The Flames that Engulfed Us

Chapter 46: Char and Joe

Lincoln's hand gently rubbed mine as we watched the desk attentively. The receptionist typed annoyingly slow, only using her two pointer fingers. The periodic clicking of the keyboard and the slow speed of everything seemed to be driving all of us, especially C.C., insane. C.C. seemed hard and well, mean. I didn't like it, but I'd made my bed and all that was left was sleeping in it. At least I still had Lincoln next to me.

It was weird listening to people discussing Lincoln as though he didn't exist in the same room. It was weird having him right next to me, leaning on me, also listening to the discussion. I was glad for his hand in mine, his fingers running along the lines on it. I was glad for my body pressed firmly against his.

C.C. didn't seem like he remembered the whole talk we'd just had, laughing at the woman's jokes in our expense. She made one joke about me and Lincoln tensed next to me.

"You should've seen the girl when she first got here. Looked so confused and then she acted like she didn't know anything. You'd think she was stupid. Turns out she's just in love. Same difference."

"They're new. The new ones always do the funniest things."

"I know." She paused. "How old are you even?"

"I died in the sixties."

"I need more than that. AD or BC?"

"1966 AD."

"You're still young."

"Yeah? You're not so old yourself."

"But I lived longer."

"Low blow," C.C. muttered, his old playfulness showing for just a minute. 

"I know," she said, "but I still died before you."

"Not much before," C.C. argued. 

"Like I said. I lived longer."

"And what's that worth?"

"I got married and had kids."

"I supposedly had a kid too."

"So, you got a girl pregnant? That's not having a kid."

"You don't know my life, Char."

"Joe, Joe. I know enough. I don't want to get depressed."

"My life wasn't depressing."

"You died because you choked on clam chowder. You know how hard it is to choke on soup?"

"And you died by what? Being too cool?"

"I didn't know I was allergic!"

"That wasn't an allergy. No one can survive that many pills."

"Well, I couldn't reach my glasses, so I didn't know the dosage. Be easy on an old woman."

"Why would you take the whole bottle? That's like you wanted to die."

"I accidentally spilled it on the floor and what was I going to do? Throw away that much medication? It'd be gross to put it back in the bottle too."

"Come on. Let's just get this transfer done with."

"Fine. I got his file here. Do you have approval, or should I send a request?"

"I got approval."

"Can I see it?"

"I forgot it."

"Joe. Come on. How stupid do you think I am? If you want to talk to me, you don't need these stupid excuses."

"I need this transfer. I don't want to have to make small talk too."