The Virus by Janelle Diller

Author:Janelle Diller [Diller, Janelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781936376148
Publisher: WorldTrek
Published: 2015-01-13T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

34

I LOGGED IN. Fifty unread emails popped up, a third of them about some data loader issue that looked like Greek to me. I scrolled through them fast, deleting as quickly as I read the first few lines. Of the half-dozen that required my attention, none was critical.

I didn’t know what I was doing there. But I was billable. Hooray.

The day dragged. I had three meetings to endure, one with the CEO. I didn’t think I could suffer one more conversation about how to communicate a slip in the go-live date. They took two-hour lunches; they hadn’t done their homework; they had an incompetent woman running the show who spent more time on her hair than managing her team; and the CEO thought with his penis. Those were the reasons, and I was tired of finessing the story any more.

Somehow, I muddled through the day. I called home every hour, on the hour. When the answering machine clicked on, I hung up. I tried Pete again just before lunch and left a message to call and give me an update on Eddy. If he knew something had happened, I desperately hoped he’d call back and give me clues. If Eddy had, in fact, left town, I prayed Pete would call, curious about the cryptic message. He didn’t call.

I didn’t have a scenario for that.

By five, I couldn’t take it anymore. I packed up my stuff and stopped by Michael’s cubicle to try one more time to talk him into going to meet Sanjeev with me. Although not actually short with me, he’d bordered on it the other three times I’d asked him. No, he wouldn’t go with me, and yes, I was a fool for contacting Sanjeev again. He wasn’t at his desk, which was just as well. I didn’t want to be talked out of this trip. I left, hitting the thick of rush-hour traffic as I headed to San Jose. I didn’t care at all, even when we came to a five-minute dead stop around the San Mateo Bridge.

I got to San Jose a few minutes after six thirty, intentionally parking the car a couple blocks away and walking to Greens & Beans. I didn’t think I’d been followed, but if I had been, they’d have to get a little exercise. From time to time, I stopped to window shop, using the pause to see what other people around me did. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but what did I know? I was a communication consultant, not a private detective.

Maybe it was the walk, or maybe I’d used up all my nervousness the night before, but tonight I felt surprisingly calm, although “empty” might have been a better description. Last night’s pounding heart had slowed to a soft throb.

When I got to the restaurant, I ordered a piña colada smoothie and a veggie pita since I didn’t truly expect Sanjeev to join me for a real dinner. The place looked like I remembered it. The walls were painted like luscious lettuce leaves and the brightly painted tables like beans.

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