Copyright © 2013 Mary Hughes
All rights reserved
She
must have said it out loud, because Tess, who was wash ingwashing
her hands at the next sink, said, “Who’s on your mind? ,
John? ?”
She gave a dreamy sigh. “He is handsome, isn’t he?”
Tess
looked
sidelong at her. “Of course, sincewas
silent as she finished rinsing. Then, as Vickie finished up, she blurted, “Of
course, you get first dibs. Since he’s your secretary, you
get first dibs.”
What…? Then Vickie smiled. “Don’t tell me you’ve gotturned
to Tess with a grin. “You have a crush on himJohn?”
Tess
blushed, something Vickie had never seen.
On
her do before. “`it looked cute. Vickie’s
grin widened. “Well?”
“‘Crush.’ What an adolescent term, Vickie. .” She popped the
button on the hand drier. Shouted over the roar, “Of course I
don’t have a crush on him.” She grinned ruefully and
Which
only made Vickie grin harder. “Of course not,” she shouted back.
Tess cast
a sidelong glance at her friend, and stifled a return
grin.
Vickie
could sympathize with that. Only for Cliff, the right time was never. “Well, I
certainly wouldn’t want to stand in my friend’syour
way. John’s all yours. Although, as long as I’ve known you, Tess, you’ve
never been afraid of coming straight to the point. What’s gotten into you?”
Tess
went back to slicking her lips in the mirror. “Anyway, John has doesn’t
even notice me, with all those women he has around
him
all the time. I guess I’ll just wait until he’s old and ugly,
and needs me.”
“Tess,
don’t be ridiculous. You’re a wonderful person in your own right. .
If John can’t see that, can’t see you,
well, then, he doesn’t deserve you.”
“Yeah,
that’s what my mother always said, too. I have personality,
I don’t know, Vickie. need looks. Bull
hockey. If I’mI was so
wonderful, how comewouldn’t John
isn’tbe
crawling all over me?”
Vickie opened
her mouth. Closed it and shook her head. This was too near what
she felt to her feelings about Cliff for her to
offer any constructive suggestions to her friend. perspective.
“Sometimes guys are shizzola.”
“You
can say that again.”
They
left the bathroom together, each sunk deep in her own thoughts.
When sheVickie
got home to her rental apartment that evening,
the landline phone was ringing. Vickie went to pick it up.
“Hello? Is anyone…”
“Who
is this…” she began again when the same voice interrupted.
—”
“May
I speak with Victoria Johnston, please?” Then moreMore
static.
“Please
hold.”
Now what?
“Vickie?
Vickie, don’t say anything, especially not my name. I am
visiting your area soon, and I’d like to stop by. What days will you be home
this week?”
Prince
Kulinahr. Cautious old buzzard, not mentioning his name, or pinning down when
he’d be in. Or where he was calling from, although it certainly with
that delay wasn’t Canada
And
smart to call the apartment’s landline. That meant he knew where she was.
“I’ll be home every night this week.”
Another
pause, although shorter this time. “Excellent. I will see you.” The click on
the line told her he had hung up. She wondered how good tracking equipment was
these days. He certainly had made it a short call.
Two
night later, Kulinahr appeared at her door two nights later, in
the company of the same two men she had-in-black
pair she’d met in Montreal
“Vickie.
I’m so glad to see you again.” HeKulinahr
shook her hand with warmth.
“Me,
too.” She indicated that he should sit, and brought out some oolong tea and
cookies she’d bought at the Chewy‑Good Cookie Store on the way home. She’d done
that last night, too, so they’d be fresh, and—or
at least that was mightilywhat she’d told
herself. She was glad for her waistlinewaistline’s
sake that he had arrived early in the week.
Vickie
sat down opposite him, ignoring the security men. Even though she enjoyed
seeing Kulinahr, she knew she hadn’t be come best buddiesbuds
with a Middle‑East Prince overnight. She wondered why he was here.
Kulinahr picked up one of the
cookies, then sighed and sat back with his tea. Almost as if he were
echoing her thoughts he said, “Thank you for allowingmaking
me to comewelcome,
Vickie. I’m afraid
it is not the best of times for me.”
“Your
letters?”
“Yes.
I did not get the best of responses from my letters.”
“I’m
sorry to hear that.” But
not surprised. A lot ofShe
poured him more tea. He had to be disappointed to find out how often
people thoughtfelt business
comescame
before friendship.
“Isn’t
anyone helping?” She dropped a handful of cookies on his plate and
another on hers.
Kulinahr
brightened a bit. “Yes, there is. One person.”
“That’s
all?” Vickie, however, scowled.
“One person? chomped cookie. “How much can one
person do?”
“Quite
a bit, actually, if they are smart. Which, tangentially, is why I’ve come to
see you.”
“You
are acquainted with security technology? Computer controlled?”
“That
is wonderful. I was hoping, with your computer back groundbackground,
that you could provide for me a small computer with the capability of producing
numbers. Ah, seven‑place numbers.”
“You
mean all possible combinations of seven‑digit numbers? Piece of cake. How fast
do you need them, and what kind of output do you want?”
“Pardon?”
The sheikh looked puzzled.
Vickie
blushed. Had she been away fromcleared
her throat. Baby users that long? , so
cute. “I mean, do you want it on a hardcopy report,
or do you need the numbers on tape[MH3] , or some other way?”digitally,
or spewed to the cloud, or…?”
“Yes,
I see. I need the numbers to feed into an electronic lock. Rather like dialing
all possible phone numbers.”
“Hmm.”
Vickie gotpicked up her
tea and paced, thoughtful. sipped. “I’ll
have to check with some of my people. I’m not sure if there’s a
standard interface with electronic locks or not.”
He
cleared his throat. “How soon do you think I could have it?”
“Of
course.” Kulinahr looked relieved. “Thank you very much Vickie. I will not
forget your friendship.” After a few more rushed pleasantries, Kulinahr and his
party left. She had no
opportunity to ask theHer deeper
questions this sub‑rosa visit had raisedremained
unanswered.
The
men were at her office at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. She politely shooed them
out of her way until 9:30, which was the fastest she could find a free HCC 200
and put in a quick countingnumber generation
program. She didn’t feel too guilty about giving away one of Cliff’s machines. In
her opinion, he sort of owed it to Kulinahr.
Then
the
phone rang requesting her input atJohn knocked with a
request she attend an emergency meeting, and Vickie grabbed up her
paperstablet
and forgot all about it.
[MH1]A
specific action in the lavatory is more immediate and easier to picture than
generic "finishing up".
[MH2]I
liked these internal monologs at the time. Now they make me cringe a little.
[MH3]While
some things are really still put on tape, it isn't the medium it once was...
[MH4]Pacing
is a decent visual, especially with our easily-riled redhead. But it's also a
good idea to change up the senses you appeal to. I put in an aural cue for her
agitation.
No comments:
Post a Comment