Page 51 of A Moment In Time

“I need a big favor.”

“You’re running out of favors, Gage.”

“Can you give me a few hours at the paper? You can trade it for tonight.”

“What do you need help with?”

“Layout. Every week I get a little farther behind. And with St. Patrick’s Day tonight, I won’t be able to work on the paper.”

“Just layout?”

“Yes. I need to finish a couple of articles. And I still need to choose some photos. The classifieds are a mess.”

“Fine. I’ll come in. But this is a onetime thing.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“I’ll be there soon.”

She ended the call, and he put the receiver down. Even with her help, it would be tight. He really didn’t want to come back after working the bar all night. But he would if he had to. He went to work on the articles while he waited for Sydney.

Thirty minutes later, she came through the door with a gust of wind and blowing snow, then removed her coat, hat, and gloves and went to the design computer. She looked at the screen.

“You haven’t even started.”

He was in his office, but the door was open and he could see her at the computer desk. “I told you I was behind.”

She got up and started the coffee machine, then returned to the computer. “And what are you doing?”

“I’ll send what I finished over to you. It’s the second page, first column. The other one will be done soon.”

“And the photos?”

“I’ll get to them. Just leave it blank for now.” His frustration made his response a little harsh, and he glanced at her. “Sorry.”

She nodded her head and got to work.

A few minutes later, he remembered the classifieds needed work. “Can you take a look at the classifieds? Seems everyone wants to sell something this week. The classified ads only came out once a week in the Thursday edition. Which made that edition more popular. He always printed out an extra hundred copies on Thursdays.

They were both quiet as they worked, and Gage wondered if she was glad to be back. If only for the day. He did know he was glad to have her.

For some reason, his brain wasn’t working and Gage was having trouble coming up with the right word for the title of his article. He leaned back in his chair and blew out a breath.

“What’s another word for reflected?”

“Mirrored. Echoed. Manifested.” Sydney was a bit of a walking thesaurus. But he wasn’t happy with any of the choices. She added, “Signaled?”

He read the title using the word signaled. “Yes. That’s it.” He made the correction, then sent the finished article to Sydney’s computer. “I’ll decide on the photos now.”

She looked at him. “Have you eaten today?”

“Um…I had a bowl of cereal around six.”

Sydney cocked her head. “It’s almost one. You need to eat. You’ll think better with some food in your stomach.”

“How do you figure?”

“Your brain needs fuel to work properly.”

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