Part 3 — No Patience

"Back?" Xin saw Zap close and lock the door behind him as he tossed his jacket on the coat rack.

"Phew," he said. "Yeah. Maybe for a bit, too. I'm going to stop working at Patience for a while. I can't really deal with it anymore."

"Why? Too stressful?"

"The opposite," he replied, walking over to the kitchen. "It's not exactly lively when you're trying to carry plates over as quickly as you can without dropping them. It's difficult."

"Patience, my dear," Xin said, sarcastically. "Looks like that isn't for you."

"Shut it." Zap grabbed a bar of chocolate from the fridge and began to unwrap it. "Going upstairs now. See you tomorrow."

"Mm." Zap walked upstairs, eating the bar of chocolate.

I want chocolate, Xin thought, grabbing one herself. Good stuff. She walled up to her room again. It's late. Better get to bed. She checked her clock. 10:30. Eh. Not that late. She grabbed her phone. What should I do? She went into her messages. She decided to try texting Azyra. Hey, Azyra. Are you there?

Xin waited until 4:30 AM and still didn't get a response. Eventually, she fell asleep. I mean, she's probably asleep now, too. She'll probably respond in the morning.

The next morning, at 10:30 AM, Zap visited Xin's room and still found her asleep. Wonder why. He walked downstairs and began to prepare breakfast. I should wake her up soon, but I want to see if she'll wake up on her own.

Xin was still asleep through 1:30 PM. Zap decided to go upstairs and wake Xin. When he entered her room, he saw her awake, but on her phone, staring at the screen. "Xin—"

"Gah!" Xin jumped back and prepared to toss a pillow at Zap. "Geez, Zap, you scared me. What do you need?"

"It's... past lunch. You've missed two meals already."

"I'll eat later..."

"Piece of shit. I brought your lunch up here, anyway."

"Oh? Thanks."

"Mm. I'll be downstairs if you need me."

"Right." Zap placed Xin's plate on her nightstand and walked downstairs. Xin continued to look on her phone, not grabbing her lunch. Come on Azyra, please just reply.