Page 15 of The Girl with No Name
Okay, this is it. I’m going to be acknowledged on a company-wide call. My hard work isn’t going to be for naught. I can feel myself smiling. A name mention on a call like this could be the catalyst for a promotion.
“I’d like to thank me, for putting in the long hours on this one.” Lennie laughs.
“Oh, that’s good. I hear that!” Hal cracks up. “Take note. If everyone could crush it like Lennie, we’d be the most profitable software company in the US. So get to work! Now, moving on to one more thing…”
Jay shuts his laptop and spins around to look at me. His eyes are wide.
“Can you turn your camera off for a sec?” he asks.
“Done.”
“Sorry. I shouldn’t move around while we’re on camera. That’s fucking bullshit, though. And you damn well know it.”
I sigh. “It’s kind of fucked up that I didn’t even get a thank you from Lennie.”
Just then my computer pings, and I see an email forwarded to me from Lennie:Need you to take care of this for me, would ya? Thanks, bud.
It’s a long, complicated thread with a bunch of idiots not actually addressing the root of the problem. It needs to be dug into, serial numbers of devices looked up in our system, dates and service levels cross-referenced.
I sigh. “Man, I think I’m gonna go home,” I say. “You think they’ll notice if I jet outta here a smidge early?”
“What, no happy hour tonight?” Jay asks. “It’s at North Avenue Beach. Could actually be fun.”
“I gotta get out of here, man. Especially if I’m coming into the office tomorrow.”
“Well, Hal’s gone, so you’re good.”
“Hal’s gone already?”
“Oh yeah. All of the bosses are gone. It’s July. It’s time for vacation for them.”
“But I have to keep coming into the office?” I look at the clock. It’s one thirty.
“Rules for thee, but not for me,” Jay says. “Haven’t you figured out that’s how corporate America works yet, Reedy?”
When I get backto my place, I jump in my car, which is parked out in front of my apartment, for a quick trip to the grocery store.
Miraculously, I pull back into the same spot when I get back, and I’m about to turn off the car when I hear two people moaning through my speakers. Confused, I look at the name of the track listed on my car’s Bluetooth: “Big Booty Latina Fucks”
My stomach churns. I gave up porn after high school and never looked back. My mind races as I try to figure out how this has infiltrated my speakers.
I check my phone to see if I’ve been hacked, but there’s no indication of that. I close out of all my apps, just in case, but the noise is still going. That’s when it hits me. Mason was the last one to be hooked up to my Bluetooth. I’m within range for his phone to take over the speakers automatically.
I have to laugh as I walk up the stairs to my apartment.
When I get to the living room, Mason is sitting in the same chair he always is, looking out the window, playing Fortnite or whichever game he always plays.
“Yo yo,” he says. “Back early?”
“Yeah. Just needed to get out of the office.” I walk over to the small desk I’ve set up in the corner across from Mason’s workspace, plop my laptop on the table, and open it. Leaningback in my chair, I sigh. “I was going a little insane. What are you up to, man?”
“Just work. Took my nine to ten in bed, jerked off, and I’m feeling great.”
I laugh.
“Just kidding. I didn’t jerk off. I’m doing a week, no jerk.”
I smirk. What a liar. “Right…well, I just picked up some paper towels, by the way.”