Leverage by E. J. Noyes

Author:E. J. Noyes [Noyes, E. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2023-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

And I don’t think ear amputation is an overreaction either

After a week away from Sophia, little chunks had started breaking off that concrete lump in my gut, making it slightly easier to deal with. If I kept up my emotional chip-chip-chipping, in another few months, it might be down to a fist-sized lump I could ignore. And, after a week of living and working with Jeff, we’d settled into a solid routine and hadn’t even come close to fisticuffs. In fact, dare I admit it, things were actually…fine? We’d developed a casual back-and-forth of trading barbs and snipes, but instead of piercing me, they bounced off like lighthearted relief, which I sorely needed.

I was respectful of his personal time and space, as he was of mine—keeping quiet inside the apartment during my scheduled Zen times. Soundproofing did a great job of not letting sounds out or in, but it sometimes felt like it amplified every noise inside. I’d practice yoga and calisthenics as soon as I woke up, and after my shower would emerge refreshed and ready for the day. Jeff always had the kettle boiled when I came out, and after a cup of tea, I’d cook us breakfast—usually eggs with flatbread and pickled vegetables—and then we’d settle in for our workday.

We’d work, I’d use my late-morning brain break to email Sophia something sweet for her to wake up to, we’d work some more, then before dinner we’d take a walk around the neighborhood, varying our route each day. I’d cook, he’d clean up, then it was time for Jeff’s tiny evening drink. And for me? Either reading or watching one of the zillion TV shows I’d downloaded before I’d left, or more work if I was bored, or hoping the Internet held up enough for a call with Sophia instead of being down as it frequently was in the evenings. What an annoying coincidence. Just a coincidence. Because of my connectivity issues, my contact with Sophia had been…sparse. We’d managed at least one email and solid text exchange each day, but only two more video calls—one of which cut out after three minutes—instead of the daily face-to-face we’d promised to strive for. Not exactly keeping up the romance communications.

Jeff hadn’t been lying when he’d said he didn’t sleep much, and I’d often see the glow of his screens, or hear a quiet and indistinct conversation if I woke in the middle of the night. And as predicted, the analyst work was basically what I would have done back home. It was noticeably less busy, even with the extra steps of dual reporting to both the ops team as well as the agency back in the States. Fine by me—if they wanted to punish me by paying me normally plus a living-away-from-home allowance to do less work, they could go right ahead.

Less work to do meant I had more time to figure out what to do about Elaheh. So far, more time hadn’t produced more epiphanies. I was

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