Chapter 12: Dot Bomb

April 23, 2000, Denver, Colorado

“Hi, Squirt!” I said when she walked out of the Jetway at Denver International Airport.

Stephanie dropped her bag and we hugged.

“You know,” she said, “I think I’m going to join your ‘I hate Bob’ club!”

“I don’t hate anyone,” I replied. “But I’m guessing you would have preferred flying together?”

“Obviously. I sat next to an asshole who spent the entire flight trying to pick me up despite the rock in the ring on my left hand.”

I chuckled, “I sat next to a cute seventeen-year-old who said I could talk her into anything!”

My sister laughed, rolled her eyes, and shook her head.

“You are unbelievable big brother! I take it you have a bedmate for the night?”

“Nope. I invited her to a Rap Session when she comes to Chicago to visit her dad, or when she comes there for college.”

“You’re slipping!”

“We’re only here a short time, and she’s in High School. Who knows what her situation is at home? Her parents are divorced and she lives here with her mom and step-dad. Her biological dad works for EZI.”

“Off limits then?”

“Not for coming to a Rap Session,” I replied. “Shall we head to the hotel?”

“Yep.”

We slung our travel bags over our shoulders, picked up our laptop bags and headed for the National desk to pick up our rental. Just over an hour later, I handed the keys to the valet at the Marriott, and we went inside to check-in. Ten minutes after that, I walked into my suite which was across the hall from Stephanie’s, quickly unpacked, then went and knocked on her door. She was ready so we went downstairs and left the hotel to get something to eat. We found a Chinese place which allowed me to keep my dietary restrictions and gave Stephanie plenty of options.

“How was Ed when you left?” I asked.

“Pissed,” she replied. “He’ll get over it.”

“That’s not good.”

“What did you want me to do? Hire a ‘high-end escort’ for you?”

“No, of course not,” I replied.

“Then he has to deal with it. I’m not going to let the business suffer because he’s thinking about something that ended fifteen years ago and for which both you and I had extensive counseling. If Jessica can trust us, Ed ought to. She was the one who was freaked out, and rightly so. But we’re both past that now. I bet you anything you care to wager you aren’t even attracted to me.”

“I’m not,” I confirmed.

“And I’m not attracted to you. We broke the spell. And we both paid the price for what we freely chose to do. And before you say it, no, you are not solely responsible. It took me a long time to convince Doctor Mercer of that, but it was when she finally accepted that fact that I FINALLY could make progress.”

The waitress, a pretty Chinese girl who I guessed was about twenty, came to the table to take our orders. We placed our orders, including green tea and cocktails - vodka and cranberry juice for Stephanie and bourbon for me.

“See anything you like?” Stephanie asked with a smirk when the waitress left.

“She might be my type,” I replied evenly.

“Might? five-foot-eight, athletic build, small breasts, and long, black hair to her waist?”

“I might have noticed that,” I replied.

“Oh stop!” Stephanie said, laughing. “She checked you out!”

“I missed that,” I replied, though I hadn’t missed it at all.

“You did not! I have $500 that says if you ask her to have a drink after work she’ll say ‘yes’, and before midnight she’ll have those lips wrapped around your dick!”

“I don’t think she’s twenty-one,” I replied.

“Then ice cream or coffee!”

“A $500 bet? I’m obviously paying you too much!”

“Oh, please! I took a pay cut to come to work for you because this is the job I want!”

“There is also the little problem of the mandatory STD test, well, STI is the correct term now.”

“A little birdie tells me that issue always seems to work in your favor.”

“Whoever that little birdie is needs to keep their beak shut,” I replied with annoyance.

“Chill! And think about this - if she spends the night, I can tell Ed.”

“So I’d be doing this for your marriage, is that it?” I chuckled. “Take one for the team?”

“So, it’s a bet?”

I shook my head, “No bet. If she flirts, I’ll consider it.”

“Slowing down in your old age?”

“I’d call it being selective.”

“Smile at her when she brings the drinks.”

“You’re a troublemaker, Squirt!”

“As if that’s news, big brother!”

The waitress brought our tea and our drinks and as my sister had requested, I smiled at her and received an engaging smile back.

“Can I get you anything else before I bring your meal?” she asked.

“No, thank you,” I replied.

She smiled again and walked away.

“She’ll ask if you’re from Denver next.”

“Why doesn’t she think we’re married?” I asked. “I’m wearing a ring, you’re wearing a pair of rings, and we’re the right ages. And it’s not like there’s a huge family resemblance. Ashley looks a lot like you, but I sure don’t!”

“You tell me! You’re the expert at picking up random chicks and charming them out of their panties!”

“The vibe,” I chuckled. “I’m not actively suppressing it.”

“And I remember how effective it was on my friends! They’d do ANYTHING for you! And they did!”

“Speaking of them, how are Shelly and Trish?”

“Pretty good. We’re going to get our kids together this summer. Their kids are a year younger than David and Patricia. Shelly told me she ran into Tracy Vaughn. She’s teaching history at Moeller and it won’t surprise you that she’s in an open marriage.”

“So am I, when it comes right down to it.”

“Rumor has it they participate in ‘key parties’.”

“Everything I’ve read says that’s an urban legend.”

“Maybe so, but if you saw The Ice Storm a few years ago, they showed a key party and I guess Tracy and her friends have had a couple.”

“I sure hope they’re up-to-date on their STI tests or they’ll end up like Tracey or Marty. There’s a reason I insist on STI tests, with no exceptions. Jessica was right to insist on that fifteen years ago.”

“Have you ever just done it with a random girl?”

I shook my head, “Not really, unless you count some of the girls Melanie or Jennifer brought to me, or the ‘Truth or Dare’ games I’ve played. But even then, it wasn’t like what you’re talking about where the girl is picked by random chance. There was a girl Elyse brought to me, but even then, we talked and I decided to do it, rather than have fate decide.”

The waitress brought out meals and set them before us.

“Anything else you need?” she asked.

Stephanie kicked me under the table and I shot her a quick look.

“Not at the moment,” I replied.

The waitress smiled again, then turned and left.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “This isn’t like you. Sure, we’ve given each other a lot of grief and teased a lot and spent a lot more time together since you took over as CEO, but something’s different tonight. Mostly sex has been off-topic, except for a bit of light teasing. Are you doing this because things with Ed are potentially THAT bad?”

Stephanie sighed, her ‘tough as nails’ exterior melting at that instant.

“It wasn’t quite an ultimatum, but close.”

“Jesus, Squirt! I could have made this trip alone! Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s not worth wrecking your marriage over. Or I could have looked harder for someone to bring along, or even said ‘damn the rules’ if necessary!”

“I can’t let him control how I run the company or what I need to do to run the company. You’d never, ever accept Kara or Jessica telling you how to run the company, and I know there have been times when they haven’t been happy about your traveling, not to mention the opinion of a certain eleven-year-old daughter. Aren’t you missing Jessica’s birthday because of our trip east?”

“Yes, but we’ve always been flexible about specific days; that started when Jess was in medical school.”

“And you didn’t do anything to interfere with her school or Residency. And Kara is going away for a month late in the summer for her research project at Stanford. And you’d never interfere in that, nor would you tolerate Jessica interfering. Ed simply has to deal with it.”

“You do have to admit the circumstances are different here - this isn’t you going on a trip or working long hours or whatever. This is you spending a week traveling with your brother, with Ed knowing our history. And despite what you just said, until about five years ago, Jessica would have put her foot down and objected, and I’d have been forced to bring someone along. You should have told me how serious it was!”

“It wasn’t until right before I left for Midway. I mean, he’d mentioned it, but I think he thought you’d find someone to bring along.”

“Shit,” I sighed. “Do you remember all those conversations we had about consent?”

“Sure.”

“This puts me on the other side of the whole acquiescence versus true consent issue, and I feel like I’m being forced into something.”

“You don’t want her?”

“It’s more complicated than that,” I replied. “Yes, I’m attracted to her physically, but that hasn’t been sufficient for a long time. There needs to be more, even if it’s just having spent some time together. Heck, the girl I met on the plane would be a viable candidate, but even there I put her off. Well, assuming her comment about me being able to talk anyone into anything meant what I think it meant. Fundamentally, it seems as if I have to choose between your marriage and having a completely casual encounter I’m not particularly interested in having.”

“No, you don’t,” Stephanie said forcefully. “I shouldn’t have pushed you and I shouldn’t have told you. Well, maybe I should have been more insistent you find someone when we first talked about it, but once it didn’t happen, I should have just let it be. I’m sorry.”

“Me, too,” I replied.

As we began to eat, I considered the fact that my sister’s marriage was on the line, and if there was anything, short of making a play for the waitress, that I could do about it. Even making a play wasn’t necessarily sufficient because of the need for an STI test, and despite my repeated luck in that area, it wasn’t a sure thing. I loved my sister, and was willing to do just about anything to help her, but even for me, the proposed solution seemed to be over the line.

I was sure that if I called Eve, she’d fly out and travel with us for the rest of the week, but that created its own set of problems, in that I’d have to reveal that relationship to Ed, and that was not something I wanted to do. Not to mention the fact that it would feel just as forced as the situation with the waitress. And ultimately, that was the issue - feeling pressured into sex, which was something I categorically rejected as a legitimate reason to have sex.

In the end, the bottom line was that Stephanie’s marriage would have to sink or swim on its own.

April 24, 2000, Colorado Springs, Colorado

“Good morning Mr. Adams! Good morning Ms. Krajick!”

“Hi, Olivia,” I replied. “How are things?”

“Busy! Ms. Jaworski is expecting you!”

“Thanks.”

Olivia, who’d only joined NIKA as a receptionist six weeks earlier, buzzed us through the door and we walked down the hall to Barbara’s office where Barbara hopped up to give me a hug as she usually did, and exchanged ‘air’ kisses by touching cheeks with Stephanie.

“Thanks for coming out,” Barbara said.

“You’re welcome!” I replied. “Any morale issues you want to tell me about before I go play with the other kids while you and my sister talk business?”

Barbara laughed, “Why do I suddenly feel like the principal at my kids’ school?”

“Because we’re all getting old!” I chuckled. “May I go play, Ms. Jaworski?”

“Get out of here!” she commanded, laughing.

I left the office and went first to the software engineering area. I got a careful hug from a VERY pregnant Kajri, and nice, but chaste hugs from Skye, Nicole, Vickie, and Marlene. And I was introduced for the first time to Al, one of our newest software engineers. We shook hands.

“The boss said I could come play while she and Barbara talk business,” I grinned.

“Table soccer?” Al asked.

“I’m not very good at foosball,” I replied. “But I’ll give it a whirl. I take it you guys haven’t convinced Barbara to put in a pool table or ping-pong table?”

All of us moved over to the side of the software engineering room where the foosball table and PlayStation were.

“No room!” Skye replied. “You guys used that extra space on the first floor of the Annex for your pool table.”

“But he still didn’t get his sauna!” Kajri laughed. “Penny told me Bob nixed that idea!”

“Bob’s just no fun,” I chuckled. “Somebody told him how I usually use the sauna at home and he got VERY nervous!”

“Given he’s the only male in the executive suite, he ought to be thrilled!” Kajri declared.

“I think the HR training takes all the fun out of people,” I said as Al and I began to play. “How are you guys doing?”

“Everyone’s nervous,” Vickie said. “Not because of NIKA, but the way the entire industry seems to be in turmoil. The consultants are the ones who really feel pressured.”

I nodded, “Because they literally depend on the next contract. Are any of you feeling nervous about your jobs?”

“Last in, first out,” Al said as he scored against me.

“I think you might want to reconsider beating the boss at this game,” Kajri suggested with a smile.

“Nah,” Skye teased, “just offer him a participation trophy!”

“Al, you won’t be the first one to go!” I chuckled, causing everyone to laugh. “In all seriousness, we’ve never had a layoff and we’re not going to if I have anything to say about it, and you all know I do. Al, you’re new, but talk to Vickie, Kajri, Cynthia, or Heather. They’ll tell you.”

“I think part of it is that you aren’t actually running things,” Nicole said. “We all trust you.”

“And you can trust Stephanie as well,” I replied. “I’d never have put my baby in her hands if I wasn’t comfortable with her approach. And speaking of babies - Kajri, how is Aakash holding up knowing he’s going to get a baby sister?”

“He is VERY unhappy! He reminds me of Jesse when he was little! I was instructed to trade Hiranya for a brother for him.”

Everyone laughed.

“I take it you explained it doesn’t work that way?”

“I did, and he said we could just sell her and buy a brother for him.”

“A good capitalist at heart,” I chuckled. “He’ll get over it. Jesse eventually did. He and Birgit decided to throw in together and form their own terrorist cell.”

“They’re cooperating?” Kajri asked. “You are in deep trouble!”

“TELL me about it!” I grinned as Al scored again.

“Let me take over, Steve,” Skye offered. “You’re going to lose 10-0!”

“That’s fine. You can kick his butt another time. I know you’re the office champ!”

“I can kick her butt in Air Combat on the PlayStation!” Al said. “And I’m the office champ at Frogger and Madden NFL 2000!”

“Because he spent all his time playing video games in college instead of chasing girls and getting drunk!” Skye said.

“And graduated with honors!” Al replied. “And you?”

“Do not want to talk about college!” Skye answered, causing the other women to laugh.

“Changing subjects, did all of you take advantage of the investing seminars Bo held?”

All of them responded positively and Al scored again.

“It’s going to be a shutout Boss,” Skye laughed. “Told ya’!”

“Don’t ‘Boss’ me,” I chuckled. “I program for a living!”

“And Penny is HIS boss!” Kajri declared mirthfully.

“Let’s leave Penelope out of this,” I chuckled. “It’s a good thing Nerf balls and Nerf bats don’t leave bruises.”

“Is it true your office is Japanese?” Al asked.

“Yes, except for our desks,” I replied.

“And you’re a high-level black belt?”

“6th Dan master, and a senior instructor in Shōtōkan,” I replied.

“Damn! Remind me not to piss you off!”

He scored again.

“You were saying?” I grinned.

“I read the Employee Handbook!” he countered. “When the page on dealing with our competition starts off with a quote saying ‘Second place is just the first loser’, it gives a pretty good idea of your thinking! Not to mention everyone knows your thoughts on ‘participation trophies’ and letting someone win to make them feel good!”

He scored again.

“Mercy rule!” Skye declared. “It’s 5-0!”

“You can give up without hurting my feelings,” Al grinned.

“Thanks. I need to go chat with the other folks in the office. Are we on for lunch?”

“Yep!” Skye replied.

I left the software engineering area and went to talk to Cynthia, and after her, the support staff, and finally a few minutes with Olivia. Satisfied that morale was in good shape, I went back to Barbara’s office.

“Any concerns?” Stephanie asked when I sat down.

I shook my head, “Some nervousness, but just coming here will make a difference. I’m having lunch with the software engineers. Are we all set for dinner tonight?”

“Yes,” Barbara said. “Everyone will be there. In San Francisco I made sure everyone will be there for the dinner. It was a bit tricky with the consultants in Seattle, but I felt it was necessary. No issues with the LA team.”

“Cool. Stephanie, Kimmy called with a message saying Scott Bannerman is free for lunch on Wednesday. I hope you don’t mind.”