It's a secret!

My eyes severely bloodshot, I continue staring into the relentless glare of the laptop screen. I let out a snicker from time to time, my fingers nimbly typing away almost silently. The air hot and humid, my forehead glistened with a thin layer of sweat. I wiped it off and stared at the digital clock on the taskbar.

5.35am.

I had things to do, but I was willing to sacrifice sleep for what I was doing, for what I had been doing for the last 4 hours. My focus unperturbed, my resolution undeterred. Time warped differently when you're reining all your attention to a single task, and I noticed that when I stole a second glance at the time.

6.04am.

Like clockwork, I hear my hostess waking up and heading to the bathroom for her daily ablution and prayers. As expected, a few minutes later she was heading into the room I was supposed to be in, intending to stir me awake for my own prayers. She gave a small start as she noticed my sprawling figure on the couch in the upstairs living room instead, laptop close to my chest.

'What in the world are you doing there? At this time?'

I gave a nonchalant shrug.

'You've been on your computer? The whole night?'

I nodded guiltily.

Then, her bleary eyes and groggy expression dimmed, replaced by a sly smile that pounded down the last remnants of her sleep.

'With that happy expression, I'm guessing it's a secret boyfriend?'

...

Speechless, my fingers froze over the keyboard and time flashed into a standstill. My eyes stared into hers like a deer in headlights, strongly emphasising the guilt on my face.

The guilt that I was staying up the whole night organising my files and folders.

The guilt of renaming everything, fixing formats and capitalisation and categorising them methodically, obsessively.

The guilt of having a perfectly formatted collection of files an OCD person would be proud of.

...And having a shitload of fun doing it.

I nodded slowly, awkwardly, an outright lie that seemed appropriate at the time. She flashed an understanding smile and left with a simple message that faltered at the end as she turned to her own room, 'Just make sure you don't miss your prayers.'

......................HOLY MOTHER OF COW DID I JUST PRETEND TO HAVE A SECRET BOYFRIEND BECAUSE I'M JUST THAT PATHETIC?!