"Is it just me or is Owen staying out late more often?"
Ophelia's question was met with a long yawn from Mary. The black-haired lady was lounging on the couch, her legs sprawled out and one of her seven identical feather nightgowns draped elegantly around her. She idly flipped through a magazine, not really reading but enjoying the lazy night. "I don't know, I can't tell."
Drinking a can of Mountain Pew while on her phone, Isabella remarked, "Yeah, so why are you even here?"
"Shut the fuck up, Ms. I-have-nothing-to-do-since-my-laptop-is-broken."
The once functioning laptop sat there on the living room table. Ophelia wandered in from the kitchen, holding a cup of tea. Her wide eyes and dreamy expression made her seem like she was in a constant state of wonder. Seven times out of ten, Isabella couldn't read her.
"What's wrong with your laptop, Isabella?"
"It's broken, Ophelia. Like, completely dead," Isabella replied, half exasperated since she had already told the blonde.
"Oh, that's not good," Ophelia said, sitting down and sipping her tea. "Maybe it needs a rest. Sometimes things just need a little break."
Mary snorted. "I'm sure it's just tired. Electronics need naps too, right?"
"Do they?"
"No." Mary flipped a page. "When did you start drinking green tea?"
"I saw a WuTuber say that it helps with not dying."
"Not dying...right."
"It stops cancer and heart disease."
"I think you mean it statistically lowers the chances of cancer and heart disease," Isabella said.
"Oh." Ophelia sipped. "I knew that."
After that, it was pure silence. Mary flipped through the magazine she had already read twice. Isabella was on the last percent of her phone battery as she drank her addiction. Ophelia was calmly blowing on the tea to cool it down.
"So…" That was Mary who decided to sit upright. "What do we want to do?"
"I have no idea," Isabella retorted.
"I have an idea," Mary said.
"Then why ask me if I have an idea?"
"I have no idea." Mary got up. Ophelia looked up. Isabella didn't. "Chop, chop, people, I'm your saviour here. I have a tuition savings account that's been racking up for years now. But more importantly, I have ten times that amount waiting elsewhere. We use the tuition money to get that other source and all our troubles will go away."
"Seriously!?" Ophelia was already excited. Isabella was not.
"And you didn't use the tuition…why?"
"My mother wanted me to go to college here in the States and I lied and said I would go. I mean, eventually I did during the summer but in the actual fall and winter seasons? Hell no. I did my own thing."
Isabella looked up. "So…?"
"Think, I'm from a modern generation. Where else do I think I went to invest?"
Isabella thought about it, then looked up at her judgmentally. "Silicon Valley?"
"Yep." Saying it out loud, a memory seemed to annoy Mary. "The tech bros can be pretty fucking pretentious. They go to the big boy colleges so the issue is that they can be very stringent and by the books."
"And what's wrong with that?" Isabella asked.
"It's inconvenient to me so it sucks."
Isabella rolled her eyes. "Of course."
"My ID is fake and my phone with all my data was seized so I'm going to have to sell my stocks without them."
"Wait, what?"
Now that caught their attention.
"What the hell do you think I was going to do? Get a loan? Rob them? I need to sell. The stocks have been plateauing as of late. No better time than now to sell a majority stock from four years ago."
"You're just gonna waltz in there and ask to sell your stock," Isabella said.
"Ballsy, right? And I need you two with me."
"M-me…?" Ophelia would have pointed at herself if not for the tea. "Why me?"
"The illusion of wealth. Duh. If you look important, people won't question you."
"Wait, wait, wait. Okay, so I'm researching stuff here," Isabella said, "and it says you need to visit them if you own the company partially. Do you have a stake in the company?"
"No, shit, that's why I'm going there."
"With no proof of identification?"
"It's not like they'll check."
"And if they do?"
"I might get arrested. Depends. I talked to my people and they say the Spanish authorities aren't keen on telling Interpol or the companies I own about it. I'm relatively safe here."
"Mary, you are the craziest woman I know and…" Isabella sighed. "God dammit, I have to go along with this, won't I?"
"You're broke, I'm broke, we're all broke. Might as well risk it and go for it."
Just then, the front door creaked open. The girls immediately shut up. Owen walked in, carrying a small box, grinning.
"You're late," Mary stated.
Without saying a word, he plopped the box into Isabella's lap. The gears in Isabella's head turned as she inspected it. Her eyes widened. "Wait, is this a—"
"Newest processor, yeah." Owen took off his green vest and went into the hall. "I'm going to take a shower."
"The I9!? That's almost grand, Owen! How did you…?" Isabella got up and chased after him. "Wait, Owen! Are we seriously going to build a PC? What about the other parts?"
"It'll be fun," Owen said, one foot in the bathroom.
"Y-yeah, but…money."
"Let me worry about that. Like I always say, you can always make money."
Wearing a smile, he went into the bathroom. Isabella could hear the familiar click of the shower activating. The blue box was still in her hand and she stared at it.
Whatever he did to get this…it wasn't easy. A pang of guilt struck her heart. Meeting Mary's eyes, she made her decision.
"Tomorrow."
Mary smirked. "Tomorrow."
"W-wait a second," Ophelia said, "how are we even going to get there? Silicon Valley is really far, right?"
"According to Maps, it's a thirty hour drive," Isabella pointed out.
"Who do you think I am? I have a plan, obviously." The twinkle in Mary's eye explained everything. She had been planning this ever since she crashed here. Isabella wasn't sure whether to be nervous or relieved.
Ophelia was definitely the former.