by Owen Grant
“Remember that call that I got when we were at dinner? Well, it was him. Unfortunately, he couldn't give me much information. I need your help, though. He had limited resources to contact anybody. He also had to be very careful that he didn't contact me or anyone else at the company.”
“Wait. Where is he? Was he kidnapped? Who took him?”
“I'm getting to it! So, when he called me he asked me for a number that he could call every day to send me a message. We were just at dinner, and you were the first person that I thought of, so I gave him your number.”
“You couldn't give him your number?”
“They would know if he was calling me.”
“How? And what's the big difference? He's still calling the same person every day at the same time.”
“Just trust me. Now, I need to decode the message that he sent me. You have the phone and all of the numbers, right?”
“Yeah. I have to tell you, though- I looked for patterns in the numbers. I didn't notice anything.”
“We have our own way of sending messages.”
“Wait? You have a wait of sending messages back and forth to each other? Why?”
“Just let me see the numbers! Please!”
“I actually brought the lists that I made. Do you want them in order of highest to lowest number or the earliest number I got to the latest? Or vice versa of either one?”
Michelle giggled. “That helps a lot, but, damn, you need to get some extra projects at work or something. Find a hobby. A second job.”
“Hey, I'm helping you, aren't I?”
“I'm kidding! That's great! The first number to the last,” she said. “Please.”
Michelle took the list of numbers and studied them for a moment. “Oh my God!” she screamed. “Thank you so much, Alan! I need to get back home. Thank you for coming to meet me.” Michelle got up and started getting ready to leave.
“Wait! What did the message say? What's going on with the drug? Why the hell do you have a secret message system with a guy at your work?”
“I wish I could explain right now. Thank you so much more for your help.” With that, Michelle was gone. Alan was starting to get annoyed. Her secrets and her flaky behavior were starting to become downright rude.
Let's Not Talk About Work
The next day at 7:03, Alan didn't get a phone call. His mind raced with the different possibilities of what could have happened. His mind was running wild with some ridiculous theories. He had to admit that he was intrigued, though. In a very uncharacteristic move, he decided to call Michelle. However, he wasn't quite prepared with what to say when she answered.
“Hey! I just wanted to make sure that you were alright after last night. You left in quite a rush. Again.”
“I'm so sorry. It's just that I'm trying to handle this whole situation. It's giving me anxiety. I swear!”
“Well, maybe you need to relax a bit. You don't have any mysterious plans for tonight do you?”
“What were you thinking?”
“Want to get a beer?”
“That actually sounds great.”
“Let's meet downtown. You can enlighten me as to what the hell is going on with you.”
“I'd prefer not to talk about work.”
“Don't you think that you owe me?”
“Well, text me the bar that you want to meet at. I'll leave in a little bit.”
Alan wore his jeans and polo that he had been wearing at work all day. He didn't want to look overdressed for a simple beer. He did splash on some cologne, though. When he arrived, Michelle was already there. She wasn't exactly easy to see in the corner booth that she chose, though. When Alan sat down he saw that she had not worried about being overdressed. She was in a classic little black dress and pumps. She also had red lips and a long red necklace. Alan noticed that even her nails were done with long, black, pointy nails. Michelle was absolutely gorgeous, and she looked dressed to impress. Was this a date?
“Hey,” she smiled, sipping a martini.
“Hey. You look amazing,” Alan said.
“I had a dinner before this. Please excuse me if I'm overdressed.”
“No! It's absolutely fine. A martini, huh?”
“Why not? Life is short.”
“Well, I have work in the morning. I think I'll just stick to a beer or two.”
“Come on!” Michelle laughed. “Live a little. Seriously, enjoy yourself. Life is short, and, you sir, could really loosen up. Get a drink. Get a shot. Get both!”
Alan wasn't sure if this was a tactic to distract him from the suspicious occurrences of last night. He also had work the next day. However, Michelle didn't seem like she was going to just disappear tonight. He hadn't had a night out drinking with a girl in a long time, so he decided to go ahead with it.
“You've convinced me,” he said. When the waitress came up to the table, he ordered a Jack Daniels and coke.
“That's more like it!” Michelle said. “Cheers!” They cheered together and both took a large sip of their drinks.
Alan wasn't going to let her off the hook that easily, though. “Are you going to tell me more about what happened?”
Michelle leaned closer and grabbed his hand. “Oh, please let's not talk about work. I'd much rather just have a good time tonight.”
“You know; I have to admit that you had me a little worried. And I am curious.”
Michelle leaned back and sighed. “You have no idea how trying this has been for me. It's been a rough couple of months dealing with this nonsense.”
“I can believe that. However, I don't understand. You won't tell me anything!”
“Maybe that's because you don't need to know.”
“But you are the one that brought me into this.”
“I didn't know who else I could bring into it. Trust me, it was not an easy decision. Everything is fine, though. I promise you that.”
Alan was convinced for the moment and decided to use this time to try to get to know Michelle. “So was your dinner for a special occasion tonight?”
“It was another work thing.”
“Well, this is going to be difficult to get to know each other if you can't talk about anything,” Alan pointed out.
“It's just not important. Why don't you tell me more about your new job? Our last conversation was cut short.”
“Yep. For mysterious reasons.”
“I told you that it was for work!”
Alan decided not to bother trying to get answers anymore. He may as well talk about himself. “Well, I work at the head IT guy at a telecommunications company.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah! I do. It's pretty standard work. The company is great to work for, too. They have some great company functions, and the company gives us good benefits. Three weeks paid vacation, holidays off, three sick days, and seven personal days.”
“Is this what you always wanted to do?”
“Well, I always assumed that I would do something similar to this with my degree. I enjoy working with internet networks and whatnot.”
“But is it what you've always wanted to do?”
“I mean; I enjoy when things are a little more in-depth.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everything with this job is super simple, actually. I like things that are a little more complicated.”
“You seemed to enjoy trying to crack the code that I got,” Michelle laughed.
“Yeah. I was kind of annoyed that I couldn't really break the code. I did find quite a bit out when I was searching, though.”
“And how did you do that?”
“Simple online searches. They didn't have that much information, though.”
“Do you think you could have figured it out eventually? Like, what else could you have done?”
“Nothing legal. I went as far as I could. After that, I would have had to break into some server or something.”
“Can you do that?”
“No. It's il
legal.”
“I mean, if it were legal, could you do that?”
“Yeah. Probably.”
“Have you ever broken into a server before?”
“Yeah, actually. But you can't tell anybody.”
Michelle lit up. “Now, this is interesting! Tell me what happened!”
“I don't know,” Alan teased. “You don't give me an awful lot of information about yourself.”
“Well, you can ask me anything that you want to know as long as it doesn't have to do with work.”
The drink must have been getting to Alan. “Well, are you seeing somebody?”
“Well, I'm looking at somebody right now.”
Alan lost concentration and didn't know how to respond. He wanted to say something flirty, but he couldn't think of anything. Flirting wasn't supposed to take this long!
Michelle giggled. “Have you ever had a Cherry Bomb?”
“No. The drink is already hitting me.”
“Well, you're not slurring your words yet. Excuse me!” She called out to the waitress and ordered two more drinks and two cherry bombs.
After a couple hours more of drinking, Michelle finally said, “Let's head back to your place.”
Alan nodded and motioned for the check.
“I got it,” Michelle smiled. “Once again, thank you for your help with everything.”
Sure, the girl was flaky, and she wasn't exactly available all the time. However, she was absolutely gorgeous, and she was generous. Alan never minded paying for a date, but he secretly liked when a woman was willing and able to take care of herself. She also wanted to go back to his place tonight! Alan wasn't about to ask too many questions when he was with the most exciting and gorgeous woman that he's ever been with.
Michelle paid the tab and took his hand as they left the bar. When they got to the train station, they didn't say much. While waiting for the train, Michelle leaned in and kissed Alan. It was unexpected, and she tasted like cherry and a faint hint of liquor.
“I'm really glad that I ran into you, Alan.”
“I'm really glad that I ran into you, too!” Alan said. They kissed a couple of more times on the train before they got off at his stop.
“Your apartment is great!” Michelle said. Alan didn't really agree with her. And he was surprised that a girl would find it “great”. Was it the large poster of Link on his living room wall or his replica Tardis that had her excited? He didn't even have a dishwasher.
“Well, make yourself at home. Do you want a glass of water or something?”
“Yeah. That would be great.”
Michelle was making herself comfortable on his living room couch while he got some water. When he got back to the living room, he felt somewhat awkward.
“So, do you want to watch a movie or something?”
Michelle immediately climbed on top of Alan and kissed him. They continued kissing and Alan's hands grazed her arms and her neck. She had the softest skin that he had ever felt. They continued making out until they winded up in Alan's bedroom. He was a little embarrassed about his video games being scattered over the bedroom floor, but she didn't seem to mind. Before he knew it, her dress and her panties were on the bedroom floor next to his Gamecube controller. Her heels stayed on throughout the night. Alan fell asleep with the (mostly) naked beautiful girl on his chest. He didn't care about anything that had happened before.
When Alan woke up, he was disappointed to see that Michelle was already gone. He had his alarm set for seven o'clock. How could she have left already? He did notice that she left a note, though. She had found a post-it and wrote, “Thanks for last night. I'll see you soon.” Alan was confused, and he wasn't sure if this would eventually lead to anything else. Whatever this was, he was going to enjoy the time that he got to spend with Michelle.
A Job Offer
When Alan woke up the morning after his fling with Michelle, he was elated. It was a great night, and she didn't act suspiciously at all. She was quite direct, but she had always been that way. Alan's initial plan of attack was to wait a couple of days before calling or texting. He wanted to act cool and aloof. He was surprised to see Michelle at the office building when he got to work. She looked gorgeous. It was hard to tell that they were drinking and making love all night. Alan was slightly embarrassed because he knew that he wasn't looking his absolute best.
“Hey, there!” she said running up to him. “How are you doing this morning?”
“Great! I was hoping that I'd see you this morning.”
“Oh, I couldn't show up to work in that get-up. I had to go home and shower and change. I had a great time, though.”
“I'm glad. I hope that we can do it again. It's good to see you back at the building.”
“We'll definitely do it again. Have a great day,” said Michelle. And then she kissed him good-bye. It was a soft kiss, but it was in front of everyone. Alan was starting to get optimistic about the possibility of being with this girl. Alan decided that this was a much better hobby than trying to uncover secret messages.
Alan always did well at work, but Alan seemed to be especially on his game today. People around the office looked at him differently. He walked differently. Alan wasn't even surprised when he got a text message from Michelle toward the end of his work day. “Want to go to dinner one of my friends from work tonight?” Alan couldn't believe it. Of course he wanted to go! He was dying to learn more about Wynelta and trayleme. He responded quickly. “Of course I'd like to go! When and where?” Michelle sent over the details and told Alan that she was excited for Alan to meet her coworkers. He couldn't help but start to feel nervous. It was a bit early for Michelle to be introducing him to her friends, and it didn't seem like they were going to be talking about the drug very much.
Alan stayed in the suit that he wore to work. He made sure to wash up as much as he could to not look tired, though. He put on some more cologne, too. He got to the restaurant early and ordered a drink to loosen up. Shortly later, he saw Michelle come through the door with an older gentleman. Alan was definitely picturing some other young women. He wasn't picturing this.
Michelle grabbed Alan by the arm. “Come on. Let's get a table.”
Michelle led everybody to a table in the back of the restaurant.
“Alan, this is Dr. Watson. He's the scientist that I was telling you about. He works with us in getting the drugs approved. Doctor, this is Alan. The guy that I was talking about.”
“Alan, I hear that you went to MIT. Is that right?” Dr. Watson was a tall man with a burly beard. He was in middle-age, and he had a tattoo peaking from under his shirt sleeve. He looked out of place in a suit, and he definitely didn't seem like he would be a scientist.
“Yep! Greatest six years of my life. I wish I could go back.”
“Ah. You don't like your current job? I thought that you just started.” Dr. Watson asked. Alan was surprised that he seemed to know so much already.
“Yeah. I did just start. It's a great company. College was a lot of fun, though. I got to play around more with what I love.”
“And what is it that you love?” Dr. Watson asked.
“Well, I really did enjoy network security. The money isn't quite as good as what I have now. I have to admit that I would challenge myself a bit when I was younger and braver.”
“Network security? So stopping people from breaking into a network system?” Dr. Watson asked.
“Exactly. It's incredible how exciting the field is. Every time someone finds a way to break into a security system, someone learns how to resolve the security breach. Then, sometimes instantly, a new security breach is found. It's an endless cycle, and it keeps people on their toes.”
“You would think that the job would pay more then,” Dr. Watson said.
“Well, most companies only need basic security. Most people aren't going to extreme measures to break into a small business's network. They wouldn't get much out of that. Plus, more extensive security systems are more expensive.�
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“What if someone did need more intense security? Couldn't you get that job?”
“It's harder to find that job. Plus, I had one little mishap that might discourage people from hiring me in a network security job.”
Alan could tell that the doctor was paying attention to his every word. He could see him looking at him in the dim restaurant light. Alan was starting to feel uncomfortable. He definitely wanted to learn about what was happening with Michelle's job, but this was getting a little too close for comfort now. Luckily, Michelle came to his rescue.
“Let's take a break, Dr. Watson. You've been bombarding the poor guy since we've sat down. Alan, do you know what you're going to order?” Michelle grabbed Alan's shoulder and smiled flirtatiously when she asked this, putting him at ease.
For the next couple of minutes, the conversation was much more relaxed. Everyone went over menu options and talked about the weather and other small talk. Alan and Michelle joked with each other, but Alan tried to make sure to keep it professional in front of her colleague. After enjoying a great meal, Alan was thinking that maybe he and Michelle could go back to his place again. Was it too fast to ask her to come over for the second night in a row? But when the plates were removed from the table, the conversation clearly wasn't over.
“So, I'd like to talk to you about a possible job opportunity,” Dr. Watson said.
Alan wasn't expecting that. “I did just start my new job. I'm not sure that this is the best time for me to jump into something new.”
“I think that we can give you a salary that would make it worth your while,” Dr. Watson smiled.
“The salary at my current position is actually quite competitive. It's why I went with this particular company.”
“I promise that you this will be a more competitive salary.”
“What exactly are you hiring me to do?”
“You'll be helping us get some valuable information.”
“I thought that you were talking about security earlier.”
“Well, if you can protect something, surely you know how to break into it.”
“Well, yeah, but most of what you're referring to is illegal. It's known as hacking and can come with serious jail time.”
