Traveling Bug

by Curry, Edna

  "But I didn't do anything," she protested, trying to keep her voice steady.

  "You were a good sport about all the times Jeff left you alone while he tended my interests instead of his own. But it has paid off. I assure you there will be some big changes in my office when I return. Though I don't want to rock the boat by telling anyone now. No point in spoiling everyone's trip because of a couple of people's greed."

  She didn't know what to say. So she said nothing.

  "Jeff will explain later, after we have had a chance to settle some things in Milwaukee."

  "I see." But Diane didn't see. Instead of seeing, she was feeling, and what she was feeling was very left out and neglected. But she couldn't tell him that.

  "I haven't thanked you for the offer of a job for Dad," she said instead. "I'm sure he'll be interested."

  "You talk to him about it, and if he is, I'll come out some weekend soon to set him up. I'd love to meet your parents anyway."

  He said that now, she thought, but he would change his mind after Jeff told him they weren’t a pair.

  When they landed in Minneapolis, she hated to say goodbye to her new friends, Cathy and Esther, and promised to keep in touch.

  Jeff was going on with his father, and her heart felt tight as he looked at her and merely said, "See you in a few days. I'll phone Anne, and you can fill her in on the details."

  Then he followed Vince and the others onto their connecting flight to Milwaukee. Diane stared forlornly after him as he disappeared from sight. He had made no attempt to heal the breach between them.

  She picked up her hand luggage, and walked down the quiet concourse, then downstairs to the luggage area, her footsteps echoing loudly. The airport seemed eerie and still this late at night with many of the little shops closed. It seemed as lonely and forlorn as she felt. There were only a few people about besides their own group who were waiting for their luggage.

  At last the suitcases began sliding down the metal chute with a swoosh and rode around the circular pick-up area.

  Diane picked up hers, then hailed a taxi. At last, in the back of the darkened taxi, she let the tears flow. When the driver stopped, she tried to hide them from him as she paid her fare.

  "Hey, you okay, Lady?"

  She nodded, grabbed her luggage and sought the privacy of her apartment.

  She should have known better than to fall in love again. But she had been so sure that Jeff cared, too. Perhaps it had only seemed like real love in magical Puerto Vallarta.

  Now life was back to cold reality, and she had better get used to it.

  She slept until noon the next day, then spent the afternoon unpacking, doing her laundry and dusting the apartment. She phoned her parents and was pleased with the news that her father was recuperating nicely.

  Her mother said, a cautious note in her voice, "Diane, I want to warn you before you come out, that Paula has been seeing a lot of Bob."

  "Of course, Mom. They work together."

  "No, I mean, dating. I hope you don't mind."

  "No problem, Mom. Bob and I were always only friends. I'm glad for them." She promised to come see them soon and tell them all about her trip, but left out the most important part. How could she tell them her heart was broken when she had never even told them she was in love with Jeff? They had their own troubles and she certainly didn't want to add to them.

  If she kept busy, she wouldn't have time to think! But at last everything was back in its proper place.

  She settled down to finish reading the novel she had started on the trip, but couldn't concentrate. Even her baby sister Paula seemed to be able to find love. What was wrong with her that things always went wrong for her?

  Finally she put an exercise record on the stereo, took off her clothes and slipped into a skimpy wine-colored leotard, and began to work out.

  A half hour later, exhausted at last, she ran a hot tub and lay in it for a long time. Finally relaxed, she went to bed and slept.

  The next few days at the office were fairly routine. Jeff hadn't returned from Milwaukee and the office seemed dull and bare without him.

  Anne had seemed pleased with their report of the trip, and after all the bills were totaled, there was even a small refund for Banning Corporation.

  "Do I have to divide this up and send a check to each participant?" Diane asked Anne when she told her.

  "No, just send it in one lump to Banning Corporation, since they prepaid the trip that way. I wouldn't want to take the responsibility for deciding who gets what, since I'm sure some of the trips were paid for by the corporation, and some by the participants. Let them figure it out!" Anne sighed, patting a stray hair back into place.

  Diane nodded in agreement, wondering which description fit Arlene. The former, probably, she thought jealously. Free vacations were probably just another perk. Which was none of her business, of course.

  If Jeff returned to Milwaukee as Arlene had predicted, he would probably be enjoying those perks with her, instead of being at work on their trips while she was on vacation. Though he'd had plenty of time for Arlene even when he was working, she remembered jealously.

  His promise to explain everything had been just that - an empty promise. As empty as her heart felt right this minute.

  She brought her mind back to her work with an effort. When was she going to put them in the past, where they belonged? It was over. She must go on, not spend all her time daydreaming impossible dreams.

  She jumped as the object of her thoughts lounged his tall frame against the doorway of her office. Her heart began its familiar fast pace at the sight of him.

  Jeff was back! Her heart danced happily. But would he stay?

  "Must you scare people out of their wits?" she asked, more tartly than necessary, to cover her reaction to his sudden appearance.

  "Sorry, I wasn't aware you were so jumpy these days," he returned, a satisfied grin on his face.

  She was sure he was aware of what he was doing to her. Why must she be so obvious? Why couldn't she be cool and sophisticated like Arlene? Maybe then he would take her seriously.

  "Did you want something?" she tried to keep her voice businesslike and proper.

  "To take you to dinner tonight, if you can thaw out the ice enough." he said, frowning.

  "Dinner?" she repeated stupidly.

  "Yes. You know, food and soft lights, that sort of thing?"

  "I'm aware of what it is." she retorted. "Why?"

  "Why not? Did I develop leprosy in the last few days, or something?"

  She flushed. If he could act nonchalant, so could she. She certainly wasn't going to let him know how much he affected her.

  "Of course, not," she told him. "Where would you like to go?"

  "Dad gave me these tickets to Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. One of his local business associates gave them to him, thinking Dad was staying here longer, but as you know he didn't. Seems a shame to waste them."

  "Sounds delightful," she agreed.

  "Fine. I'll pick you up at six. That give you enough time? It's a half-hour drive out there."

  "Okay," she nodded.

  You're a fool to put yourself through this, she scolded herself as she nervously put on her makeup that evening. There's no future in it for you. But why not enjoy what you can? She answered herself. Where is your pride? Am I really ready to settle for crumbs just to be near him?

  Yes, her heart answered. No, her mind scolded.

  The doorbell rang and she sighed. Her heartbeats speeded up and she knew her heart would always win.

  She moved to the door, the soft red silk dress she had chosen to wear tonight flowing easily about her.

  As she expected, Jeff stood there, smiling as she opened the door. She smiled back, feasting her eyes on the welcome sight of him. He was wearing a soft beige suit which brought out the richness of the browns in his hair and eyes. Her heart turned over with love in spite of her good intentions to the contrary.

  His eyes roved over her slowly in th
eir now familiar way, as usual bringing a blush to her cheeks.

  "Hey, All right! You're beautiful tonight," he said softly, his eyes resting provocatively on the soft curves peeking out above the low neckline. A bit of white skin showed the line of her newly acquired suntan.

  "Thanks. You look pretty special, yourself."

  "I've missed you, Diane," he said softly, and pulled her into his arms for a long hungry kiss. As his strong arms wrapped her tightly, Diane felt as though she had come home at last. There was no mistaking what her heart wanted.

  "Me, too. Oh, God, how I missed you." Suddenly she knew she trusted Jeff. Whatever he and his father had had in mind, whatever they'd done, she was sure it was not bad. In her heart she knew she trusted him. It felt wonderful.

  "Can you forgive me for keeping you in the dark about my project? I promise to explain everything tonight."

  Diane pulled back so she could look into his eyes. "It doesn't matter," she said seriously. "I trust you. I'm sure whatever you and your father were up to, it is OK."

  He gave her another long kiss. "I think we'd better stop while I still can."

  Thrilled at his admission of her power over him, she handed him her coat and turned and slipped her arms into it as he held it for her. Then she picked up her scarf and gloves and purse and pulled the door shut behind her, checking carefully to be sure it was locked before they walked to the elevator.

  "What are we seeing?"

  "Whatever you'd like. There's a choice as long as they're not filled. There's a musical, a murder mystery, and 'I do, I do' which has been running for ages, I hear."

  "Oh, yes, that was good."

  "You've already seen it?"

  "Yes, but it's worth seeing again, if you haven't."

  "I'd just as soon see one you haven't seen already."

  They decided on Dial M for Murder. The theatre was divided into separate smaller theatres for each play, and they walked down the long hallway to their section.

  The waiter brought their drinks.

  Jeff reached across the table and took her hands in his.

  Diane looked at him nervously. They had been placed quite far back, and seemed almost alone, although there were people in the section below them.

  "Diane," he began, "I've been waiting to get you alone for a week. That night on the beach in Puerto Vallarta, I thought I'd succeeded at last, then Dad interrupted."

  "Yes," she smiled, thinking of what he'd interrupted.

  "I told you I would explain my project as soon as I could," he began. "I think we have it squared away now. At least, Dad has released me from my promise of secrecy."

  "You don't have to explain, Jeff."

  "I want you to understand, and I hate having secrets between us."

  Diane sat mesmerized as he went through the details of his project, from its beginning just before the weekend that they'd done the seniors’ leaf-looking tour of the St. Croix Valley, through the weeks he'd worked on it so secretly at his apartment through New Year's Eve. He explained how they had set it up over Christmas week in Milwaukee.

  "I programmed the virus to be sent out immediately to everyone who used our bulletin board, since most people use it irregularly and we wanted to catch everyone. But since I gave it a starting date, the virus just sat there until the Monday we left for Puerto Vallarta. That morning everyone who tried to log onto our bulletin board found they couldn't. As they started up our program, the virus automatically jammed it, making it useless. As each operator tried his back-up disks, he would succeed in logging on and think he had solved the problem. But, of course, our bulletin board sent the virus each time someone logged on, so each new disk that was tried was also affected."

  "So everyone, pirate or not, was effectively jammed?"

  "Yes, but for the legitimate customers, it was only for a few days. You remember I told you we had to wait while we manufactured the new copy-proof software?"

  "Yes."

  "As soon as Arlene flew home she and Janet, who was safeguarding it, sent it out."

  "Janet was in on this? But I thought she was home ill?"

  "That was only a cover. Dad didn't even tell me the truth about that."

  "Because you didn't really trust Janet?"

  He nodded. "But Dad did. And he needed someone he could absolutely trust to stay behind, because we couldn't do it ourselves. Janet and I have reached an understanding. I apologized to her, too."

  "But didn't you mind that everyone called you a jerk, a mean hacker just out to make trouble for kicks?"

  "Only the truth hurts, and I and the people I care most about know the truth. I can handle the remarks from the others."

  "I see." She wondered if she would have felt the same.

  "Arlene was in on this, and went home to say just what we told her to say, and then to supervise the shipment of the new programs to paid subscribers only."

  "But couldn't the pirates just get the new software from the same people who gave it to them the first time?"

  "No, the new programs can't be copied. If they need a second copy, they have to get it from us."

  "But wouldn't the new software pick up the virus?"

  "No, I wrote new software for our bulletin board, too."

  "But you cost a lot people a lot of time."

  "A few hours of down-time is a small price to pay for ridding our system of unauthorized access. Granted, the pirates may figure out a way around the new software, but they no longer have insiders helping them. So it should cut our losses for a while anyway. Dad thinks it will be enough to keep us afloat financially."

  "I'm glad to hear it. I like Vince very much."

  "He likes you, too. In fact, all of the Banning Corporation people liked you."

  “Thanks.”

  "Speaking of Banning Corporation, when Dad called last night, he told me to tell you that Sandy is no longer working for him. It was the Erringtons and Sandy Jorgenson who had sold the information."

  "But why?"

  "The usual reason," he shrugged. "Money. Sue Errington had been a good friend of someone from a rival company. They offered a good sized bribe and she couldn't resist. She contacted Sandy because she needed help getting information from his department that she didn't have access to. From different remarks he'd made, she knew he was approachable."

  "Like 'danger makes it more exciting?' " she frowned.

  "You heard him, too? I thought you said you hadn't heard anything suspicious?" He frowned.

  Diane blushed. "The way he leered at me as he said it, I thought he was only thinking in terms of sex. But he did say, 'in business or pleasure' now that I think about it. But I'm glad you found them out without my help. I hate trouble in any form. It ties my stomach in knots."

  "What an old softie you are. The Erringtons and Sandy don't deserve your sympathy."

  "But Cathy and her children do! What will happen to them?"

  "Nothing much, Diane. Dad didn't press charges. Only fired them. There wasn't enough hard evidence to make it worth a conviction, in spite of their confession. Of course, he'll have to find another kind of job, since he won't have a good reference. But Sandy has a lot of good, technical training. They won't starve. Come on, let's not spoil this evening thinking of them."

  "I never wanted to think about Arlene! I was so jealous! You did spend a lot of time with her in Puerto Vallarta!" she accused.

  "Yes," he nodded. "It was necessary in order to keep up with developments and plan our moves. Arlene is a walking file on everyone in our company. I told Dad on our walk on the beach that it had to be one of four people."

  "Who were the others?"

  "It's not important now. Let's talk about us. These past few days have been miserable without you. I love you! And one reason I wanted to bring you here to see, ‘I do! I do!’ was to get you in the mood to say, ‘I do,’ with me! But at least we're in the same building with that play."

  "Wha...What do you mean?" she stared at him incredulously. This was just too much to
o fast. She couldn't be hearing him correctly.

  "I mean, will you marry me, Darling?"

  "Marry you!"

  "Yes, marry me. For heaven's sake, stop repeating what I say and answer me."

  "Oh, yes, Jeff! Yes!" she found her tongue at last, and looked deep into his eyes, seeing the pleasure she felt reflected there.

  He leaned across the table and kissed her. "I love you! Forever and always, you come first with me," he said softly.

  "Oh, Jeff. I love you, too!"

  "Ahem! Your food, sir," the waiter interrupted.

  They drew apart, laughing, as he served them, then left. Someone was always interrupting the best times.

  "We'll go shopping for a ring tomorrow," Jeff said.

  "You mean you haven't already bought one?" she teased. "Where's the old confident Jeff?"

  "I want this to be a partnership, right from the first step," Jeff returned. "Besides, you're the one who'll be wearing it. I want you to help choose it, too. Umm, this duck is delicious."

  "But what about Banning Corporation?" Diane said, remembering suddenly, her roast duckling forgotten.

  "What about it?" he looked puzzled.

  She blushed again, then plunged on. "Arlene said you were going back to work there. Are you?" She had to know if she was really rid of Arlene or not.

  "No, I'm not. At least, not for a good many years, until I've had my fill of traveling. Do you mind?"

  "No. I'm glad."

  "Let's just forget Banning Corporation. Come sit over here, close to me. The play's about to begin."

  They watched the play with Jeff's arm around her. Then he drove her home. It was snowing gently as they walked into her apartment building, great fluffy white flakes floating down in the crisp night air, making everything seem as fresh and new as she felt.

  She made coffee, then they cuddled on her sofa, making happy plans for the future between kisses.

  "I'm not going to just be tied to the kitchen sink, you know," she said, remembering her fear of that. "I'm keeping my job and going traveling with you."

  "I wouldn't have it any other way. At least until the little ones come along. You do want some?"