first step made by someone in the office smoothed the way considerably. If she read this girl right, she now had a guide past the office minefields and possibly a friend besides. Ariel had friends like her all over the country. They’d call the help desk and ask for her or she’d call them for a follow-up. They’d spend half an hour catching up on their love lives, the office gossip and general chit-chat. It was one of the better perks of the job and off-set, sometimes, the fact that Ariel didn’t have time to make real friends at home.
“What can I do for you…?” she asked. What was the girl’s name? Mary Ann? Something like that. After a while names and faces ran together. Miriam, Miriam Weber. “Miriam.”
“What’re you doing for lunch?” Miriam asked. “There’s a bunch of us going out.”
With a sigh, Ariel said, “I’d really like to go but you know the problems we ran into during training? I really have to fix them. Can you give me a rain check?”
There had been a number of bugs, big and little, while they’d been training. Not big enough to stop but too big to let go for the afternoon session.
Sympathetically, Miriam made a face. “Sure. Do you want me to pick you up something?”
“My guardian angel!” Ariel said before she sighed gratefully but wryly, knowing there wouldn’t be time. “Although actually there’s no point, even I can’t type and eat at the same time but I appreciate the offer. Don’t forget me tomorrow, though?”
“I won’t,” Miriam promised before leaving with a cheerful wave.
Ariel smiled. It seemed she’d been adopted, there was actually a chance Miriam would remember.
In some offices it was as if Ariel disappeared down a rabbit hole. Out of sight out of mind.
Once an entire office had left while she’d been working on an issue, leaving her with no clue how or where to find a place to eat.
With luck Miriam’s cheerful, thoughtful nature wouldn’t allow for that. Every once in a while Ariel ran into someone like her. It was a pleasant change of pace.
Gary Tolan, the branch manager, poked his head into the training room. “How are you doing, Ariel?”
Surprised, she looked up from the computer screen and the little bug she was trying to fix for the next session.
“I ran into a few problems but nothing major.”
“Did you have any problems when you left last night?” he asked.
That was an awkward question. Answering truthfully was obviously out. Had they noticed her rental car in the garage? She hated to lie so she gave him part of the truth, enough so she wouldn’t have more questions to answer.
“I got lost trying to find the parking garage so I finally gave up and took a cab.”
He smiled apologetically. “A lot of people have that problem. You should be fine tonight though?”
Ariel shrugged. “It depends on these issues. I might have to stay to resolve them. As I said it’s nothing major but I’d rather get them fixed.”
It would be another late night but it was better than returning to an empty hotel room and scanning through channels to find something to watch. Sometimes she turned on the TV just for the sound of another voice while she read a book on her e-reader, if she had energy enough left to read after checking in with the office, checking her voice mail and e-mail.
“Good enough,” he said, and ducked back out again.
Relieved, Ariel turned her mind back to the thorny problem of resolving the conflicts.
Nothing worked so she called the support desk back at the office. They gave her a couple of options, none of which she could implement from the training room, she put them off until later when she could gain access to the server again. That had been one of the things Marathon had insisted on, that they host on their own server. Given that it was a financial company, it wasn’t unreasonable.
It promised, however, to be another late night.
At least she would be busy. Too busy to think of this morning, of Matthew
“What can I do for you…?” she asked. What was the girl’s name? Mary Ann? Something like that. After a while names and faces ran together. Miriam, Miriam Weber. “Miriam.”
“What’re you doing for lunch?” Miriam asked. “There’s a bunch of us going out.”
With a sigh, Ariel said, “I’d really like to go but you know the problems we ran into during training? I really have to fix them. Can you give me a rain check?”
There had been a number of bugs, big and little, while they’d been training. Not big enough to stop but too big to let go for the afternoon session.
Sympathetically, Miriam made a face. “Sure. Do you want me to pick you up something?”
“My guardian angel!” Ariel said before she sighed gratefully but wryly, knowing there wouldn’t be time. “Although actually there’s no point, even I can’t type and eat at the same time but I appreciate the offer. Don’t forget me tomorrow, though?”
“I won’t,” Miriam promised before leaving with a cheerful wave.
Ariel smiled. It seemed she’d been adopted, there was actually a chance Miriam would remember.
In some offices it was as if Ariel disappeared down a rabbit hole. Out of sight out of mind.
Once an entire office had left while she’d been working on an issue, leaving her with no clue how or where to find a place to eat.
With luck Miriam’s cheerful, thoughtful nature wouldn’t allow for that. Every once in a while Ariel ran into someone like her. It was a pleasant change of pace.
Gary Tolan, the branch manager, poked his head into the training room. “How are you doing, Ariel?”
Surprised, she looked up from the computer screen and the little bug she was trying to fix for the next session.
“I ran into a few problems but nothing major.”
“Did you have any problems when you left last night?” he asked.
That was an awkward question. Answering truthfully was obviously out. Had they noticed her rental car in the garage? She hated to lie so she gave him part of the truth, enough so she wouldn’t have more questions to answer.
“I got lost trying to find the parking garage so I finally gave up and took a cab.”
He smiled apologetically. “A lot of people have that problem. You should be fine tonight though?”
Ariel shrugged. “It depends on these issues. I might have to stay to resolve them. As I said it’s nothing major but I’d rather get them fixed.”
It would be another late night but it was better than returning to an empty hotel room and scanning through channels to find something to watch. Sometimes she turned on the TV just for the sound of another voice while she read a book on her e-reader, if she had energy enough left to read after checking in with the office, checking her voice mail and e-mail.
“Good enough,” he said, and ducked back out again.
Relieved, Ariel turned her mind back to the thorny problem of resolving the conflicts.
Nothing worked so she called the support desk back at the office. They gave her a couple of options, none of which she could implement from the training room, she put them off until later when she could gain access to the server again. That had been one of the things Marathon had insisted on, that they host on their own server. Given that it was a financial company, it wasn’t unreasonable.
It promised, however, to be another late night.
At least she would be busy. Too busy to think of this morning, of Matthew
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