“There’s some sort of corruption bug that someone sent to our servers. I noticed it last night but couldn’t figure it out.”
“I can take a look.” Scout offers, and Vince gives her an approving nod. He opens the door, and she brushes past us, on a mission to the computer section of the workroom. We trail closely behind, and he hands her a piece of paper with a tracking code.
“It’s the only one I caught before it disappeared.”
“Like they knew you were watching.” Scout begins to type something up.
“And now they’re hiding,” I add.
“Which means…” She begins, and we finish together. “They’ll come back.” Vince is looking between us, a smirk growing that I want to glare at him for, but I don’t have time if we wish to resolve this issue. It will quite literally ruin everything if we don’t have secure servers. No one will trust our tech, especially not the elders, if we can’t guarantee maximum security.
I don’t know how long we wait in anticipation as Scout sweats away in front of the computer. It’s not until a couple of the guys file in that I realize it's already 7 a.m.
“What are we doin’, boss?” One of them asks as they slap me on the back.
“Just work as normal. We’re fixing a kink in the system.” They seem to all be okay with this explanation, and as everyone else enters, they get to work alongside them.
It takes most of the day for Scout to get the coding sorted. During that time, I busy myself, ensuring every invention is ready for Monday night’s test run. I even had time to message Van about putting together anime costumes for Scout and me and to have them ready by tomorrow. I’m still not sure if that was a good choice because I doubt he knows anything about anime, but I didn’t have much choice. By the end of work, we have everything resolved, and I feel confident going into the weekend that we did our best.
“This barrier is impenetrable. Whoever was trying to break into the system won’t be able to again. Nor will anyone else, for that matter.”
“Thank you.” Vince shakes her hand, then pats me on the back, giving me an implicit look just as he passes by. “Have fun, you two.” He sing-songs as he exits with the last of our team. For the next few hours, Scout and I catch up on work that we missed due to the entire drama of today. Before we realize it, it’s nearly 4 a.m., and we aren’t quite finished with one of the devices that need to be ready by Monday evening.
“We’ll have to work again tomorrow.” She presses a hand on her forehead in distress.
“I think we should take a break.”
“You do?” She drops her hand with a perplexed expression. We’ve worked every weekend so far. Not that it’s been required, but we like the extra work time… and to be honest, any excuse I can get to be around her longer, I’ll take.
“Yes. I do. I think it’s important… plus–” her eyes go wide, interrupting me before I can continue.
“The anime convention,” she finishes my sentence. I tilt my head in response, trying to see if her reaction means she’s less into it than I thought she was. She bites her lip for another second of silence, and I jump in to persuade her indecision.
“Come on. We can take a break one weekend.”
“Not after a huge issue with the servers….”
“Look,” I slide over to her in my office chair. “If you take a break now, then your work will be better for it.” She narrows her eyes at me like she’s not fully convinced. “I promise it’ll be worth it.” Her eyes are focused on me as if she’s reading my mind for the reason I haven't given her. There are none; all of my cards are on the table for her to see. After a huff, she shakes her head with a grin.
“Fine, but we need to get more done tonight if we’re going to be ready by Monday night for that test.”
“Okay.” I agree because I've gotten a yes, and I won't do anything to sway her away from it now. She seems happy with my reply as she turns back to work, and I’d do anything to see her smile like this all the time. I slide back over to my desk, and we spend the next few hours of the early morning working on our tech. It's silent for the most part, but throughout the time, my tired eyes wander to her until she looks at me. That cute button nose of her scrunches into a grin, and she rolls her eyes at me.
You know, sleeping with her wouldn’t be the worst indiscretion. Yeah, that’s what I'm thinking about at this time of night, not the impending deadlines we’re working so hard to meet. It’s a distracting thought, one that leads me down another pathway or reasoning it out. This chemical connection between us shouldn’t be wasted just because we don’t do relationships like other people. I mean, it worked out for Vince, sleeping with someone he worked with. But everything for Vince seems to work out in his favor. I can almost bet it wouldn’t turn out that way for me.
Shit.I shouldn't even really be considering anything romantic as a result of something that shouldn't happen. I don’t have time to make mistakes; neither of us does. We should focus on our work and not give in to frivolous, fleeting emotions. I shake my head and hone my focus back on my work, straying away from that tempting train of thought.
Before I realize it,it’s 7 a.m., and we’re both finishing our last bit of work before we’re completely caught up. I don’t know how we made it, but we did, and without coffee, I might add. That’s a miracle in itself. I make a mental note for that to be on the top of our to-do list if we’re going to survive the convention all day.
“Done,” her voice breaks me out of my concentration as I screw the last piece into place. I stand up upon tightening it down and cross over to her. She’s still seated in the chair, eyes tired, but prevailingly beautiful.
“Ready then?”
“Coffee first?”
“Yep.” I laugh and shoot a text to Van that we’re on the way out before extending my hand toward her. “Shall we? We can take my car today. Oh! And Van, my driver, got us costumes.” I say as we exit the building.
“No way! How did he know what to get?” Her jaw drops, but she maintains a grin.