The unwanted night shifts

"Sam, don't forget to bring the draft for the editorial tomorrow. I'd hate to hear her screaming at me again." Henry was sitting at his office chair proofreading the news article that was about to go live. Being a national famed magazine, the company commanded a higher standard and most articles were edited over ten to fifteen times before publishing. Even then sometimes the mistakes make it to the paper and the editors would receive a loud scolding every other day.

Henry was already tired from the continuous work. He was supposed to get back home by the end of the day shift but sadly the chief's kid ran into trouble and he had no choice but to cover for him at least until he got back.

'7 already?' Henry let out a sigh and put his reader down. 'That's all there for today.' He slowly got up and walked towards the balcony picking a cigarette packet from his pants. Pulling one out by the bud, Henry leaned on the railing lit it and took a puff. 'Low long is he going to keep me here?' While his thoughts ran wild, Henry's phone rang.

"Henry, it's me. I will be a little late. Did you check out the editorial for tomorrow?" 'Here it comes. Sam, this one is on you again.' He let go another smoke ring and answered after a short sigh, "Sorry chief, Sam said he wanted to go through it once more. He said he will bring it over tomorrow." "That's fine. I will be back by 9. Could you hold it a little longer? Jessie got caught underage drinking." "No problems here chief. Take your time." "Thanks, Henry. See you later."

Henry took out his phone and opened his favourite live streaming app. He smiled looking at a girl playing a generic shooter game. "Chief, you should at least make sure your lies are foolproof," he said loudly to the night sky. He put the cigarette put and threw the bud over towards the line of decorative shrubs below. 'It will decay in a few days.' Henry walked back in, refreshed.

'Two more hours,' Henry thought looking at the time at the corner of his laptop screen. With nothing else to do, he pulled up an old school MMO with little graphics. It was an ancient hit. With the younger generation slowly moving on to better graphic games, this gem had slowly lost its glory and was pushed back. To Henry, it was one of the best memories that he carried. The nostalgic feelings, the friendships he built, playing with his friends even on the eve of their semester exams, to Henry it was the memories that made his comeback to this universe.

He loaded his character and started roaming around the virtual town. There were still a lot of players and Henry could identify most of them. They too we're like him, reminiscing the past glory that they all were a part of.

"Henry, you are back again. Wanna go raid the Moveni Dungeon?" One of his close online friends Fred asked him through the message system, seeing him come online.

"Sorry, can't do. I'm still at work." The dungeons were great and he did want to run it again but Henry knew it would take at least 3-4 hours to finish a single run.

"Your chief dumping the night shift on you again?" Fred asked. "Looks like it. I hope not but there is a high chance I will be stuck here all night." Henry replied and then continued, "you guys go on without me. Me and Sis ran that dungeon yesterday night. Don't forget to let me know if a red item drops."

"No problem man. Hopefully, that asshole grows a conscience and bale you out." He wrote and closed the chatbox. 

"I don't think so," Henry mumbled before he quit the game looking at the time which was already close to a quarter to eight. He got up again and walked to the can dispensary at the office corner to grab a diet coke. 'Looks like I'll be stuck here for another night.' He took the cold can and walked towards the restroom dragging his sleeping bag.

As long as no important events were happening he wouldn't have to get up till the next morning and could have a nap. Although the place is a little cramped it was still better than sleeping on the desk. He set an alarm and crawled into the sleeping bag. Sleep gradually took over and soon he started snoring loudly.