The Long Summer
The alarm shrieked its wake up call only to be slapped off by a hand from beneath the blankets. The groan that the voice emitted was exhaustive and long. Finally, shoving the blankets back the figure emerged and took the form of a man.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat there. He was exhausted. He'd slept all night, every night, for days. Nothing seemed to dent the exhaustion that was starting to show in the sallow color of his face and the dark shadows beneath his eyes. He rubbed at his eyes and forced himself to standup.
His back creaked and protested as he stretched. There was a satisfying pop and ignoring the heap of clothing at the foot of the bed, he stepped past it towards the bathroom. The place really was starting to look like a dump. He stared blearily at the empty towel racks and realized that he'd never pulled the towels out of the dryer.
"Dammit!" He sighed and adjusted his path to cross the apartment. He yanked open the dryer and an armful of clean towels spilled out, grabbing a couple; he left the rest where they fell. He shot a red-eyed glare at the clock, which told him, blandly, that he was going to be late if he didn't move it.
The shower was uneventful, even if he tried to fall asleep twice. He switched from hot to cold and the shock seemed to help knock some of the exhaustion out of him. Shutting the water off, he toweled himself dry mechanically. There was still at least one pair of clean underwear and jeans in the drawer.
It was Friday, so he could probably waste some time over the weekend getting the laundry done. Tossing the towel onto the foot of the bed, he opened a drawer and rummaged through it. He came out with a pair of mismatched socks, an old wrinkled t-shirt and the aforementioned underwear and jeans.
Once he was dressed, he spent another ten minutes hunting up a belt, which he found, still threaded through the loops of another pair of jeans. He needed the belts more and more these days, as his waistline seemed to be shrinking dramatically. Tightening it up, he stopped long enough to grab a baseball cap for his hair and the keys before letting himself out of the apartment and locking it.
He was five minutes late to the work site and the crew chief gave him the eye. He shrugged off that look, too. He picked up his worksheet and went to check on the guys for his crew. They were finishing up the interior structural on the new gym complex of Sunnydale High School.
Xander squinted in the morning sunshine as he passed the workman erecting to school's new sign.
"Where we at Bobby?" Xander asked, his voice hoarse.
"Inspection." The wannabe body builder grunted with a jerk of his thumb towards a rat faced man with a pair of spectacles. The inspector was prowling around the work site, clucking and making notations on his clipboard.
"The joy that is my Friday morning." Xander scowled.
"Crew Chief toldja then?"
"Told me what?" Xander looked away from the inspector.
"He wants all the crews to put in overtime this weekend. The Mayor is planning some huge shindig to mark re-opening the school next month. Gotta finish all the interior structural so the decorators can get to work."
Xander made a face and then ran his hand over it. "So much for my weekend plans."
"Hot date?"
"Laundry and beer."
The older man laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Too bad Harris, I think a hot date would do you some good."
"Thanks." Xander sneered. "I'll be sure to make a note of that for future reference."
"Harris!"
"Ah, the sweet sounds of an ass chewing." Xander tossed Bobby his clipboard and hefted a white construction hat on his head before strolling over to Jenson Saunders. "Yes, sir?"
"Your crew's gonna start on the library tomorrow."
"Library?" Xander blinked.
"Yeah, excavation finished up." Saunders gestured for Xander to follow him and they circled around the heavy equipment to where the old library used to occupy its corner of Sunnydale High. "Foundation will go in today, your boys can start structure."
Xander stared down into the pit that seemed to be staring up at him.
"They're going to put it right back where it was?" Xander hadn't realized he'd asked the question out loud.
"Yeah and we gotta get snapping. The rest of the building is in good shape, library took the worst brunt of the damage and we've had some trouble with the crews on excavating. But it's finished now."
"What kind of trouble?" Xander blinked at Saunders.
"Does it matter? I ain't paying you to do reports. I'm paying you to build structure. Get the rest of the gym finished today and get your boys here on site tomorrow. You got thirty days to build it." He left it there and abandoned Xander to go harass some other poor schmo.
Xander stared back down into the hole with a thoughtful frown.
"Harris!!"
The voice jerked him out of his reverie and he looked back to see Bobby waving an all clear. Inspector must have finished up.
"Gym today, library tomorrow. Welcome back to Sunnyhell High School, Harris." He muttered to himself.
The alarm shrieked its wake up call only to be slapped off by a hand from beneath the blankets. The groan that the voice emitted was exhaustive and long. Finally, shoving the blankets back the figure emerged and took the form of a man.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat there. He was exhausted. He'd slept all night, every night, for days. Nothing seemed to dent the exhaustion that was starting to show in the sallow color of his face and the dark shadows beneath his eyes. He rubbed at his eyes and forced himself to standup.
His back creaked and protested as he stretched. There was a satisfying pop and ignoring the heap of clothing at the foot of the bed, he stepped past it towards the bathroom. The place really was starting to look like a dump. He stared blearily at the empty towel racks and realized that he'd never pulled the towels out of the dryer.
"Dammit!" He sighed and adjusted his path to cross the apartment. He yanked open the dryer and an armful of clean towels spilled out, grabbing a couple; he left the rest where they fell. He shot a red-eyed glare at the clock, which told him, blandly, that he was going to be late if he didn't move it.
The shower was uneventful, even if he tried to fall asleep twice. He switched from hot to cold and the shock seemed to help knock some of the exhaustion out of him. Shutting the water off, he toweled himself dry mechanically. There was still at least one pair of clean underwear and jeans in the drawer.
It was Friday, so he could probably waste some time over the weekend getting the laundry done. Tossing the towel onto the foot of the bed, he opened a drawer and rummaged through it. He came out with a pair of mismatched socks, an old wrinkled t-shirt and the aforementioned underwear and jeans.
Once he was dressed, he spent another ten minutes hunting up a belt, which he found, still threaded through the loops of another pair of jeans. He needed the belts more and more these days, as his waistline seemed to be shrinking dramatically. Tightening it up, he stopped long enough to grab a baseball cap for his hair and the keys before letting himself out of the apartment and locking it.
He was five minutes late to the work site and the crew chief gave him the eye. He shrugged off that look, too. He picked up his worksheet and went to check on the guys for his crew. They were finishing up the interior structural on the new gym complex of Sunnydale High School.
Xander squinted in the morning sunshine as he passed the workman erecting to school's new sign.
"Where we at Bobby?" Xander asked, his voice hoarse.
"Inspection." The wannabe body builder grunted with a jerk of his thumb towards a rat faced man with a pair of spectacles. The inspector was prowling around the work site, clucking and making notations on his clipboard.
"The joy that is my Friday morning." Xander scowled.
"Crew Chief toldja then?"
"Told me what?" Xander looked away from the inspector.
"He wants all the crews to put in overtime this weekend. The Mayor is planning some huge shindig to mark re-opening the school next month. Gotta finish all the interior structural so the decorators can get to work."
Xander made a face and then ran his hand over it. "So much for my weekend plans."
"Hot date?"
"Laundry and beer."
The older man laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Too bad Harris, I think a hot date would do you some good."
"Thanks." Xander sneered. "I'll be sure to make a note of that for future reference."
"Harris!"
"Ah, the sweet sounds of an ass chewing." Xander tossed Bobby his clipboard and hefted a white construction hat on his head before strolling over to Jenson Saunders. "Yes, sir?"
"Your crew's gonna start on the library tomorrow."
"Library?" Xander blinked.
"Yeah, excavation finished up." Saunders gestured for Xander to follow him and they circled around the heavy equipment to where the old library used to occupy its corner of Sunnydale High. "Foundation will go in today, your boys can start structure."
Xander stared down into the pit that seemed to be staring up at him.
"They're going to put it right back where it was?" Xander hadn't realized he'd asked the question out loud.
"Yeah and we gotta get snapping. The rest of the building is in good shape, library took the worst brunt of the damage and we've had some trouble with the crews on excavating. But it's finished now."
"What kind of trouble?" Xander blinked at Saunders.
"Does it matter? I ain't paying you to do reports. I'm paying you to build structure. Get the rest of the gym finished today and get your boys here on site tomorrow. You got thirty days to build it." He left it there and abandoned Xander to go harass some other poor schmo.
Xander stared back down into the hole with a thoughtful frown.
"Harris!!"
The voice jerked him out of his reverie and he looked back to see Bobby waving an all clear. Inspector must have finished up.
"Gym today, library tomorrow. Welcome back to Sunnyhell High School, Harris." He muttered to himself.