Chapter Text
Your life... was over . Ruined. There was no coming back from this.
Well, perhaps it was actually just your day that was entirely ruined, the motionless computer screen still refusing to show the frantic shaking of your mouse, but it felt like your entire life in that moment.
This always happened. You always let this happen. These ancient computers had their limited disc spaces, and a high probability of shutting down the second it logged in a bit too much memory. No amount of key bashing or screen smacking was going to bring you back from this one.
Three hours. Three hours put into some shitty project sent down from your boss. Three hours since you last saved your work. It had become a bad habit, something you always kicked yourself in the ass for whenever it slipped your mind. It was practically a cause of anxiety at this point, making your stomach drop whenever you realized it had been awhile since your last save... but sometimes, like today, when you were so focused...
Sometimes, like today, the entire computer decides to let out a weird humming noise as it freezes all of your work, letting you stare at the lines upon lines of freshly written code. Code that you were going to have to write again. From the beginning.
You hit at the side of the computer, knowing it won't help, but even so just praying that the bit of rough treatment will cause it to blink back into life. Of course, it doesn't, the only bit of movement coming from a flicker of the computer screen, wobbling on its base from the shock of your smack. Fuck these computers. You'd think Hyperion would give their programming department better computers to work with, given that it's literally all they work with , but no. No, you just got these old pieces of shit.
The sound of someone sitting in the office chair next to you almost manages to distract you, but you don't look up, putting all your focus into the panic inducing job in front of you. You begin to try and press a few strategic buttons. Backspace? Exit. Maybe one of the Function keys...
"I bet if you hit it a few more times, it'll work," you recognize the voice of a friend, even if it's muffled by a full mouth. You turn your gaze away from the computer, making sure your stare to him is fully shows every ounce of your disdain.
"You can't eat in here, John," even though your tone is riddled with absolute loathing, you know full well he'll take it as a joke. Which is good - you weren't actually all that bothered. Everyone snuck food into the offices.
He grins, of course. "And yet ," whatever it is he was eating, it's the last bite. He even makes sure to make all the best and obnoxious eating sounds, as if the cafeteria food was anything to act excited about.
"John, please just..." You let out a sigh, feet dragging on the floor in a way to make you swivel back and forth in your office chair. Usually his over the top antics and crude sense of humor would help you through these boring days. But right now, your frenzied mind isn't allowing you to fixate on anything else. You gesture to your computer, which is still refusing to do anything but sit frozen in time. "Three hours! Three!"
He laughs now, leaning back in his own chair, arms sitting high on the arm rests. "What were you working on?"
You make a move to your computer then, usually able to bring up an email or two to show your current project. But you stop, eyes closing for a moment, since you can't really do that right now. You quickly begin to talk, "a few of the Hyperion shields - the new wave that just came out last month? Remember all that junk about them short circuiting and basically electrocuting the user to death?"
John begins to nod, a snort beneath his breath, "yeah, but I mean, what do they expect when they send shit out that early?"
"I know, I know, but the other divisions couldn't find a problem, so it looks like we have to rewrite the source code from start to finish. To ensure whatever error there was shouldn't be there again." You hear John blow a whistle, and you quickly give a nod. It should have been something the Head of Programming dealt with, since it was something that had lives on the lines. But your current head didn't seem to care too much. So it went to you, and a few other unlucky programmers that shared the small office space.
John's leg began to cross over his other, hand holding his chin as he seemed lost in thought for a moment. "Wait, so you were using Cobra then, weren't you?"
There, he got it. " Yepp ".
A laugh begins to boom from him, but you can't entirely blame him. Even if it's at you. "Oh - Cobra's auto save never fucking works. You're fucked!"
"I know ! That's why - Look. Just..." Your hands begin to cup into fists, eyes closing as you compose your thoughts just a bit. "Can you just grab my files for me?" You open your gaze to stare at him, watching the way one of his eyebrows begin to arch upward. As good as you feel you are with your code work (you did land a job at Hyperion, after all), you knew that John was light years ahead of you. He could have finished this project in under an hour, you bet. There wasn't an ounce of shame asking him for some help.
"You could have done it yourself," he begins, holding a hand out to gesture to his own computer desk, "My desk is literally right next to yours."
"Uh, yeah? But that's totally rude, not asking," you pause, hands pressing together as you stare back at your frozen screen, "I was also really hoping it would just... go . You know?"
He gives another laugh now - this one entirely different. Something about it fills you with an old sense of being teased - a bully laughing at someone smaller than them, or maybe just an adult laughing at a stupid child. Luckily, his movement distracts you from feeling too offended, digging into his desk and soon coming back out with a thin, long wire.
You scoot your computer chair back to give him room, wheels loudly chugging across the hard floors. It's easy to lose yourself watching him, sometimes. Even if it's as simple as plugging into another computer. His fingers are fast, his coding is even faster. It always has been, as far back as you can remember.
At this point, you've known John for a small handful of years, though it felt like an eternity at your current Hyperion headquarters. You didn't always work together - seeing as Hyperion had a few different branches here and there. But eventually, your desk found it's way next to his. It struck you as odd, at times. He was higher up on the corporate ladder than you. He was an engineer, programmer, he could write entire programs in a single day. But, offices here were sort of lumped together based on similar sections. You both currently held jobs in programming, so this is where you ended up.
Every day that you saw him, it was a surprise. At some point, he'd be promoted. You were sure of that. Something bigger and better, something not so grueling, something that gave him a better view than some cubicles and the constant clicking noise of countless keyboards. But he seemed dedicated, at least, in whatever his current projects were.
The vision of your computer's screen going completely back was enough to jar you away from watching his skilled fingers type away. For a moment, your stomach feels like it has hit the floor, but John is quickly unplugging wires with a satisfied look on his face. With a quick and suave movement, he tosses a small circular drive into your lap, making sure to do so with a wide grin.
You hold the small drive like it's a quest item, fragile and glowing and worth a lot of money. "John, you're my savior! "
He is still holding his grin, but you're positive it begins to grow. "Compliment me more, babe."
You laugh. You always laugh off his weird little pet-names, or random come-ons that seem to pop in out of the blue. He's a joking sort of guy, and the last thing you'd ever want to do is misinterpretation a joke, take him seriously, and then never be able to look at him again. Your desks are right next to each other, for god's sake.
But that's fine. It never bothered you before, and it doesn't bother you know. Coding buddies is just perfect, just enough. You’re totally not in denial.
You quickly begin to drag your feet against the floor, causing your office chair to roll and swivel back to your desk. "I really didn't want to redo all of this. I wouldn't have even been able to finish it tonight!"
John begins to laugh again, "why the hell do you still have a job here?"
You share the laugh, fully catching onto his usual joking tones, "I think the same thing almost every day." With a happy hum, and pretty much all of your worries from the day washed away, you press the main power button for your computer. You can get this squared away, save it immediately , and get finished before--
Oh.
Well...
The screen is blue.
Once again, you hear John whistle beside you. "Damn, you really did a number on this one."
You can't answer, feeling your body just grow old. This job adds ten years to your life, every single day. Yes, yes a blue screen can be dealt with. Yes, there's a chance your files are okay, and the important one is on the drive in your hands. But you can forget finishing your project today, that's for sure.
There's a pat on your upper back, John's hand soon beginning to grip tight onto your shoulder, "Come on, princess, let's get you some lunch."
"You just came back from lunch! " You shoot him a glare, but are nothing but thankful for the silly distraction. Looking any longer at that damn screen would have probably caused some very shameful reactions. No need to cry over spilt code, after all.
"Yeah? Your point is?" John is already pulling your chair away from the computer desk, and you let out a final sigh as you listen to him. You haven't taken a break yet today, anyway, and food could serve as a good refuel after everything.
You pocket your small flash drive, switching your computer back off, turning to see John with a wide grin and arms out. Doesn't he have his own work he should be doing? Whatever he may have on his own quota list, it doesn't seem to be bothering him, walking quickly away from the office cubicles and out of the main room, and making you walk even faster to catch back up with him.
Whenever you walked with John around the building, you always stayed a pace or two behind him. It wasn't due to any sort of rude or arrogant reasons. He was just a fast walker who enjoyed greeting or randomly chatting with those around him. John was sociable in every way that you weren't, which made watching him all the more amazing.
John was... probably your closest friend on at Hyperion. Which is a little funny, in that tragic sort of comedy way, since you were positive that you weren't his . He's a people pleaser. Confident. Made friends easily, or at least was the type to act chummy with just about everyone he met.
You don't know a whole lot about him. That realization struck every now and again. He wasn't the type to talk about his past - even if he was the type to love talking about himself . Even then, a few things had popped out in conversations over the past few years.
You're pretty sure he had a wife at some point. Had . He didn't wear a ring. You never asked.
You were also mildly sure he had a child. But only mildly. The quick sentence 'if you think coding is hard, try having a kid,' came from him one day, during casual talks of the usual crappy jobs sent down by your bosses. But he quickly changed the subject, and never spoke of it again. You weren't entirely positive, but he seemed thankful when you accepted the subject change, and never acted curious. Even if you were.
He did know a lot about you, though. He knew a lot about everyone . You never did quite figure out how he could learn about so many people in so little time, but he just had that way with people. You could barely keep track of your own extended family, and somehow John knew the families of most of your coworkers.
Maybe it was just his ease at mingling. Even now, as you sit in the small cafeteria, silently eating your sub-par (and oddly textured) lunch, John was leaning over the table of a few members of the science division, effortlessly chatting away with a large grin on his face.
How the hell could he do it so easily?
Helios changed things.
It happened quickly. In fact, saying 'it happened overnight' wasn't too far off. One minute, you're happily (or, at least not unhappily ) working on your usual slew of programming tasks, and the next you're being transferred to a giant space station that sat over one of the most blood thirsty planets in this star system.
Not that it was a huge deal. You practically lived at Hyperion already, and the pay actually went up a bit. Part of it may have been luck, or at least knowing the right people. John had a hand in Helios, somehow convincing the higher-ups that it was a good idea. You had no idea how he actually got them to say yes, but damn did he seem excited about it. And, because he had seen your work (and, part of you hoping, simply because you were friends), you were one of the first of the programming department to be offered the transfer. So of course you took it.
Work continued as usual, for a good while. Until the major parts of construction were finished, allowing groups of people to move to the space station. It was actually breathtakingly beautiful on the inside, as were the apartments. Sure, they weren't huge, a bit compact actually, but the view . The view was almost worth the long trek back and forth between the living quarters and the working offices.
Once on Helios, you were expected to get back to your usual work as soon as possible. Sadly, your old computers seemed to have been transferred as well, looking clunky and out of place in the new and high tech office space. You supposed they had to cut corners somewhere.
John continued his work as well. At least, you think. He's been gone a lot lately. Projects, his own work. You no longer sat directly next to him, but he was still in the same area, and still seemed to check in on you rather often. It was nice to see him, even if it somehow caused you to feel a bit out of place.
With the new location brought a new girlfriend.
For… John , that is, not for you.
And you were happy for him! Even if the rumor mill quickly, very quickly, caught wind and spread the news that he was dating Moxxi. The Moxxi. The Moxxi that had... quite a good collection of videos on the EchoNET, and was known for some rather... intense things. But John seemed happy. And so were you!
See, it brought some clarity. He still used his silly pet names on you. Not as often, but still sprinkled in at times. Proved your thinking right, that the names didn't mean much. He was just that sort of guy, you supposed. But, it let you put away the silly crush for good. Cleared the air. Let you focus on the important things, like a proper promotion that would get you out of these damn cubicles and into a real office.
Let you laugh and blow off his stupid nicknames. Made it so that your stomach didn't fill with butterflies whenever you saw his stupid, cocky grin.
At least, you kept telling yourself this.
Work was grueling. Even if the pay on Helios was better, the life on a space station was definitely not a paradise. The common areas of Helios were made to look like the 'outside' just for this reason. Illusions with screens, mist, and well placed plants could give the feeling of being out in the world. Fresh air. The sun. But you could only sit next to the ponds full of robotic koi for so long before it all just felt too stagnate. The air you breathed was the same air you've been breathing for months, now.
Luckily binging TV in your apartment for hours on end helped that. A bit.
But you can't do that right now. It's work time. Time to go and dig through countless emails from your bosses about all the errors in other people's codes. God. Finding the single error in a giant block of code was literally the worst possible thing.
Which is why you need coffee .
The coffee at Helios is... well, disgusting. Most of the food and drink that can be bought from around the station sucked, to the point that you almost didn't notice anymore. It was all automated, allowing you to simply press a small green button on the large vending machine that sat next to the automat food dispensers. You took a moment, strategically selecting a few extra flavors that would cover the taste of burnt coffee beans, the sound of chattering soon coming in behind you.
Some ladies, not from your department, though you believed them to work in the science division. Which meant you didn't have to talk to them, or feel bad about taking a bit more time in your coffee selection. Their voices were hushed as they spoke behind you, waiting for their own turn, most likely engaging in a round of that good ol' Hyperion gossip.
"-a famous woman, I think."
"Wasn't it that Moxxi girl?"
Okay.
See, you weren't really one to get dive too deep into the rumor mill that covered Helios. But that name, at least, piqued a bit of curiosity.
"I think? Was it?"
"Yeah, pretty sure. Wonder why?"
"I mean, what would you expect?"
"Still."
Ugh. By this time, the machine was spitting out the dark colored roast into the styrofoam cup. If they were going to gossip right behind you, couldn't they do it in a more interesting way?
The small glass door opened, allowing you to take your coffee. Any normal person would have just walked away at this point, and usually you'd be that person. But this was the name of someone you... sort of knew? Or, at least, knew someone who knew the person...
Whatever. You didn't need to convince yourself.
With your coffee in hand, you moved only slightly away, close to the automat food machines, pretending to look at the very interesting selection of ready-to-grab pizza and cakes.
One of the women began to make her own coffee, softly speaking more. It was a bit harder to hear, but you were only listening for details. Maybe something happened? Maybe there's some huge scandal? Maybe she got robbed of... circus money? God you knew nothing about her.
"Kyle from accounting said it was her that did it."
"Kyle's full of shit. But that also sounds about right - I mean, why would someone like that date some low level programmer?"
They shared a laugh now. The machine made it's usual clunky noises as it began to dispense the coffee.
"What was the guys name? The guy who got dumped?"
"Jim or something?"
"Kyle knows. No, really!"
"I wonder if the Moxxi girl will begin posting stuff on the EchoNET again, now that she's single."
"Did you SEE that one - the one with the..."
You can't hear the rest of the conversation, the two of them walking away from the food vendors and off to wherever they must have worked.
Silently, you take a sip of your coffee, not even registering the heat or taste. Damn gossip circles. A part of you wondered why something like this was even rumor-grade, but that part of you was pretty small compared to all the other loud voices in your head.
John was single. Which was horrible for multiple reasons. One, of course, that someone you considered a friend was probably feeling like shit right now. The second reason, the one that upset you the most, was that a part of you somehow feels relieved. It disgusts you, almost more than the coffee. An emotion you bury deep as you walk towards your own offices.
By the time you make it to your small cubicle, it's all you can think about. Setting your coffee onto your desk, you let your body collapse into your office chair, feet glued to the floor to prevent you from rocketing backwards too much. You stare at the ceiling, letting - even if just for a moment - the idea of what it would be like to date John float around in your head.
He wasn't dating Moxxi for horribly long - not a year, but still a good handful of months. He seemed really happy. Was she happy? He was always running off to Elpis to see her, but maybe it was the long distance stuff that caused it to go bad? Was he a good lover, or was he the total selfish type? Did Moxxi ever learn if he had a kid or not...?
It was then that your vision was full of his face. And not on the figurative sense - his stupid grinning face looming over you and your office chair, causing you to sit back up straight.
God he had... the most horrible timing, didn't he?
"Heeey," he begins, voice drawing out the word, holding his hands out wide as you spun to look at him. "Guess who's got some great news."
"Uhh," you begin, unsure how to approach this. His question at least got your mind away from your stupid thoughts of before, but now you felt like a deer in the headlights. "I'm not so sure if being dumped is great news, John."
"What? No! Wait," he gave a huge sigh, body beginning to slump, "you already heard about...? God, this place sucks, you can't tell anyone anything."
Uh huh. He should be used to this by now. "Just yesterday you were gushing about how much you loved hearing all the juicy details about our higher ups, and something about 'all the corporate fucks you plan to fuck over'."
"Well yeah , I mean. No," there's a chuckle in his voice. Maybe he's not super bummed about the break up after all? Or he is really good at hiding it. "Look, it's not about that. Something super big is finally happening."
"Shit, you got dumped twice ?" Oh, there's a grin on your face now, and it's matched by his. Good, he's in a joking mood.
"I'm about to not tell you what it is, you little shit."
You laugh now, the entire room feeling a bit warmer now, calmer. Back to normal. "Okay, okay. What is it?"
His arms opened wide one more, his grin widening, "guess who finally got promoted to Lead of Programming? "
Uh. Definitely not you. "Definitely not me?!"
He laughs, reaching out a hand to pat your shoulder, "Maybe someday, princess. But no ," his stance turns tall as he puffs out his chest, hands coming to lay on his hips, "you're looking at your new boss."
"Huh," well. That's new. It was something you expected to happen someday, honestly. How long has he been in this division, anyway? Longer than you, longer than probably anyone here...
"Uh," John raises an eyebrow to you, and only then you realize how long you had been silent. "Not really the reaction I was expecting. Was hoping for some fanfare? Maybe a congrats? Those stupid little paper guns that shoot out confetti? Give me something here!"
" Shit , yes," you stand now, waving your hands quickly, "Sorry, John. This is really great , and you deserve it! I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner."
"Oh, believe me," he takes a deep breath, voice full of nothing but pride, "there's some people who aren't super happy about it. But that won't be a problem anymore."
"That sure is a weird thing to say, John."
There's a twist to his grin, "Call me Jack now, babe."
"Also... a bit weird? What?"
He waves off your question, only making it more odd. Sort of a strange. Random. Does this have something to do with the breakup? Is he changing his name? Is Jack a nickname for John... which, it may be, but that's just out of nowhere.
"Right, right, moving on," alright, he's totally ignoring the name thing. "Now that I'm the head here," he begins to look around. It's still early enough that there's no other workers in at the moment, which is usually how you liked to start your day.
"There's going to be a lot of changes around here. Man, it's gonna be great."
"Hmm," you hum, looking around as well. What all could he really change as the Head? Most of the requests from programming still had to go through other hoops in higher areas. "So, I answer to you, now?"
He flashes a smile to you. It's... new. A new sort of stare that you can't quite place. Perhaps it's due to him having a hell of a lot more authority now.
"Yepp," he begins, taking a slow step towards you, "You'll have to do everything I say now, princess."
"Gross," you laugh, arms crossing, "Just... please don't saddle me with all the goddamn code-error assignments. And no more Cobra- Oh, I know, maybe you can make it so we never have to use it again. Oh, oh , or... new computers?" Okay, now you're beginning to actually get excited, balling your fists together, "Can you do that?! If you're the head--"
His laugh breaks off your words, John shaking his head. "Oh, you're thinking too small , cupcake."
"Going really ham on the nicknames today aren't you, tiger."
His smile flashes again, but the subject is changed, "Want to see my new office?"
"You mean the same office that belonged to our previous Head? The same office we've been in before?"
"Well, yeah," he gives a quick eye roll, "but it's mine now."
You can't help but smile, agreeing to humor him, following him down the long corridor to the head office. He wants to show off a bit, and hey, if he's your boss, he can't get mad at you for not working right now, right? Besides, he seems happy. It must be a good distraction for him. And it's a really good one for you.
John's arms open wide as the door slides open, spinning a bit as he gestures to the entirety of the room. "What do you think?"
"Well, it looks exactly how it looked last time I was here," you walk past him, heading to the only real amazing part of the room - the view.
Damn. You couldn't help but feel a bit jealous about that. There's no good windows in the offices outside, but John gets every inch of this to himself? There's a part of you that worries you won't see him as much, held away in this large office, doing... whatever it was the head of programming actually did. You wouldn't be able to chat with him all day, but you could probably fill his inbox with stupid memes. That'd make him happy. He's a fucking nerd like that, anyway.
The corner of your eye catches him coming to stand beside you, taking in the view for himself.
"Did you spend a lot of time down there?" As soon as the words leave your mouth, you feel nothing but immediate regret. Damn it. That's where his ex is. Stupid. Bad timing. Oh my god .
He just laughs, though it's a lot more slow and quiet than his usual ones. Something about it seems sad. God damn it why did you bring it up?!
"You'd like it down there, I bet," he starts, voice still a lot more soft and slow than you've grown so used to. "I mean, it's not much of a town, and the actual moon is full of terrifying creatures. But god, the food is better than here. And, well, anti gravity. Whew," he gives a quick shake to his shoulders, tone picking up, "now that's fun to play with."
You answer with a nod. Elpis... well, you had to have the right clearances to leave the station without a proper reason. Clearances you never worked hard to get, since you just... weren't the 'running away from bandits' type.
But even so, the moon was beautiful. The both of you fall silent, staring out the large window. It's not much of an awkward silence, but you still feel the need to say something to break it up, knowing that sitting here and saying nothing is only going to let thoughts begin to swarm.
John, however, beats you to it, "Sooo, I was thinking. Now that I'm the head..."
Oh. Hell. Yes. Time to talk new computers.
You turn to him, full excitement showing in your face. You have dozens of ideas, and if he has the ability--
But he's stepping closer. Too close. Your eyebrows begin to knit as the instinct to step back flashes into your mind, afraid he will walk right into you, but there's a hand being placed on your back that prevents you from doing so. Instead, now, your first instinct is to raise your hands in front of your chest, in some sort of protection. There's not even time to register what's going on before he is talking again, voice low, rumbling.
"See, everyone here has to do pretty much whatever I say, now." You can feel his other hand. On your waist. On your waist, his face beginning to move even closer. "And, I've been thinking of a few good assignments to give my new assistant."
There's alarms going off inside your head, almost loud enough to drown out his purring voice. You're no idiot, you know full well what this is, but the fact that it's happening... The fact that the hand that was placed on the small of your back is now slowly inching its way down--
"Whoa-" you find your voice, and a surge of strength as your hands now push against his chest, pressing backwards and forcing the both of you apart, " WHOA ," you say a second time, louder, needing to simply scream but holding back the strong urge. With two quick steps back, you feel safer, more in control, a finger pointing out to him as if to tell him to not move annother inch closer. " Whoa. "
The stare he is giving you is purely dumbstruck, hands held out as if to ask 'what's wrong?'
Your eyebrows knit, watching his face, his body language, barely able to form all the thoughts in your head into coherent words. "You... you just broke up with somebody."
"And...?" he gives a small shake to his head, shoulders shrugging, "that has absolutely nothing to do with this."
"yes it does , oh my god-" you cut yourself off, nails digging into your palms, "John, I'm--"
"Call me Jack, honey," the grin he throws you is enough to send you from baffled, to purely furious.
"That, that , has nothing to do with this! Also, do not call me honey right now."
He sighs now, a hand moving up to rub at the bridge of his nose. " Fine ," he begins, voice having a quick snap to it, "It seems I've offended you somehow. Can you at least tell me why ?"
You can feel a lump in your throat, swallowing it back down. "I am not going to be your rebound, Jack ." You say his 'new' name with as much venom as you can muster, hoping it at least stings a little.
It at least shuts him up, John going silent for a few moments before letting out a long breath, a hand running through his hair. "That... that isn't,"
His voice may be softer now, calmer, but you definitely don't feel any of that. You put a hand up, stopping him, an action that seems to surprise you both. You've never shown this sort of authority to him before, but there's a whole hell of a lot of feelings in your head right now. And pissed is the strongest one, so it's what you're working with .
"It does not matter what your intent was, or is," you begin, your own voice slow and soft, but not one syllable of it coming across as calm. "You are my friend , my best friend on this damn place, and you are not allowed to treat me as some simple vessel for your lonely feelings."
You cause his eyebrows to furrow now, but he's finally fallen silent.
"And, as for a promotion," you begin again, not letting him speak just yet, "I am going to earn one, not be handed one!"
"Alright, alright," his hands go up, eyes breaking away from you now. "I'm..." he stalls then, taking a moment before looking back to you, eyes narrowing and staring for a good few seconds before continuing, his hand moving to his chest, "you have my deepest apologies. "
You can feel your nose begin to wrinkle at it. A simple 'sorry' would have sufficed, but the way he is apologizing just makes it sound... scripted. Fake. But whatever - it's all you'll probably get right now, so you'll take it.
Your eyes close as you manage to take in a deep breath, emotions still bubbling but finding them easier to control. "And if you ever want to... touch me again," you say, trying not to let your voice quiver and show any weakness to the thought, "just... fucking ask me first. Or, gee I don't know, ask me on a date ?"
There's a grin just beginning to form on his face, but you quickly stop it with a step forward, hands on your own hips, "And not right now , either. How about later , after you process your break-up and have time to think." You let out a large huff of air, stepping away fully and turning away from him. "God, you're so smart, but you're such a fucking idiot."
You can tell he's smiling now, you can tell from the small chuckle you can hear. But you don't want to look at him. Not right now, maybe not for awhile.
"I hope you like your new office, John," you pause, rolling your eyes, " Jack ." Without letting yourself think on it too much, you begin to walk towards the large office door. No more from him. He's good at rebuttals, good at getting his way, which is why you need to leave right now. "It's really big, and really empty."
The doors close behind you, and with it goes any sounds you could possibly hear from John. Or, Jack, Whatever. It also lets you let out a large groan, walking down the long corridor and back to the offices.
You sit at your desk, barely noticing the few other office workers that have come in, focused on their own slurry of work. Their constant typing is like white noise, letting you lose yourself to your thoughts: What the fuck just happened?
You begin to go over it in your head. Every word of it. God. What the hell is he even thinking.
Wait. Were you the asshole, just now? Did he come onto you in a time of need , and - oh god - you scolded him and then just walked out after saying a dick comment, like some haughty woman in a romance movie--
No, no, he was the asshole here, right?!
You groan as you rub your face. No one in the office pays you any mind - random noises of frustration and agony were commonplace here, after all.
Whatever. You can talk about it later. Like adults.
An alert on your desktop pops up, giving a chime and beginning to distract your thoughts. At least, it would have, if the chime wasn't an email. From Jack.
Oh, he even changed his name to Jack on all his emails. What the hell was going on.
You scoot your computer chair closer, timidly beginning to sip from your (now cold) coffee as you click through into the email. Can he fire you? He can most definitely fire you now. Your stomach twists as you hope you didn't upset him that much...
On the screen pops up an image. Two images, actually, of two different computers. Both of them were quite fancy, top of the line models, and both of them had... a rather terrifyingly huge price tag.
Below it was some text, simply reading:
'I'm thinking we go with the one on the right. It's specs are a bit lower, but it's way more expensive. And it's not MY money, so that's pretty funny, right?'
You laugh. Damn it, you laugh, leaning your hand onto your chin as you re-read the text again. This stupid man.
And what a bittersweet feeling.