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I blink as I come out of my sensual daydream. It’s around eight-thirty now. I was going to work from home this morning, hoping to spend more time with Chase, but he’s running late.
My cell phone starts to ring.
“Val? Hi, it’s Ellen. Listen, I wanted to know if you could stop by the office today. We’ve found a problem with the new software.”
“Of course. I can be there in about thirty minutes.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll let the team know.”
When I walk into the ground floor reception area, I look around with pride. My parents were responsible for acquiring this building before they died. They chose well. It’s located on the Southbank of the St. Johns River. Carlucci Software takes up the entire top floor, and we rent out office space on the remaining floors.
The minute you enter the beautiful building, your first impression is of marble floors, lush greenery, and the sound of a discrete indoor fountain. It feels cool even during the hot days of our Florida summers.
“Hi, Val.”
“Hey Sue, how’s everything going with your new boyfriend?”
“Very well— thank you. How are things with your new hubby?” Sue wiggles her eyebrows at me. She’s the receptionist. She’s a pretty blonde with mid-length hair and friendly blue eyes. We like to get together over lunch to discuss her boyfriends. Until now, my only love life was living vicariously through Sue’s sexual escapades. And she has many.
“Very, very well!” I wink, and we both start to giggle when my uncle exits the elevator.
“Good morning, Mr. Carlucci.”
“Miss Farr.”
“Valentina, I’ve heard there’s a problem with the new software. Is this true?”
“I’m not sure. I came into the office to check on the progress. I can let you know after I’ve gone over everything with my team.”
His eyes narrow on me in suspicion. “Please give me an update before you leave today.”
After he turns and goes, Sue wrinkles her nose and says, “He doesn’t seem to share everyone else’s opinion of the new imaging software. I’ve heard rumors it has a lot of potential. And Val, we heard that he’s the reason you haven’t received the stock shares yet.”
“Thanks, Sue. The transfer has just been delayed. We’ll have to do lunch one day this week so you can tell me details about your new guy. We can, um... compare notes.”
With a smile on my face and a lighter step, I get into the elevator and hit the top floor.
I swipe my badge to enter my team’s department. Some of the team are very concerned about the recent update to the code. I listen as they describe the problem, and then I briefly go over the updated code and their notes. Ellen follows me back to my small office.
“So, Val, what do you think? Do we need to pause our current progress to find out what’s causing this glitch?”
“I’m not sure, Ellen. I want to take an in-depth look at this updated code. The issue appears to be with only one camera angle. If that’s the case, we can have two people dedicated to resolving this issue and keep the rest of the team working on meeting their deadlines.”
“I’ll let everybody know. Thanks, Val.”
“Ellen, how did my Uncle Victor learn about this glitch? No one outside of our team should have known.”
I watch Ellen’s face take on a frown. She has short, spiky black hair, and her nose is pierced. She looks more like a teenager than someone in her early thirties. She’s been a God-sent on this project, and there’s no one else I would want more than her to spearhead this project when I’m not around. I trust her totally.
“I honestly don’t know, Val. I don’t know of anyone on our team who would run to your uncle with this. We all know that he’s not a fan of this project.”
“Yes, that’s an understatement. He’d much rather go the gaming route, which is why I was surprised that he already knew about this problem. Now he wants all the details before I leave today.”
“Damn it. Who would have mentioned this? I didn’t even notice the glitch during the testing. It took going over each individual image before I caught the discrepancy.”
“Did you tell everyone on the team?”
“Yes, sorry. Everyone knows not to share information outside of this team.”
