They washed dishes together and then settled in on the couch to watch the movie. They both loved lying on the couch together and snuggling. When the movie was over they each headed for their separate bedrooms.
Chapter 16
June, year 1.
Gabe got home from work about 6:00. His mother was at work, as usual. She tended to work the evening shifts as much as she could. The tips were better in the evening than they were at lunch.
Tracy was sitting at the table in the kitchen when he walked in. “Hey,” he said as he threw his keys on the table and headed for the refrigerator.
“Hey,” she said, not nearly as enthusiastically as he had.
“What’s for dinner?” he asked. This was more a form of conversation than a real question. They never ate actual meals together. Since their mother was usually at work, Gabe and Tracy tended to eat a sandwich or whatever they found in the refrigerator. Not much actual cooking went on.
Tracy didn’t sound super interested, but she went through the motions. “How was your day?” She asked.
“It was good. They’ve got me working on a new door latch mechanism. It’s pretty interesting, but fairly basic. I’m learning a lot each day. Mr. Bentley seems to think I’m doing okay.”
“What does Mr. Bentley look like?” she asked.
“I don’t know. He’s about 35-years old, dark hair, medium height, medium build. He’s just an average looking guy.”
That was enough information. It told her what she was looking for. She had suspected that Mr. Bentley and lover boy Eddie McCoskey might be one in the same. This was enough information to tell her that assumption was false. She hadn’t been able to figure out how this had all worked out. Eddie must really have a lot of power. His bragging had apparently not been all bragging.
“What’s the matter sis?” Gabe asked her.
Tracy was a bit taken off guard. She recovered quickly and said, “What do you mean?”
“It just seems like you’ve been down a lot lately,” he said. “You are usually upbeat and fun to be around. For the past month or so you’ve been in the doldrums. I’ve been worried about you. It’s almost like my depression was contagious. I had it, now you’ve got it.”
She hesitated for a minute and then answered, “No, I’m fine. I don’t know what’s been wrong with me.”
Gabe grabbed an apple and headed to the family room to watch TV. As he was watching TV a thought occurred to him. He had received his second paycheck today. If he was going to stay here at his mom’s house, he should help her out a bit. He took out his wallet and pulled out four crisp $100 bills. He put them in an envelope, went to his mom’s room and laid the envelope on her dresser. On the outside of the envelope he wrote, “I love you mom.”
**********
Late that evening Gabe’s mom came home from work. Her feet hurt and she was tired. Gabe and Tracy had already gone to bed and the house was dark and still. As she was undressing in her room she saw the envelope on the dresser. She read the note on the front, looked inside, and cried.
Chapter 17
June, year 1.
Monica curled up on the couch in her apartment with her book. She seldom turned the TV on in the evenings, preferring to read instead. She finished the chapter she was on, set the book down and got up to get a diet coke from the refrigerator.
As she sat back down she thought about her job. She hadn’t seen Mr. Isaacs much since she started last month. He came around once in a while to check on her, but other than those few short instances, she hadn’t seen him. She had pretty much worked on her own for the past month. There were only a few employees at Brainstorm and they hadn’t been overly friendly. It wasn’t that they were rude or didn’t accept her. Mostly they were like her. They were independent workers and they all liked their space. Brainstorm was basically a company comprised of super nerds.
During the past month she had spent her time reviewing files, notes, and computer code. It didn’t take her long to realize that her coworkers had brilliant minds. She respected them all. She only hoped she could live up to their expectations. It wasn’t that she was insecure. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. She was just a bit apprehensive and wondered how she would measure up against these brilliant minds. Her thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hi Monica, how was your day?” It was her mother.
“Oh, hi mom. I didn’t look at the display before I answered. It was good. All my days are good.” She smiled as she said this. She had always had a close relationship with her mother. They talked on the phone almost every day and shared all their life secrets with each other. Being separated by all these miles was the most substantial challenge of working in California. She missed the days when she could drive home for the weekends anytime she wanted.
“That’s my girl. Always the optimist. Are you still just reviewing files and notes?”
“Yep, that’s my life story. You know me though. I’m right in my element. I really like my job. I can’t wait to get started on some actual programming.”
“I guess that will come soon enough,” said her mother. “I’m not going to keep you. I was just getting ready to go to bed and thought I’d give you a quick buzz. Even though you were gone to school for the past 4 years, it somehow seems like you’re farther away since you moved to California. I miss you more.”
“I miss you too, mom. You know I’m just a phone call away. You and dad need to plan a trip to come visit me.”
Her mom answered, “We just might do that. Good night.”
“Good night mom.” Monica folded the phone, set it down on the couch beside her, and started on the next chapter of her book.
Chapter 18
June, year 1.
Sally sat in her Ford Mustang and watched as Jillian entered the bookstore. She had been looking for an opportunity to accidentally meet this girl. Perhaps this was it. She waited five minutes after Jillian entered and then followed.
Jillian was examining the best seller shelf. Sally meandered over and pretended to be looking at the books herself. After a few minutes of feigning interest Sally said casually, “It’s so hard to choose. Have you read any of these?”
Jillian answered in a friendly manner, “I haven’t read many novels lately. I did read this one.” She pointed to the #3 book on the best sellers list. “It was okay, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a page turner.” She picked up a copy of the #5 book on the list, turned it over to the back cover, and said while looking at it, “I’ve heard this one is excellent. I was thinking about getting it.”
Sally picked up a copy of the same book and began reading the back cover.
Jillian’s cell phone rang. “Hello,” she answered. She listened for a minute, then, “That sounds great. I’ll be home in a few minutes.”
Jillian hung up her phone and turned the book back over for one last look at the cover. As she was placing it back on the shelf she said off-handedly to Sally, “Well, I’ve got to go. Good luck finding something.” With that Jillian turned and walked out of the bookstore.
Sally struggled in her mind for a way to salvage the meeting. Nothing came to her. She watched as Jillian walked out of the store and down the sidewalk.
She walked slowly back to her Mustang wondering where to go from here. Things were complicated now that she had made initial contact and came up short. The next contact would most likely be more delicate. If she wasn’t careful, she would come across as some kind of a stalker!
Sally decided to put the situation aside for now. She got into her car, pulled away from the curb, and headed for the gym.
**********
Her shirt was soaked and sweat was dripping from her chin. Sally challenged herself to go just a bit farther as she ran on the treadmill. If felt good to sweat. She tried
to work out at least four times each week. It always made her feel better and she felt down if she missed a few days.
As she pressed on she thought about things at work. McCoskey was really getting on her nerves. More and more she was having trouble tolerating his ego and unwanted advances. Actually he had stopped making outright advances on her, but she still had to put up with the flippant comments, sexist remarks and his eyes wandering to inappropriate places. Technically she was this boss and could put a stop to these things. The reality though, was that Dr. Bowles hadn’t yet reached the end of his rope. He knew Ed was a problem, but so far he deemed that he brought enough value to the table to put up with his ego. Even though Sally was technically Ed’s boss, they were effectively on even footing. She really had very little control over him.
The project was starting to take shape. They had been lucky in their scouting efforts. All of them agreed their newest employees all held great promise. Sure, they would take time to develop, but they had high hopes for the newbies.
To call them newbies hardly seemed fair. After all, these were highly educated and intelligent people. They had proven themselves at some of America’s highest rated learning institutions. They were young though and still needed to be developed. Time would tell how that development would shape up.
She had done many good things at BioTech. Dr. Bowles was a great man and she totally respected him. She was very young herself when she came to work for Dr. Bowles at age 25. He had provided her with opportunities that allowed her to excel. She respected his integrity. For so many people in his shoes, it became all about the money. Dr. Bowles never acted like money was even a factor. For him it seemed the end product and it’s usefulness in the marketplace was the important thing. Of course, the money naturally followed. She believed in her heart that he was truly a good man. She was proud to work for him and had considered him her mentor since the day she walked in the door.
Her thoughts shifted back to Jillian. She was a very pleasant girl. Her wavy red hair hung naturally. She could tell that Jillian was not a girl who chose to spend hours in front of the mirror getting ready. She was more of a ‘run the brush through her hair and let’s go’ kind of girl. She had a good first impression even though she had only been with her in the bookstore for a few short minutes. She looked forward to their next meeting.
The timer on the treadmill hit 40 minutes. Sally slowed her pace to a slow jog and then to a brisk walk. She headed for the showers and then made her way home to start her new book.
Chapter 19
July, year 1.
Dr. Michael Bowles walked along the trail through the meadow of the Yosemite Valley. Lucy and Ethel ran out ahead of him exploring. His two yellow labs brought him much happiness these days. The three of them had made the four hour drive from San Jose yesterday and were settling in for a two week getaway from the real world.
Michael and his wife Judy had come here every year in July since they married 43 years ago. It was hard to believe two years had passed since the cancer had taken her from him. He was getting back on his feet now and decided to continue the tradition. The place was full of memories for him. They were good memories and he cherished them as he walked along the trail.
Up ahead was a small lake with calm water like glass and in the distance beyond the lake was Yosemite Falls. The sight of the falls always amazed him. It was actually divided into three parts. The upper falls dropped 1,400 feet and fell into a portion of the rocks where it disappeared from view. It continued down another 670 feet while remaining hidden from his view then emerged from the rocks and fell the remaining 320 feet to the valley floor.
The falls were fed by melting snow from the mountains high above. They usually dried up sometime in August each year and often remained dry for a period of several months. The occasional rain would kick start the falls and bring them back to life, but after a few days they would fall back to sleep once again. With the exception of one year, the falls had always remained active in July during his visits, although some years the water flowed stronger than others.
The Yosemite Valley was the most popular tourist spot in the park even though it only made up about 1% of the 761,000 acres of the park. Michael was visiting the valley today, but his cabin was several miles away. He and Judy had always preferred the seclusion offered by getting away from the main tourist locations.
As Michael walked through the meadow he took in the colors of the wildflowers around him. All kinds of yellow and blue flowers surrounded him. A few red ones were even mixed in here and there. This was not a scene that could be found anywhere near his home in San Jose.
The sun was starting to fall on the horizon. He called Lucy and Ethel and headed back to his Range Rover.
**********
That evening Michael sat on the front porch of his cabin. Lucy and Ethel lounged lazily at his side. He loved listening to the night sounds and often sat on the porch until late into the night.
He had come here to get away from real life and intended to think about life back in the real world as little as possible for the next 2 weeks. This was only the second day of his vacation though. It usually took two or three days to put those thoughts from his mind. As much as he tried not to, his mind drifted back home for a few minutes.
He had come to think of Sally as a daughter. She was a gifted scientist and project manager; very intelligent. She had impressed him when he hired her 10 years ago. She was only 25 years old at the time. Since then he had watched her mature into the person she had become. It thrilled him to know she was truly a good person. He always liked having her around and was proud to have her as his primary team leader. Since he and Judy had never had children of their own, Sally had been a form of surrogate daughter, so-to-speak.
He thought about the time Judy had invited her to church with them the first time. That had been 5 years ago. He was so proud of her the day she became a Christian. She had taken on a new glow that day and he smiled like a proud father when he thought about it.
Ed was another story. Ed was also intelligent and gifted, but he came with a lot of baggage. Michael knew he should have parted ways with the womanizer years ago. He had kept him around because of his talent, but it all came with a cost. If he had one regret, having Ed McCoskey as part of his team was it.
Then there was Daniel. Daniel had a rare talent. He was a people person if ever there was one. The man was business savvy and could draw people into the mix at will. People just naturally liked him. Even on the occasions he had to admonish employees, they were still eating out of his hand at the end of the correction. Michael didn’t understand this skill. He had tried to develop the skill within himself over the years, but he had finally decided this was not a skill that could be developed. It just came naturally for a small number of lucky people in the world.
Ethel stood and put her head in his lap. He gently petted and rubbed her head. She liked to be rubbed behind the ears. Feeling a bump on her head, he used his pocket flashlight to take a closer look. There it was, the first tick of the season. The flea collar kept most of the ticks at bay, but a few usually slipped by this defense each year when they visited the wilderness of Yosemite.
The tick was still very small so he knew it hadn’t been there long. It was about the size of the head of a matchstick. Ticks usually hung out in the long grass or bushes. As an animal or human walked by, they climbed onboard and went for a free ride. The tick would then crawl on the host looking for a good spot to dig in. Once finding the ideal spot on the host, the tick cut into the skin and buried his head under the skin. The parasite would then proceed to feed off the blood of the host. Eventually the tick would engorge itself with the blood from the host and the size of its body would grow tremendously.
Michael picked the tick off her head and discarded it off the side of the porch. “Hopefully we won’t see too many of these little highjackers,” he
said to Ethel and went back to rubbing her head. Lucy’s ears perked up at the sound of his voice and then she settled back down for a peaceful evening. The two dogs were a very special part of his life at this moment.
Chapter 20
July, year 1.
Jilly was excited when Jamie came home from work. She ran to him as he came through the door and jumped up with her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his midsection. She squeezed him tight and squealed with excitement. When she let go, she ushered Jamie to the couch to tell him all about her day.
“I went to the video store to pick up a movie for us to watch tonight. I ran into a lady in the video store that I had briefly met a few weeks ago at the bookstore. I didn’t remember her at first, but she recognized me. She had purchased a book I recommended to her and she was telling me how much she enjoyed it. We got to talking and she asked me what I did for a living. I told her my story about being a recent grad with a degree in biochemistry, but told her I was having a bit of trouble finding a job.”
“As luck would have it, she said she knew someone who was looking for a biochemist. What are the odds of that?! She called him up right there on the spot and sure enough, he was still looking for someone. He said he was heading out of town tomorrow and wanted to know if I could come in for an interview today. I got the job!”
“That’s great!” Jamie was really excited for her. “What kind of company is it?”
“It’s called Brainstorm. They are a research and development company for a larger corporation called BioTech. They are small; only a small handful of employees. I start next week!”
“We should celebrate,” said Jamie. “I’m taking you out to dinner tonight; something special. Let’s get cleaned up and go blow an obnoxious amount of money on dinner.”