Chapter 21: LA Confidential

January 18, 1989, Los Angeles, California

When the alarm rang at 5:00am, I was already awake, as it was 7:00am back in Chicago. Normally, I'd have gotten out of bed as soon as I woke up and found something to do, but I didn't want to disturb Jeri, who had still been sound asleep. I hit the button on the alarm to shut it off and got out of bed. I went to the closet and got a pair of underwear and my sweatpants, then went into the bathroom to change.

"Good morning," Jeri said when I came out of the bathroom.

"Good morning. I'm going to put my gym shoes on and go down to run. I'll be back in about forty-five minutes. Then I'll just need a quick shower and after I dress, we can go to breakfast."

"OK. I'll shower and dress while you're exercising."

That would make things MUCH less uncomfortable for both of us, though Jeri seemed more or less at ease, relatively speaking. I hoped that continued all day. I grabbed my room key and walked out the door to the elevator. I went down to the second floor, where the gym was located, and found an unused treadmill. I stretched a bit, verified with the attendant on how to set the controls, and then activated the machine and started running.

I watched the LED display click off the tenths of miles and when I reached my usual distance, I slowed the machine to a fast walk to cool down, because I didn't have the usual walk home. After about ten minutes, I pressed the button to stop the treadmill and used a towel provided by the gym to wipe the sweat from my face. After tossing it into the basket with other soiled towels, I headed back up to the room.

Jeri was dressed in a nice, knee-length dark grey skirt with a white blouse and a jacket that matched the skirt. She usually wore baggy jeans and loose-fitting blouses and had her hair pulled back severely. Today it hung to her shoulders. She looked extremely professional, as opposed to her usual nerdy look. I grabbed my bag from the closet and took it with me into the bathroom, so that I wouldn't have to come out in just a towel. I showered, then dressed in my best tailored suit, a new custom-fitted white shirt, suspenders, and what Elyse called a 'power tie'. Once I was satisfied, I opened the door and went back into the room.

"Very professional," Jeri said when I came out.

"Thanks. You, too. I just need to put on my shoes and we can go to breakfast. When we come back tonight, I'll check into my own room."

She nodded, and I quickly put on my shoes and we went down to the hotel restaurant to eat breakfast. I didn't want to spill on my shirt or tie, so I took a spare cloth napkin and tucked it into my collar. Jeri laughed.

"Really? A bib?"

"I only brought one tie and one dress shirt," I said. "I'd rather look silly now than have a nasty spot or stain!"

I'd expected Jeri to be very nervous in the time leading up to the demo, but she seemed to be doing OK. I'd obviously made the right decision the night before, but I needed to make sure that word didn't spread. Elyse would probably find out, though, because Barney had promised that the travel agency would cover the room charges at the other hotel, she might not. I'd just need to tell Barney not to mention it to her.

No, actually, I wouldn't do that. When I thought about it, I'd have to tell Elyse exactly what had happened. And Kara as well. There was nothing to hide, but I also didn't want them to find out accidentally. That said, nobody else needed to know. The waitress came to the table just then and took our orders. When she left, I talked to Jeri about the previous night.

"Jeri, I'll let Elyse know what happened, and Kara, too. But you probably shouldn't say anything to anyone about the fact that we shared a room last night."

"My parents can NEVER find out! They would be so upset with me!"

I found it very odd for a girl who was twenty-two or twenty-three to think that way, but given that she still lived at home and was very sheltered, it probably wasn't as strange as I thought it was. She'd come out of her shell somewhat, and I felt that was a good thing. But she had a long way to go.

"Your secret is safe with me," I said.

As we ate, Jeri became quieter, and despite my earlier observation, it appeared she was becoming tense and retreating into her shell as the time of the meeting approached. I tried to engage her in conversation, but her answers became clipped — just one or two words. By the time we finished eating, I'd given up and just drank my coffee.

"I want to brush my teeth before we head to the office," I said.

I signaled the waitress for the check and paid cash because technically, I couldn't sign for it against the room. Jeri and I went back up to the room and brushed our teeth, then walked across the plaza and then across Grand Avenue to the building that housed the NIKA offices. All three of our team were waiting for us.

"Ready to go?" I asked.

"Yes," Barbara said. "I just got off the phone with Cassie and she knows I won't be available until late afternoon Chicago time. We still have about fifteen minutes before we need to be there, and still be fifteen minutes early. Do either of you want some coffee or tea?"

"I'm fine," I said. "Jeri?"

She shook her head. I wanted to tell her to relax, but I'd said that so many times now that I felt like a broken record. About ten minutes later, after some chit-chat, the five of us left the office to head to One California Plaza. We rode the elevator to the 41st floor and exited into the Ford, Jackson, and Finch lobby. The receptionist led us into the large conference room, where a computer was set up and attached to a projector.

"Everything should be all set," Andy said to Jeri. "You should double-check to be safe."

Jeri sat down at the computer and started up Windows and then our application. Her fingers danced nervously across the keyboard and shook a bit when she gripped the mouse. She was holding it together, but just barely. A few minutes later, Ben Jackson came into the room.

"No lawyer or Godfather jokes this morning?" he grinned.

"No, Sir!" I chuckled. "I used them all on my lawyer friends in Chicago! Do you happen to know any new ones I can add to my repertoire?

"No, I don't believe I do!"

We both laughed as we shook hands and I introduced Jeri, as he'd met the rest of the team already. Jeri stood up and wiped her hands on her skirt, then shook hands with Mr. Jackson.

"Welcome to LA, Jeri," he said with his usual gregarious smile.

She nodded, smiled nervously with a weak greeting, and then sat down to continue verifying that everything was ready.

"I'll be back in about five minutes with the rest of the team," he said.

He left and a minute later, two beautiful young blonde women carried in trays with coffee, juice, coffee cake, bagels, and donuts. They arranged them on the table and left. Andy's eyes followed their shapely figures out of the room, and I chuckled softly to myself. At a different point in my life, I'd have flirted with them, but that's not where I was at the moment.

The lawyers began filing in and everyone from NIKA except Jeri took seats along the wall. I was happy to see that Mr. Ford and Mr. Finch were attending the meeting, along with Ben Jackson. I was also pleased to see two female lawyers who I hadn't seen before. During the previous visit, it had been all male lawyers and the only females had been secretaries or paralegals. When everyone was seated, I looked at Barbara, who nodded back to me. I'd wanted to give her the chance to start, but she was ceding that back to me. I stood up.

"Thank you for allowing us to show you what we think is the next great innovation in computerized legal case management software. I'm Steve Adams, President, Founder, Principal Software Engineer, and Chief Programmer at NIKA Consulting. I have with me four members of my team — Barbara Jaworski, our Western Region Manager who also does telephone support, Jeri Lundgren, the lead programmer on this project, Cynthia Norwood, our Western Region sales representative, and Andy Stevens, our Western Region support engineer."

"Welcome, all of you," Ben Jackson said.

"I know you all didn't come here to listen to me, so I'll turn things over to Jeri. She'll take you through a full demonstration of the software."

This was the moment of truth. If she managed to get started, she'd be fine. If not, I'd quickly step in, despite my promise to Dave to give her a couple of chances. Jeri cleared her throat a couple of times and took a sip of juice. She looked at me, and I gave her a comforting smile and nodded.

"This..." she said, almost inaudibly, and then cleared her throat again. I saw her hands shaking and was just about to step in when she continued, " ... is a completely new version of our software."

Her voice slowly strengthened as she got into the demo. The first time she was interrupted with a question, she stumbled a bit, but quickly recovered and gave a good answer. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Barbara smile. I agreed with the sentiment completely. I made a mental note to compliment Dave on his decision. And to apologize to him for doubting his judgment.

With every passing moment, Jeri's confidence was growing, and it was obvious that everyone was impressed with her performance. Two hours later, after quite a few questions, Ben Jackson wrapped up the demo. He thanked Jeri by name and smiled at her. She smiled back. Most of the lawyers left, though Ben stayed, along with Mr. Finch and a paralegal.

"What's it going to take to get this finished?" he asked.

"We're targeting September 1st for a complete release," I said. "We'll have a true beta version around June 1st. As Jeri said, what you see right now works, and could be used, though it's somewhat limited."

"Is there going to be an upgrade fee for this new version?" he asked.

"There is. It will be a one-time fee, but we haven't discussed the amount as yet. The DOS version will be distributed as part of our normal upgrade path. And both versions will be developed in parallel for the foreseeable future."

"I think we'll move everyone when this is ready. We'd like to sign up for the beta program for this so we can have some input."

"We have you at the top of the list," Barbara said. "I'll work out the details, and once the pricing schedule is determined, we'll let you know."

"Good. We have about thirty minutes before lunch is brought in. Steve, do you have a couple of minutes to talk?"

"Of course," I said.

We walked down the hall to his well-appointed office that was as large as the great room in the house in Hyde Park. He motioned to a chair, and I sat down.

"What can I do for you?" I asked.

"I hear that your wife had some serious health problems. I had the pleasure of speaking with her for a few minutes when I was in Chicago. Is she doing OK?"

I nodded, "She is. Thanks for asking."

"I wanted to personally thank you again for expanding here on the West Coast. We like Zeke, but having Andy across the street is a clear benefit. We're also pleased that you promoted Barbara to manager. Having one of your senior people across the street is great."

"I'm glad to hear that," I said. "You're a valuable customer, and we're very glad that you're organizing the User Group. Having you as the president of that group is a real benefit to us."

"It's been a mutually beneficial relationship. You're happy; we're happy," he said. "How long are you in LA?"

"We leave tomorrow morning at 11:00am from LAX," I said.

"Are you available for dinner tonight? I have the Trophy Room at the LA Athletic Club reserved. You, and your team, plus the senior partners."

"We'd be honored," I said.

"Good. And given what I know about you and your company, you'll be pleased to know that they've had women members since 1914."

I chuckled, "It's that obvious?"

"With the exception of Dave, every single senior person at your firm is female, including your Chairman. You're President, but word on the street is that you spend all your time programming."

"I don't hide that fact," I said. "It's what I prefer to do."

"It's the same reason I turned down managing partner when they offered it to me. I like litigation. I do not like managing! The Club is at 7th and Olive. 6:00pm."

"We'll be there. Let me tell my team so they can change any plans they might have."

"We'll be back in for lunch once it arrives."

We shook hands, and I went back to the conference room.

"Jeri, you did an amazing job!" I said. "Thank you!"

"Thanks. I was so nervous!"

"You did it, though!" I turned to the others, "Ben Jackson invited us to dinner at the LA Athletic Club tonight at 6:00pm."

"I'll need to call home," Barbara said. "But it won't be a problem. Cynthia? Andy?"

"All good for me," Andy said.

"Me, too," Cynthia said.

"OK. We'll walk over there for dinner at 6:00pm. Once lunch is finished, we'll head back to the office."

A few minutes later, lunch was brought in and Ben Jackson and a few other lawyers came back into the conference room. We had a nice lunch and a good conversation. When we finished, we all shook hands and headed back to the office. I called Kimmy and checked for messages, but there weren't any. She asked if I was free for lunch on Friday and I told her I was looking forward to it. I asked to speak to Dave, and she put me through.

"You were right," I said. "She did a bang-up job."

"I never had any doubts," he said.

"Well, I sure as heck did! And I'm glad you were right, and I was wrong. Thanks, Dave."

"So they liked it?"

"Liked it? They loved it! Ben Jackson is ready to buy and we haven't even set the price yet."

"I guess we know what you're going to be working on for the next six months, then."

"How about resources?" I asked.

"We're OK at the moment. The pipeline for PRIME conversions has really petered out, but we knew that was going to happen eventually given there are only so many PRIME systems out there."

"Did you talk to Waukesha to find out what their plans are?" I asked.