“Was Merit still in it? Don’t lie.”
He sniffed in my direction and stood, leaving his full, steaming mug of tea. He did flip me off again as he went, though. That was as good as yes. I laughed and got my morning back on track by chugging my coffee that was finally cool enough to drink, and then I quickly loaded the coffee and pastries into the back seat of my car.
9
Angel
Donahue and Kyle turned in creepy unison as I walked into the server room with my usual morning cinnamon roll the size of a small space station perched precariously on a plate on top of my coffee cup. The stack of food was a Jenga game just begging to go wrong, and I knew it, but wasn’t sure what else to do with my messed up hand. I tried to balance everything with the fingers sticking out of my cast. I had my hoodie half on because I hadn’t been able to comfortably shove my cast through the sleeve, so the fabric was a broken wing flopping at my side, and only my messenger bag across my body kept it from falling off completely.
“You couldn’t have worn anything nicer today?” Kyle asked, and I glanced down at my black jeans—ripped at the knees—andThe Nightmare Before ChristmasT-shirt I’d picked out this morning. Jack and Sally adored each other on top of a snowcapped hill. Their Claymation love always gave me the happies.
“This is a nice shirt. It’s clean.”
Donahue’s attention landed on my cast, and he hurried over to take the plate and coffee from me. “Shoot kid, what did you do to yourself?”
I shrugged. “It’s icy outside.” Humiliation washed through me. I had to pretend to be a klutz for six more weeks. Maybe seven.
“We were worried about you. You’re not getting in trouble about yesterday, are you? Because we’ll stand behind you,” Kyle said, and Donahue nodded as he settled my treats beside my keyboard at my workspace. I glanced up at the Captain America print over my desk and all at once a strange happiness had me holding my breath. Casey reminded me a bit of a hero like that. He was big and had muscles… and he wasn’t quite who I’d thought he was at first. He had layers, like all the best good guys.
I hoped he was a hero anyway, and not a villain in disguise.
“Yeah, when you see Uhlig, don’t let him push you around.” Donahue normally had a dry sense of humor; I stared at him while I tried to work out if he was serious or kidding.
“What do you mean, when I see him?” Confused, I glanced between them. “Why would I see him right now?” A memory jiggled to life in my brain, something Casey had said last night that I’d dismissed. Something about helping me with Dad? Had that really happened?
Kyle blew out a long breath. “We got an email to tell you to go upstairs first thing. If that”—his lips twisted into a frown—“ass says you’re fired, you come back down here. Don’t go home. He’s not getting away with that. You’re the best assistant we ever had. He should hire you on as a regular IT member.”
For once I found myself able to laugh while they were the ones on edge. “I’m not sure what Casey wants, but he’s not going to fire me. He apologized to me yesterday. And… yeah.” My smile wouldn’t go away. I combed my fingers through my hair and messed it up. Nope, the smile just wouldn’t quit. The extra attention should have been completely embarrassing, and it was, but feeling this good was so rare that I didn’t want it to stop. I was glad I’d taken the extra time to put on some eyeliner this morning.
Kyle let out a strangled sound, and Donahue shook his head.
“You guys don’t believe me?”
“Not that we don’t, it’s just unheard of for that man to be… human.” Kyle looked at Donahue for help, but he only nodded along.
Self-conscious heat plagued my cheeks and I ran my hand over my face. “He even helped me out, took me to the ER. Casey’s not bad.”
Donahue collapsed in my chair, and Kyle walked over to me. When he was far too close for comfort, he rested his hands lightly on my shoulders. I tried not to flinch away from him, since I’d seen him coming, but his closeness made me deeply uncomfortable.
“Blink twice if you’re being monitored and need us to help you remove a chip from your brain.”
I laughed and stepped away from him, relieved when he didn’t hold on. “No mind manipulation here. I understand because he blasted me with his rage bomb yesterday, but he was really, really nice when he came to apologize.” My fingers tingled as excitement zipped around in my stomach and I bit at my tongue piercing.
“Okay, well, get ready for more nice, then, because you’re wanted upstairs.” Kyle rubbed at the back of his neck. “If it’s not a chip, is it an alien implant? I always thought maybe he wasn’t an actual person.”
“You didn’t get a concussion when you hurt yourself, did you?” Donahue asked and nodded toward my cast. “You’re sure you’re thinking of the man who yelled at you so bad you ran home?”
I paused. Yesterday morning seemed far away, and I didn’t like how they kept going on about Casey being a jerk. “Yeah. Uh… I’m stuck,” I said, when I tried to take off my messenger bag. Kyle helped me untangle everything from my hoodie without banging around my arm too badly. I shivered because I always thought it was cold in the office, even in the summer, and wished like hell the hoodie sleeve fit over my cast. I’d have several long weeks to be frozen to death. I decided to take my coffee with me, and before I could make it out the door, Kyle stopped me and tucked the tech tablet under my arm.
“Message us if you need a rescue,” he said with a smile, and I got the feeling he wasn’t joking at all this time. “You don’t know why he wants to talk to you?”
“Not exactly.”
Donahue held up his phone andTapsblasted through the room because he had his volume turned up too loud. I knew he was trying to be funny, but it actually pissed me off that they were acting like I was going off to die after I’d said Casey was nice yesterday. No one ever listened to what I said. I gave them a wave with my bad hand and then had to stop when Kyle chased me into the hallway with a sharpie.
“I want to sign it!” He didn’t give me a chance to tell him yes or no, but a warm glow settled into my chest as he started decorating the cast with a string of ones and zeroes. Had Kyle and Donahue always been this nice and I hadn’t noticed? It was strange that Casey rocking my world had me paying more attention to everything and everyone else. Even the sky this morning held more colors than usual as I walked to work.
I laughed. “Get well soon?” I asked, squinting at his handiwork. He snorted and signed his name with a flourish at the end. “Excessive.”
