Chapter 29: The Lost Day
Tap. Tap. Tap.
El's eyes fluttered open.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Something was poking his shoulder.
Persistent.
Annoying.
Familiar.
He lifted his head from his crossed arms.
His neck cracked.
His eyes burned.
His mouth tasted like recycled air and three-day-old coffee.
Where—
"El. Dude. You okay?"
Demi's face hovered inches from his own.
Concerned.
Confused.
Holding a sad-looking sandwich in one hand.
And a bag of chips in the other.
El stared at him.
Demi.
The office.
My cubicle.
He looked down. His desk. His pens — perfectly aligned.
His computer — dark, asleep. His succulent — judging him silently.
His coffee mug — empty, cold, forgotten.
And next to it — a cracker.
Ordinary. Plain. Not glowing.
The cracker.
It's still here.
But it's not glowing anymore.
It's just... a cracker.
"I'm at work," he whispered.
"Yeah. You've been out for like forty minutes." Demi waved the sandwich.
"I tried to wake you at 12:30 but you were GONE. Like, drooling-on-your-desk gone."
El blinked.
Monday night.
I went to sleep.
I had a dream.
The flowers.
My face in memory's bloom.
Then I woke up here.
At my desk.
On Wednesday.
What happened to Tuesday?
Demi snapped his fingers.
"Hello? You there? You're doing the staring thing again. The 'I'm about to see things that aren't there' thing."
El's voice came out rough.
"What day is it?"
Demi blinked.
"Wednesday. September 14. Why?"
Wednesday.
I lost a day.
I lost Tuesday.
Demi squinted at him.
"You okay? You look like you just saw a ghost. Again."
Again.
He remembers Monday.
He remembers me telling him.
A ghost.
Kaye.
The dream.
The flowers.
My face as a child.
"I don't know," El whispered.
Demi studied him.
That familiar look — concern mixed with something else.
Doubt?
Worry?
"Look, man," Demi said quietly.
"I know you've been going through something. Monday was... intense. The whole time loop thing. The dream girl. All of it."
El's chest tightened.
He remembers.
He just doesn't believe.
"I'm not saying you're crazy," Demi continued.
"I'm just saying... maybe you need a break. Real sleep. Less coffee. Maybe talk to someone."
"I talked to you."
"I know. And I listened. But El..."
Demi trailed off.
Ran a hand through his perfect hair.
"I don't know how to help you. I want to. But I don't know how."
El looked at him.
At this loud, chaotic, impossible person who kept showing up.
Who kept trying.
"Just being here helps," El said quietly.
Demi's face softened.
Just for a second.
Then he grabbed the plain cracker from El's desk.
Crunched it.
"Here. Eat something. You need carbs."
El stared at him.
He just ate the cracker.
The magic cracker.
The one from the old woman.
He just... ate it.
Demi chewed.
Swallowed.
Made a face.
"That was stale. Why do you have stale crackers on your desk?"
El opened his mouth.
Closed it.
It's gone.
The cracker is gone.
And Demi just ate it like it was nothing.
"I... don't know," he managed.
Demi shrugged.
Grabbed another chip from his bag.
"Anyway. Mira asked about you. This morning. Wanted to know if you were okay."
El blinked. "Mira?"
"Yeah. She pulled me aside. Asked if you were sleeping. Eating. The whole concerned boss routine." Demi paused.
"Or maybe not just boss. Hard to tell with her."
Mira.
She knows something's wrong.
She's been watching.
"What did you tell her?"
Demi shrugged.
"Told her you were weird. Weirder than usual. But that's your brand." He paused.
"Also maybe mentioned the time loop thing. She didn't say much. Just got this look."
"What kind of look?"
"I don't know. Concerned? Confused? Mira is hard to read. She's like a statue with good hair."
El's mind raced.
Mira knows.
Not the details.
But she knows something's wrong.
She's been watching since Monday.
Since I fell apart.
---
AFTER LUNCH – BACK AT CUBICLES
El sat at his desk.
Mind spinning.
Wednesday.
I'm supposed to be at Wednesday.
But I don't remember Tuesday.
I don't remember anything.
And Mira knows something's wrong.
And Nev—
"Hey."
He looked up.
Théo stood at the entrance to his cubicle row, clutching his tablet like a shield.
His eyes were wider than usual.
"Uh, El? Mr. Hendricks wanted me to ask if the Q3 projections were ready for review?"
El blinked.
"They're due Friday."
"I know, I know, but he said—" Théo swallowed.
"He said he wanted to 'get ahead of the curve.' His words. Not mine."
El thought of Mr. Hendricks.
The bane of the marketing department.
"Tell him they'll be ready Friday. Per the original deadline."
Théo's eyes widened.
"You want me to tell Mr. Hendricks... no?"
"I want you to tell him the truth."
Théo stared at him. Then, slowly, a small smile crept onto his face.
"You're kind of terrifying," he whispered.
"In a calm way."
El's eyebrow twitched. "Thank you."
Théo scurried away.
From across the way, Mark's voice floated over.
"Did someone say Hendricks? Is he in a mood? He's always in a mood. I'm going to quit. I'm going to become a goat farmer."
Demi appeared.
"Mark, you've been saying that for three years."
"THREE YEARS OF SUFFERING, DEMI. THREE YEARS."
---
BREAK ROOM – 2:30 PM
El stood by the window, coffee untouched, staring at nothing.
The door opened.
Mira walked in.
She paused when she saw him.
Then walked over.
Stood beside him.
"Long day?"
He didn't answer.
She didn't push.
Just stood there.
Quiet.
After a moment.
"Demi mentioned you were... struggling."
El's jaw tightened.
"Demi talks too much."
"He's worried about you." A pause. "So am I."
He looked at her.
Those sharp eyes.
That hidden warmth underneath.
"You don't have to be."
"I know." She met his gaze. "But I am anyway."
Silence.
Then, softer.
"Whatever it is. Whatever you're carrying. You don't have to carry it alone."
She doesn't know.
She can't know.
But she's here.
"Thank you, Mira."
She nodded.
Didn't leave immediately.
Just stood there.
Present.
Then, quietly.
"My office still has that espresso machine. If you ever need real coffee."
He almost smiled.
Almost.
"I'll keep that in mind."
She held his gaze.
Just a second longer than necessary.
Then walked away.
---
EL'S CUBICLE – 3:45 PM
Demi appeared.
Vaulted over the wall.
Landed badly.
Grinned anyway.
"Okay. Observations." He held up his fingers.
"One: Mira was in the break room with you for like five minutes. That's not professional. That's romantic. I'm calling it now."
"It's not romantic."
"She brought you coffee. She stood close. She used the soft voice. That's romantic, El. Textbook romantic."
El's eyebrow twitched.
"Two: You're still weird. Weirder than before. But you're functioning, so that's progress."
"I'm fine."
"You're never fine. That's your whole brand." Demi leaned closer.
"Three: Nev has been staring at you all day. Like, ALL day. Every time I look over, he's looking at you. It's creepy."
El's heart skipped.
Nev.
He knows something.
"I noticed," El said quietly.
Demi's eyes widened.
"You noticed? And you didn't tell me? I'm your best friend. I need to know these things. I need to be prepared. What if he's a spy? What if he's here to recruit you? What if—"
"He's not a spy."
"THAT'S WHAT A SPY WOULD WANT YOU TO THINK."
From across the way, Théo's voice drifted over.
"Did someone say spy? Is there a spy? Should I be worried?"
"NO, THÉO. GO BACK TO PRINTING."
"OKAY SORRY."
---
EL'S CUBICLE – 4:45 PM
The day crawled toward evening.
El stared at his computer. Q3 projections stared back. 70% done. Ahead of schedule. Normal.
But nothing felt normal.
Tuesday.
Where did Tuesday go?
What happened to me?
The dream.
The flowers.
My face.
Why can't I remember?
A shadow fell over his desk.
He looked up.
Nev stood there.
Arms crossed.
Dark eyes unreadable.
"You're different today."
El's heart pounded.
"What do you mean?"
Nev tilted his head.
Studied him.
That same knowing look.
"You lost something."
It wasn't a question.
El's throat tightened.
"How do you know?"
Nev didn't answer.
Just looked at him.
"You're not the only one who notices things others miss."
He walked away.
El stared after him.
He knows.
He knows something.
And I'm going to find out what.
---
EL'S APARTMENT – 10:15 PM
El sat at the kitchen table.
No card.
No cracker.
Just empty space.
Oreo curled on his lap.
Purring.
He stared at nothing.
Tuesday.
Where did Tuesday go?
What happened to me?
The dream.
The flowers.
My face.
Why does Nev know something?
Why won't anyone tell me?
Mira knows something's wrong too.
She's been watching.
Caring.
Why?
His phone buzzed.
MIRA: Goodnight, El. Hope you're okay.
He stared at the message.
She doesn't know the truth.
But she's here anyway.
She keeps showing up.
He typed back.
EL: I'm trying to be.
A moment later.
MIRA: That's all any of us can do.
He stared at the words.
She's trying too.
We're all just trying.
Then he opened a new message.
Typed three words.
Stared at them.
His thumb hovered over send.
The screen glowed in the dark.
---
NEV: We need to talk.