Fake Slackers 소설 & 이야기

-------- Plus a mixture of missed calls and messages from Jake and Manuel -------- Dude where are you?! --------- How long it take to drop off three girls bro? You stopped for a quickie?

Helga grabbed her hands and gave them a squeeze. Rowena was taken aback but she nodded. "I'd be honored." "I'm in minor league baseball, trying to get into the major league," Jason brought up. Then he nudged Gary's rib. "And our joker over here is finally a lawyer! Man, Ro, you should've seen him in law school—" Jason suddenly winced in pain. Unbeknownst to the others, Gary had actually stepped on his foot under the table to shut him up. Jason cleared his throat and said nothing, realizing that it wasn't something his best friend wanted to talk about.

Jake fired back at me as I stood the silence amazed by this level of effrontery. "So, I get attitude in my own house?" I threw the question to no one at all and sat on the couch. "You told me that you and Megan were just partners, so what do we have here?" Jake queried with his phone in my face again. "Oh please, take that away from my face." I implored. "You have probably gotten another fake news from your fake ass sources." I replied. Jake looked at me quietly and busted out into a phase of laughter. He laughed so hard that he clinched his belly and I watched confused, wondering whether I cracked a joke.

Your wife's at home having a baby and you're out globetrotting. [Seriously, what was the excuse this time?] Jasper had replied underneath: [I told her a once-in-77-years planetary alignment opened a time portal and I got sucked through.] [Man, only you could come up with something like that. Aren't you worried she'll lose it?] [She's put up with it for three years. This time's no different. She'll be at home waiting for me like she always is.] Three years of patience and forgiveness, and all of it had become a running joke between him and his friends.

"You don't?" "No." Vanessa gasped dramatically. "The man lives in your head rent-free, and you don't even have his picture?" "Oh, stop." "I'm serious." Chloe picked up her phone from the bedside table. "Wait." She unlocked the screen. "Oh..." "There it is." "What?" "His I*******m." Vanessa burst into laughter. "Oh my goodness." "What?" "You're stalking a married man." Chloe's mouth fell open. "I am not!" "You went straight to his I*******m."

“‘Excuses. We overcome difficulties with solutions.’ You should see the suppliers’ faces. His little stunt nearly cost us the partnership, and guess who had to smooth things over with pretty smiles?” “You,” Jenny snorted, her tone turning sarcastic. “Ah, Leon Kingsley, champion of pricks and dicks.” I shook my head, setting my glass down with a soft clink. “You know, I can handle a workaholic, uncompromising asshole. But it’s more than that. It’s Claire. The moment she appears, all his principles just go puff. It’s bizarre, really—the way he goes out of his way for her. And last night? That was proof of just how far he’s willing to go.”

I informed her. The next thing that I heard was squeals. “Oh my God! This is great news! How'd you get it?” She asked. My heart sank, as I recalled signing the papers to become a stranger's wife. I felt ashamed, too ashamed to tell her the truth. “Uh nothing much really. The loan corporation…yeah..they gave it to me.” I lied, breathing a small laugh. But Anna knew me better than anyone else. “We both know those guys chased you out of their office after you told them you're a bartender. Tell me the truth.” She demanded.

Shameless. I slowed my steps, standing just behind the half open glass door, watching them. A whole group of them, clustered around a desk like bees swarming rotten honey. Not a single one at their workstation. Not a single one doing what they were paid to do. They were bent over someone's phone, shoulders hunched in excitement, laughter spilling out in cheap giggles. They were not just slacking off. They were enjoying it. Wasting my time. Wasting my money.

"A grubby schmuck waltzing into Regal International? Security! What's this place coming to, letting in street scum? It's revolting!" His cronies piled on. "Hey, don't soil the rugs." "Mark, remember? This guy is all principled, claiming money means nothing. Now that his gimpy girlfriend is history, he is here trolling for a rich benefactress?" Their malicious cackles reverberated through the lobby. Enduring their fabricated slander, I fixed Mark with a steely glare and ground my teeth. "Back off!" Mark's expression soured. "Say that again!" He lunged forward, shoving me with brutal strength.