Auggie paced out in front of the building, flipping his phone over and over in his hand. He ran his cane along the side of the wall, upwind from a congregation of smokers.
Smack. Scrrrrrrape. Tap. Turn. Smack. Scrrrrrape.
Pacing used to be a lot quieter. He missed the days before cell phones, which flat-out didn't work within the boundaries of the office building. Back then, you could procrastinate on a phone call without freezing your ass off.
"Siri, call Annie." Auggie hated Siri. Her voice reminded him of ninth grade, when he'd taken Advanced Placement classes and Home Economics was the only elective that fit in his schedule. He could swear that the phone assistant and Mrs. Pritchett the home ec teacher were one and the same. Her class hadn't been all bad, though. Before he went blind, he was a wiz with a sewing machine.
"Hey!" Annie's voice snapped him back into reality. He stopped pacing.
"Are you with Lucy?" he asked.
"Yeah, we're hanging out at my place. I talked to her about the farm and-"
"Listen, you guys need to get down here ASAP."
"Is something wrong?"
Auggie massaged the bridge of his nose. "I've gotten us into some hot water, so to speak."
"We're on our way."
She hung up. Auggie stood frozen, on the phone with no one. "Drive safe."
...
Annie and Lucy flew to the DPD at an alarming speed. Auggie met them at the elevator. Annie sat Lucy down on a bench and signaled for her to give them a moment of privacy.
"You got my notes?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Were they legible?"
"Yeah, although I don't understand why you wasted that special paper. You didn't have any printer paper lying around?"
Auggie rolled his eyes. "It makes no difference to me if a paper has writing on it."
Oh. Annie hadn't thought of that. "So are you going to tell me what this is all about?"
Auggie sighed. "I... threw a Bureau polygraph."
"You... threw it?"
"Yeah, Einstein, it's like failing but on purpose."
"Auggie, why the hell would you do that?"
Auggie proceeded as if he never heard the question. "Arthur has called Lucy in for a polygraph. Thanks for hanging on to her today."
"By 'hanging on' do you mean 'keeping her in custody'?"
Auggie chuckled mirthlessly. "Now you're getting it."
"Auggie," Annie was serious now. "Are you okay?"
Auggie looked at her, his weary eyes very nearly locking with hers. "I really fucked this one up."
