it was late at night, nearly 1:30am, and all of naomi's classmates had gone home. two lights clipped to the corners of her workbench provided the only illumination, two bright spots of white shining on the drafting paper spread out before her. the light was oblique enough that the weight of the paper was apparent-- the thick grain showing shadowy textures beneath the brightly colored legos she had scattered about.
the assignment was to link two moderately-sized islands in such a way that traffic between the two bodies would flow naturally, maintaining enough movement to minimize road rage and provide for a reasonable commute between one island, designated "home island" in the assignment, and "work island." naomi had sketched out a simple grid system on each of the islands, and now she was working to build a bridge system between them. the sides of the islands that ran parallel were long enough to support up to four bridges, but naomi was locked in thought. her fingers snapped legos together, red on red on blue, forming a small suspension bridge.
"okay bridge, you go here." she nudged the red and blue bridge up to the northern edge of her drawing. she ran her finger along it from home island to work island, and then down the main work island artery from the northeast to the southwest. "that will work..." she pushed together yellow and black pieces to form another bridge. "and you..." she paused. her mobile was ringing.
"shit." naomi dropped the new bridge on her workbench and dug in her bag for her mobile. it was her boyfriend, axel. naomi sighed and flipped open her phone. "hi axel, i'm really sorry it's taken this long. i'm working on this problem that's due tomorrow and i really want to get a good grasp on it tonight." she stopped for a breath. axel didn't speak. "... what is it?"
"i had a show tonight," axel said. his voice was emotionless, as it always was when he was pissed.
naomi went rigid in her seat, and then hung her head. "damn it." she shook her head. "i forgot! i'm so sorry."
"no worries," axel said, "we've got another show tomorrow." now he actually _sounded_ pissed, which was a good thing. "can you make that one?"
naomi grinned. he was only annoyed, thank god. "i can make that one, as long as i finish this tonight."
"all right then," her mercurial boyfriend said. "get back to work. send me a text or something if you need a snack. i'll leave my phone on loud."
"thanks axel," naomi said, and hung up the phone. "okay," she said, focusing on the legos, her determination piqued once more. "bridge, where did i put you?"
