Morris scratches at it from the hallway.
I open the door and let Morris in and then slam the door again.
Why is she fighting with me?
Where was she?
Why would she leave from work and not come straight home?
Yeah, I've done that too. But she's being very cagey with me.
-??-
Chapter 36
The following day, the both of us take the commute on the shuttle in complete silence. The entirety of work feels like a slog and my heart feels heavy.
Across the room, I spot Gabby laughing quietly with Fabian.
Then they both go courier.
Eventually, she makes her way back to my floor. It's lunch time. I need to make peace with her. The separation, and the whole silent treatment, doesn't feel good. It's impossible for my pride to override my need to be close to her and make things right.
"Hey," I say to her.
"Hey," she murmurs gently.
"Wanna eat lunch with me?"
She glances toward Fabian.
He meets our eyes for a second, then drops his gaze to his desk.
I narrow my eyes at the guy because I can't stand him. He's trying to sleep with my wife and I don't appreciate that.
Gabby ends up sitting with me anyway, and we actually have a nice lunch together. We're talking about all manner of things.
This time, I don’t steer the conversation straight to tech.
I turn to face Gabby fully and ask,
“If you had all the money in the world, what would you like to do?”
She laughs as if she's never thought about the question.
"I want to fly. Like being around the birds and everything. It just feels like, I don't know. I want to fly without fear of being struck by lightning," she says.
We both laugh.
"Like parasailing," I add.
"You see, no, not that because I've heard people get caught in updrafts and get stuck up there in those cumulus thundercloud situations. I don't want to do that. See, I'm too scared for that. I want something controlled."
"Like a jet?" I ask.
"No," she replies.
"Like a helicopter?" I press.
