Despite the time she went to bed, Jane wakes up earlier than usual. And she does so while having a short-lived panic attack.
Her friend, being a heavy sleeper, isn’t phased by it, to which she is thankful. She hates waking him up like that.
Figuring she wouldn’t go back to sleep, the dark skinned woman gets out of bed and goes to her laptop. Logging in, she tries to get her mind off of the nightmare she had with internet videos. It would be a good distraction until he woke up.
An hour later, Samuel follows suit and stretches himself on the bed. Noticing Jane wasn’t next to him, he looks around.
Once he does, he is overwhelmed by a happy sensation so he uses a nickname he hadn’t in a long time.
“Good morning, marshmallow.”
She snorts almost immediately, looking back at him with a funny-looking grin. “Did I become 16 again?”
She had a faint blush on her cheeks. She was happy [at least happier than before].
He sits up to look at her better. “Do you want me to tuck you into bed?”
As an answer, the embarrassed girl finds the nearest object to throw at him: an unfinished Rubik’s cube. It would have hit his face if he didn’t grab it mid-air.
“I’m getting good at this.”
“Shut up.” She locks her eyes with her laptop’s screen again, still grinning giddily.
Fully awake, the older of the two goes to his own laptop, logging in to do as he said and check the ads for the products they stole.
Zero manufacturing price meant that they could profit 100% from their sales so they would usually wash the competition out by putting rock-bottom prices on products. Somehow, people hadn’t caught onto the fact they were stolen goods yet [the duo was good at covering their tracks].
A few minutes pass. “Yep, I got a client. They’re interested in the phones we took last month.”
“I also got one here.” She adds. “She wants the dress. I didn’t expect it to sell so fast.”
They continue with their affairs, chatting with their newfound customers to arrange the sale, when Samuel’s phone rings. This startles him since he never actually expects anyone to call.
“Hello, who’s calling?”
“It’s me, Sam.” An unfamiliar voice speaks, gaining the man’s attention.
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“It’s been a few months, Deck.”
“True that. How’s Jane?”
Samuel sighs. “You can cut the small talk. What are the news?”
“Well, I got something big I need to discuss with you two. Not on phone though. Meet me three days from now at the usual place.”
“Three? That’s hasty. What’s up?”
“Come meet me and I’ll tell you.” Without much else, the phone is hung up.
“Three what? Weeks?”
“Days.” He corrects her. “Hopefully, we can make the sales by then.”
After a nod, both go back to their clients, hoping they could convince them to buy their goods soon.
An hour later, they leave the hideout and have a somewhat short trip by foot to a completely different location: a small suburban house.
The place wasn’t exactly booming with life but some kids played on the sidewalk. A couple greenery from some front yards, a tree here and there, but other than that, nothing worth noting.
The duo’s house was among that description. It was uninspired and simple. The front yard was just cement, the walls were a boring brown, and a single window to the right was covered with a curtain.
Samuel unlocks his house and flips the switches, bringing some much needed lighting to it.
It wasn’t appealing on the inside either. Nothing unusual other than a desktop computer at one of the corners.
And yet, a sigh of joy comes from Jane, who immediately goes for the couch, jumping on it. “I love it here.”
After settling in, Samuel starts preparing lunch while his friend goes on to clean the house. It was her turn today.
An uneventful day and some much welcomed sleep later, the following day comes along smoothly. They go through their morning routine and once again, another day passes without much of a fuss.
On the third day, however, they notice the news are talking about them. Well, not them, per say, but two masked robbers who emptied the cashier of a local convenience store and traumatized three young civilians.
“Took them longer than usual to get this covered.” Jane notices while brushing her teeth.
“I think it took them too soon.” Samuel worries. “Too close to comfort.”
They do receive messages from their sellers but all sale attempts fell flat, given that they were a day away from something potentially big and their buyers weren’t interested in anything until a few days later.
Tough luck, as Samuel would say.
As the day closed in, so did both partners’ eyelids. Already cuddly and comfortable within her best friend’s arms, the dark-skinned woman asks.
“Would you have chosen a different life if you could?”
Half asleep [or at the very least trying to be], he answers: “A different life would have meant we wouldn’t have met. Would you have liked that?”
“...no.”
“Then no,” he finishes. “I wouldn’t have chosen a different life if I could.” For emphasis, he nudges the top of her head. “Would you?”
“It would mean a world without you in it.”
“It would mean a world without the pain.” He talks back. “I think it’s a fair trade.”
She lightly punches his gut. “I’ll take on the world if it means having you in it.”
He opens his eyes, thought it was too dark to see anything but outlines. He spots her frame, her face hidden from his angle, and sighs. “You depend too much on me.”
“No,” she finishes the topic. “I just like the world better when it doesn’t hurt.”
Her silence sends him the message so he accepts it and goes back to trying to sleep.
Her grip on him was tighter that night.