Not Until Then

Not Until Then Chapter 2

My head was pounding hard against my skull. The sudden shrill ring of my alarm didn’t help that. With a groan, I grabbed my alarm clock from my bedside table and threw it across the room. I heard it crumble on the floor. I was developing a bad habit of throwing things against the wall.

I buried myself in my comforter, trying to find sleep despite the unbearable throbbing sensation in my skull. It took time and meters of patience, but it came. With effort, I succumbed to the comfort of the abyss…

My phone rang. “Dammit,” I cursed and reached for my phone. It took all of me to resist throwing it against the wall. I answered it immediately, not checking the caller ID, more concerned about silencing it than anything, “I can’t make it to work.” I muttered, assuming it was Jane. Well, it wasn’t.

“Why not?” My Dad’s deep voice sent my eyes fluttering open.

“Dad.” I pulled myself upright so that I was sitting on my bed, my head spinning torturously with the effort.

“Yes, why can you not make it to work? It reached me that you weren’t in your office the whole day yesterday.” He announced.

Of course, he’d know that. I quickly set up a rationale but “I was out,” was all I was able to attain.

“Obviously.” I could tell that he was growing impatient now. “We won’t argue about that; done’s done. Now I want to know why you can’t make it to work.” He said, his voice implying no nonsense.

“I can.” I blurted a little too louder than necessary, and immediately regretted it when my head pounded again. This was going to be a long day.

“Well, you’re late.” He said flatly. “Tia called Jane and she said you weren’t in yet. That was an hour ago. Hadn’t Jane called you?”

“Um,” I removed my phone off my ears for a moment to check my missed calls, and then put it back on, “yeah, she did. But I missed it.” I provided honestly.

“You missed it?” He sounded displeased. One thing Dad taught me was to never miss a call, never reject a call, and never turn my phone off. He said it was a prerequisite in a successful business.

“Yeah, I was in the shower.” I reasoned with crossed fingers.

There was a moment of silence. I heard a deep sigh from the other line. “I need you here now, Ms. Michaels.” He said in a business tone. “You need to… meet someone.”

I didn’t have to ask to know who it was. “I’ll be there in a few.” I declared and hung up.

After about thirty minutes, I was dressed for work. I slipped on my huge sunglasses and drove off. It seemed that the throbbing in my head was determined to accompany me for the whole day. Keeping a steady hand on the steering wheel, I used my other hand to phone Austin. He answered mid-ring. “What do you want?” He groaned.

I laughed. “You’re not going to work, are you?”