The phone buzzed itself across the nightstand.
Ryan was aware of it before he was fully awake — as a fact at the edge of consciousness, not urgent enough to act on but too persistent to ignore. He reached for it without opening his eyes, missed it, found it on the second attempt.
He looked at the screen with one eye.
The system notifications came first.
> RETURNS PROCESSED
> Salary payments x5: $12,500
> Legal retainer fees: $3,200
> Business operational expenses: $1,847
> Total business returns: $17,547
> Date night — Eleven on Park: $840 returned
> Current Balance: $168,932.44
Ryan looked at the $840 figure. Two months ago that number would have made his week. Now it sat at the bottom of a list of larger numbers and barely registered. He noted the distance between the person who had 200 bucks and could not stop staring at every dollar and the person lying in this bed right now, and appreciated it.
He was about to put the phone down when the call notification appeared.
