Page 210 of Time Stops With You

Nardi’s stubbornness won’t lead to anything good. How do I navigate this in a way that won’t damage her further?

The door to my bedroom opens and closes softly. Every cell in my body strains to look at Nardi, but I force myself to continue typing on the computer as if I don’t hear her moving around.

Her footsteps patter closer and my breath quickens. At this point, I have no idea what I’m typing. My brain has deleted every computational synapse.

“It’s freezing in here,” Nardi says from close by.

“You can adjust the thermostat.”

“Can you show me how?” she asks.

I woodenly get up, walk to the thermostat, raise it and then march back to my chair, giving her a wide berth.

“Thanks, Cullen,” Nardi says sweetly.

I remain quiet, eyes glued to the monitor as if my life depends on it.

A moment later, my chair dips slightly to the left and Nardi’s sweet fragrance fills the air. “What are you doing?”

With her leaning on my rickety chair, I can’tnotlook at her.

But when I twist my head around to take her in, I really wish I hadn’t. Nardi’s wearing one of my T-shirts and the hem falls around mid-thigh, leaving all of her legs bare. My eyes greedily drink in the sight of my shirt on her. Satisfaction pumps through my veins. The caveman side of me thumps his chest possessively.My T-shirt. My girl.

I’m going insane.

Nardi sees me looking and smiles. “I didn’t bring a nightshirt, so I used yours. It was really comfortable.”

I inhale deeply and think about foundational principles of programming.

Single responsibility:A class should have a single, well-defined responsibility or function.

“It’s super cute on me, right?” Nardi steps back and spins in the T-shirt. The higher the hem goes, the higher my certainty that she’s not wearing shorts under that T-shirt becomes.

My fingers dig into the handle of the chair.

Dependency inversion principle:Depend on abstractions instead of implementations.

Nardi pouts. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

“When are you leaving?” I demand tightly.

“For work? Or from your house?”

“Both,” I spit through gritted teeth.

“I’m quitting my job,” Nardi says.

I startle and the chair lurches backward. “What?”

“Technically, I’m going to hand in my resignation,” she explains.

“Why?”

“Why?” She pushes out her lips in contemplation. “Because it’s always been my dream to cook for a living, but I couldn’t fully take the risk of running my own business when I had Josiah’s school fees and rent to pay. Now that you’ve basically taken care of Josiah’s future and I don’thaveto stay at my job, I want to give running my own business a go.”

The decision feels so sudden that I can’t wipe the shock from my face.

Nardi laughs softly. “Why are you so surprised? You knew I listened to business podcasts.”

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