Synergy by Georgia Payne

whole day and night with nothing to do was
something alien to him. He wasn’t used to this type of life, and
honestly, he had no idea what to do with his time. After lying for
a few minutes thinking, he decided to get off the bed and out of
the room, hoping Tom would provide more entertainment than staring
at four walls. As he grabbed his wallet and his phone and shoved
them into his jeans pocket, he thought about the food he would get
at home tomorrow and his stomach rumbled hungrily. He walked to the
next room along on his left and knocked on the door.
    Before
Tom answered the door, Jason heard his voice inside, and when he
came to the door to let him in, he saw he was on the phone. Not
wanting to disturb Tom’s conversation, Jason smiled and stepped in
ahead of him, sitting himself in the chair by the bed. It only took
him a minute to realise Tom was talking to his fiancée, Carmen. It
dawned on Jason how excited Tom must be to get home tomorrow to see
Carmen and his baby, Lydia. Lydia was walking and talking a little
now. She still only had a few select words, but she was turning
into more of a little person every day, and it was amazing to
watch. Jason himself was looking forward to seeing her, being her
godfather.
    After a
few more minutes of talking, Tom hung up the phone and smiled at
Jason.
    “ Lydia’s having a
nap so I didn’t get to talk to her, but Carmen said she’s been
telling her daddy’s home tomorrow .” 
At that, Tom beamed the biggest smile and Jason, who couldn’t help
but smile back, could tell how much he wanted to see
her.
    “ That’s awesome
man. I’m gonna come see her once I’m settled in at
home .”
    “ J, I can’t wait. Feels like a
lifetime.”
    “ Tell me about it. I’m salivating thinking about the food
already.”
    Tom
chuckled, and sprayed some deodorant on himself as he
spoke.
    “ You wanna grab some food?”
    “ Yeah I’m starving.”
    “ Whatd’you wanna do tonight?”
    Jason
thought for a minute and decided as long as he got out of the
hotel, he was up for anything.
    “ You decide, as long as I get out of here. I’m getting cabin
fever.”
    “ Really? You’re letting me decide?”
    “ Don’t make me regret it.”
    Dee
    It was
Friday, and while the rest of the world was hoping to finish work
soon and go out for the night, Dee was on mom duty. Though she
hated working at the club sometimes, she was glad she got to spend
the daytime with her son. She got to pick him up from school, spend
time with him afterwards, and put him to bed before she went to
work. That’s something that a lot of moms couldn’t say they get to
do. Working a 9-5 they barely saw their kids. The teachers had them
at school, someone else had them at after-school club or a friend’s
house and their moms barely got time to feed them or bathe them
before it was time for bed. Tushaun was only two, so though he
wasn’t old enough for school, he went to a pre-school as Dee
thought it was healthy for him to spend time with other kids. He
went for half a day so by 12 noon he was ready to be picked
up.
    Just
before 12, she arrived at the school and pressed the buzzer for the
receptionist to let her in the building. The staff all knew her by
now, and so they’d say hi and make small talk with her until
Tushaun was ready to be let out by the teaching staff. Sometimes,
Dee liked to watch through the classroom window just to see him
interacting with the other kids. She loved seeing him play and be
happy, and wished his father could see what an amazing little boy
he was growing up to be. Although frankly, she was in two minds
about him seeing Trey because she hated the thought of her sweet
little boy being corrupted. She didn’t want Trey to take away any
of Tushaun’s sweetness or innocence. Today, Dee watched through the
window for a few minutes. She saw Tushaun playing with another
little boy with a fire truck and she smiled as she watched him
making the truck noises and flying it over the other