Ante Meridiem Novels & Stories

Ducking in there, she shut the door then sat on the fluffy bathmat with her back to the vanity and took a deep breath. She couldn't tell them specifics, but these were her girls. The people she could rely on. Ivy hit the video chat button. Almost immediately two windows divided her screen along with her preview frame. Both frames were dim. "Oh, my God. What time is it there?" Ivy pressed a hand to her head. What had she been thinking? Merida squinted off screen. She was still in a blouse, but her hair was up. "It's midnight-ish." Haley snorted. "Heavy on the ish. It's almost one."

Was Alexander really being chewed out? The minutes seemed to be going very slowly as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. Soon it was past eleven and lunch was scheduled for noon. Mark got Helen a bottle of water and a couple of guys from Trevor’s crew went for a cigarette break. It was eleven-thirty and the door still hadn’t opened. Finally, at a quarter to twelve, Trevor came out of the trailer. His eyes looked dark and angry. He came over to Helen and Mark. “Where’s Collin?” he asked briskly.

I respond, making sure to leave right after. I am only ever able to let out a relieved sigh, once I am out of the premises. I realize that I had spent quite a long time there because it is late afternoon and there is a change in the weather. The sun is no more and the clouds have gotten a little darker. I spent so much time with Ava that I almost forgot, that I had to leave.

We approached the desk and Delilah did the talking. "Buongiorno," the lady looked up and greeted us with a smile. "Abbiamo due incontri in programma questa mattina. Uno alle dodici e trenta e l'altro alle dodici e quaranta." [We have two meetings scheduled. One at twelve-thirty and the other at twelve forty.] The lady looked down at her computer.

“It’s no longer lunch if they come here in the afternoon.” Sam punched Brian on his arm. “We can have lunch anytime though.” “Anytime??” Francis broke his silence. “So if it’s in the evening, it’s still lunch?” “What I mean is that we can have lunch anytime, from 12 to 5PM. That’s what I was trying to say.” Sam shielded herself. “Sometimes, we eat lunch before 12, so anytime..” “Next time, make yourself clear first so that we won’t think you’re spitting nonsense.”

Nine-fifteen. Nine-twenty.

5:00 PM One more bloody hour!

Levi said. I looked up. Nate stood at the railing with his arms crossed looking down at us with the expression of a man who had seen this coming and had not moved fast enough to prevent it. “Hayes said mornings,” he called down. “It is still afternoon,” I called back. “It is six fifty.” “That is afternoon.” “That is evening.” “Those are the same thing.” “They are genuinely not.” Levi looked at the horizon with great interest. “You are not helping,” Nate said to him.

Present Day – Monday Emma called Amara Osei at seven in the morning. Accra was eight hours ahead, which made it three in the afternoon there, which Raines had confirmed was the window before Amara's evening shoots began. Emma sat at the dining table with her coffee and the Webster file open and Justice on the chair beside her pretending to sleep while actually monitoring the room for developments. Amara picked up on the third ring.

Seeing that the representative of Moore Trading had accepted the delay, Charlie turned to Merlin and asked, "What time is the deputy manager coming in tomorrow?" Merlin quickly checked and then told Charlie, "The managers work in two different shifts: from 8 am to 4 pm, or from 4 pm to midnight. He is currently working the shift from 4 pm to midnight and will be coming in at 3.30 pm tomorrow." "Okay." Charlie said, "That will be it for now. We'll be back tomorrow afternoon. Just remind him that he must not tell anyone we're here."