NOVA
"Ugh, I'm so tired," I groaned, standing up and stretching till I felt my spine crack back into place. Hours—literal hours—had passed since I started working on that stupid encrypted file. My brain felt like mashed potatoes.
I didn't want to do this in the office with all the noise and distractions, so I brought the work home. At least here, it's quiet… cozy… and no one knocks on your door asking if you've "tried turning it off and on again."
I flopped onto my bed, face-first into my pillow. "This… this is what heaven must feel like," I muttered. Nineteen straight hours of decoding gibberish. I deserved a medal—or at least a nap.
Just as I loosened up and let my muscles melt into the mattress, I felt it—that intense stare. You know, the kind that makes the back of your neck tingle?
I looked up. Of course. It was Jerry.
"My baby! Come here," I cooed, patting the empty space beside me. He ran right at me… and landed on my face.
"Jerry!" I choked, sitting up and placing him beside me. "I said beside me, not on me. Are your ears just for decoration?"
He blinked at me, tongue out, eyes wide, clueless as ever.
I laughed, ruffling his floppy ears. "Aww, my cutie pie." I flopped back down… until I noticed him staring at something.
I followed his gaze.
He was eyeing my work table.
Oh no. No, no, no, no.
"Jerry… don't you dare—"
THUD.
He jumped.
"JERRY!!!" I shrieked, bolting from the bed.
Too late.
He knocked over my coffee.
Straight.
Onto.
Nineteen.
Hours.
Of.
Work.
"Oh God—NO!" I scrambled, pulling open the drawer and grabbing a bunch of tissues. "Oh my god, oh my god, no no no—"
The coffee had seeped across the table like a criminal at a crime scene, straight into the pages of my notes and the keyboard of my laptop.
"You were definitely a kangaroo in your past life, Jerry!!" I cried, snatching him off the table.
Just then, Mom rushed into the room, wild-eyed. "What happened?! Who died?! Jerry, are you okay?!"
"Seriously, Mom! Look what he did!" I said, throwing my arms toward the disaster zone.
She looked at the chaos for a second, then gasped. "Ohh my poor baby," she said—to the laptop.
For a second, I thought she was siding with me.
Then she bent down and scooped Jerry into her arms.
"Jerry, you've been a very bad boy today. No walk for you," she scolded gently, like she was talking to a mischievous toddler instead of a menace in fur.
I stared at them both, jaw slack. I was standing in the middle of my personal hell and she was baby-talking the traitor.
Meanwhile, my encrypted files were swimming in caramel roast and my laptop had given up on life.
What the hell was I going to tell Arthur?
"Sorry, your very confidential data got turned into cappuccino foam by my chaos goblin of a dog"?
He was going to kill me.
This was officially a disaster. Why, God… why always me?