“Aubrey!” came the voice after the second knock. Raj hadn’t even made it off the sofa, and suddenly had an urge to sit back down. But the neighbours would complain, and Reggie would just get louder and louder the longer he stayed out there.
“Hey, Reggie,” Raj sighed, opening the door.
“Aubrey! What the hell?”
“I don’t know, Reggie. What the hell.”
“The cops came to the office, Aubrey. The cops. They saw my manager about you. You know what that means? It means my manager knows what a screw-up you were! How does that feel?”
“Indifferent,” Raj shrugged.
“Yeah?” sputtered Reggie. “Yeah? Well you know what else? Your access card? Evidence in a murder investigation. Murder, Aubrey! Murder!”
Raj rubbed his eyes, walked back into the living room to grab his coffee off the table. Reggie followed him in, raving all the way.
“That card is worth fifteen bucks, Aubrey! Fifteen bucks! Do you even have that mind of money anymore? Because we’re not eating that cost! A murder investigation!”
“Yeah, I heard,” Raj said, sitting himself down at the table and trying to pretend Reggie wasn’t there.
“Is… is that a computer?” Reggie said, switching gears so suddenly it would have been jarring if Raj hadn’t known him as well as he did.
“Yes, Reggie, that’s a computer. We do work on it. Do you know what work is?”
“Is there company data on that thing?”
Raj paused with the coffee cup at his lips. This was going to be a bad day, he could tell.
“I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so, or you don’t know so?”
“I don’t see the difference.”
“Dammit, Aubrey!” Reggie yelled, far too loud for an apartment building. “I’m taking it with me! It’s gotta be wiped!”
He started over to the MacBook, but Raj beat him to it, closed it, kept a firm hand pressing it to the desk.
“That’s not going to happen, Reggie.”
“It’s company property, Aubrey. Company property!”
“It’s actually my girlfriend’s computer, and it’s owned by her company, so I don’t think you want to be stealing it.”
“What’s her company? A nail salon?”
“Tumberton-Dunrobin Robotics. Heard of them?”
It was clear he hadn’t, but the word ‘robotics’ intimidated him.
“There’s confidential client data on… on that—”
“Reggie, I write HTML. Do you know what HTML is?”
“Of course I know what HTML—”
“If it’s proprietary, I’m doing it wrong.”
Reggie stomped his feet in place, puffed up his chest like a buffoon, and stormed back to the door, turning with all the dramatic effect he could muster.
“Expect a lawsuit, Aubrey! A lawsuit!”
“Would it be easier if I just double-checked that I’ve deleted all my non-personal information?” Raj said. “Save everyone a lot of trouble?”
“Ha!” yelled Reggie. “As if anyone could trust you! You’re under investigation! For a murder! Better find yourself a lawyer, Aubrey! Another lawyer! Your life’s a giant pile of shit, isn’t it?”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Raj sighed as the door slammed.
