Nickels

by Karen Baney

  “Chill. I’m just teasing.”

  The lack of sleep and long hours were getting to her. She had no patience left to deal with him. She pointed to her cube entrance until he left.

  Sitting back in her chair, Niki turned her anger towards the code. Earphones in, she attacked the keyboard, knocking out an amazing volume of code before lunch. Taking but a few minutes to eat in the break room, she returned to work.

  Around seven in the evening, she stopped long enough to order pizza for the team. After munching on two slices, she worked until her eyes were too bleary to work any longer—sometime around one in the morning. She drove the mile to her hotel. She trudged down the hall to her room. Once inside, she set the hotel alarm and her phone’s alarm for five in the morning. Then she fell into bed.

  The loud buzzing of two alarms jolted Niki from the hard bed. She smacked the hotel alarm hard. Tapping her phone mindlessly, she got that one off, too. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she got ready for the day.

  An hour later, she sat in her cube staring at the code. Her head hurt. She was beat. Only three more days, then she could sleep for a week. Well, not really. She could only sleep in on the weekend. That’s why they had to get this done for Friday. She needed time to recuperate before the big day.

  A meeting reminder popped up on her screen. She didn’t remember accepting a meeting invite for so early in the morning. Opening it, she groaned. Todd called a status meeting for seven. How had she missed that? She rubbed her temples, trying to formulate what she would report.

  She walked the cubes to see if everyone else was here already. Drat. Only Scott and Chris. A roundtable update was out of the question. Oh well. She had a good idea of everyone’s progress.

  She went to the break room to grab a coffee—her third one—before the meeting. It was brewing a fresh pot. Niki tapped her foot impatiently and rubbed her temples again. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with something. She didn’t have time to be sick.

  “Headache?”

  She opened her eyes to Kyle hovering nearby.

  “Only the one standing in front of me.”

  He laughed which only irritated her more. She reached for the coffee the second it stopped brewing and poured a half cup. Then she proceeded to open half a dozen French vanilla creamers, bringing the liquid to the rim. Kyle glanced into her cup before she secured the lid.

  “Little coffee with your creamer?”

  She grunted, in no mood for his cheery personality this morning.

  Once in the conference room, Niki silently sipped the sweet coffee as she waited for the other attendees to enter. Todd sat down directly across from her—a bad sign. He had a habit of sitting directly across from whomever he was about to scold. And since he called this meeting…

  Just get this over with.

  Todd started the meeting by asking her for a status report as she expected. She obliged, careful not to overstate their progress. As the meeting wound down, she started to feel relieved. Perhaps she wasn’t in trouble after all.

  “When were you planning to load the code to the simulator?” Todd asked.

  “Friday morning,” Niki replied since that was the date they agreed on last week.

  “Unacceptable.”

  She brought her hand down on the table, regretting the force because of the stinging it left behind. “That’s the timing we’ve always discussed.”

  “I need to see it in action on Thursday morning.”

  “Why the sudden change?” Kyle asked.

  “I need to make sure Niki is not lying about how far along they are,” Todd said, his voice dripping with disdain. “Thursday morning will give me time to make other arrangements.”

  “Niki may be many things, but she is not a liar,” Kyle replied. The only indication of his irritation was the tick in his jaw.

  “You’re entitled to your opinion.”

  “We are prepared for Friday morning,” Niki stated. “Not Thursday morning.”

  “If you want to keep your job, you’ll have it ready on Thursday morning,” Todd said.

  “Are you threatening me?” She asked, her voice rising in volume.

  “Just stating the facts. Now, are there any outstanding items we haven’t covered?”

  The meeting concluded shortly after Todd’s condescending threat. She was fed up with him. For some reason, unknown to her, it seemed like he had it out for her. She was trying as hard as she could to go above and beyond to meet the deadline. Yet, he appeared to go above and beyond to throw up obstacles.

  She sighed and headed back to her cube.

  As she neared her cube, she felt lightheaded. Leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes, waiting for the feeling to pass. She could not get sick. Not now.

  “Are you alright?” Kyle asked.

  “Fine.”

  “You look really pale. How much sleep have you been getting?”

  “A couple hours.”

  “Like six?” At the shake of her head, he tried again. “Five? Four? Less than four?”

  She finally nodded.

  “You shouldn’t push yourself like that.”

  Her eyes still closed, she leaned her head back against the wall. Her voice sounded weak to her own ears. “What else can I do?”

  “Let others help you.”

  She snorted then managed a lame smile. “It’s okay. It’s all billable time.”

  “You can’t bill it if you’re in the hospital,” Kyle replied, grabbing her arm. “Here, sit down.” He helped her to her chair.

  Once seated, she finally opened her eyes. He looked really concerned. Just how bad did she look?

  “When is the last time you ate?”

  “Last night around seven, I think.”

  “Wait here,” he said.

  Like she was going anywhere.

  When he returned, he handed her two protein bars. “Here, eat these.”

  “Kyle—”

  “Both of them.” He folded his arms across his broad chest.

  He looked pretty handsome standing like that. Her stomach did that little flutter thing, just like it had when he took her to the movies.

  She must be delirious.

  Taking the protein bars, she ate the first one. It was actually pretty good. Chocolate. Mmm. The lightheadedness started to ease off some. She turned back towards her computer, until Kyle cleared his throat. Was he really going to stand there until she ate the other protein bar?

  The look in his eyes said yes. Niki unwrapped it and shoved half of it in her mouth making deliberately loud chewing noises. Swallowing, she went for the other half. As she was almost done, she said with her mouth full, “Satisfied, Dad?”

  “Lay off the coffee,” he said as he left.

  The rest of the day flew by as she worked on the code between shooting questions off to Alan and Kyle. She was making good progress, but it wasn’t enough, especially now that Todd just cut a day off her schedule.

  After the sun went down—at least she thought it went down, there were no windows, it just felt like it must have gone down—Doug IM’d her.

  Quittin time.

  Niki looked at the clock. Nine.

  You guys go. I’m staying for a while yet.

  You need to go. Get some sleep. Doug shot back.

  Can’t. Got to finish this.

  He sent an emoticon of an angry face. You should go.

  No.

  Then he signed off.

  He didn’t understand. No one really did. This was her first big project. She couldn’t let it fail. She had to make this work. Challenges were but obstacles to be overcome by skipping sleep and meals. She could keep up this pace for a few more days and still survive. She was sure of it.

  Sometime later she lifted her head from her arms where she rested it just for a minute. She felt a little better. Staring at the code, she remembered that she’d been about to call Kyle to ask a question. She dug her phone from her purse and hit the speed dial for his cell phone. It rang and rang and
rang.

  Come on. Pick up.

  Voicemail. She hung up without leaving a message. Then she called his home phone. On the third ring he finally picked up.

  “Hello?” a sleepy sounding Kyle answered.

  “It’s Niki. Can I—”

  “Niki? It’s one in the morning. I thought I told you not to abuse having my phone number.”

  She was dumbfounded. It couldn’t be that late. “It’s one?”

  “Where are you?”

  She didn’t want to answer. She already knew he’d be ticked.

  “Are you still at the office?”

  “Yes, but I need to—”

  “Alone?”

  “I think so.”

  “You’re insane. Go home. Whatever it is can wait for the morning.”

  “Don’t hang up. I really need your help on this one. I’ll finish it up then go home… Er, to my hotel.”

  “You’re not even going home anymore?”

  “Please, save me the lecture. I just need your help.” She blurted out the question and waited for his answer.

  “If I tell you, will you promise to leave? Soon?”

  “Yes.”

  He answered her question then hung up.

  She stood and stretched then took out her ponytail, tired of the heavy constrained weight. She slipped off her shoes before sitting back down.

  Popping in her headphones, she turned the volume way up. She saw what changes she should make based on Kyle’s expert opinion. She went to work burning up the keyboard.

  She wasn’t sure how long she’d been there, only that her back was sore and she felt stiff. But she kept going.

  At the touch of someone’s hand on her arm, she screamed and jumped up, knocking her iPhone to the floor and loosening the headphones from her ears. Hand over her heart she turned towards a very angry Kyle.

  “You didn’t go home.”

  It wasn’t a question. Judging by his clean shaven face and fresh outfit, he was here to start his day.

  Niki ran her hands through her hair, pulling it over her right shoulder. “I’m almost done. Then I was going.”

  “It’s seven in the morning!”

  Her jaw dropped. “That’s impossible. I just spoke to you a little bit ago.”

  “Grab your stuff.”

  “What?”

  “Now!” Kyle’s voice boomed, brooking no argument. “And check in your code, or whatever it is you do so the other engineers can work on it.”

  She clicked on a few things, saving her work and then checked it into the code repository. Then she slipped on her shoes and grabbed her purse and laptop.

  Kyle took her hand and led her down the hall to the front entrance, passing Doug on the way in.

  “Didn’t you go home?” Doug’s voice echoed behind her as Kyle dragged her out to the bright sunlight. She squinted.

  “Kyle, what are you doing?”

  “Where’s your hotel?”

  “I can’t—”

  “Where is it? Unless you want me to just pick one and you can wear the same clothes later.”

  She told him. Why was he being so pigheaded? She had less than twenty-four hours to get this thing done.

  He loaded her stuff in the back seat of his truck. “Get in.”

  Niki complied.

  He pulled in front of her hotel and opened her door. Then he picked up all her stuff from the back seat and clutched her hand. He dragged her through the lobby.

  “What’s your room number?”

  “124.”

  He led her down the hall to her room. He took her shoulders and turned her to face the door and told her to open it. He held the door open as she stepped in. Then he pointed to the bed.

  “Sit.”

  Niki did as he said, fearing what he was about to say.

  “Listen up. And listen real good. You’re a smart woman, but right now you’re acting stupid.”

  Did he just acknowledge she was a woman and a smart one at that? She smiled at the thought and he misinterpreted her expression.

  “I’m serious. You’re not thinking. You’re working yourself way too hard. You’re gonna get sick or worse—you’re gonna end up in the hospital. I won’t let that happen.”

  Okay, that got under her skin.

  “You won’t let that happen. What gives you the right?”

  “I’m not going to stand by and watch someone I care…” He wiped his hand across his face as he paced back and forth in front of her. “A friend… I’m not going to let you do this to yourself!”

  Kyle threw his hands in the air in exasperation.

  “So, here’s the deal, Nicole. You are going to go to bed and get some sleep. Then, when I’m good and ready, I’ll come back and pick you up and not a minute before I think you’ve had enough rest. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir, Lieutenant Jacobs,” she said saluting him. “Whatever you say, sir!”

  He glowered at her before he left, slamming the door against the wall on his way out.

  She definitely touched a nerve with that one. Good. Let him stew for his controlling behavior. She was not one of his lackeys that he could command to do this or that. In fact, she had no intention of waiting for him to return. She would get a few hours sleep. Then she’d call a cab, or maybe Jake, to come pick her up.

  Kyle took a deep breath as he got back into his truck. The engine roared to life and he punched on the AC, but left it in park.

  He almost blew it. Almost told her he had feelings for her.

  Not that it would matter. She wasn’t acting rationally right now.

  When he came into the office and saw her sitting there, shoulders drooped and still in the same clothes as yesterday, he lost it. There was no way he was going to let her work herself to her grave. Their work was important—just not that important.

  He shifted into drive and pulled out from the hotel parking lot. He needed to calm down. He wasn’t even sure why her obsession over this deadline bothered him so much.

  Maybe he felt a little guilty for not staying as long as she did. He didn’t have the stamina or energy to pull a stunt like that.

  But, that wasn’t it.

  He did care for her. A lot. Even more now that he knew her—the real her. He had let go of the image he created from high school. That disappeared weeks ago. Instead, it was replaced by the reality of who she was now. A strong, capable, driven woman who would stop short of nothing but her best.

  Only she couldn’t even see that she was too sleep deprived to be giving her best now. If she wasn’t careful, she would make herself sick or end up in the hospital. He refused to stand by and watch her do it.

  Hopefully, she took his warning seriously and would stay at the hotel until he came back for her this afternoon. It was her best interest he had in mind. He wasn’t trying to be a controlling jerk, though he thought she may have taken it that way.

  Chapter 17

  Niki smiled as she walked back into the Helitronics’ building shortly before one in the afternoon. She called Jake at noon, asking him to pick her up at twelve-thirty on his lunch break. Take that Kyle Jacobs.

  She shouldn’t get too upset. He was right about her needing some sleep. But with her venti iced mocha, and a few hours of sleep, she felt much better. She was even more pleased with herself when Kyle walked out of the break room right as she walked by.

  “Kyle,” she greeted coyly.

  “Nicole.”

  No way was he going to get a rise out of her that easily. She dropped her stuff off in her cube before going to see Doug.

  “Where are we at?” she asked.

  “I’m not supposed to talk to you,” Doug replied.

  “Says who?”

  “Kyle.”

  “We don’t have any time to waste. Where are we?”

  Doug caved, giving her the rundown of their status. “We’re getting ready to load up the simulator now. Should be ready in ten minutes. Then we all get to stare at Kyle while he flies this thing and we take n
otes.”

  She beamed. Thank goodness they got so far along. That would give them tomorrow to work out a few kinks before the final test on Friday.

  Kyle made his way to the simulator room. The time had come for him to face this. He’d been avoiding it for as long as he could. But, Niki’s team would be loading their code into the simulator in the next half hour. It was time for him to get familiar with the controls.

  As he slid into the pilot’s chair, he swallowed hard. He could almost hear Brad’s voice sitting next to him reading off the preflight checklist.

  He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat.

  “You’ll be my best man, right?” Brad said with excitement coating his words.

  “Of course,” Kyle replied before continuing through the checklist.

  “Amy can hardly wait. She wants a fall wedding, but I can’t get leave until spring. She’s disappointed.”

  He read off the next set of checklist items.

  “I asked her if she wanted to wait until next fall. She told me, ‘Babe, if it ain’t this fall, then it’ll be the day after you come home.’”

  “Sounds like she’s handling it fine.”

  “Yeah. Just wish I would have married her before I left.” Brad’s voice took on a far-away tenor.

  Kyle finished up the checklist and started the engine.

  “Mount up guys,” Brad shouted to the rest of their CSAR team. “We’ve got work to do.”

  The flight to the northern mountains of Iraq passed uneventfully. There were several congratulations to Brad on his pending nuptials. Then the crew settled down.

  “I have visual,” Brad said. “Twelve o’clock right at the base of that cliff.”

  “I see him,” Kyle replied.

  Carefully, he maneuvered the helicopter as close to the cliff as he could while still maintaining a safe distance. The first rescuer dropped the zip line and went down.

  “Unconscious. Air Force Lieutenant. Name on tags says Davenport. This is our guy,” the man on the ground said.

  Two more men repelled down to the ground.

  Kyle suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He hated the feeling that something was off. Quickly, his eyes darted over the instruments. Everything looked fine. But, he still couldn’t shake the unsettled feeling.