On a rare occurrence, Mindy will work a double-shift, which usually included her normal graveyard hours, and a morning shift. Today was one of those days. She was trying to stockpile some time so that she wouldn't be stressing about her job while she was away visiting her parents.
Mindy was about two hours into her double, when Mr. Kapoor wandered into Mission Control. His eyes scanned the room, looking for Mindy. When he spotted her, he made his way to her desk, a couple manila folders in the crook of his arm. She gave him a small smile in greeting, one he easily returned.
"Have some jobs for you," Vincent said as he waved the folders at her, "figured I may as well bring them to you, rather than send you ten different emails." Mindy nodded, fighting back a yawn.
"You okay?" He asked, noticing the slight bags under her eyes.
"Yeah, just a little tired. I've been working double shifts to make up for the weekend I took off." Vincent gave her a concerned look.
"Mindy, you only took off three days, that hardly constitutes working even one double shift. How many have you done?" She gave him a sheepish look and shrugged her shoulders, looking back towards the computer screen in front of her before answering.
"This is my third one this week." She responded, another yawn taking over. Vincent gave her a stern glare, which Mindy completely disregarded.
"No more after this one, or else I'll force you to take an extra couple days off to get some rest."
"Okay Dad." Vincent rolled his eyes at her, even if she was incredibly smart and dedicated to her job, the girl just didn't know when to quit.
"I mean it, Mindy. You're just going to exhaust yourself." He explained, so she'd know he was just looking out for her, as her friend rather than her boss. Mindy gave him a smile.
"I know, I know. Thanks for caring. Can I have those folders now?" Vincent nodded his head, but just when she was about to take them, he pulled them just out of her reach.
"Before I give these to you, tell me, how'd breakfast go with Watney?" She felt her jaw drop.
"How did you know about that?" He smirked, shrugging his shoulders.
"I have my sources. Answer the question."
Mindy could feel the blush rising on her face. "It was…fine." Vincent gave her a dubious expression.
"Just fine?" She internally groaned, the last thing she wanted to deal with was being interrogated by Kapoor. Especially if that interrogation was about a certain blue-eyed astronaut.
"Why do you need to know?" Vincent gave her smirk before responding.
"Why wouldn't I need to know?"
"Why do you?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Are we seriously doing this?"
"Yep."
This time, Mindy actually groaned, putting her head in her hands and rubbing her face, already feeling a migraine in the form of Vincent Kapoor. Damn this nosey man.
"I got an email from him, which by the way, he ratted you out as being the one he got it from," Vincent gave an indifferent shrug, waiting for her to continue, "and we talked back and forth for a while, and when I was getting ready to leave he showed up, offered to take me to breakfast. I was going to say no, but I was hungry and decided 'what the hell?' We went to breakfast, talked, and that's it." She fanned her hands out in a gesture to show there was nothing else to the story.
"That's it?" He asked, a look of doubt on his face.
"That's it." Mindy stared him dead in the eye, daring him to question her. Vincent gave a small chuckle, handing her the small stack of folders.
"Alright, I get it. Not my business." She released a small breath of relief, giving him a nod in thanks for dropping the subject. Before he left, Vincent gestured to the stack of folders, "Let me know if you have any questions on anything. Don't stress about finishing them before the weekend either, there's no rush."
"Okay, thanks. When do you want them done by?" Mindy asked, opening the top one to glance at the first page.
"End of the month sound good?" She agreed, flipping through a couple more pages to get an idea of what he wanted done. Vincent glanced down at his watch, noting the time before moving to leave. "Alright, I'm going to head home. Again, if you have any questions, just let me know. Thanks Mindy." Mindy smiled at him.
"Drive safe, Vince." He nodded his response.
"Will do. Don't overwork yourself Mindy." Mindy just snorted and waved him off, turning back to her computer screen. She vaguely registered him saying goodnight to some others in Mission Control as he walked away, but she quickly drowned out her surroundings, solely focusing on the screen in front of her.
She would listen to him about the double shifts, not that she'd admit it to him or anybody else, but she was completely exhausted. She could already tell it was going to be a long night.