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⊰ 7 ⊱ An Unlucky Night
From doing nothing for 6 months to 2 weeks of HR trainings and being bombarded with Layer 2 troubleshootings, it feels a lot like going back to school after taking a semester off. Actually, between the troubleshootings and being assigned documentation for three higher-level engineers, it feels exactly like going back to school after taking a semester off.
That’s what I did, once upon a time.
As much as I like to pretend otherwise, Cade breaking up with me over a letter in the mail destroyed me that way. It took so much out of me that I took a semester off and transferred to another university to finish out the last two semesters in a place that didn’t remind me of him.
Fortunately, unlike then, this time, I’ve managed to hold myself together.
Between the pressure of getting ready to start the IPv6 migration as soon as possible and day-to-day work, I’ve been too busy to worry about anything else. In fact, were it
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⊰ Cade ⊱I sit at the table, sipping my beer as I wait for my date to arrive. The bustling energy of the restaurant envelops me—the clink of glasses, the hum of conversation, the occasional burst of laughter. My gaze scans the premises briefly, my gaze flickering from the semi-empty bar to the basketball game playing on the pair of TVs overhead when my attention is suddenly drawn to the door as a familiar figure walks in.Elysian.The mere sight of her is unsettling, my eyes following her as she makes her way to the bar and takes a seat. I can’t help but stare, my mind drifting, trying to recall the last time I’d seen her, before shemysteriouslyreappeared in my life.It was an argument, as usual. Truthfully, I can’t remember doing anything with herexceptarguing. She kept trying to walk away from me while I was talking, knowing full well how much I hated it when she
Heartprints in the Void ⊰ 8 ⊱ Some Things Never Change
I exhale deeply, my heavy eyelids flickering open as I groan at the pounding in my head.Where am I..?I turn my head to the side, briefly eyeing the pair of thick, black drapes blocking the sunlight from the large windows on the balcony set of double doors at the far end of the room. The light that creeps between the pair is just enough to illuminate the unfamiliar room, and it only makes me uneasy.My eyebrows furrow as I push my elbows back, helping myself sit up on the unfamiliar king size bed that I lay on. My gaze falls to my lap, relieved to see that I’m fully-clothed in the same clothes that I threw on last night, minus my shoes.What happened..?It’s foggy for a moment, the recollection of the events that took place at the bar slowly coming back in pieces like flashes from a heavy lightning storm.Oh, my God…I was drugged.As disoriented as I am, I’m oddly not anxious. I&rsq
Heartprints in the Void ⊰ 9 ⊱ Just His Subordinate
As I stare into the pair of monitors connected to my laptop, I rest my elbow on my desk, holding my chin in my hand.I thought that with the coming weeks, I would be too busy to think about anything outside of my work; however, nothing could have distracted me from the events that transpired two weeks ago. Worst of all, I’m all the more uneasy about Cade being back in my life.After leaving me to go ‘put a shirt on’, I had done as he told me to, reluctantly lowering myself onto the leather sofa of his living room. The wall that I faced, which would typically have a TV mounted on it, is instead one large glass wall with a beautiful view of the woods. It wasn’t until I noticed the curvy road between the trees that I realized that I wasn’t far from my apartment.I had heard about these hill-top, million dollar houses, and it didn’t surprise me that one of them is his. After all, he inherited a billion dollars from histr
Heartprints in the Void ⊰ 10 ⊱ Crossing the Line
Just as Cade said, Krina spent the better part of the afternoon teaching me how to implement firewall rules. Because of this, I had to stay later to finish up all the work I fell behind on since the time I typically would’ve used was allocated to Krina. It’s almost 6PM, and as I glance around the office, I realize that everyone except Cade and I have gone home. Great. This is perfect. Juuuuust perfect. Being alone with him, even if it’s just in a professional setting, always seems to set me on edge. I try to focus on wrapping up my work, but my mind keeps drifting to the man in the office across from mine. I can’t help but steal a pair of glances at him through the glass walls, watching as he types away on his computer, concentrated, his eyebrows furrowed. He seems utterly unfazed by the fact that we’re the only ones left, his demeanor as stoic and professional as ever. Must be nice to be able to act like nothing happened between us.
Heartprints in the Void ⊰ 11 ⊱ Ava
After the confrontation with Cade in the parking garage, I threw myself into my work. I spent the better part of the week reading up on how firewalls work and how firewall rules are implemented on the company’s firewalls. And just as Cade asked, I submitted my change request to him.To my surprise, Cade approved my change request on my first try, and I managed to get through my entire presentation with only a little bit of armpit sweat and without crying through change management’s line of questioning.Look at me. Adulting and shit.Because of the direct impact that changes have on network infrastructure, all changes must be made overnight in the case of an outage. While any other week—especially after having worked last weekend—I would be annoyed at having to spend my Friday evening working, I’m particularly excited to finish implementing the configurations I planned out.I hold my breath as I make the final click t
Heartprints in the Void ⊰ 12 ⊱ Hence the Loneliness
After a short weekend of doing ‘hoodrat shit’—which really consisted of Ava and I binge watchingBuffy the Vampire Slayerand eating about ten thousand calories—it’s Sunday morning, and I’m making cappuccinos while I patiently wait for my freshly baked chocolate chip banana bread to cool.“Alright, I think I’m good to go?”I smile softly as I avert my gaze to Ava, eyeing her as she emerges from my bedroom with her make-up bag in her hand. She stuffs it into her travel bag, zipping it shut before lowering herself onto the couch to slide her boots on.The hardest part about having less than a handful of friends is that they all live in different cities or states and I don’t get to see them very often. I’m a lonely person because I make it harder than it needs to be to connect with people on a deeper level than the surface, and it's intentional.I have a no-tolerance policy,
Heartprints in the Void ⊰ 13 ⊱ Breaking Point
I stare blankly at the table, the chatter of my teammates fading into background noise as I sit in the conference room. My eyes feel heavy, my mind foggy from last night’s restless sleep. The conversation I had with Ava about Cade and his father has been haunting me, playing on a loop in my head. “Elysian,” Cade’s sharp voice calls for my attention, snapping me out of my daze. “What do you have for me?” What? … Oh, right! I blink, scrambling to gather my thoughts. “I, uh…I’m just finishing up some documentation,” I mumble, evidently unprepared. “But otherwise, I’m open to taking on any new projects.” Cade chuckles softly, a condescending smirk twisting his features. “Documentation? Isn’t that something you should’ve handled last week? Or have you been too busy daydreaming to get your work done?” Um..? I feel the heat rising in my cheeks, embarrassment and anger washing over me. “No, I
Heartprints in the Void ⊰ 14 ⊱ This Is Fate
The next morning, as I drive to work, the cool, fresh air of a 6AM Tuesday morning hardly does anything to calm my nerves or settle the uneasiness in my stomach. I spent the better part of last night thinking about all the ways I could get caught doing what I’m about to do and how I could avoid being caught.The unfortunate truth is that the system automatically sends out a report of any firewall rule changes made. Fortunately, because it’s automated, hardly anyone ever looks at the report thoroughly. Most engineers merely glance over it to see if the change was successful, but no one ever takes the time to actually go through the report thoroughly.Ultimately, the odds of anyone finding out are about the same as the odds of someone not only thoroughly going through the report but also conducting a packet inspection on all traffic pertaining to the specific server.So…ten percent?…I’ll take my
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