Red Dress

That coffee. Was the first thing on my mind. Tall café mocha with a fudge bar or not?

I couldn't make up my mind until I realized I already had. Again.

Exactly as planned.

Then, it's onto the elevator to the 33rd floor. With what's his name? Got it. Not speaking.

Cruise by Helen, who winks and is flirtatious. Done.

Hmm, is the boss here or not? Here. Time to be A+? In T minus 10 nine 8 seven 6 five...

We're live! Too early. Recovery? Nah! Hardly matters. It's a snooze.

You really should dress for success more. That’s something. Everyone dresses down so much. A sharp suit is never out of place.

“Until it is,” I reply. The second coffee was not as good. Never is. “The trick is not to stick out too much until you need to make a point…”

Wrong! You really need to get out more! See the world. Join a fitness club. I can help with everything!

From where I was sitting, that red dress was a knockout. Best not to tell anyone! Even better was what moved within it. Brown hair, not too heavy eyebrows. Soft skin and those expressions! Weren’t they something? You know someone is intelligent when they do a lot of listening. Not that you could always hit that one right on the nose. Have you been in situations where you were so impressed until they opened their mouth?

Not that I was going to strike up a conversation. I’m in my comfort zone. Squirrely is on mute.

The long, relaxing coffee break is over. Back at the office, there is so much to do! Boss time is getting prodigious. Never enough. Of anything. Pulling a B+ here! Squirrely is up! Mine is better than most. I read everything about it all the way down to the maybes, and the might yet be. Never take anything for granted. Always the latest updates. Doing the beta thing right from the start!

So very ahead of everyone. Panicking somewhat. Maybe I should cruise a little.

“Darren, what do you think about what Kendra was saying? Do you have something to say?”

Boss is on the cross! Examination. I have hardly been listening for the last half hour. Blue Target is supportive. Pink is combative. We’re up for red. Target acquired.

Am I ready? We’ll not slam dunk this time. Save it for the conclusions that will come after Red Target thinks he has buried me for good. Squirrely on recap does the angle of attack.

Red wants to cut budgets, and he thinks Kendra is with him. But Kendra has other ideas of her own. She thinks we can pull through on something like the status quo. Not terribly clear on what is going on with Kendra. Nice job on your installation of the upgrades! You’re pulling more than 90%! Go get ‘em, tiger!

“First, I’d like to compliment Kendra on the excellent work she has done to bring the firm’s attention to revenue shortfalls over the short term,” I started. “Our stock price will take a hit, but I think the market will price us at or near historical averages moving forward into the third or fourth quarter.”

“Thank you, Darren. Michael, what do you recommend?”

“Well, I don’t know, sir. Really, I don’t,” lamented Michael. “It’s not a get to the lifeboats situation yet, but from where I’m sitting, our orders are way down, and the chatter I get through my informal contacts indicates there won’t be a bounce back anytime soon. Kendra and I have been working up some numbers, no offense, Darren,"

“None taken,” I interjected.

"But from where I sit, we need to cut spending.” Michael sat back and folded his arms.

The boss looks pensive for a bit. Squirrely is up and at him!

The boss is pretending. Red has come on a bit too strong. He’s misjudged the situation. You might have him! Don’t say another word!

Third coffee. Gross. I get another fudge bar to celebrate. Squirrely is predicting that Red might be out, six months tops. Then I’m up for what? Promotion? Lateral to something important? Squirrely is chattering so much that I finally have enough. Some shut-eye for the little scamp ought to do it!

There she is again. Right across from me. Picked a table so close. There are so many tables in the cafeteria. Red Dress, of course. I refuse to use Squirrely on her. I know others would do it, but not me.

She keeps pretending not to notice me. Putting on a show, she is so demure and careful about how she talks to the woman who is with her. They’re having a mid-afternoon salad together. Even the other woman is up to something. Are they talking about me?

Now they’re laughing. Getting ready to go. Squirrely would have had an angle of attack by now. But that feels so cheap.

I finish my coffee. Fit to be pitched, that one. The sugary cocoa at the bottom nearly makes me gag. They really should do something about this cafeteria! So stuck to the last millennium!

#

That coffee. Was the first thing on my mind—tall café mocha with a fudge bar.

I made up my mind like I always had.

Exactly as planned.

Then, it's onto the elevator to the 33rd floor. With what's his name? On his Air Pods.

Cruise by Helen, who pretends not to notice me. Done.

Hmm, is the boss here or not? Here. Time to be A+? In T minus 10 nine 8 seven 6 five...

We're live!

“Come into my office, Darren!”

Kendra is there. She’s got the chair close to the boss's desk by the window. Squirrely is complaining, not his usual self. Flashing red. Uh oh.

I swear if Kendra is coming in early, two can play that game! Normally, Squirrely would have something to say. Be up on an attack, but systems are down. No reason.

“Darren, I’ve decided to trim staff," the boss begins. "Don’t worry, you’ll keep your job for now. I’m a little concerned that we need to be ready for any eventuality. Kendra is proposing a cost-cutting plan. Are you on board?”

I was furious. Kendra was playing it both ways to the center, not warning me about this meeting. Being played! And Squirrely is down!

I reach down so far deep, anything? Seriously? Squirrely flashes a recovery and starts spinning up.

Countermeasures Darren! Kendra’s on an alpha code, not tested; I don’t know where she got it, not through regular channels! I’ll be up again shortly.

Defense, delay. I knew instinctively what to do. First, decouple the boss.

“I think Kendra and I can work this out for a bit. Your time is valuable. I propose we meet again. Say same time tomorrow?”

The boss looks at Kendra. He seems undecided. I didn't need Squirrely to know that Kendra was ready to blow for some reason. Yikes! Incoming!

“Darren, we both know what this is really about,” she says, slapping her folder or laptop or whatever it is on what? Some pantsuit thingy she was wearing. Damn! I'm speeding through everything I know as time slows way way down. A second becomes a minute, five minutes. I could take a vacation while Kendra's mouth slowly moves.

I pull up a background flash: Kendra, thirty-four, BAcc, BAdmin, Summa Cum Laude. Never married, no known relationships. Does sixty-hour weeks and still finds time to publish. Working on a master of what? Unbelievable. I never knew. This woman is a machine!

You know I could get lost inside myself, watching her face slowly move. She's a career killer, and I never knew it. Squirrely probably tried to tell me, and I was cruising then. Cruising for a bruising. Or worse. Time to surface and face the music.

“I do the work, and you and Michael patronize me and pretend to agree with me. At the same time, you both pursue your own pet projects. With no real concern for the company, I might add…”

Squirrely! I inwardly scream.

Up and at ‘em! Defense Darren! Defense! Zero angle of attack. I can't get a reading. Don’t attack her. She’s got you. Recommend a simple protest, then beat a retreat. Boss is reading concern, but he’s not ready to intervene. Not yet, anyway.

So, I protested and beat a retreat. I had to accept a one-on-one meeting with the boss as a pound-of-flesh offering. Maybe I would come out of this somehow. Squirrely said he had to track down the alpha code. It was likely buggy as hell and super crash-prone, but enough to blow us out of the water for five minutes.

As I head to the cafeteria, Squirrely is chattering about how this is the future of bioreading. I wish he would stop! Nothing will be sane about it anymore, supposedly. You only need to overpower everything in the room at the right moment, and then you skate away with everything, leaving a roomful of squirrels going nuts!

As I get my coffee, he is nattering about where to get an alpha install that doesn't exist. And how in blue blazes was I to install it, assuming he could get it?

Shut up, Squirrely! Don't you see that I have enough on my mind?

#

She wasn’t wearing a red dress, which shouldn’t be a surprise. At least the cafeteria is quiet. News travels fast. What with everyone in the company in the gossip fast lane.

I am so stressed out. I would have lit a cigarette if I smoked and if it was allowed. Desperately needed a drink. But it was only 2:30 PM on the worst day of my life!

Squirrely said she was one of those. Secretly. Those what? I asked. I guess if software could sigh, it would be with what was shared next.

One of a growing group of people who don't believe in technology and use as little of it in their lives as possible. An angle of attack is coming up, Darren! She's incredibly easy to read. No countermeasures are incoming at all! Yes, she is interested in you. But not terribly so. I detect her level of interest will decline with every move you make. I suspect she has heard about the rift at the company's top and is afraid. Recommend you abort any interest. Squirrely signing off!

I get another coffee.

#

That coffee. Was the last thing on my mind. Could this be real? Is this me? Some kind of robot?

I couldn't make up my mind until I realized I already had. Again.

Not exactly as planned.

Then, it's onto the elevator to the 33rd floor. With what's his name? He's grinning at me like he knows something.

Cruise by Helen, who just stares. I'm undone!

Hmm, is the boss here or not? Everyone is here. Time to be the butt of jokes and lose my job? In T minus 10 nine 8 seven 6 five...