Learning How to Bend

NaNo Day 10 - Who needs titles?

Thaddeus taught me how me how to use the webcam. I hated it from the first moment I turned it on. It was one thing to be in the same room with someone. It was something else entirely to be talking over a computer screen. My discomfort seemed to amuse Thaddeus. I never called him using the bizarre device, mostly because I wanted to deny its existence entirely. He would call me, though, when I was working for home. He even let me sometimes attend our biweekly meetings digitally rather than coming to the office, which I greatly appreciated. Particularly on days when I had slept little due to nightmares. Somehow, Thaddeus seemed to have some sort of sixth sense. In the ten nights I had had nightmares since our time at the beach, he either called me via phone or through the crazy webcam. I never mentioned my bad dreams, but the man on the other end of the line seemed to know I needed a distraction. So he distracted me. Mostly with work, but I did not care.

I stood in my kitchen, eating breakfast when my computer started beeping. It was barely 7:00AM. Lucky for Thaddeus, I had already showered and changed. Granted, I was not in a business-y blouse like I normally would be, but he would have to deal with my loose, soft lounge pants and a v-neck t-shirt made of cotton. I had the pants rolled at my hips, as they were too loose and too long. They actually belonged to Joe, but I kinda stole them from his drawer one time and never gave them back. They had pockets! Why did no women's pants have pockets?! It was so unfair.

He could wait a few more minutes. I pulled a mug out of the cupboard, poured coffee into it, mixed in some flavored creamer, and went to my desk. I clicked the "answer" button on my keyboard. With an overdramatic sigh, I lowered into my chair with my coffee mug grasped in both hands. After a couple moments, I pulled my legs up into the chair to sit with m ankles crossed and my knees bent in an Indian-style position.

"What do you want?" I asked, taking a drink of my coffee.

"Don't you think you should dress up some for a business meeting?"

"It's 7:00AM. It's before work hours. I'm in my own house. I'm not dressing up. Technically, should I put this call on my timesheet? I'd love to get some overtime."

"Your position is exempt."

"I'm kidding." I smiled at him. "But seriously, you're calling me too early."

"You're awake, though."

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, I am, but I'm obviously not exactly dressed for talking with you so early, especially on this crazy webcam. But don't you dare say something else about what I'm wearing. Just be happy I have on pants, because I normally don't."

He did not say anything.

"Thaddeus?"

"Are you telling me that in our previous video calls, you haven't had on pants?"

I started counting silently on my fingers. "Half of them. The other half, I was in sweatpants. Why dress up completely when I don't need to?"

He still kept silent.

"Oh, Thaddeus," I pretended to knock on a door. "Is there anyone home?"

"Yes," he said, his voice hard. Was he talking through clenched teeth?

"What is it that you wanted? My coffee is getting cold."

He launched into a few questions about Andino Incorporated, which I answered quickly before asking some of my own. The merger discussions were still in the intermediate stages, and he wanted me to be one of the first to try the new AI mobile application; it would be ready in a couple months.