48

Needless to say I woke up awfully hard, but I didn’t care, because I could make it work for me. And for Steph, who didn’t complain when I woke her up an hour before sunrise. We took a nap after, started over as the day broke outside our window, and kept going way past the alarm she’d forgotten to change. We lingered in bed, joking and giggling like back in high school, until we found some strength to get out of bed. I made brunch for us and left for work while she was still in the shower.

I felt in the best mood of the last weeks. And every time my vicious mind tried to revisit the blurry flashbacks of my dream, I kicked it back to the great morning I’d just shared with the girl I loved.

Inside locker #12 in the IT restrooms, I found another small black box that held four fat oil beads, each about an inch and a half long. My eyebrows went up in surprise and then down in a frown. Was that his wicked oil? And if so, how was I supposed to use those beads? Oil beads are meant to melt, and