three

I know he's not in school but I don't know where he works, if he works. But I do know that he's quiet and sweet and does whatever chores I ask of him.

Right now that chore is cleaning up the kitchen - Maya made a mess when she had lunch - and for me, taking care of another walk-in, a middle-aged man who needs a cover-up. He takes off his suit jacket and button-down to show me the badly-designed and badly-tattooed black and white Jesus on the cross on his upper arm.

( That's terrible, I say, before I can stop myself. )

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total words: 4078

four

I fetch my technomancer client's design from the office, and there he is, sitting in my desk chair, scrolling through pictures of landscapes on my computer.

"Boo," I say. I snicker when he startles, and then I feel bad. "Thanks for cleaning up. What are you looking at?"

"I'm sorry," Kay says, closing the browser window in a hurry, as if he's looking at something embarrassing. "Beaches."

( I have a client in a few minutes. )

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total words: 6963