Be With Me in Silicon Valley: The Juliette Trilogy (The Princesses of Silicon Valley - Book 3)

by Anita Claire

  Megan and Jessica’s eyes get big. They both look at Hita and say in unison, “No way!”

  Hita makes a face at me. “It’s not as bad as Juliette’s making it out to be. We actually met in real life at a gaming convention. He was going to school up in Washington, and I was going to school down here. Since we lived so far away we’d meet in the virtual world and have virtual dates. It was lots of fun. Actually our relationship worked much better when we went cyber. Once he was back in Silicon Valley full time, everything fell apart.” Shooting me a look, “Anyways, dating online was a lot more fun than having lame conversations on Skype.”

  This is a total dis on me. After Stephan graduated, we Skyped every day.

  “OK, back to the new guy. What’s his name? What does he look like?” Megan asks.

  “His name is David. He’s taller than me, and,” she gives me a satisfied smile, “he’s a real good kisser.”

  “What does he do for a living?” Jessica asks.

  Hita rolls her eyes. “Of course he’s a programmer. Who else do you meet here? Anyway, I always go out with programmers.”

  Shaking my head, I say, “The real question, is he a gamer?”

  Narrowing her eyes, Hita says, “OK, he’s a gamer. Juliette, I too, am a gamer. Unlike you, I actually like gamers.”

  Jessica looks at me, “What’s your issue with gamers?”

  Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. “Have you ever dated a gamer?”

  Jessica shakes her head.

  “All they want to talk about are games, all they want to do is stay up late and play games. After spending some time with a gamer, you just want to stick knives in your eyes if you hear anything else about their stupid games.” I explain to her.

  Hita gives me an annoyed look, “You went out with one gamer, and now you’ve written off all gamers.”

  “Stephan was a gamer?” Megan asks.

  I turn back to Megan. “No, Stephan wasn’t a gamer. Chris, my college boyfriend, was a true bro-grammer. He was in computer science, not engineering, and really into hackathons and gaming.”

  Hita interjects, “Yeah, why is it that guys can do all that geeky stuff and still be cool, but when one of us does it we’re just considered geeky?”

  “It’s that old double standard.” I say.

  At about this time, Kami and Caroline, who programs our dashboard, join us.

  Sitting down Kami asks, “Did I miss anything?” The four of us look at each other and start to laugh. Caroline and Kami get the recap of Hita’s social life without all my commentary.

  Getting back to my desk, I finally feel relaxed from my stressful morning. At some point, Mark IM’s me: Help me take Buddy for a walk. This is a Mark euphemism for “we need to talk” without everyone else listening in. Following Mark out to the field at the side of our building, he uses his Chuck it to throw Buddy some balls. Wondering if he heard about my dad, I’m afraid to say anything. After a couple of throws Mark finally says, “Your dad figured it out just off the behaviors?”

  I’m relieved that his tone isn’t angry. “Yes, I told him what we were working on. He asked me a bunch of questions and then said we should be looking lower down.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me your father had figured it out?”

  Taking a deep breath I confess, “You never asked me how I figured it out.”

  This elicits a glare from Mark, “Really, you leave out important information and think that’s OK since I never asked?”

  This really pisses me off. “I didn’t leave out any important technical information.”

  Breathing a few times to control my temper, I continue, “If I told you my father figured out the solution, then you would have listened to me, but when you thought I figured it out, you dismissed the solution?”

  We just stare at each other; I can feel the anger rolling off my body. Shaking my head in disgust, I start walking back in the building.

  Mark calls after me, “Hey, Juliette, where are you going?”

  Turning around, I take a deep breath, close my eyes, shake my head. “Mark, I’m too pissed off right now to carry on a reasonable conversation.” Heading back into our office building, I stalk to my desk.

  My head is definitely not in the work this afternoon. When I’m about ready to leave, Mark e-mails me: I was busy. A junior person asks about running tests we already performed. If I had known that a senior person had a theory based on years of experience, I would have been willing to spend some cycles checking it out.

  This is definitely an explanation not an apology. Do I deserve an apology? I feel like I want one.

  Reading his e-mail over again, I think back to what my mom said about how every organization, no matter how young and flat, still has a hierarchy. Will any of my other recommendations be considered mine, or will they now ask if my dad was the brains behind them? This whole line of thought makes me feel depressed. Hopefully, I didn’t hose my career within the first couple of months.

  Chapter 4 – Catching up with the Princesses

  In the morning, I meet up with Meredith for a run. Filling her in on the latest in Hita’s love life, she says, “Finally, you guys are all starting to date. Sam loves you guys but it’s a lot more fun for him to have some guys along when we go out.”

  Meredith’s been living with her college boyfriend for the last two years. I ask, “Are you and Sam looking at making things more permanent?”

  Meredith almost stumbles. “No, no way. We are so not ready to get married. You know, once you get married everyone then wonders when you’re going to have kids. I’m working this year, a break before I start my PhD. When I see thirty approaching, and if we’re still happy together, then I’ll start pushing for—” she raises her left hand like Beyoncé and sings. “If you liked it, then you shoulda put a ring on it.”

  “Meredith, you realize that song’s about running into an ex.”

  “Whatever, when it feels right I’ll push Sam to move to the next step.”

  At my mid-morning break, I check messages. There’s nothing from Zach. I send him an e-mail: How was your flight?

  Nate has sent me a text.

  Nate: Are you free after work this week? If not, how about Friday.

  My core constricts thinking about last weekend. We just kissed; I wasn’t ready for more than that. But it was some really steamy kissing. I can’t keep stringing these guys along. Nate is pushing for more and now Zach is out of town.

  Juliette: Zumba tonight. Then I decide to add a little bit more by flirting, I have some very good ideas for some new things we can try.

  Since soccer season is over Isabelle asked me to try out Zumba with her. After work I change into yoga clothes and sneakers to meet her for a beginner class at a local studio. Isabelle and I are tough and quick on the soccer field, but neither of us took dancing as kids, which is completely obvious by how klutzy we are in class. We both keep on cracking each other up as we energetically stumble through class. Afterwards, I fill her in on the latest with Hita.

  The first question out of Isabelle’s mouth is, “Don’t tell me he’s a tall thin Asian guy?”

  Feeling completely bewildered I say, “I have no idea. She just said his name is David.”

  Isabelle stops, puts her hands on her hips, “No Way! That’s the guy she was playing against on Friday. Damn, I knew something was going on with those two.”

  By now, she’s walking me to my car. The night air is cold, so I throw my fleece jacket on over my yoga clothes.

  “Have you heard from Kelly or Jennifer?” she asks.

  “Those girls have new loves; they’ll be MIA for a while.” I tell her.

  “Kelly is supposed to be leaving for Brazil this week, or next week. If we don’t grab her soon, we won’t see her for the next few months.”

  Isabelle pulls out her phone and sends a group text. Napoletana Pizza on Thursday, 7:30 sharp.

  She then looks at me. “Let’s see who shows up.”

  “I’ll call Kelly an
d Jennifer specifically to make sure they come.”

  The next morning at work, as I’m coming back from my mid-morning stretch, I’m greeted with a Buddy crotch sniff. After moving Buddy out of my crotch, I look up and lock eyes with Mark, I give him a warm smile, pretending that everything’s OK. It’s obvious he’s relieved that I’m no longer angry.

  The next day I send Zach a text: Did you make it to London? Then I poke him on Facebook, and send him an e-mail. Is this too much?

  Nate: I hope those new things you want to try are physically demanding. Can we do them after dinner on Friday?

  I stare at that text. My mind has blocked out Friday for Zach, but he’s in Europe. I’ve been putting Nate on the back burner. If Zach is gone then I should be focused on Nate.

  Juliette: Friday for dinner works, how’s your cardio system?

  Entering the cafeteria it looks like little elves were busy last night, since it’s now all magically decorated for Christmas. There’s a big banner advertising our Christmas party. It’s at the Tech Museum, which is having a Star Wars exhibit. As I sit down, my friends are all talking about the party. From what they say, the company does it up. There’ll be a live band, dinner will be catered, and there will be an open bar. Jessica, Kami, and Hita attended last year’s party.

  “This is on a Saturday night. Do we go stag? Do we bring a date? How does everyone dress?” I ask.

  Hita pipes in, “I went stag last year; more than half of the people didn’t bring anyone.”

  “Last year’s party was a Monte Carlo night. You got chips for winning and could redeem them for some great prizes. I brought my old boyfriend, he was totally jazzed when he won an iPad.” Jessica fills in.

  “Everyone gets dressed up, well at least the women get really dressed up. The guys didn’t wear suits and ties, but everyone wore pants, I don’t think anyone wore flip flops, and most of the guys even wore a collared shirt.” Kami fills in.

  Nate texts: My cardio’s great and I’m looking forward to you giving me a workout. Let me ask around where we can go for dinner first.

  Juliette: I’m open for anything.

  Nate: That’s what I’m looking forward to.

  Nothing from Zach.

  Chapter 5 - Pizza

  After Zumba, Isabelle and I head over to Napolitano’s. On the way, I fill her in on the latest with Nate and Zach.

  “Isabelle, I feel so duplicitous for dating Nate. Should I be waiting for Zach?”

  “Juliette, you went on one date with the guy. You know what they say about a bird in the hand.”

  “You think I should date Nate?”

  She nods.

  “Yeah, I guess I should see where things go, and if they don’t work out with Nate, then I can date Zach. But Zach knows about Nate. Won’t he feel bad being the consolation prize?”

  “How many times do women date a guy a few times and then it’s over? This makes it easy. Date Nate this weekend. If it’s good, cool, if it doesn’t work out, Zach will be back.”

  I nod, “Yeah, that’s probably the best thing to do. I don’t think Zach’s going to be back in the next week. I guess it gives me some time with Nate.”

  Isabelle nods, “Actually, Zach being in Europe makes this just so much easier. It gives you plenty of time to take Nate for a test drive.”

  “Yeah, but how much longer do I hold out on sleeping with him?”

  “Why hold out?”

  “What?”

  “If Zach was out of the picture what would you do?”

  “Well…”

  “Exactly. Zach is out of the picture. Just do what works. Let’s just hope Nate’s not like Bon Jovi from Sex in the City.”

  Every night our senior year of college, while eating dinner, Isabelle and I watched Sex in the City repeats. In one episode, Jon Bon Jovi’s character relentlessly pursues Carrie. After sleeping with him, Carrie finds out he’s seeing a therapist since he loses interest in women once he’s had sex with them.

  Gasping, I look at Isabelle, “You think that’s why he’s always texting? That it’s the chase? Once he sleeps with me, he’ll lose interest?”

  Isabelle starts laughing. “Hey, that will make it easy. When Nate doesn’t return any of your texts, you can just move on to Zach.”

  This makes me think of what happened last week with Gray. I haven’t heard from him since …shit, I can’t start thinking about Gray. When did my life get so complicated?

  As we walk into the restaurant, Meredith is waiting at the table by herself. As soon as she sees us, she gushes, “I’m glad you guys came, I was afraid I’d be stood up.”

  “Did you order a pizza?”

  “I wasn’t going to order a pizza that no one wanted, and then have to eat the whole thing myself.”

  “Where’s Hita?” Meredith asks.

  “Hey, I just work with her. At lunch, she said she was coming.”

  Jennifer joins us and says, “I saw you idiots last week. What’s the big deal about meeting again?”

  “Kelly’s off to Brazil next week. If we don’t meet again soon, we won’t be together for ages.” Isabelle says.

  “Olivia said she can’t make it, she has something due tomorrow.” Jennifer tells us.

  “Did you hear Hita got herself a guy?” I say.

  “You know there will be a good story soon.” Meredith laughs.

  “Let’s just hope she doesn’t cook for him.” Jennifer jokes back.

  “What about you. Have you made a decision on the two guys you’ve been dating?” Jennifer asks.

  Isabelle and I both exchange looks. I shake my head, “One of the guys is now in Europe and the other one is blowing up my phone.”

  “Hey, Nate was two thousand miles away last month. Zach didn’t make a move when he had home field advantage. Now it’s Nate’s turn. Let’s see if he can do a better job.” Isabelle says with conviction.

  I nod, and am saved from ruminating about this weekend by a loud, rambunctious “I’m here so the party can start.” as Kelly pulls up a chair.

  “Kelly, when do you leave for Brazil? We didn’t want you slipping out before we get together again.” Meredith says.

  “I was just up in San Francisco getting my visa. My flight’s on Tuesday. E eu estou fora de ar quente, água quente, e homens quentes.”

  “What?”

  “And I'm off to warm air, warm water, and hot men.” I translate.

  “Snow, you know Portuguese?”

  “What, you said, it’s almost the same as Spanish, and considering you said it with a Boston accent, it was easy to figure out.”

  “I should take you with me so you can translate.”

  “Then you’ll also need a Spanish to Portuguese translator.”

  “Kelly, when did you learn Portuguese?”

  “I’m fluent in French. Portuguese isn’t too much harder, since it’s just another romance language.”

  I butt in. “Kelly, I’m fluent in Spanish, I have no idea what the French or Italians are saying.”

  “But a lot of the root words are similar. I’ve been studying Portuguese, now I can kind of read it. It’s just when they start speaking, I have no idea what they’re saying.”

  “Kelly, do you think that might be a problem?”

  “Hey, I have a hot guy down there who speaks English and he’s looking forward to me joining him.”

  “What about Sean?”

  “What about Sean?” Kelly says, then flashes us her eyebrows and shakes her shoulders, “He’s my hot guy here. I’ll tell you my hoo-hah has gotten quite the workout these last few weeks. He’s got me walking like a cowboy. That boy has stamina, but I’ve taught him a number of new tricks. The girls after me are going to be real lucky.”

  “Ugh, Kelly, no one needed to know any of that. You could have just said you’ve spent time with him.” Jennifer says.

  “I have spent time with him. Lots of naked hot sex time with him.” Kelly says with a big smile.

  Looking at Jennifer, Meredith
says, “Jennifer how are things going with your new man?”

  Jennifer just smiles, “Rocket’s sweet.”

  Kelly gives Jennifer a big smile, then raises her eyebrows. “Is that what he tastes like, or is there something else sweet we should know about him?”

  Jennifer gives Kelly an appalled look. “Rocket’s and my private parts are our business, not your business. No one really wants to know that much information.”

  Kelly just can’t let it drop as she says, “I take it you’ve seen his private parts.” Leaning over, “Did it kind of freak you out the first time?”

  Jennifer’s jaw drops, “Kelly!”

  Kelly responds with, “Jennifer, we all know about your boy’s piercing. What we want to know, is he as good in bed as he is on a bike?”

  Jennifer crosses her arms and gives Kelly an annoyed look. “I am not talking about my hoo-ha, or sex life with you guys. There’re some things that should be private.”

  “I just want to know if a piercing down there hurts or makes things better.” Isabelle asks. “This is more of a medical question.”

  Jennifer rolls her eyes, “How do you idiots know about the...” narrowing her eyes and zeroing in on Kelly. “Kelly! This has to be you.” Then she shudders, “I don’t want to know how you know.”

  Kelly starts laughing, “Jennifer, it’s not something that’s easily kept a secret. If he didn’t want people talking about his dick, he shouldn’t have pierced it. “

  Meredith shutters, “I still can’t imagine what would possess a guy to do that. It must have hurt, a lot.”

  “I guess orgasms are better.” Kelly says. “Jennifer, are they better?”

  Just then Hita joins us, “What did I miss?”

  Meredith starts ticking off on her fingers, “You just missed the usual; Kelly wants to know about Jennifer’s orgasms from the ampallang.”

  Jennifer interrupts, “Not happening.”

  “Why do you even bother asking?” Hita says in her matter of fact way. “We always get way too much information from Kelly and Jennifer never tells us anything good.”