euphoria ➞ number five, tua [completed]

CHAPTER NINETEEN - ROCK AND ROLL

"You know I want that home. You know you got that home."

-

CHAPTER NINETEEN — ROCK AND ROLL

I peeked over to Five, his face scrunched up in concentration, biting his lip as he scribbled furiously on a notepad.

"Five!" I hissed, tilting my head to the door.

He nodded, "Gimme a sec."

"Hiya, Five. How's it going?" Dot asked, trying to sneak a peek at Five.

"I must have utter silence in order to complete this task," Five rolled up a piece of paper.

"Oh, okay," Dot stammered, returning back to her typewriter.

Dot peered over again. "Hey, a few of us are having lunch, and I was wondering if you-"

Five cleared his throat as I turned slightly and glared at her.

"-you're doing something," she shrunk back to her chair.

Five glanced at me as he shoved the paper into a tube and stood up, his face unreadable as he turned to glance at me.

"Oh. Bye-bye!" Dot waved as he left.

I stared at Five as he walked past me without a word.

"Hello, Zero! How're you doing?" Dot turned to me.

"If you talk to me again, I will rip out your throat," I growled at her.

"Oh, alright," she continued beaming.

-

-

"I'm sure you've all heard that Mr Five has proven to be as adept with a pen as he was with a sword," the Handler patted Five on the back as Five smiled politely. "Let his effort serve as an inspiration to you all."

Five sat down on his desk, glancing at me momentarily before looking back at the Handler, his fingers tapping on the desk as the Handler continued her speech. "Herb! How long have you been on the Lusitania?"

"Oh, ah... Well, let's see, I, uh... I..." He stammered, obviously embarrassed.

"Sorry?"

"When I first started-"

"Sorry, I can't hear you."

Herb continued mumbling.

The Handler placed a hand by her ear. "Still can't hear you."

A buzzer sounded, signalling lunchtime.

The other employees stood up quickly, hurrying out of the room.

"Oh, Gene, a word before you go to lunch," the Handler smiled. "Gutenberg seems to be having second thoughts about the printing press."

I watched as the rest of them walked out of the room, leaving just me and Five.

I stood up as well, ready to leave.

"Zero."

I looked over at him. "Yes?"

"What did you do?" He looked at me, standing up.

"I-"

"You know what, explain later, I don't have time for this," he shook his head, taking a red file from Dot's file holder and shoving it up to his shirt.

"Five, but I can-"

"We'll talk later, love," he brushed my hand slightly before leaving me alone.