The Misadventures of Anna Cabbot

Conversations

Carson:
Do you have a wetsuit?

Anna:

Seriously?

Carson:
Yeah. Seriously. I'm gonna see if I can track down Teddy this week and then I want to do an experiment. You need a wetsuit.

Anna:
I'll find myself a wetsuit then.

Carson:
Great :)

Anna wasn't entirely sure where in hell that was going to lead, and momentarily put it on the back burner. She leaned against the counter and waited for one of her longer tests to run. God, the day was absolutely dragging.

It was times like this she missed her afternoon cup of coffee.

Her pant leg vibrated.

[Jamie M.]
Hi.

She made some awful hrrk noise out of pure surprise and stared blankly at her phone. Jamie had texted her. Why had Jamie texted her? If it had anything to do with Nigel's disappearance, he'd have led with that, right? Of course he would have. He seemed upfront and sensible about things like that, which told her he'd wanted to text her.

If that was the case, now she had to decide if she wanted to answer him. Should she? She could make a pros and cons list — she had paper and a pen handy — but she could have an endless circular conversation with herself if she did that and she'd honestly rather not.

[Anna]
Hello. How's your day?

Maybe he'd butt dialed her. A conversation starter butt dial? Maybe.

[Jamie M.]
Boring. Sitting in the rig waiting for a call. You?

[Anna]
Waiting on tests results in my lab. You a firefighter?

With the hope it would help her afternoon go a little faster, she dug her iPod and headphones out of her backpack. She trailed the cord between her outer shirt and her layered tank so it wouldn't get caught on anything or get in the way while she worked, and spent the next minute and a half or so agonizing over which playlist to listen to.

Her phone vibrated multiple times against her thigh.

[Jamie M.]
No. Paramedic, actually.

[Jamie M.]
Part time.

[Jamie M.]
Would love to be full time but it doesn't fit with everything else going on.

[Jamie M.]
Yet.

Anna rocked her shoulders in time with the music while she thought of something — hopefully clever — to say in response.

[Anna]
What — magical mafia doesn't pay well?

She patted herself on the back for that one, and looked at her computer screen in the corner. The test was still running. Or the computer had frozen again, and she'd have to start over. That would be a nightmare.

Jamie responded fairly quickly.

[Jamie M.]
The hourly's great but the benefits are shit. And don't get me started on the healthcare.

The snicker crawling up her throat turned into a full-blown guffaw.

[Anna]
Is the dental coverage good? Because I feel like the dental coverage should be good.

Out of the necessity to have something to with her hands while she waited — both for her test and whatever he'd say in return — she tidied her workspace.

The sketchbook she'd also packed in her bag looked more and more appealing by the minute.

[Jamie M.]
Yeah, our dental plan is called Don't Get Punched in the Face. Works real well about 60% of the time. 8/10 would recommend.

[Anna]
Shouldn't that be 6/10 because it only works 60%?