Jaded

[26] Mischief Loves Company

I wake up to the sound of Atty's concerned mumbling. It takes a few seconds for my vision to adjust, but when it does I spot him sitting at the round table with his phone cradled between his ear and shoulder as he fiddles with his laptop.

What time is it?

There's sunlight filtering through the half-open velvet curtains beside his bed, casting a beautiful halo on his ruffled hair. Considering he's still in his pajama, it seems like he just got out of bed.

I stifle a yawn as I shift around on the mattress, trying to reach the clock on our shared nightstand.

6 a.m. Huh. We're not supposed to be up for another 2 hours. I know because Atty set multiple alarms on his phone, and then some on mine too. He was really excited about seeing a few of the 'sights' around here before we got back on the road.

Hold on, is it bad if I eavesdrop? But it's such a small room, how can I not? I think I'll just lay still and whatever noise enters my ears is fair game.

I wait a few minutes but all I can really make out is a couple words, most of which are 'yeah', 'okay', and 'I understand'.

Atty finally puts his phone down on the table and sighs. I watch quietly as he balances his chin on the palm of his hand and curls his fingers, slowly tapping the index against his cupid's bow.

Deep thoughts, it seems.

I prop myself up on my elbows, tilting my head. "Everything okay?"

He sits up instantly, gaze trained on me. "You're awake?"

"Barely, I would've went back to sleep too but you're looking super stressed so..."

Atty chuckles, shaking his head. "I got a call from work, some of our teams' deadlines have been moved up because they're estimating a delay with one of our other projects and the schedule is all screwed up... anyways, it's kind of a shitshow right now."

Ah, I see. "They need you to clock in right now, don't they?"

He purses his lips and nods. But his eyebrows are too furrowed and his eyes keep drifting to his laptop. There's more.

"And?" I ask, prompting him to continue. I have no clue why there's all this suspense. Usually when people get like this they follow up with 'I'm pregnant' or 'l want a divorce'.

"I accidentally let it slip that I'm here, in New York- only 20 minutes away from head office. They insisted I come to HQ, not at the branch back home. Normally I would tell them I can't and set up a conference call but it was Ivan on the phone."

The gears in my head immediately start shifting as I sort through various memory clutters trying to remember who the hell Ivan is. I'm thinking so hard, if I was a computer the overheating fans would start kicking in.

Let's see, Ivan... instant messenger- IM, M for Marge... Oh! He's the district boss!

I gasp, sitting up straight this time. "You can't say no to bossman, he'll shred your ass."

Atty frowns and folds his arms. He gets up from the table and begins packing up all his papers and gadgets. "I'm really, really, sorry."

"Don't be." I wave my hand and shrug. There's no helping it, Atty did everything he could on his part. Sometimes it's just unavoidable. The last thing I want is to pull Atty away from work.

Guess this means I'm going home alone. No biggie, I just finished my super long playlist a few days ago so I'm all prepped.

I hop out of bed, taking time to stretch and pop everything possible. A cold soothing feeling rushes into my lower spine, as if some kind of flood gate has been opened. There's just something about sleeping next to the AC, it liquefies all my joints.