Simple Arrangement by McKenna Jeffries

Giga?” Calix asked.
    Katiya frowned. “The man setting up systems in there? Giga, as in gigabyte?”
    “Yep, that’s Giga,” Calix replied.
    They continued down the hall, stopping briefly as she spoke with various people along the way. Finally reaching her office, she unlocked her door and went inside.
    “Sorry about the delay.”
    “It’s what you do. Being the head of a centre this large you’re in high demand. I know the feeling. Wow. That’s a beautiful desk set you have there.”
    Katiya looked around her spacious office. It was richly decorated in her favourite colours—pale yellow, burnt orange and dark brown. Two sofas were on opposite walls with lots of pillows. Her desk was massive and made of six different kinds of exotic wood, including ebony and Carpathian elm, and pieces of custom glass.
    “Thank you, it was a gift from my good friend Iona—she designed it. Iona’s a descendant of the family the town was named after.” She glanced at the floor-to-ceiling matching credenza with hutch and bookcases built into the walls—all with the same design. It was the first thing most people mentioned about the office.
    Going to her desk, she started to boot up her computer. “So what’s your job at Taylor Bytes?”
    “I run the Research and Development area of Taylor Bytes. The head honcho did it to punish me.” He gave her a puppy dog look.
    Katiya snorted. “I can imagine you probably did something to deserve it.”
    “Yeah, I did. At least that’s what he said. It’s a lie—he just likes being the big brother and messing with the little brother,” Calix said matter-of-factly.
    Startled, she glanced at Calix. “Taylor is your brother?”
    “Yep, when I choose to claim him.” Calix laughed then said, “Are you booted up?”
    She glanced at the screen. “Yes.”
    “May I?”
    “Oh, sure,” she said moving from behind the desk out of his way.
    Calix went behind the desk then sat in the chair and started typing. She leaned against the desk and watched his fingers move fast over the keys. When he started humming, she tried to make out what song it was. Calix attached an external drive to her computer.
    “Okay. This will take about two hours. I’m downloading your files and any software you added to your computer onto this.” He patted the drive.
    “Don’t I have to tell you what I did?”
    “Nope, I checked your configurations and know already. Before we install the new one we’ll double-check that everything is on this. Don’t touch the computer while this is running.” Calix stood.
    “I won’t.”
    “I’ll be back in a bit to check on how things are doing,” he said striding across the office to the door.
    “Calix.”
    He stopped and looked at her.
    “I want to thank you and Taylor Bytes for all you are donating to us. I plan on thanking your brother personally when I finally get to meet him. This is so generous of you all.”
    Shock filled Calix’s face then a huge grin curved his lips. Katiya shook her head. It was similar to the one Rhianna kept giving her. She didn’t know what was going on but she would get to the bottom of it.
    “Okay, I’m tired of these weird grins. What is everyone finding so funny?”
    “Everyone?”
    “Rhianna gave me the same type of grin you are. So, what is up?”
    Calix bit his lip. “It’s probably because—”
    The walkie-talkie crackled. “ Calix, come in .”
    She recognised Giga’s voice.
    Calix picked up the walkie-talkie clipped to his belt. “Calix.”
    “ I need you in the comp room .”
    “Got ya. On my way,” Calix replied. He clipped the talkie back to his belt then glanced at her. “Gotta go. I’ll be back to check on things.”
    Before she could reply he turned and strode out of the door. She stared after him and sighed. She hadn’t got the man’s name or an answer to her question. The phone rang, interrupting her thoughts. She strode over to her desk and answered the phone. “The Oasis.”
    She sat and listened