James

His name being called snapped him out of the thoughts he found occupying his mind. He looked up to the door of his office to see Lee. His boss, and friend of several years. His gently graying hair, deeper laugh lines, and crow's feet betrayed his age at nearly 50. Lee let himself in

"I just wanted to go over a few things with you on the Air Force contract.", Lee stated while closing the door.

James tilted his head, "That's R&D stuff, though. Don't tell me you're moving me over there...", he gave an exaggerated wince to show his desire to stay in his own department.

Lee gestured calmly with his hands, "Just for a little while. They're trying to figure out a more silent means of flight for the contract, and they need some fresh eyes. You've been editing and fixing other people's designs for years, so I thought you'd be able to give a corrective eye and find areas that are halting their progress."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Ohh, boy...alright. What's the biggest hangup?"

"The diagrams have it all, I'll unlock your account. I need you on this constantly until it's finishes, so log in and look at it at home tonight. Work from home till it's done, I don't want time that could be spent fixing this being used to drive."

He gave Lee an inquisitive look, "You're usually more laid back than this, Lee. Why the sudden urgency?"

"Some confidential people are breathing down our necks on this one. We have four days to submit a viable design, or we lose all of our military contracts."

"Oh...shit.", James flopped back into his seat.

"Yeah, so we need this yesterday. Look at the good side. If you can fix their problem, you're part of the team getting a decent bonus for it. Could pay for a nice trip with whoever's got you spacing out.", Lee gave a more familiar smile.

James felt his face flush, and panic hit his chest as Aurora flashed through his mind. "What makes you think I-"

"James. I've known you since your intern days before I was your boss, and I have three kids. I know what it means when I have to call you four times while you're pink and spacing out.", Lee opened the door and started to leave. "Bring her in some time, maybe she'll be impressed with the kind of work you do...just don't show her anything she's not allowed to see.", he gave the door a pat twice on his way out.

James gave a half-hearted chuckle. "So I can show her the entryway, got it."

Lee closed the door after he left. Leaving James with several new concerns.