4

Byron's phone rang when he had been dozing at his desk. The sudden intruding noise startled him, almost tipping the half full coffee cup onto his expensive keyboard.

“Don't you freaking dare,” he tried to hold the cup which quivered, unspilled on the desk. 

Staggered by the renegade coffee, Byron stumbled across the room to the still ringing phone. He was an old-fashioned guy who had a phone that hung on the wall with an earpiece and mouthpiece, even though he bowed to peer pressure a few years back and got a cell phone. 

“Hello,” he huffed, proud of himself for not putting the receiver against his ear upside down. 

A recording informed him an inmate was attempting to call him, following a less robotic voice giving him a name. 

Janice Rosse.

The original robot voice returned and asked if he would accept the call, to which he replied in a positive tone. In a few seconds, Janice's voice fill