Business call

By the time Cassy and Leo arrive at his apartment, his head is throbbing. He couldn't remember a time he'd been hit so quickly. A couple hours ago, he'd felt just fine.

"Mm-hmm." He nods groggily. "I'll be alright. I'll... call you in the morning or something about my car."

Opening the door, he pauses and turns to look at Cassy one last time. "Thanks... and sorry I got sick on ya. I'll see ya soon." Sliding out of the car, he shuts the door and gives a little wave, walking slowly up the walk to his apartment. Fumbling for his keys, he finally gets inside and heads straight for his room, ignoring his answering machine and that days mail, along with forgetting to lock the door again. Once in his bedroom, he eases down on the bed, kicking off his shoes and just pulling a blanket over himself, not bothering to get out of his clothes. All he had to do was sleep this off... just... sleep it off...

Once morning comes though, the bug hadn't worn off. Leo hadn't been able to sleep half the night, tossing and turning, first hot, then cold, then hot, then chilled. A fever wasn't helping matters, and by the time his clock is showing 7:00, his head was still pounding. This was all he needed right now, on top of everything else.

Blowing his nose for the umpteenth time, he manages to pry himself from bed. He just had to get up and moving, that was all. Just get up... moving. He sinks back down to sit and stare at the floor. There was no way he could go to work today.

Grabbing a pair of comfortable pants, he finally gets out of his jeans from the night before, and manages to find a clean, baggy t-shirt. He shuffles down the hall in his bare feet to the kitchen phone and after dialing, he just closes his eyes and leans his head on the wall. "Darrel? Leo. Not coming in today."

"You sound terrible."

"Thanks."

"Alright, we'll make do. Take care of yourself."

"Uh-huh." Hanging up, Leo turns to go back to bed, but then stops, cringing. Cassy. His car. Putting a hand to his head to try and stop the dizziness, he picks the phone back up. After misdialing twice, he finally gets it right and waits for her to answer. "Ummm, Cassy?" His voice was a mix of scratchy and stuffed up. "It's Leo, um... don't worry about my car today, okay?" He leans against the wall again, just wanting his pillow. He wasn't in any shape to drive her back home after she brought his car, and he didn't want her to have to worry about it. "I'll, um... figure it out... tomorrow... or something."

He wasn't even sure if he was making sense. "I'll... talk to ya later." Turning around, his hand loses its grip on the phone and he fumbles with it a moment before it clatters to the floor. Groaning, he reaches down to pick it up, only to find that it had ended the call. Oh, well. Cassy knew not to come. There really wasn't any point in calling her back.

Putting the phone back, he trudges back down the hall and flops into bed again.


"Yeah, that Sanders guy canceled both his vehicles, and Greg Yardson postponed the work on his car 'cause of insurance or something."

Eli rolls his eyes. "So we've gone from swamped to having nothing to do."

"Well... not nothing." Tal grins. "But almost. Gary already took the day off."

"Psh." Eli wipes his hands on a rag. "I'm not taking off. I can find something to fill my time."

Tal cocks his head with a sly glint in his eye. "You mean like... bumping up another customer?"

Eli snaps his rag against Tal's arm. "Maybe. You just go take care of that Corvette you're working on." Grinning, he turns and heads to the office to make the call. Sandy was out for a while, so he assumes to chair behind the desk and rolls over to the phone. Flipping through their record book, he finds the right number and dials, waiting. "Yeah, Scarlet? This is Eli McKade." He didn't want to seem cool towards her, but this was a business call. "Got an opening and wondered if you wanted to bring your bike in a few days early, if you can spare it for a couple days. The shop will supply you with a ride back home or whatever if you need it."


Gig coming up.

Jason's thoughts stop.

But... you knew that already, didn't you?

He'd just gotten off the phone with Jen about JetStream's next engagement to play at a spring fundraiser. The profit wouldn't be big, but the band never minded, as long as the rest of the money was going to a good cause.

It had taken a while, but Jason had finally figured out that Katie was hearing much of what he was lately. He wasn't sure when it had started or what was causing it, but he had yet to figure out how to control it. It was like he was a walking microphone, sometimes, but not all the time. He needed to figure out how to stop it, but needed more time to work on it. It could come in handy while working in the field but... when it came to everyday conversations, Jason found it to be somewhat annoying. He'd already emailed his mom once instead of calling her because he'd wanted privacy. He'd tried to keep his annoyance from Katie though, knowing that she couldn't help it. She could cut him off, but that would be painful, every time he just didn't want her to hear something.

Anyway... I hope you don't mind I gave the okay on that date - didn't think you were busy that night.

He swivels in his chair and stands up to rummage through his filing drawer, looking for something for Susanne.

I was thinking about suggesting pizza afterward like we used to do. How's that sound?