Ruby and I

chapter 33

"Hello there, Clark!" Gabe said, walking into his office.

"Hey, what's up?" Clark said.

"Nothing much. I'm on break now, so I thought I'd stop by here. What's going on with you?" Gabe asked.

"I just finished making arrangements for my programming," Clark said.

"Man, you are working your ass off," Gabe said.

"Hey, anything to get this game out," Clark said.

"Which I'm assuming is going pretty well!" Gabe said.

"Definitely. Walter has been seriously impressed," Clark said.

"Hey, Gabe, can I tell you something?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, shoot," Gabe said.

Clark gets up from his chair to close the door and sits back down. "Have you noticed that Theo and Damien have been acting differently?" he asked.

"You mean, have they been even ruder? Then yes." Gabe said.

"No, not mean. It's more in a strange way." Clark said.

"Oh really? What do you mean?" Gabe asked.

"One night, I was at Gamer's Club and bumped into them. They were congratulating me on my progress in the game." Clark said.

"Were you drinking? You were probably hallucinating. They never compliment anyone unless it's themselves." Gabe said.

"I'll admit, I had a few drinks before they showed up. But I know I heard what I heard." Clark said.

"What else did they say?" Gabe asked.

"Remember when you and Faye told me those guys would tamper with other people's work?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Gabe asked.

"I think they might've done it because their idea was rejected," Clark said.

"Hold on! Theo and Damien became Walter's henchmen and got their idea rejected? Oh, I can't believe this!" Gabe laughed.

"Gabe! This isn't funny! What if they do something to my work? They already know how much Walter praises me, and that's what they wanted, so they're gonna take me down." Clark said with worry.

"Calm down, buddy! It's okay! You haven't let those guys lay a finger on your work, right?" Gabe asked.

"Right," Clark said.

"Then you got nothing to worry about!" Gabe said.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Clark said.

Theo and Damien walk into the office; one holds a folder, and Clark gets nervous.

"Hey, guys...what's up? Need anything?" Clark asked.

"Actually, yes. We need to talk to you." Theo said.