Chapter 4
The keyboard had been filling up with drool by the time the sky started turning into shades of red. From the second floor, as it was named in this particular building, you could see till the horizon with no obstructions. The canopy formed below the window. The plain stretched in all three directions outside. A mixture of semi-deciduous trees formed a not so lush carpet, revealing only a few of the roads nearby. For a few more days one can see the traffic moving at a distance, then the fresh growth will turn everything into shades of green.
As the artificial lights started polluting the night sky, Zi stirred.
With eyes still closed, she started registering what her senses told her. She expected to feel light headed. Check. She tried to move her jaw. The corner of her mouth felt sticky. That was not expected. Stiff neck, shoulders and back. Check. Her left arm was hanging off the table from below the elbow with the upper arm stuck on the table. Her right elbow was on the keyboard and her screen was bent back alarmingly by the palm resting on it. Both her shoulder joints hurt. Check. Without bothering to open her eyes she directed her back muscles to bear the load and tried to straighten up. A few of the keys were reluctant to let go of her left cheek. Once she was sitting upright she tried to loosen up her arms by gently massaging and then felt the square shaped impressions on her face.
She wanted to pick off the black tape from the webcam but first things first. The laptop needed to be saved. She pressed the power button, making the device shutdown and got up carefully. Her legs were fine. She walked over to the towel stand and brought back a dry one. She folded and placed it on her work table such that some part of the towel hung of the edge. She deftly flipped her laptop and placed the keyboard on the towel, with the screen hang off the edge. Satisfied that the setup was stable, she took a couple of steps to the foot of her bed and tried to sit down, slouching, with her fingers interlocked between her legs. She instead bounced off the bed gently and started pacing to get some blood flowing.
A glass of water seemed nice. As she filled her cup food seemed nicer. Order in or go out? She looked at what she was wearing. Acceptable. She finished the water and took the card out of her purse. Pocketed it in her pants. She tried adding the keys and the mobile and decided to take the backpack instead. Threw everything and some more in it, took her bicycle helmet and locked her door on the way out.
She took the stairs to the ground level parking lot and put on her helmet deciding on a place to eat. She set out, economizing her movements. By the time she used her brakes for the first time she was at her destination a few blocks from her apartment.
A placard on the glass box of an eatery assured her that it was self-service only. She went straight to the token machine, her sneakers not squeaking on the shiny floor. She selected her items and paid with her card. It pushed out a token which she took to the lady at a counter. She stood there for a few minutes, taking in the aromas and the soft lighting. She didn't look around. When her order came she found an empty island, in a sea of one seat islands. Only a handful were occupied. By instinct she had picked one closest to the white wall, giving her a view through the other two glass walls and the open kitchen.
When she was done eating, the only thing on her plate was the question of what happened to her earlier that day. She left it on the tray, to be trashed.
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