After returning form his very enjoyable and relaxing honeymoon, Tomomi put togegther his new robotics table, eager to start tinkering with it. Given his grades and his experience with programming and robotics, he had been able to start out as a Cog in the Machine instead of having to work his way ou p all the way from the bottom. He just hoped he could prove he deserved the position – and that his coworkers didn’t hate him too much for the head start.
As a freelance article writer, Lucero spent her day writing her first novel. She hadn’t yet picked a genre to specialize in, deciding to dabble a bit before making a decision. While she wasn’t sure she could keep up theh pace of writing something new every day, it ws a necessary step on her way to becoming a journalist. It would be interesting to see her fame increase while Tomomi let his wane.
“This feels like old times,” Tomomi said, joining Lucero in the office.
“I guess it does. What are you working on?”
“A product review. You?”
“About to fnish my first book. Thought I’d try a short story collection fo the stories I used to tell the triplets when they were little.”
“Ooh, cool, I beet those will be popular.”
“We’ll see,” Lucero replied modestly.
“Are you going to focus on children’s stories then?”
Lucero shook her head. “I don’t think so. They’re short and quick, but I want to do something more challenging.”
“What about writing in your favorite genres?”
“Oh, good idea…” Inspired, Lucero moved from the short stories to a fantasy novel.
Done with his project report, Tomomi wandered down to the basement to play his favorite non-video game, foosball. Maybe he could create a digital version on his own time? Hmm, he would have to think about how that would work.
As if to prove the creative gene hadn’t completely passed him by, Tomomi had the sudden urge to paint somehting. It was simall and simple and nowhere near the quality Nobuyuki could churn out, much less his great-great-grandmother, but it was nice relaxing fun. Even his brain needed a break from coding and computing so he wouldn’t get burned out.
The next morning, Lucero was the first to leave for her first shift. She was glad the uniform was fairly androgynous: there would be no issues with it when she was feeling more masculine.
Tomomi followed an hour laater, in crisp new jeans and a sweatshirt, glad tht if he had to be in an office for hours, at least he could dress casually. Though his clothes probably wouldn’t stay clean and neat long, especially if a fire started at the robotics table and wasn’t quickly contained.
Lucero returned form work first, feeling stressed because she felt unprepared as well as overwhelmed. Both of which probably contributed to her being embarrassed at work. Why, o why had she done that? Never again! Hopefully everyone would forget all about it and it wouldn’t become the latest office story told to newbies. Lucero definitely did not want to think about it, much less talk about it.
Since the rain made it impossible to jog outside, Lucero satisfied her need to work off her tension with a run on the treadmill.
By the time Lucero had moved on to the punching bag, she had formed a plan. She would take the time be better prepared on her first day off and make sure she knew who her coworkers were. Especially her bosses.
Tomomi returned home stunned that he had already earned his first promotion and was officially an Engineering Technician. He just hoped he was worthy of the trust his boss placed in him. He still wasn’t sure where he had gotten the confidence and audacity to march in and demand a challenge on his first day, but apparently that had impressed his boss instead of upsetting him.
“Guess what? I just got promoted!” Tomomi announced over a dinner of leftover japchae.
“That’s great! I hope I get a promotion soon.”
“You will. Once we’re both esablished in our careers, we should start thinking about when we want to start a family.”
“I like it just being the two of us for now,” Lucero said.
“Me too We should enjoy the quiet while it lasts.”
“Definitely. Want to play Simbles tonight?”
“Sure. Just let me finish this and brush my teeth.”
After breakfast, the two of them spent the rest of the evening playing a game of Simbles, which Lucero won. While Tomomi did want children, he knew he would miss getting to spend hours just relaxing with Lucero when they had a baby or toddler who constantly needed their attention. Still, he was looking forward to it. Eventually, moments like these would come around again and be all the sweeter for the wait.
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Muse Urania's Library 