Zoe took the rest of the week off to relax and unwind. She not only talked over things with Aunt Anne, but also with a specialist recommended by Doc Brown. Claire of course, had demanded a detailed report of the Portsmouth Industries run since it had involved a shootout amongst other violent actions. In return, she had gotten the specialist to talk with Zoe for free during the first session. Zoe was tempted to keep talking to the specialist, but 100 credits an hour wasn’t something she was eager to part with. So, she was undecided on continuing therapy even if she knew it was helpful.

Zoe also checked in on the price of a cybernetic liver implant. There were two models, a basic one that functioned the same as an organic liver and an upgraded version that would nullify alcohol. The basic one was 2500 credits while the upgraded version was 7500. Zoe declined both when Zane told her the prices. She would rather not drink at all or at least just in moderation.

Feeling better about life and to be honest, perhaps a little overconfident thanks to her success in defeating the corporate forces she had faced, Zoe sat down Sunday afternoon to check the bid site for runs. She decided to call out sick on Monday morning or later that night if she won some bids.

“This really sucks,” Zoe muttered. She lost every bid centered around Brooklyn and Manhattan. She failed to win the following ones for Queens and the Bronx too. Zoe expanded her search to include Staten Island.

That proved fruitful as she won two bids. The first was for Todt Hill Academy, which was located at 7715 Todt Hill Rd. The academy wanted someone to deliver data to Wolfe Law School at 2 Ct Square W in Queens. The second run she won was for an individual that wanted to a small package delivered from their home at 724 Todt Hill Rd to Hoboken Apparel at 72 Green St in SoHo. Zoe found it funny that an upscale boutique in SoHo was named after a town in New Jersey.

“Maybe I should look for another run…nah. Eight hundred credits for two runs are a good day anyway,” Zoe told herself as she logged off the bid site. “Even better, these runs shouldn’t get me shot at or chased.”

After thinking about things for a moment, Zoe sent Henri a message stating she was sick and wouldn’t be coming in on Monday morning.

“I should probably just quit,” Zoe told herself before wavering. “Nah. I’ll see how this week goes first.”

*

“Hi Newt!” Zoe cheerfully greeted the other courier as she headed toward Staten Island on I-278. The interstate highway was surprisingly smooth and pothole free. Maybe some things being corporate controlled was a good thing. Zoe laughed out loud at that thought.

“Something funny?” Newt asked.

“Yeah. I was just thinking about how smooth I-278 is,” Zoe replied.

“And that made you think that corporate control was a good thing before you came to your senses,” Newt concluded before laughing as well.

“Exactly!” Zoe agreed.

“So that was you that passed me about 20 minutes ago,” the other woman remarked.

“Maybe,” Zoe said as two horns blared after she shot between two cars.

“Those horns are proof you’re not sick and up to something,” Newt said.

“Oh, I’m sick alright,” Zoe quipped.

“Uh huh,” the other courier replied. “What’s really going on?”

“Henri is freezing me out, which you should know by now,” Zoe answered.

“He had two runs for you this morning that he ended up cancelling,” Newt said. “That really ticked him off too.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. He ranted and raged about cancelling them since none of us wanted to take them on in addition to our other jobs.”

“Why didn’t any of you want them?” Zoe asked.

“One was to Staten Island from City Island in the Bronx and the other was from Staten Island to Breezy Point,” Newt answered.

“Did he say how much he was wanting to pay for them?” Zoe asked.

“100 credits per run,” Newt replied dismissively. “That’s not worth my time and the others felt the same way.”

“He wouldn’t pay you guys any more than that? Zoe asked. New shook her head. “Aww, the poor baby.”

“Yeah, you’re definitely not sick,” Newt replied.

Zoe faked a cough. “See, I’m sick.”

“Uh huh. That was the fakest sounding cough I’ve heard in months. Want to talk about what’s really going on?”

“Not right now, but maybe in a few days,” Zoe replied.

“How about meeting for lunch?” Newt asked. “We haven’t done that in a while.”

“Sorry, but I can’t today,” Zoe replied.

“Busy, huh?”

“You could say that” Zoe replied before catching herself. “Err…I meant…”

“I know what you meant,” Newt laughed. “You’ve found another courier job.”

“Sort of,” Zoe admitted.

“I thought so. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone else,” Newt promised. “That’s if you fill me in on the details.”

“I will later this week,” Zoe replied. Then added, “I promise.”

“That works for me. I’ll hold you to that promise,” Newt said. “Have fun and stay safe.”

“You too!” Zoe said before they ended the call.