Xero reached across the bed and felt nothing. "Zero?" She said quickly sitting up, seeing only the empty bed. She turned to the clock. "9 am," she said out loud as she rubbed her head. She was unsure whether to be annoyed or overjoyed over her dreamy night of sleep.
As she looked around the room, and the bed, she noticed an average size, battered journal wedged between the bed and the wall. Xero looked around the room and realized she was alone. She reached into the cramped space and pulled out the journal. As she flipped through the pages she quickly noticed the dates labeling. "WINTER: 15 days past X-MAS," or "SPRING: 25 days past EASTER". Yet more recent dates had exact days and months. "This one is from two days ago," she said as she continued to flip through the book. "Zero's diary?" she asked out loud.
She continued to look at the book, unsure whether to put it back in place as though she had never seen it… or read it.
Zero looked up at Xero as she slouched her way through the kitchen. "Good morning sleepy head," he said cheerfully.
Xero stretched like a cat, popping her joints as she took a seat at the table. "And good morning to you," she said as spun herself on the swivel chair. "Did Katz and the group already leave?"
"Yewa, pretty early. About 2:30-ish."
"Why didn't you wake me up," Xero asked sleepily.
"Didn't see any need to. You did say you couldn't sleep last night," he said matter of factly. "Yet when I woke up, you looked like a terrible liar," he said as he slid her a plate of buttermilk waffles.
She rolled her eyes as she asked, "What are we up to today anyway?"
"Well, I have some business to take care off," he said as he started to walk towards the Modi-pod that would take him down to street levels.
"Well hold a second and I can come with you," she said as she started to wolf down the waffles.
"That won't be necessary," he said as he stepped into the pod, "this is some personal business that I have to take care off. But we can meet back up for a late lunch."
Xero struggled to hide her disappointment of being left behind, "ohh. Well, I know the best place for a late lunch."
"Where at?' He asked genuinely surprised.'
"Well, I can't tell you right now. I call you in case your not back," she said with a rosy smile.
"That sounds great," he said as the pod's doors began to close. "Waiting to hear from you soon," he said as the doors closed and it started its descent.
Xero watched until he was gone. As soon as she was sure, she rushed back into the room and retrieved the journal.
"What does he write about? Am I in it? What about our first encounter?" She asked herself, half tempted to read the book cover to cover. She opened the front cover to begin.
Suddenly the answering machine went off. "Hey Xero, it's Niki. We need to talk. We haven't in awhile Let's meet up at Chao Food's for a 9:30 brunch."
Xero hesitated to look at the clock: 9:12. "Darn you Zero," she said as she changed into her clothes. "This is all your fault. You and your stupid kindness. Letting me sleep in on your nice and comfortable bed," she said trying to be mad at him.
"Blaming him is not making me feel any better," she said as the Modi-pod descended back to the ground level. Inside the pod she couldn't help but double check her coat pocket, ensuring herself that she still had the Zeros journal.
