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I ignored her comment. She wasn’t going to dissuade me from my goal. “And, I’m not sure there’s much of a raise involved.” There certainly wasn’t a bird in the hand the way there was if I went with the group to Pasadena. Knowing Benson, he’d probably delight in not giving me a raise, especially if he knew my lineage.
But he probably didn’t. He was likely cold enough to not remember the names of the people he’d hurt.Don’t knowwent along withdon’t carein my experience.
“Are you sure about that? You said they were both promotions.”
I finished the sip of wine I’d taken before answering. “Not one hundred percent, but if I stay here it’s not a supervisory position.”
I still thought this wine wasn’t worth the price, but then, was a Ferrari that cost ten times as much as a Chevy ten times the car?
With the likelihood that I would ever own a Ferrari at dead zero, that was a question I’d never know the answer to. They did look good though.
“What are you smiling about?” Ramona asked, pulling me from my internal deliberations.
“Nothing. Just wondering if we could afford a three bedroom after my raise.”
“Fourteen K sounds good enough to me.”
I nodded. Even after taxes, it should allow us to get Billy his own room.
She worked the remote. “Sandra Bullock okay?” She’d stopped onTwo Weeks Notice.
“Sure.”
The movie was funny, and I couldn’t help but compare it to my situation. The heroine ended up working for the guy she didn’t like and didn’t have anything in common with. He betrayed her for corporate greed. Then the movie took a weird turn and he reformed for her—so unrealistic in the real world. In real life, the bad guys got a way with it most of the time, got caught some of the time, and never turned over a new leaf.
My phone chirped that a text had arrived.
EB: Call when u have time
Ramona shot me a quizzical look, so I pointed the screen her way. She rolled her eyes. “Screw that.”
I turned the phone off. Ed didn’t deserve my time.
At the end of the movie, the rich guy made a joke about how small Sandra’s parents’ apartment was. That brought me back to the choice I had to make.
Ramona and Billy deserved a bigger place with separate bedrooms. The Pasadena option made the most sense, even though I’d have to give up my access to the files that held Vipersoft’s dirty laundry.
I could handle the commute; giving up justice for Dad was the hard part.
When the movie ended and Ramona and Billy had gone to bed, I poured myself another glass of wine to contemplate my decision.
Chapter 7
Dennis
Tuesday morning I woke early.Actually, I’d been so nervous about this morning’s market opening that I kept waking and checking the clock.
I gave up and dressed for a run when my latest clock check showed five thirty. I made a long loop of it, but was still back with plenty of time to shower before the market opened at six thirty Pacific Time. This was one of those times where it helped that the New York types were lazy and didn’t start work till nine thirty their time.
I finished my cantaloupe and toast and had my laptop open to the trading software I used.
Promptly at six thirty, the trades for Vipersoft started scrolling down the screen. They were all green, and the little daily chart gapped up from yesterday’s terrible close. It had already crossed above where it had been before theTimesstory.
“Yeah,” I yelled to the empty house. “Take that, you asshole.”
Sigurd’s latest attempt to torpedo me had failed.
Dad’s advice had been spot on, and I’d won this battle. We still didn’t have a clue who was behind this, but secrets like that didn’t withstand the test of time.
