Chapter 78: Sankta Lucia

December, 1984, Chicago, Illinois

On Wednesday, Julia and I had breakfast together and went over our presentation one final time. Charlie's part was straightforward and all the charts were identical to the ones I'd provided to her the previous week, though we had spruced up how they looked using the Macintosh. I printed fresh copies to use in the opaque projector. I wished there was a way to project images from my Macintosh, but if there was, I couldn't find one in any of my computer magazines, and the small screen just wouldn't cut it for the classroom.

Just before 10:00am Julia, Charlie, and I met outside the classroom to go over the presentation one last time. I reminded both of them to just relax because I had complete confidence that our presentation was worthy of an A. All we had to do was deliver it.

"I have complete confidence in both of you," I said, by way of encouragement. "We can do this!"

We were still chatting when Scott walked down the hall with Doctor Bauer. They both said 'hello' and went into the classroom. We took every available second before class started to discuss a few minor points and sat down as Scott started taking attendance.

"Mr. Adams, are there any changes to your presentation team?" Scott asked.

"No, Sir. I have complete confidence in Julia and Charlie, and our presentation is ready."

"Mr. Adams, Miss Simmons, Miss Johnson, the floor is yours.

"Thank you," I said.

I handed him a sheaf of papers for the opaque projector and gave him a loose-leaf binder with a complete copy of the presentation that he'd use for grading us. I went to the front of the room and Julia and Charlie stood just to my right, waiting for their cues. Scott turned on the projector and displayed our cover sheet. I stepped to the side to allow it to project onto the screen and began the presentation.

I led off with a description of our project, which was an inventory and shipping control system. Once I had outlined the specifications and feature requests that Scott had given us, I turned the floor over to Julia to discuss how we'd managed the project. When she finished, she turned the floor over to Charlie to demonstrate our application and describe the features.

Scott had provided an Apple IIe with a 19" TV monitor for us to do the demonstration. Charlie put in the disk, loaded up the program and flawlessly ran through the script and slides that we'd created. My faith in her ability to perform was vindicated and made me hopeful that she could be properly rehabilitated. But that would depend on her.

When Charlie finished the demonstration, I wrapped up the presentation, finishing about one minute before class ended.

"Thank you all," Scott said. "Congratulations to the whole team for the work you've done. I'm going to hand out evaluations to everyone on Dave's team. I'd like you to fill them out and turn them into me. Mr. Adams' grade will depend partially on your review, just as your grades depend partially on his team's review of you. Be honest. You may identify yourself with the last four digits of your student ID number rather than your name. There are no number conflicts so I will know who you are, but Mr. Adams will not. Doctor Bauer, do you have anything to add?"

"Just that I'm pleased with how this new course seems to have developed," Doctor Bauer said. "All of you here have been integral in helping us improve the Computer Science curriculum at IIT. Mr. Kallas, I'll return on Friday to see what I am sure will be a presentation of at least equal quality."

"Thank you, Doctor Bauer," Scott said. "Class, you're dismissed."

We walked out of the classroom and I saw Julia grab Charlie's arm and pull her aside. Dave walked with me to The Bog, congratulating me on a successful presentation. I told him that I was sure that his team would do equally well on Friday.

"What's up with Julia and Charlie?" he asked.

"I really can't say right now. I'm sure Julia will explain as soon as she can, but it might be a few days."

"Something's not right," he said.

"Your instincts are good, Dave, but please just let it be for now. It's nothing that will impact you or Julia. I promise."

"You're a man of your word, so I trust you."

"Thanks, Dave," I said, relieved that he'd let me off the hook.

We shook hands and then he headed back to the fraternity house when I sat down with Kara.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

"Perfect. Julia was amazing, as always, and Charlie did a great job. I suspect most of my team will get A's, though there is probably one guy who's going to fail."

"Did you and Julia ever...?" Kara asked casually, biting into a French fry.

"Yes," I admitted, "but it was quite some time ago. It was back when Dave was still dating Cindi."

"I'm curious, and of course you don't have to answer, but who else have you been with since you came to Chicago?"

"Why?" I asked.

"It's just curiosity. Forget that I asked."

I took a few bites of my burger before saying anything more.

"I guess I don't think that you need to know. It's not that I'm embarrassed or hiding anything, but you weren't my girlfriend after you walked out on me at Christmas. I answered your direct question about Julia because I can't lie to you and trying to hide that from you with a cute answer would have been silly."

She sighed, "That was so foolish of me."

"It's in the past now, honey. Don't worry about it. We've dealt with it and we're moving on."

She smiled, "Yes, we are. I'm also curious about what you think of Sofia's idea for January?"

"I have mixed feelings about it. I've been trying to find a correct balance on my own, with a bit of guidance here and there, and honestly, it's been a very interesting exercise. I think, in the end, that I have to make the decisions and each of you has to decide what that means to you."

"Yes, and you have some very, very interesting options!" she giggled.

"Are you really, truly comfortable with what you said to me? About simply being my lover and having kids with me with no commitments?"

"Yes," she said. "I simply can't see myself being with anyone else. Ever. That first kiss from you sealed it, Steve. I knew then and there that you were the only man I would ever kiss that way and the only man with whom I would ever make love. I wanted you to take me right then, when you kissed me. I'm sure. There will never be anyone else. As for the ring, I just don't need it. I need you. I know that you'll never, ever abandon me or our children. And if some pastor somewhere objects, well, I simply do not care."

"On the hood of the car?" I chuckled.

"You have no idea how wet that kiss made me!"

"Are you still seeing Doctor Alborg on Thursdays?"

"I am. Why?"

"I'm just curious if you've talked to him about us?"

"About us and everything else, with the exception of you and your sister. And I mean everything. I've told him things that I never told Doctor Mercer. Things only you ever knew. It's liberating to simply say what I want and not worry about what anyone thinks. Kent van der Meer did more damage to more lives than any person I know. I'm glad he's selling appliances and not pastoring a church."

"What about going to church? Have you thought more about it?"

"I may go again someday, when I find a church that answers the questions that I have. The ones you started me asking. Maybe someday we can talk about it, but I'm not ready to do that at this point. Maybe when it's time for us to have our kids."

"And when is that?" I asked.

"Once I graduate. I want to get my teaching certificate first, but otherwise, I think 23 or 24 is the right time to have kids and I'll be 24 when I graduate because I started two years late."

I saw Charlie come into The Bog. She looked at me and asked me with her eyes if it was OK to join us. I waved her over. She sat down, looking completely defeated.

"I lied to you and I'm sorry," she said, looking down at the floor.

"And?" I asked.

She took a deep breath and raised her face to look at me.

"I went straight to Doctor Bauer's office and made an appointment to see him at 4:00pm today. Julia was very convincing. Will you really still speak for me?"

"If you're truly sorry and realize that you've made a huge mistake and learned your lesson, never to repeat it, yes. I told Scott I wanted you to do your part of the presentation today."

"I can't believe you took that kind of risk!" she exclaimed. "It could have hurt the entire team!"

"But it didn't," I said gently.

"Steve has good instincts, Charlie," Kara said. "He knows who is good and who isn't. You made a dumb mistake. He'll forgive you once. But not twice."

"I'm so screwed, though. My parents are going to have a fit and I'm sure I'm going to have to repeat at least some classes."

"What did you cheat on?" I asked.

"Differential equations. Nothing else. That class was a bitch, and I stupidly tried to take a shortcut."

"Then make sure that you tell Doctor Bauer that. But, and this is important, you can't say that I encouraged you to turn yourself in. Tell them you did it because you felt guilty. I know it's a fib, but the administration will accept that fib if you help them nail Callie Shepherd. They want her to say where she got the exam."

"How could I have been so stupid!" she sighed.

"We all make huge mistakes in our lives," I said. "If we're lucky, people forgive us. Kara had to forgive me for a massive transgression when we were dating back in Ohio. So I know how it is to be where you are."

"And so do I," Kara said. "Steve had to forgive one from me almost two years ago. And mine was even bigger than his."

"We could play that game all day, because I think mine was bigger." I chuckled and then turned back to Charlie. "Let's just say that you're forgiven. Now you need to re-earn my trust."

"How do I do that?"

"Time. And no more transgressions. That's what it takes," I said. "Just out of curiosity, can you pinpoint when and where you bought the test?"

"Absolutely! I took the money out of the cash machine on campus. I keep all my receipts. I know exactly when it happened."

I nodded and smiled, "Good. Now, go take care of this situation."

"I will," she said, smiling. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You did a great job today. I recommended you for an A in Scott's class."

She beamed.

"You're a good guy," Kara said to me after Charlie had walked away.

"I guess. Of course, I have no idea what Callie is going to say to the committee. She may well claim that Bert raped her and that she had sex with me because I was blackmailing her. That will become ugly fast. I'm hoping that with Bert and Charlie both testifying against Callie, plus your statement, and whatever other evidence they have, they can put Callie in a position where she can't really lash out. But we'll see."

"The false accusation could still cause trouble, couldn't it?" Kara asked.

"I'll worry about that when it happens. I don't know that they'll even make the formal accusation until after Christmas. Right now they're just gathering evidence. I heard that Callie was called for her interview this Friday. That should be interesting, now that they have serious evidence against her."

"What's going to happen to her?"

"That's a good question. She sold exams, so I'd expect at least a one semester suspension if not outright expulsion. If she turns in the person or persons who actually stole the exams, she might get some leniency. In that case, I'm sure she'd receive failing grades for whichever classes she had stolen copies of tests, which for her would be math. She'd also certainly be on academic and non-academic probation as well. In the end, it would be up to the disciplinary committee to decide how much to credit her for turning what amounts to State's evidence."

"And Charlie?"

"She'll fail differential equations and will be on academic probation. My guess is that she won't be expelled. She might be suspended, but now that she's agreed to confess and give evidence against Callie, I'm going to do what I can to help prevent that."

"You really flirted with disaster there, according to Elyse," Kara said.

"I did, but I managed to dodge a bullet, thanks to you. I just have to be careful."

"Yes, you do!"

We finished our lunch and Kara walked me to class. I had my usual escorts that afternoon, and Kara and I rode home together. After karate, Julia and I locked ourselves in my study for three hours, hashing out a business plan. A lot depended on how quickly we could establish enough business to pay ourselves. There didn't seem to be much competition in this area, though I had seen some advertising by companies and individuals offering computer programming and support services.

"I think the most important thing we can do right away is get our class project into shape to sell," I said. "Inventory and shipping have to be a nightmare when it's all done by hand. Plus, I have programs that maintain membership records and what I learned writing the code for veterinarians could easily be applied to doctors' offices."

"That makes sense," Julia agreed. "What about consulting jobs?"

"I think that's a matter of getting our company name out there. We send letters to law offices, doctors' offices, construction companies, that kind of thing."

"What about estimating software for a business like Jeremiah's dad runs?"

"That would be perfect!" I said. "In fact, I'd offer it to Gerald Brown for free, or seriously discounted, if he acted as a reference for us, as well as provided input into development."

We wrote down some notes and agreed that we'd get together again on Sunday morning to work some more. We debated bringing others into the discussion, but I decided I wanted to keep everything somewhat quiet at this point. Julia was itching to talk to Dave about it, but I asked her to hold off until we had everything ready and I had the funding lined up.

I was very happy with the day's outcome and went to bed feeling satisfied.

The last week of school before exams seemed to fly by. On Wednesday, Sofia skipped karate class and spent the evening baking «pepparkakor» and «lussekatter». She hadn't filled me in on her plans for celebrating Sankta Lucia, but I was sure that she had it well in hand. I was right.