Chapter 1: the big day

“-and in other news the recent-“ CLICK went the TV as it was turned off, ushering in a sudden silence that left the lone occupant of the living room it was located in with a feeling of lukewarm reluctance.

Erica sighed. She would have stayed indoors watching television all day if she could but she had an important presentation that she had to give at work that day. Heaving herself off of her sofa with a disdainful grunt, she made her way to the kitchen table to make sure she had everything she needed in order to be in her best form. Pulling up two chairs, she gave herself plenty of room between the table and the seats and plopped down atop the both of them, trying her best to distribute her weight evenly between the two. Reaching into a tin of cookies that had taken up permanent residence on the tabletop, she munched quietly while she took inventory of the items she had laid out in front of her the night before.

Portfolio, check.

Charts and diagrams, check.

Laser pointer, check.

Flash drive… Where the hell had Erica put her flash drive?! Turning her head to and fro, she rifled through her purse while trying to retrace her steps. She swore she had had it before dinner the previous night… and she had still seen it on the table later on when she was still feeling peckish… and she knew for a fact that it was still there when she had gone down for her midnight snack!

Erica’s heart was starting to beat faster. That flash drive was the most important item out of all the ones she needed! It had her powerpoint presentation on it, her excel spreadsheet, her slideshow… there’s no way she could be that careless!

No way she could be that careless. It suddenly dawned on Erica what might have happened to the dire little piece of plastic and metal.

Digging her phone out of her purse, she pressed Number 2 on the speed dial. The number for her husband.

It only rang twice before he picked up. “Hey babe,” Erica could hear from the other end, “what’s up?”

“Yea, hey,” Erica started, the urgency and stress in her voice apparent even through the phone call, “did you borrow my flash drive again? I need it for today!”

“Ohhh… Oh shit,” she heard him say. Now her heart sank.

“Please please please don’t tell me you took it with you to work!” Erica begged him. Gawd, why did it have to be today of all days? Her husband Darryl only worked one day a week and, of course, it was today. She silently cursed him for taking that stupid job in the first place…

All it was was a one-semester stint at the local community college teaching music theory to bored teenagers and young adults looking for an easy elective for their transcripts. It wasn’t like the job was dangerous or demeaning in any way, it was just… not like they needed the money.

Darryl had had a mildly successful singing and acting career up until his early twenties and hadn’t really worked in almost a decade; he was able to provide just fine for his wife off of collecting royalties, making guest appearances at conventions and the occasional television cameo. Not that Erica needed a provider, though.

Erica had always been the actual breadwinner of the two, an u-and-comer climbing her way up the corporate ladder in the cutthroat world of financing. Her yearly salary was already more than enough to cover a quite lavish lifestyle for the two, capitulated with the large two-story home she had bought for the two of them when they had gotten married.

No, Darryl had gotten this job because he wanted to feel a “sense of purpose” in life after “not being relevant” for the past eight or so years. It made Erica want to roll her eyes. He was being so melodramatic for someone who hadn’t even come close to turning forty yet.

And now this! Erica was almost fuming now, trying her best to keep her voice steady as she held back tears of frustration. This presentation could make or break her entire career…

“Darryl, honey,” she seethed, “I need you to get back here with my flash drive. I need to leave for work. Now,” she iterated.

“Umm, I don’t- Siobhan, put that baton down NOW! I don’t have it with me, honey,” she heard from the other end. “I didn’t bring it with me, I just needed to transfer some sick MP4s that I wrote last night. It should be.. oh shit.”

“Oh shit what?!” Erica demanded.

“I’m pretty positive I left it plugged in. Up in the studio.”