Page 13 of Crude Heir

As she returns to her desk, a light frown on her face, I can’t shake the feeling there may be more I’m missing. What I got to see about Nicole Fuentes is nothing near what I was looking for. So I already figured out there’s more to her than what meets the eye. I just can’t help but wonder if there are more layers.

With that in mind, I prepare to engage.

* * *

Nicole

A few seconds have ticked away, letting me drift to the edge of consciousness. Then the alarm blares, jolting me back to awareness. I push myself up from the bed, stifling a yawn. I’m mostly on autopilot after such a short break.

The alarm’s persistent trill grates on my nerves. I rush back to my desk, pressing the stop button before I wake the neighbor’s baby. The walls are paper thin. At this hour, any noise would sound like it’s inside their own apartment. The sounds are clear enough that I likely got to hear when they made that child.

I turn to my laptop and squint at the message in the middle of the screen.

System reset starting in 2 minutes. Save your work and log out.

Now I’m fully awake. “Damn it!” My heart sinks. That’s the last thing I wanted to happen. I glance to the lower right-hand corner. It’s past midnight. I click on the menu then click on the link to export the data, so I know what I covered the last few hours.

Seconds later, the spreadsheet comes up, but it’s only the outline. The sheet flickers.

“No, no, no!” Then the message every analyst dreads appears beside the title: Not Responding. My temper flares. “Derrick, you…” I can’t even think of a properly vile word for the IT Director. “Argh! Screw you and the megabyte you rode in on.” I just lost everything I managed to review on that AFE—the biggest one they have in South Texas so far. Couldn’t he have given me more notice before shutting me down?

The messenger app pops up with a message from Derrick.

I was hoping to catch you before the system kicked you out.

So he wasn’t the one who caused the screen to freeze.Too late,I type, letting him know that at this point I’m screwed.

Trouble on the West Coast. The system locked up on them so I’m going to have to reset the server and do some troubleshooting on the back end.

Oh.Now I feel guilty for cursing at him, even if he’ll never know.

Did you get to clear out the invoices you needed?

I set my teeth at the corner of my bottom lip.I got a lot done.I type out the half-truth and hit enter. Wait, can he see what I had open? Panic kicks in.I was in the middle of reviewing overall cost on an AFE,I add quickly, just in case,but the download got stuck.

You may end up losing that.

The realization sinks in, making my shoulders slump in defeat.

That’s the issue they’re dealing with.

It’s kind of sad to think that there’s someone else up and working at this hour. Though on the West Coast, they’re two hours behind and they probably didn’t start their shift at 7:00 am.Well, at least it was one AFE I lost and not everything.

It’s fate, Nicole. You’re supposed to go to bed.

His words strike a chord, making me chuckle to myself. Who would have thought I’d be talking to Derrick Stockton about going to bed? The unexpected image of bringing him down on the bed with me fills my mind. Yeah, like that would happen. I sigh, shaking off the absurd thought.

I suppose you’re right,I reply, with a mixture of resignation and amusement.What about you? How long are you going to be stuck fixing this?If I’m lucky, just a quick reset. I might stillbe able to put in some time and make the most of the unexpected opportunity. It’s not often I can work without having anybody question the hours I’m keeping.

It’ll be at least a few hours.

Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.So, I won’t be able to log on?I ask, hoping against hope, because another opportunity like this one isn’t going to come around any time soon, if ever.

You’ll have to make do with the extra hours you already got.

I give a heavy sigh and reluctantly start typing out my reply.Okay. I’ll go ahead and call it a night. Thanks!

He closes the chat window right away. The spreadsheet with all the information I need is still on the screen, mocking me with a gray frame. I can’t bring myself to hit the X on the upper corner. It would mean I’ve given up on the possibility of salvaging the progress I’ve made on this review. It’s the best base model of the expenses they have. The example I can use to run against the rest of the AFEs for the area.

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