Blame: Book 2- Tick Tock (The Sequel to Book 1)

Kyle Said So

     "It's fucking stupid, I know," I opened my computer back up, and began to resume my work.

     "HELL YEAH! Let's do it!" the protégé's hand slammed down my computer, nearly crushing my hand. 'Teenagers,' I shook my head, quietly chuckling.

     "You need help?" I offered, looking at the small window in my office door to make sure no one spotted our escape attempt.

"Dan, please, I'm seventeen, I'll be fine," she scoffed, quietly laughing straight after. "Do you need help? I mean, you might be a bit big to fit through this space," Alicia teased. "After all, you're twenty-nine now, right?"

"Excuse me!" I snapped sassily, "I certainly can fit through that window!"

"I'd like to see you try," the apprentice giggled from outside my office window.

"Challenge accepted!"

I told Alicia to wait a second while I finished up the file, additionally writing a note for Detective Orton, just in case. 'Hope I don't get fired on my birthday,' my eyes stared out the little window of the door, catching a glimpse of Hannah and the other bitchy desk lady chatting outside in the hallway. 'Okay, now's my chance! Just can't let them see me.' I crouched down, attempting to crawl past the door as quietly as possible. But the only dilemma was that the window on the door had been built in the middle; it was narrow but tall in height. 'Crawling's not gonna work, those two can easily spot me. I need to try something else.'

I had to do it. Embarrassing myself was better than being trapped in this room. 'Just do it, Dan, it's only Alicia who's watching right?' I glanced at the confused girl outside my window, sighing as I gave in to my only option. Letting Kyle think he was able to keep us in here was worse than embarrassing myself in front of a teenage girl. And so, I got down on my stomach, flat as a board, here I go- I was going to drag myself across the carpet using my arms and butt. 'Moving like an inchworm, great.' My face swiftly went from worried to utterly mortified, but all I could hope was that Alicia wasn't secretly filming me with her phone.

     So, inch by inch, I painfully, and embarrassingly, inched my way to the other side of the door. 'These are the worst thirty seconds of my life! Thanks a lot, Kyle!' I had to go to certain lengths, like forcing myself into believing that David Lynch was waiting on the other side for me, otherwise I most likely wouldn't have budged. The process of being an inchworm was harder than I thought; my sight had to be on both Alicia and the two front desk women. And each time the young protégé dared to whisk out her phone, I shot a glare, making sure she wouldn't take a single shot of me dragging my ass across the carpet.

"Dan? What the hell are you doing?" Alicia made an uncomfortable face, about to giggle at the strange sight. 'I wish you'd understand how hard is it for a tall dude like me to stay under the radar,' I got up, kneeling as I brushed off any dust or dirt particles from my "I Killed Laura Palmer" t-shirt.

"If only you knew how hard it is to be an inchworm," my mouth let out a puff of frustration, and Alicia burst out laughing at my remark.

     "Well, hurry up!" the apprentice exaggerated her impatience.

     "Okay, okay!" I chuckled at the teenager.

     My hands gripped the bottom of the frame of the windowsill, and I gathered up courage and momentum to swing a leg over. 'I'm not the most athletic or flexible,' I silently sighed. 'Just pretend you're riding a horse,' I convinced myself to believe. Minutes passed, and I managed to fit myself through the medium sized frame, luckily doing it in a non-embarrassing fashion. 'I really hope Alicia didn't take a video or picture...' my head turned to see that the teenager was crossing her arms impatiently, the complete opposite of what I'd thought she do. What a relief.