Page 14 of Decoding Emma
Dinner conversation was enthusiastic, sometimes pointed, and covered everything from the weather to sports to vacation plans to the latest movies.A great way to let off steam.We were all driving, so the alcohol was limited, but the coffee flowed freely.
The party broke up some three hours after it started.On the drive home, I kept going back to the massage oil fantasy I’d described to Emma.I couldn’t shake my attraction to her.She’d intrigued me when I first encountered her at the party, but now… Yeah, there was something more going on here.
I arrived home, and after parking the car in the garage, I sat for a moment to decompress and enjoy the silence.Once inside the house, I locked the door and kicked off my shoes, then stopped at the bar in the great room and poured two fingers of Macallan 25 into a crystal tumbler.An expensive, rare indulgence.
The drapes were still open on the picture windows overlooking Puget Sound.I took another sip of the exquisitely smooth bourbon, enjoying the warmth as it slid down my throat and warmed my center.
I needed some ocean time.Maybe this weekend.
My house in Moclips is right on the beach.The property became available four years ago.I happened to be in the right place at the right time and snatched it up.Getting oceanfront property was difficult.The place needed work, and refurbishing it had been therapeutic for me.
I closed on the property right after my divorce was finalized.The end of the marriage was a nightmare, but thanks to the prenup, at least the distribution of the assets and the settlement had been cut and dried.Once free from my ex, my life was my own again.
I spent guilt-free weekends at the beach house stripping, painting, remodeling, restoring, basically living the DIY dream.The real lifeThis Old Houseodyssey had soothed my soul and helped me recover from the matrimonial disaster and, yep, my ex.
My thoughts wandered.What would Emma think of my beach house?
We could sit out on the deck, watch the waves roll in, and soak in the tranquility.Emma had a quiet personality.She might enjoy some peace and quiet.
Turning away from the moonlit beauty of the small white capped waves on the Sound, I finished the last of the Macallan and left the tumbler on the bar on my way into my home office.I booted up my computer, curious to see how much progress she’d made today.
The logs showed Emma had reviewed the network architecture and the mainframe configuration and set up a file for her notes.Not bad for an afternoon’s work.
After shutting down my computer, I wandered into the kitchen, grabbed a beer, twisted the cap off, and padded into the family room.I found the remote under one of the throw pillows and flipped on the 70-inch flat screen TV.
The baseball game was still on.I settled into the recliner, took a long pull of the beer, and felt the tension of the day finally leave my neck and shoulders.
I’d see Emma tomorrow.She fascinated me, and my heart raced as I made a promise to myself.
I would discover all of her secrets.
Chapter Seven
Asher
I glanced at the time on my computer monitor.Where had the day gone?Heck, the week.Emma sat at her desk, frowning as she studied her screen.As of today, we’d worked together for a week, and I still knew very little about her.
She wasn’t a chatter box, but she rarely initiated conversation.I wondered about that.What or who had caused her reticence.Throughout the week, I’d seen glimpses of the person I was sure was the ‘real’ Emma.Like Monday, when we were in R&D, and Emma’s increasingly friendly reactions to Amelia at the coffee shop.Emma had even gone down to see Cassie on her own to discuss Cassie’s department’s needs in the new system.
My frustration, however, was trending high.Emma had begun analyzing the software infrastructure, making notes about necessary changes, and, in some cases, making adjustments to facilitate compatibility in apps I’d developed and/or built.Her changes to the code, mine and hers, were silver bullet level.She was good at her job, a ninja.Even so, I hated allowing anyone to mess with my work.
“You’re frowning.”
“Yeah.”She didn’t even glance up from her screen.
I slid my chair over.“What’s wrong?”
“Cassie would like an automated survey to go out, but for some reason, when I try to modify existing code to use tools already in place, I can’t get my code to mesh with yours.”
I studied the screen.“I think I see the problem.You’re using version ten of the OS and I’m using version nine.”
“Why nine?”
“Ten had too many bugs in it.”
“Puh-leeeeeze.”She drew the word out.“Any coder worth their salt can fix those bugs easily.”
“Oh.”Was she challenging me?
