Open House: For Sale

Powerless

Penny's P.O.V

When I come back from my break I see Carlos rubbing his head

"Everything ok?" I ask, sitting back on my chair

"Yeah, yeah, my head just hurts a little..."

"I can help with that!"

"U can?"

"Yep!" I answer and get up

"Give me your left hand" I instruct him and when he gives it to me, I start pushing a few points in his palm, while he looks at me suspiciously

"Give it five minutes and tell me how it goes!" I say winking at him and then sit back down

"Where did u learn that?"

"My mom's a chiropractor..."

"Oh, I get it then! Thanks!"

"Anytime!"

"Hey, can u do me a favor?"

"Well, I'm here to assist u, so..." I answer smiling and he chuckles

"Right! Could u find a 2-bedroom at Poconos for next weekend?"

"A what?" I ask, sure that I heard something wrong

"I thought I didn't need to say things twice with u..." he says, sounding disappointed

"No, u're right, u don't need to. I'll-I'll arrange it, yeah!"

"Thank u! Somewhere calm and simple, not too close to noisy attractions..."

"Of course, yeah!"

"U're a life saver!" he replies smiling and then turns back to his work, leaving me unable to concentrate.

Why does he need a 2-bedroom at Poconos? Who does he have to take there? When and where did he find her? And how far have they taken things in order to plan a a weekend away? Should I ask? Can I ask? He knows about Malcolm, so I guess I could know about his thing too! Nuh... It can't be for him, no. He can't have found someone so soon and be to a point where they go away for the weekend. It took him 2 months to realize he had feelings for me and thought about it so hard, that it was too late! It must be for his parents or something. Maybe it's their anniversary? Well, I've decided it's that! I'll try to find something when I go home...

~~~

2 days later

It's 17.20 and I'm still at the office.

"Can u please shut it up? It's distracting me!" Carlos says about my phone, since it's been buzzing for the past 5 minutes, and since I'm standing just right above his head and my phone is on his desk

"I'm sorry, it's Malcolm, we were supposed to meet outside at 17.10..."

"Just pick it up!" he says, trying not to yell and I immediately do it

"Hey, I know I'm late, but the power went out at some point and we lost important files that we have to retrieve..."

"U could have let me know..." Malcolm says kinda irritated

"Yeah, I know, I lost track of time..."

"How long will it take u?"

"I honestly don't know, maybe u shouldn't wait..."

"Pfft, fine... Will u come later?"

"I will yeah. I'll call u..."

"Alright, I'll wait..." he says and then we hang up

"Everything ok?" Carlos asks

"Yeah he just got a little mad that I didn't let him know..."

"I'm sorry for keeping u, but we have to do it..."

"I know, don't worry. This is important..." I say and he looks at me pleased

We end up spending a couple more hours in the office, because we couldn't retrieve all of the information we lost, so we had to create files all over again. I actually took work home for the first time so far, which I'll end up doing in the middle of the night, since I had promised Malcolm I will go find him when I'm done, and that's what I did; I went to his place with take out, we ate, talked a little, started a movie which we never finished, for obvious reasons, and then I left. Of course he didn't like it one bit, but I explained to him that I have work to do and he backed off.

When I got home, I didn't even take my clothes off because I knew that if I went to my bedroom to change, I would just fall head first to the bed, so I just stayed in the living room with my laptop. Unfortunately, I fell asleep before I could finish. I tried to do some work before leaving the house, but I have set the alarm at a time that leaves me time only to get ready.

"Good morning..." I say when I get in the office with a big cup of coffee in my hands and my sunglasses still on

"U were up all night too?" Carlos asks, sounding just as tired as me

"Yep! But I didn't finish, I fell asleep at some point..." I answer, sitting at my chair

"Yeah, me too...don't worry, I postponed our appointments for today, we're good"

"What? Why?"

"Because look at us! We can barely keep our eyes open..."

"U're not wrong... But why didn't u tell me to do it? I'm your assistant after all"

"Well, u had a lot to do already and all I did was to send a couple of texts"

"I didn't say it was difficult, but I'm your assistant and it's my job to do that, u shouldn't have to do my job just because I had other things to do too..."

"Well, next time think about it first, then so I don't have to!" he says looking at me irritated, but not yelling, making me feel like crap

"Copy that..." I finally say, taking my sunglasses off and putting my eye glasses on

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that..." he says after sighing

"No, no, u're right! I should have thought about it! I'm here to make your life easier and I failed to do so today..."

"U didn't fail... U didn't know I would be a mess too. For all u knew, I was sound asleep while u fought to keep your eyes open!"

"I know u better than that..."

"The point is, it's not your fault. I've pulled all-nighters before and I was just fine the next morning. But I guess this week has wrecked us with power shutting down every now and then!"

"What's up with that anyway? I heard people lost very valuable files! This is unacceptable!"

"Tori talked to the power company, there was a problem in their servers, but now it's under control. They promised it's over..."

"We'll see about that...my calves are killing me with all these stairs! And I'm a dancer!"

"U've really been using the stairs?"

"Well, duh! I don't want the power to go out while I'm in there!"

"Are u afraid?" he asks smirking

"Don't act like it's an irrational fear! But I'm not having panic attacks or something, I just don't like being closed in confined spaces for long!"

"Well, if the power doesn't go out for the rest of the day, then it's probably safe to use the elevator to leave..."

"I guess...anyway, I'll continue what I was doing before falling asleep!"

"Yeah, me too... And don't take it personally if I lash out again, it's not about u!"

"I know..." I say smiling, before turning my focus on my work