10
Exploring
In the darkened mall, True Tech glowed with the unnatural flair of a secret lair. So much white furniture. So many shining screens. I rubbed my eyes under my glasses. At least I turned the brightness all the way down on all my PCs. There wasn’t much to clean up for closing. I’d made all the notes, fixed some code, and prepared that phone for pickup tomorrow.
My GameUp messages pinged.
I grabbed the Tupperware full of rice and stood. “Hey, Ash? I’m going to dump this out in the mall garbage can. Pretty sure it’s a health code violation waiting to happen.”
“Fair enough,” she said, flipping through her emails.
Good. She trusted me enough not to hover. God, I loved working with a woman for once.
I strode to the trash bin in front of the toy store. Sal looked up from his phone, his face aglow.
He chuckled, then uncrossed his ankles to saunter over. “What have you got there? Is that the rest of your lunch?”
“No. A customer brought it in.”
“For a snack?”
“To save her phone from the bath,” I deadpanned.
He wound his neck back. “But it’s cooked.”
“Yes. Yes it is.” I flipped the Tupperware over and tapped the bottom so rice plopped into the trash.
He spun in full-360 and cackled. “That’s fantastic.”
“It’s pathetic. I did manage to save her phone, though.” I pushed up my glasses.
“Of course you did, slugger.” He smirked and stuck his hands in his pockets.
Was he being sarcastic? The fine hairs on my arms prickled, and I glanced over my shoulder at the smudged glass in front of True Tech. People wouldn’t notice the imperfections unless they were looking for them.
He flicked the bottom of his chin-scruff. “So, about Janice… Are you still in?”
I raised my chin. “Yes. I’ll do four items and two textures. I can make three minor modifications total, but beyond that, you’re on your own. It isyourpresent. Your…girlfriend.” I huffed and adjusted my cap. Something about them grated me the wrong way.
Sal scoffed. “Of course. I’m not gonna have you build the whole thing yourself. I’ll learn alongside you, and make my own contributions, so hopefully, your stuff just fills in the gaps.”
“You want me to teach you how to mod?”
“Yeah. Well, to mod better.” He rolled his eyes playfully. “I’ll show you what I’ve got so far. When are you free?” He tapped his bright, ratty sneakers near my Converse.
“I…” We were going to meet? “I thought we were going to do all this remotely.”
“Hey, I trust you, but I don’t give a password out on the first date.” He screwed up his posture and wagged his finger. “Uh, not that this would be a date.”
I tensed and pushed a few stray hairs behind my ear. “No. I’m not–”
“I’mnot. I mean, I’m happily taken.” He smoothed his shirt and rolled his lips together. “You can bring Ash, if you want.”
My boss couldn’t code for shit. But I did appreciate his offer to bring a friend. “I’ll think about it.”
“Okay. Catch you later, slugger.” He finger-gunned at me and backed away.
