Intermission // Van McCann

4. Back to Work

I was done telling everyone we were engaged. The novelty quickly wore off and I didn't feel like telling the full story so I'd tell them the shortened version. As soon as we got back last night, I called Leigha to tell her the news and let's just say I really regret calling her so late at night as I'm definitely paying for it now. Our alarm went off and Van was always first to get out of bed. He was surprised to still see me in bed after he was done getting ready.

"Ren, you need to wake up," Van called, pulling the sheets off me. I was instantly cold and hated it. I turned to lay on my back and reached for the sheets.

"Just give me ten more minutes," I begged.

"It's 7:20 AM."

"Oh shit. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

I quickly got up and ran to the bathroom to get ready. I love living away from campus but I miss my short commute to work. I stepped out of the bathroom, toothbrush in my mouth, and began walking around the kitchen to pack my lunch. Van watched me, shaking his head. Once done, I retreated back to the bathroom to wash up and to change my clothes.

My makeup was light today and I didn't have time to deal with my hair so I just brushed it and tied it back. Iván was definitely going to give me a hard time about it today.

"You should eat," Van said, handing me my plate. I thanked him and grabbed it from him. I noticed he was dressed nicer than usual. He was wearing a black blazer over a white dress shirt tucked into black trousers. His collar was slightly messed up so I went to fix it.

"Do you know something I don't? I feel underdressed now," I told him.

"Bondy has a meeting with the board of directors today and asked that I come with him."

"Right. I forgot."

Once a year, Bondy has a meeting with the board of directors to explain his plans for the year and to discuss budget. We're in a strange place where we're doing work on the time machine but it's not something we can show them, so we have to work on a side project that we can show. Professor Hayes received less scrutiny because of his status at the university, but since Bondy is relatively new, they are keeping an eye on him.

For Van's dissertation, he's looking into building a robotic arm that amputees can use to improve their quality of life. Bondy's hoping to leverage this project to get them off their backs. However, that means Bondy and Van's attention can't be on the time machine the whole time—they must focus their attention on the robotic arm so that's where Iván and I come in.

Our job is to make sure the time machine is still in good working order. Bondy and Van are slowly trying to push the limits of their algorithm by testing how far back in time they can go and how far they can travel, and documenting it for reference. Since Iván has motion sickness, he'll be the one watching the time machine while I'm sent back in time. If there are any issues (hopefully there aren't any), we'll tell Bondy and Van, and they'll try to troubleshoot it.

Van and I finished eating breakfast and made our way to work. As usual, we were the first ones at work despite me waking up late. Every once in a while, Van has me type in the passcode to "refresh my memory" of the significance of the code 0912. It's been two years and he's still giving me shit for it!

"What time is your meeting?" I questioned as I put away my stuff.

"10 AM," Van answered, filling the electric kettle with water.

"Are you and Bondy ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be."

The door opened and Bondy walked in hastily, immediately removing the messenger bag we had gifted him. I wanted to make a comment but he seemed stressed as it is. He was dressed up nicer than usual, just like Van was, and he wasn't wearing a hat which was a strange sight. His hair was neatly combed and he was wearing a black tie with a white dress shirt and grey trousers.