Chapter 18

"What are you doing?" William asked.

From behind her cluttered desk, Victoria looked up at William. She answered, "I'm browsing the information highway."

"Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Honey, the trick in this business is getting a feel for where information likes to hide. I spend a lot of time looking in the nooks and crannies of bizarre little archives scattered here and there. It is a never ending quest," Victoria answered. She glanced at the screen hoping that he would either assign her something or allow her to return to her idle browsing.

Although he could see that Victoria was uninterested in holding a conversation, he was interested in how she viewed her job. Taking a seat, he asked, "What do you mean by bizarre little archives?"

"Well, there are some people who have found diaries written by their ancestors and have published digitized images of the pages on the web. Some were written by famous people, but the majority of them were written by common everyday people. These are treasure troves of information, but they are hard to find. These diaries capture the daily lives of common folk. Little comments about what they had for breakfast, arguments with neighbors, and their concerns about their children tell you more about the times then the best researched history article," she answered.

"How about the quality of the information?" William asked.

"Honey, it is the best source of information. In many cases, this material constitutes original sources. As such, they have to be examined with regard to the perspective of the individual who wrote them. A discussion about alcohol written by a guy who occasionally has a couple shots of whiskey during a celebration is going to be different from that of an abolitionist," Victoria answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I see," William said thinking about it. "So what kinds of things do you spend your time looking at?"

"Honey, if it deals with humanity I'm interested in reading about it," Victoria answered. Her years as a research assistant for an author had allowed her to learn a lot about the human condition.

"What is your take on humanity?" William asked.

"Honey, I'm a nobody and my opinion doesn't count. Knowing that, I haven't formed a real opinion," Victoria answered. Her eyes glanced over at the computer monitor on her desk while she wished that she could return to her perusal of the article she was reading.

"Am I keeping you away from something interesting?"

Victoria answered, "Honey, as much as I love sitting around chit chatting, I'd rather be reading. Do you have anything for me to research?"

"You've been working with Dave to get the data I want?"

"Yes. He's setting up a survey even as we speak," Victoria said gesturing in the direction of Dave's office.

"Okay. You're collecting information on the other industries?"

"Honey, I've got a hundred reports on order. When I get them, I'll extract the information you want. Until they arrive, there isn't much more that I can do on those fronts," Victoria answered. She had ordered copies of self-study reports of a number of organizations that monitored the economics of their respective industries.

"It sounds like you have everything under control," William said noticing that her eyes were continually flicking over to her monitor.

"Honey, I'll let you know when you give me a challenge that I can't handle," Victoria answered.

William rose from his chair and said, "I'll leave you to your reading. If you discover something particularly interesting, please forward it to me."

Sandra entered the break room to get a cappuccino. Drinking from a mug of hot tea, Victoria was seated at the table reading from a rather thick stack of papers. Sandra watched the woman make some notations on one of the pages of the report. She continued to watch the woman work while the machine produced her coffee. No one brought their work into the break room; that was an unwritten rule and it bothered her to see it broken.

Once her coffee had finished, she took the little cup and sat down at the table with Victoria. Clearing her throat, she said, "We don't usually bring work into the break room."

Victoria looked up at Sandra and said, "I'm not working."

"It sure looks like it to me," Sandra said pointing to the report.

"This? This is the court transcript from a trial that was held in 1925. I was just looking at it," Victoria said holding up the paper in her hand.

"What trial?"

"The Scopes Monkey Trial," Victoria answered. Anticipating the next question, she said, "I've always heard about it, but never really spent the time to read the transcript."

"Is it interesting?"

Victoria laughed and said, "Famous trials involving political and religious implications are always interesting. There is always a lot of grandstanding, flowery language that has been carefully scripted, and passionate arguments. I'd say that they are more entertaining than interesting."

"I guess," Sandra said. She studied the older woman for a few seconds and then asked, "I notice that you call William, Honey. What's the deal with that?"

"He's a cute boy," Victoria answered.

Sandra thought that she was going to choke on her coffee upon hearing the unexpected answer. Shaking her head, she said, "He may be young, but don't ever underestimate William."

Victoria raised her eyebrows and studied the young woman across from her. She knew that William was brilliant and that there hints of magic about him, but he was a young man and the appearance of the woman across from her was proof enough of that. She decided that it was time to let the other woman know that she wasn't to be underestimated. Looking the young woman in the eye, she said, "I know you're sleeping with William, so don't try to use that against me."

"Yes, I am. That's no secret. So is Barbara, Juanita, and Amanda," Sandra answered feeling strange admitting that aloud.

"It's not a secret?" Victoria asked surprised by Sandra's answer. She had expected a much different response. In particular, she had expected some sort of threat about how she had better watch her step or else William would be chucking her out on her tail.

"Of course not," Sandra answered seeing the uncertainty on Victoria's face.

"His wife must be happy about that," Victoria said with a snort.

"Well, she had to really work on him to get him in our beds. At least his mothers supported her efforts," Sandra said enjoying the older woman's reaction.

"What?"

"Don't be so surprised. I thought you knew a lot about William. It almost sounds to me like you know nothing," Sandra said.

"She's okay with it?"

"She views us as the first line of defense against gold diggers. She's the reason that all of us are attractive young women," Sandra said with a smile at the shocked reaction of Victoria. Picking up her cup and rising from the chair, she added, "When it comes to working, all William cares about is that we are the best at what we do."

"You're kidding," Victoria said.

Sandra paused long enough to take a sip of her coffee before she answered, "Not at all. Don't worry. None of us will use our special relationship to get rid of you. It wouldn't work."

"It wouldn't work?" Victoria asked staring at the woman as if she was insane. History of women controlling men in bed suggested otherwise.

"He's great in bed and all of that. However, when it comes to work he's all business. The bedroom does not mean a thing." Sandra said. She turned and left the room leaving a stunned Victoria in the break room.

The older woman wondered how she had managed to misread the situation so thoroughly. She had no doubts that Sandra, despite her words to the contrary, would run off and talk to William. Looking at the stack of papers, Victoria said, "Well, it was a nice job while it lasted."

"Why do you say that?" Amanda asked entering the room.

"You wouldn't understand," Victoria said.

Amanda smiled sweetly and, in an excited voice, said, "You're probably right. Anyway, did you hear that William is having a dress up party tonight? You should wear your nicest dress to dinner. It's going to be one of the Chef's special meals."

Sandra looked at the beer cheese soup with a frown. She was afraid that it would add a full two inches to her waistline. She took a taste and found that it was delicious. She said, "This is good soup."

"Don't say that so loud. The Chef will get a swelled head," William said with a wink.

"I heard that!"

Everyone around the table laughed at the comment from the kitchen. William said, "Let's talk about a safer subject. Did anyone have anything interesting happen to them today?"

Looking over at William, Sandra said, "Victoria told me today that she knew you and I were having sex with each other."

Victoria choked on the piece of bread she was chewing. She clutched her throat and tried to breath. When Barbara announced that Victoria was choking, pandemonium broke out at the table. Worried, Peter came rushing out of the kitchen to perform the Heimlich maneuver only to discover that William had beaten him to it. After he had managed to dislodge the offending piece of bread, William looked over at Peter and asked, "Did you accidentally serve the food intended for me to her?"