(REWRITING) The Skylar Experiment : Coveting

10. Road to Columbus

"I didn't know you can sing!" Lauren exclaimed over the noise, doubling over from giggling. 

He winked. "Of course, I can! I can do anything, Wikie!"

"We won't have any voice left by the time we see Micheal!" she yelled. 

"Who cares? It's worth it!"

***

"Are you a computer keyboard? Because you're so my type," Raymond whispered seductively in her ear. 

She winced. "Eh. Five out of ten. It could work but I don't know, it's pretty basic if you ask me. Now, quit distracting me from my screen."

"No, wait, I have another one. Are your pants a compressed file? 'Cause I'd love to unzip them."

"Ew, that's just vulgar."

She tried to swat him off and roll her chair closer to her station, but he only had one objective on his mind: testing out his lame pick-up lines on a female. He teetered in a fragile stability on his seat to whisper to her, almost falling off of it. She could nudge him and he'd slip...

"Computer techs have skilled fingers if you know what I mean..."

Lauren removed her hands from the keyboard, sending him an exasperated look. "You. Are. Nasty."

He huffed. "You haven't seen nasty. Not that you ever will."

"If you stop this, I'll buy you lunch," she offered. "Just... please, let me focus, for the love of God!"

"Deal. You're buying me a sandwich and a ton of brownies, you hear me?" Raymond straightened and took position in front of his computer. "By the way, your coding's a little off."

"What?"

He pointed a finger at a precise point on her monitor. "You mistyped a Java line here."

"Oh. Thanks." She corrected it. 

The programming would be converted into binary through Compiler and then be executed. Her exercise today was to make a sophisticated version of the game Connect Four using any progamming language she liked. Raymond tested on his part the solidity of an antivirus software and created new viruses to try and find weaknesses. All that without breaking a sweat. 

They resided in a private room near Micheal's personal office, away from the rest of the workers. Human employees knew about young relatives visiting the building like a frequent version of bring your kid to work day, but the kids had to be discreet. After all, teenagers normally didn't understand computer programming so soon. 

Micheal paid each of them a hotel room in a building nearby whenever they traveled to Ohio, that way they stayed for several days without driving all night. At that moment, the man strolled inside with three steaming cups on a carton cupholder. 

"How's it going, kids? I didn't have the time to see you clocking in earlier, so I hope the hot chocolate from the coffee shop downstairs will redeem me."

Lauren plucked a cup and carefully distanced herself from the monitor. "Oh, you are most definitely forgiven." She sipped through the plastic hole, closing her eyes as the whipped cream left a white trace on her upper lip. "Yes."

Raymond picked another cup. His face twisted after swallowing once. "Shit, it's bitter as hell."

"You found my coffee." Micheal exchanged the cups. "I like it black and coarse."

Raymond shuddered, the taste still stuck in his throat. "You're a sick fuck, old man."

"Language, boy." The man gave him a warning look. "You should take notes from Lauren. She's my number one little lady."

Raymond rolled his eyes, clearly displeased to be compared while Lauren smiled in satisfaction. She fanned her eyelashes theatrically, mimicking a crown over her head, and he muttered something about wearing a dress next time to get the favor treatment. 

Micheal extracted a folder from his suit jacket and dropped it on an uncluttered area of the desk. 

"I also came here to give an extra task to one of you. Since Raymond's being so lovely, my choice is made and the honor's all yours. Open it, they're just instructions to follow. One of my employees couldn't come in and this has to be done today."

Raymond reached for the folder with a leery arm and paged through it, frowning. After taking a minute to read it, he threw file back on the desk and glared at Micheal. 

"Seriously? This is going to put me on overtime! You're joking, dude."

Micheal affectionately ruffled Lauren's hair and beamed at Raymond. "Then I suggest you start working asap before you stay on it until lockdown. Hurry up if you want to join me and the family out to a restaurant in the evening. Lauren, are you coming?"

She agreed--big surprise there.  As their supervisor marched towards the door, Raymond's arms went up in disbelief. "Man, what the fuck? This is exploitation!"

Micheal ignored the shouts. "Good luck! You are paid for the hours, of course!" He closed the door on his way out. 

Lauren swiveled her chair with a victorious smirk. 

"You're just mad you can't go out partying in the big city and I get to be free in four hours."

Raymond groaned, dropping an elbow on the desktop. "Well, looks like I won't be pausing for lunch if I have to manage this task. You can head down without me, I'll be camping here all afternoon." He cracked his knuckles and stretched his neck, inching closer to the monitor. "Say hi to the family later for me, okay?"

She prepared to leave her station but felt it was mean to leave him drowning in whatever Micheal assigned him. Raymond had initiated her to her first notions of programming, taught her the different computer languages. She was barely ten and eavesdropped on him as he worked on his laptop. He'd scowled after noticing that the munchkin continued to stare and wouldn't go away. 

So he hauled the girl onto his knees and described every action step by step. Surprisingly, she liked it and learned at the speed of light. Raymond had always spared a little time to help her through what he'd learned at her age ever since. When Micheal heard of it, he was delighted and encouraged her down that path.  

"You know what, I'll still buy you lunch and bring it over here." Technically, eating in a computer room was a huge no-no, but if Micheal didn't see it, then it should be fine just this once. "And I'll help you with that chore to get it done faster. Two minds are better than one, right?" 

Raymond smiled appreciatively but shook his head. "Don't bother. It's a tad bit above your capacities. Micheal was going to give it to me, anyways."

"I'll learn as I go if you explain. It's not the first time I crunch the knowledge to keep up," she laughed and rose to her feet, digging through her pocket to retrieve a few bills. "The stupid Connect Four can wait."

He watched her dash out of the cubicle, long hair trailing behind as she turned the corner. A sense of peace and gratitude warmed his chest while he returned to his monitor. That child was too precious for this world.