Beautiful (W.I.P)

The Office

Doctor Edson Guzman looked over the paperwork flooding his desk in silent terror. 

The property bills were due in three days. The food payment due tomorrow. 
The funding was non-existent at this point. He had officially run dry on money and time. It was over.

The Doctor did his best not to panic. He searched online for odd jobs he could do with his degree to maybe pay off a portion of the bills and beg his colleagues for the rest. Perhaps he could get away with not paying for a month and gather enough money to pay double next month. Anything was worth a shot to protect his good standing.

"Veterinary wanted... I could do that. I know enough about avian species, and I'm steady under pressure... but it's just not enough. Nowhere close. Maybe I'd need to find a few others and build a reputation..." Edson mumbled to himself. He was getting desperate. There were few jobs that payed well in his beautiful Veracruz, Mexico.

With a sigh, he closed his laptop. It was getting dark and he would need to be well rested. Job hunting could wait until after breakfast tomorrow morning. Slowly getting up from his well-worn chair, Edson clumsily knocked into his desk. Unorganized papers slid onto the tile floor and scattered. Dr. Guzman simply observed the newly created chaos for a few seconds before sighing and making his way over to his miniature kitchen. Grabbing a used cup from the sink, he poured water from the five-gallon jug until water reached the half-way point. Taking a swig, the room-temperature water had a hint of coca-cola from a mid-day lunch, but not enough sugar to weaken the oncoming drowsiness.

"One more call." He thought. "Then I can sleep". He silently made his way over to his phone, scrolling past the endless number of contacts before finally reaching Zach, "El Gringo", as many called him. Zach was rung up and answered within seconds.

"Que honda, amigo? Why are you up this late?"

"I imagine I could ask you the same thing, Zach." Edson yawned. "Don't tell me California is on too different of a time-zone."

"It's approximately two hours behind us, pal! I'm wide awake. Can't get enough of the evening vibes, but I can't say I'm too much of a night owl like you are. What can I help you with?"

"Mmmmhmmm... What are the odds you could get out here in a few days... help me assess my options in regards to my assets and the research I have out here?"

The line was silent for a while. California breeze could be heard over the phone as Zach paused.

"I don't want to say I told you so, but... todos sabíamos que esto pasaría. We all knew you'd get to this point. You haven't shown your work to anyone and now you really won't have anything to show. What do you want me to do? Vouch on your behalf that there really is something squirreled away in that lab of yours?"

"You know my fears about showing my work."

"If you want to stay afloat, you'll have to show someone."

"I plan to show you, then."

"That's nice and all, but my word is worth jack-diddly-squat when it comes to the scientific community. They still laugh at me for that one time I suggested that Mosasaurus was able to beach itself to catch prey. Whales can do it! Oh, but noooo, Mosasaurus, would probably have collapsed under its weight and-"

"You're getting off topic." Edson interrupted. Can you get out here or not?"

Crickets chirped and cicadas buzzed. Zach thought for a moment, mumbling a few things inaudibly under his breath. A tapping was heard as he checked his phone.

"I have time in just two days. Think you can wait for me?" Zach questioned.

"Better later than never." Dr. Guzman replied promptly. "I'll see you then. There'll be a place for you to sleep and everything."

"Take care of yourself." Zach finished, hanging up abruptly. 

The call over, Edson connected his phone to it's charger, shuffled over to his bedroom, and set his alarm. Tugging the sheets over himself, he tried to focus on the humming of the fan and jumping sheep, rather than how he would make the payment tomorrow. It took a while, but he finally managed to doze off on the old mattress. 

Tomorrow would prove difficult.