for June

6. A Date with the Devil

Chad lay on his back, atop the covers, his head cradled in his hand over his pillows. He listened to the sounds of the night, to the dull humming of Earth itself. Nothing else stirred that frigid winter night of early July. If he closed his eyes, he'd forget June was in the house too.

The night was young and draped its darkness over him till it chilled him to the bone. He listened for a sign, any sign before stealing out of his room into the hallway to stare at her closed door, which was sparsely furnished and she had a bed to sleep on. Chad walked to the door and listened. She was as quiet as a mouse, not a sound, and for some odd reason, he missed Setal's light purr. It had reminded him he wasn't alone. With June, she was as if a ghost, there but not there. Even at dinner, which had been home delivery from a local fish and chips shop, she'd barely spoken. It was the reason he was having a hard time falling asleep, in case he woke up to find her gone. She hadn't wanted to come.

Chad heard the floor creak somewhere, and he bolted back into his room. Maybe she was awake!

♡

His phone's ringtone woke him up hours later, and he half fell out of bed. The sun was up and he rubbed sleep off his eyes before answering it, too tempted to stay under the warm covers. "Terry," he tried to sound awake.

"Chad." The way Terry spoke was slow, almost calculated. "I'm assuming you've been hard at work, late into the nights to have forgotten our meeting, again."

Chad sprang up, awake. "I did? Oh, holly. Sorry, Terr."

"No." She laughed. It was a rare thing and a dangerous thing, her angry, gritty laugh. She reserved them for his major fuckups. "We have a meeting at eleven, and I'm making sure I don't find you in your pyjamas again."

"You're coming here?" His phone beeped, and as Terry was saying, "I'm in the-" The phone flashed 'LOW BATTERY' and died in his grip.

He coaxed himself out of bed, heading down to find the charger. When he emerged at the foot of the stairs, which led into the lounge and kitchen combined, he saw June huddled up on the sofa with a book and a mug of coffee. He had almost forgotten she was there.

"Hey!" he managed.

"Morning." She pulled the book down and smiled. "Hope you don't mind I made myself some coffee." Chad shook his head, eyeing the book title. "I can make you some too," she offered.

"No." He rolled the phone side to side in his palm. "It's okay, I'll make some. I was on the phone with my ed... boss, and the phone died." He pointed to the charging station on the kitchen benchtop next to the coffee machine like a child, though it was out of her sight. "I should charge it so I can call her back."

"Hope you're not late for work. What is it you do, anyway? I've always wondered." She smiled at him.

"I work from home." He rushed to the kitchen and struggled to dock his energy sapped phone. "Umm..." Quick, come up with something! His mind couldn't come up with anything, however. He was still trying to wake up, for God's sake. "I... uh..." 

"You don't have to tell me. Never mind. I shouldn't have asked." She bit her lip, remorseful. Maybe Chad didn't want to tell her, and that was okay. She returned to the book, hoping he wasn't offended, or worse. She'd found the book on one of the many bookshelves in the hallway upstairs and picked it up this morning since she had nothing to do.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Chad sipped coffee from his mug as he waited for his phone to return to life, impatient. He called Terry as soon as the phone came back to life. But, he wouldn't let Terry get much more than a few words so that June wouldn't overhear the conversation, nor find out how miserably he was failing at his job. A job he couldn't tell her about.