carl@fire

"Carl, I'm getting a little sleepy," Annie said, leaning her head on his shoulder as they sat on the couch.

Carl showed no sign of the relief and jubilation he was feeling at that moment on his face. Instead, he turned to his wife, who was mid-yawn, which then caused him to yawn. "I'm a little tired too," he said, carefully reaching his arms up into the air for a very noticeable stretch. "I think it's watching Brady," he said gesturing at the television, where the game that had been on when they'd arrived was nearing its final minutes. "I can't believe he's still playing. Isn't he like, a hundred now?"

Ted laughed, and Cheryl chuckled.

It had taken some doing, but Carl had managed to defuse the situation—somewhat—over the past few hours, and the evening had gone very well.

Annie was happy, at least, and she was his metric.

"I think we're gonna head out," Annie said, sitting up and straightening her stylish indoor jacket.

Carl looked down to adjust the sleeve of his dress shirt while he schooled his face back into a neutral expression.

Carl buckled his seatbelt.

Annie, having already accomplished the same, leaned her head against his shoulder as his car set off on the hour-long drive back to their house. "That was fun," she said quietly. "I really enjoyed myself."

"I'm glad," Carl said. He wrapped his right arm around her, and she snuggled closer against him.

"Carl, have I told you how much I love you yet today?" she asked, looking up at him with a content, but, to him, dazzling smile.

He grinned. "Are you about to?"

She tilted her head up, closed her eyes, and puckered her lips slightly in response.

Annie set her tablet down abruptly. "Carl, are you sure you're okay?" she asked, turning to look at him with a concerned expression. "I know you've been really stressed about work lately. You sure you don't need to take some time off?"

Carl considered it. He hadn't managed to take any time off since just before New Year's due to the scheduling of his job and lack of personnel, but he'd never specifically felt the need to either. "I think it should be better now with this update shipping next week," he said, turning off his phone's AR display in his glasses. "Fourth quarter most stuff is frozen and a lot of people are off—Plus, people know I'm still kinda triggered after that latest thing with Accounting, so nobody's liable to mess things up for a while."

"But what about that fight with that Roger jackass?" she asked, the concern in her eyes not diminishing. "I know how much that's been bothering you."

Carl smiled a little as he stroked his beard. "Actually, I have a feeling that's gonna end pretty fast after I have a talk with him on Monday," he said.

In fact, he was certain that it would.

"Don't worry about it," he continued, fixing her with a confident look in the dim light of the car's overhead and Annie's tablet.