Chapter Nineteen

Jeff

Even though I know it's probably stupid and I'm gonna be the one getting hurt, I ignore the red flags and spend the rest of the weekend with Drake. We talk about work and he tells me about his brother and sister…and we have amazing sex. We even curl up on his couch for a couple episodes of Breaking Bad.

When I finally leave to go home on Sunday evening, it's with the promise that I won't act any differently at the office on Monday morning.

I don’t think it’s possible for me to pretend I didn’t just have the most amazing weekend of my life, but I promise to try.

~**~

Dia is practically beaming when she walks into the office. “We finished it!”

We all look up, wondering what she means.

“Finished what?” Drake asks.

“All the modules. Walt and I spent the entire weekend writing and we're pretty sure it's ready. We wanted it to be done before the holidays so we can do the migration while most of our customers are on shutdown.”

“Seriously?” Drake looks surprised. “You had three modules left on Friday. How did you get it all done?”

Dia laughs. “A lot of caffeine.” Walt comes in a moment behind her with a box of bagels.

“Alright, people,” he says with a smile uncharacteristic of his grumpy nature. “It's time to carbo load.”

“That’s amazing. Great work, guys.” Drake turns to the rest of us. “You heard them. We have a lot to do to get this ready for customers by the end of the week. We’re starting to get notices that companies will be shutting down next Monday through the end of the year. That’s enough time to do this.”

Holy shit. I pull out my phone and check the date. Is it seriously December 14th? How have so many weeks passed by without me realizing it? I vaguely knew Christmas was coming but didn't realize it was almost here.

Although, not tracking the holidays isn’t too surprising. I’ve never been big on the holidays. I don’t keep in touch with my mom, and I have no other family to speak of. I usually just hang out with Ashley and a group of friends… Unless it's one of the years that she travels down south to see her family.

“Yeah. My mom will kill me if I have to work on Christmas,” Diya says with a soft laugh.

“Sounds like that won’t be an issue.” Drake reaches for a bagel and digs in the bag next to the box for cream cheese. “Once the new code is installed, you and Walt can take a break while the rest of the team handles testing. At that point, I'll feel better bringing the rest of the company in on what we're doing.”

“What if there's another attack?” Kathy asks.

Dia breaks apart a piece of bagel but holds it in front of her mouth before speaking. “There won't be any more attacks like the ones we've seen. The exploits Chris used previously don't exist in the code anymore. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing, but Chris will have to get creative if he wants to mess with us.”

“What do you mean?”

Drake steps in. “She means he'll have to take more direct hits to the company instead of messing with our customers.”

Kathy turns to Drake. “Do you think we’re in danger?”

He shakes his head. “No, I don't. I don't think Chris will come after anybody personally.”

“Not even Coop?” I ask.

Drake’s eyes lock on mine and he shakes his head. “I don't know about that, but the police are looking for Chris. We have to let them handle it. Besides, Cooper knows how to take care of himself.”

I don't let my gaze drop as I watch Drake consider his friend’s safety. And maybe even his own. We both know he’s in as much danger of physical harm as Cooper, maybe even more since Chris came after him once.

But Drake doesn't seem to be concerned. Both Drake and Cooper have made it clear they're not afraid of Chris and if he wants to bring it, he needs to not be a pussy and hide behind code. He needs to stand in front of them like a man and get this shit settled.

“Alright. You all know what you need to do. Let's do it so we can lock him out once and for all.”

~**~

The days blur together as we work almost around the clock to get a full upgrade of Notes ready to push to customers on Friday night. It’s a risky move considering this revision is basically untested and was written in a rush, but the alternative is more risky. We can’t continue to let Chris access our customer accounts.

By Friday morning, we’re all basically zombies.

“I think we should call it good,” Walt says just before lunch. I turn to Drake, wondering what his response will be.

“Dia, what do you think?” Drake is great at being respectful of the role each person plays on this team.

She rubs along the arch of her forehead and nods. “Yeah, I think we're there. I don't think we can test any more in our environment. We need to get inside customer sites and do the rest from there.”

Drake watches them both for a minute then knocks on the table in front of him twice. “Okay, then let's roll it out.”

“Right now? Like in the middle of the day?” I ask.

“We won't push it live until late tonight, but let's send the email out to the entire installed base and confirm that their systems will be off-line from midnight tonight until midnight on Sunday night. It actually won't take that long, but we don’t want them going in too soon. They’ll probably only be off-line for a few hours, but that'll give us time to make sure nothing’s gone bad before anybody tries to login on Monday.”

“At least half of our users are shut down from Monday on, so we should be okay,” Kathy chimes in.

“Great.” Drake seems to be contemplating something before he stands up. “Anybody want to go to lunch? I think TriTask owes us all some margaritas.”

“Hell, yeah.” Ron’s the first to stand up. “I'm in.”

Everyone except Kathy decides to join us. She insists there are some sales she needs to hit before all the good stuff is gone. So while she catches up on Christmas shopping, the rest of us head over to El Aqua for some tacos and margaritas.

Even though I know it's not a good idea, I slip into the open chair next to Drake instead of across from him where we can talk, but there's no risk of physical contact.

All week long, we haven't had more than a few minutes of quiet chatting and the occasional stolen kiss. Both of us have been too exhausted and anxious about work to think about going home together.

When his hand lands on my thigh as he leans over the table to reach for the pitcher, I almost gasp out loud. This is the first time he's risked any kind of contact with others around. I know nobody can see us under the table, so it's a relatively safe way to flirt, but it still has my stomach doing little flips.

Even when he squeezes my thigh and removes his hand, the nerves in my body are still on fire. Once we’re about halfway done with our food, Drake leans back in his chair and looks around the table.

“So what do you guys have planned for the holidays?”

Ron speaks up from Drake’s right side. “The same thing I always do. Watch a lot of football, sleep in, and listen to my brother and sister-in-law prattle on for hours about how brilliant their kids are.”

Dia laughs across the table from him. “Yeah, I'll get a good dose of that at my mother’s house. My sister has her kids seeing tutors from the minute they wake up until the minute they go to sleep. They're really smart, but man, those kids are weird.”

We all chuckle at the comment. I think that's the first time I’ve ever heard her say a harsh word about anybody.

“You doing anything, Walt?”

He finishes chewing then wipes his mouth. “Yeah, my daughters are home from college. We usually cut down a tree up in the mountains and have a tree trimming party on Christmas Eve. It's very Norman Rockwell at our house.”

I don't know if he’s joking or not, because he doesn't seem like a Norman Rockwell kind of guy. But it’s a nice picture, and I can't help being a little envious for the image of a happy little family he's painting.

Steve's quiet and never talks, so when he clears his throat and looks straight at Drake, we all take notice. “I’m going to be building a Habitat for Humanity house.”

“Really?” Drake seems as shocked as the rest of us. “That’s awesome, man.”

Steve nods excitedly. “Yeah, I do it every year. It’s kind of a tradition now.”

“Wow. That's impressive,” Drake says.

“Not really. Just a good way to repent for not being a good Christian throughout the year. I can't remember the last time I went to church and my mom insists cigarettes are the devil’s toothpicks.”

Drake chuckles quietly to himself. “We all need a little devil in our lives now and then.”

I bite my lip to keep from smiling too widely when I feel his foot tap against mine.

“What about you, Jeff?” Drake asks quietly when I don't offer up my plans.

“Oh, yeah. Usually I get together with friends and do the whole Christmas dinner and white elephant party. Nothing fancy.”

“Do you get to see your family?” Diya asks.

“No.” I grab a chip and dip it in the guacamole. “My mom lives on the East Coast and she usually works over the holiday, so I don't get out there very much. Besides, I consider my friends here in town to be my real family.”

Dia looks sad but doesn't ask any more questions. She just turns back toward her food and the awkward moment fades. I'm grateful when everybody takes her lead and finishes eating without pressing me for information.

My mom and I don't have much of a relationship. She works in the same diner she's worked at since I was a kid, out in Charleston. The only time I hear from her is when her car breaks down or she’s short on rent. Needless to say, I screen her calls.

She’s not a bad person, she’s just bad at managing her money. And since she won't take any advice on how to improve her situation, I’ve decided to just let her live her life.

It sounds cold, and I guess it is, but it is easier to write her off than to always be disappointed by her decisions.