Picturing Christmas by Jason Wright

Author:Jason Wright
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cedar Fort Publishing
Published: 2017-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

18 Days to Christmas

Joel and Aubrey ducked into a used bookstore as a cold, hard rain clattered through the downspouts. “Partly cloudy with a slight chance of rain, my eye,” said a soaking-wet Aubrey.

“We should have known it was going to rain when the street vendors put away the fake designer sunglasses and set out the twenty dollar umbrellas.”

“They are kind of psychic, aren’t they?”

They sat for a few minutes in silence, watching New York City slow to what would still be a frantic pace in most other cities. Finally, Aubrey turned to Joel and asked, “What’s your story, mystery man?”

“Mystery man? It’s only a mystery because you haven’t asked me before. You already know some of it, anyway.”

“You told me you are from California and have been in New York for less than a year. Francis told me you ‘cashed out’ and invested in Anna’s. That’s pretty much it.”

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away …”

“Seriously.”

“Okay. I grew up in northern California. My parents both teach school; Dad is a high school physics teacher and Mom is a professor at Stanford.”

“That must make for interesting dinner conversation.”

“You have no idea. I actually had my dad for a semester. That was fun. Then I went to Stanford.”

“And had your mom as a professor,” Aubrey interrupted.

“No, she teaches women’s studies. That wasn’t on my computer science course list.”

“Computer science. Makes sense.”

“It did at the time. I made it through two and a half years and then quit.”

“Why?”

“It didn’t make sense anymore. By the end of sophomore year I was running my own company. I learned more on my own in a month than Stanford was teaching me in a year.”

“Was that the company you cashed out or whatever before you came here?”

“Yes and no. The company and I actually parted ways quite a while before I sold my patents.”

“Patents?”

“I had a cool idea while I was working on one of my school projects. It turns out nobody had seen things quite the way I did. A little bit like you and your photos, I guess. Anyway, a very wise advisor helped me protect the idea.”

“What was it?”

“It’s hard to explain because it’s not a thing by itself. It’s a way for phones and computers to communicate.” He held out his hand. “Let me see your phone.”

She handed it to him. He slid in close beside her and held it so she could see the screen while he worked it.

“Wow. You have a lot of apps here.”

“I’m kind of an app hoarder.”

“My process—it’s not mine anymore, I guess—but the process I came up with isn’t an app. It makes other apps work better and faster.” He pointed to an icon on the screen. “This one uses it … and this one … and this one …” He navigated to the next screen. “… And this one … and this one …” Another screen “… and this one … and this one.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. I think that’s it. No wait, this one uses it too, I think.

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