, excitement washing over me.

I can’t believe this is happening.