And what big move are you talking about?"
"Right now I'm going to begin investing in the computer industry. Apple, IBM, and a chipmaker called Intel. Over the next few years I believe that computers are going to start appearing everywhere and they're all going to be made by a few companies."
Dad looked at me in amazement. "You think those three are going to make all of these computers and the chips? What about Atari and Commodore?"
"I think they'll be outmarketed." I said. "Just a prediction you understand, but they probably won't be able to hold their own when the computer revolution swings into full gear."
"I see." He nodded, looking at me strangely. "And this big move you're planning to make?"
"It's kind of complicated." I told him. "I'll know it when I see it though.
You see, every computer has to have something called an operating system; software that tells it what to do."
"Okay." He said, semi-following me so far.
"The company that gets in on that market will make billions, trillions even.
They'll quickly be able to dominate the software market if they make their move at the right time and in the right way." I grinned. "I imagine that there's someone out there who sees this as well as I do. I imagine that someone has probably got a company that makes software going right now, as we speak. And I imagine that someone is just waiting for the time to be right to introduce an operating system that will set the standard for all computers and make it damn near impossible to operate one without it."
"Bill, how do you know so much about this?" Dad asked me slowly.
I shrugged. "I read a lot Dad. And I'm blessed with above average reasoning ability."
He shook his head a little. "Right." He said. He considered for a few more minutes. "You know," He finally said. "I have some money from each paycheck that is just going into the credit union savings account."
I looked up at him. "Yeah?"
He nodded. "Maybe I should put some of that in the stock market."
"Maybe you should." I told him.
By late afternoon the worst of the blizzard was past, leaving only flurries drifting through the air. The snowplows caught up with their work, clearing the roads of the city to something approaching passable. About six o'clock, after being cooped up in the house all day I was getting restless. I needed to get out and do something. An idea occurred to me. An idea that I couldn't get out of my head once it was in there.
Maybe Nina would like to go out and catch a movie with me.
It was probably too early in our reconciliation for this. It might seem I was being too forceful, pushing too hard. I might lose some of the ground that I'd gained. I probably shouldn't chance it, I finally decided.
And so thinking I went to the living room and dug out the newspaper, flipping through to the movie section. Maybe I would just go by myself. Yes, that's what I would do. I frowned as I read through what was currently playing. One of the problems of traveling back in time was that you inevitably had seen all of the movies before. I had another fifteen years to wait before something new, from my perspective, came out. I sighed.
I put the newspaper down and then picked it up again. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to ASK her. She wouldn't abandon me for that would she? But then again…
With a start I realized that I was acting like what I was; a teenager trying to work up the courage to ask a girl out on a date. I'd asked girls out on date a thousand times in my life. Chastising myself for being immature, I picked up the phone.
Thought I hadn't called it in a while, I knew Nina's number from memory. The phone rang more than eight times and I was about to hang up in frustration when it was finally picked up.
"Hello?" It was Nina. The very sound of her voice thrilled me inside.
"Hi Nina." I said. "It's Bill."
There was a very long pause. "Oh, hi." She said finally, in a voice that sounded decidedly weird.
"Nina?" I asked, "Are you okay?"
"Uh, sure." She told me. "Listen, can I call you back in a few minutes? I'm eating dinner right now."
"Sure." I said. "But…"
"Thanks." She said quickly and the phone clicked in my ear.
Slowly I put the receiver back in its cradle. What was that all about? Why had she sounded so weird?
With a worried mind I went back to the kitchen to grab a soda from the refrigerator.
It was another twenty minutes before the phone rang. My dad picked it up and yelled for me. I told him I'd take it in the den and locked myself in there.
"Hi Bill." Said Nina, her voice sounding much more normal now.
"Hi." I answered, "You're not mad at me, are you?"
"No." She said. "Why would you ask that?"
"You just sounded kind of funny on the phone."
"Oh." She said, and then, "Well, the fact of the matter is that it's probably not a good idea to call me here just now. I haven't told my parents that you and I are, uh, talking again."
"I don't understand." I told her. "Your parents liked me before. Just because we had a… well a fight and stopped seeing each other for a while, why shouldn't they like me? All teenagers do that from time to time."
"It's a little more complicated than that." She replied. "I don't really want to go into it right now. But please, don't call me at home just yet?"
"Okay." I answered, very troubled by this.
"So what did you want?" She asked brightly.
I took a few deep breaths, trying to think quickly. The don't-call-here speech had just taken the wind out of my sails, making asking her out seem a bad idea after all.
"Bill?" She asked. "Are you there?"
"Yes." I said, throwing caution to the wind. After all, I had to say SOMETHING. "I was wondering if maybe you'd, uh, well, like to go out to a movie with me tonight?"
"A movie?" She asked, her voice unreadable.
"Yes." I confirmed. "If you're not doing anything else, that is."
"Are you asking me out on a date?" She asked next, seemingly puzzled.
"Well, yes. I am."
She was silent as she digested my request. Finally she said, "It's a bad idea to do this so soon Bill."
I cringed, feeling stupid for asking, feeling ashamed of myself for pushing things. "Oh." I said. "Well maybe some…"
"But what the hell?" She interrupted cheerily. "I could stand to see a good movie tonight."
I was so overcome by the rejection that it took me a moment to process that I hadn't been rejected after all. "Really?" I finally said.
"Really." She told me and I could hear that she was smiling, I could see it.
"What did you want to see?"
"Anything you want Nina." I answered happily. "Anything at all."
"I'll borrow Mom's car and be over in a little bit." She said.
We hung up our phones and I sat there for a moment, basking in the glow of success. She was going to go out with me. On a date no less. Things really were looking up.
Finally I stood up and headed upstairs to take a shower and get dressed.
The movie we decided on was one that I really had no desire to see, Flashdance. But I didn't let this bother me. I would have gone to see a four-hour documentary on the history of the ice cube tray with her if that was what she'd wanted. We took my car, leaving her Mom's parked at the curb in front of my house.
We talked of inconsequential things on the way; the storm we'd experienced, our hopes for college scholarships, how our ROP jobs were going. It was the first time since we'd come back together that there was no strain in the conversation. Our words flowed easily out of our mouths, the friendship that we'd developed in the past finally manifesting itself once more. Nina giggled frequently as we chatted, even blushing a time or two at my remarks.
She seemed like she was regaining her old personality. It made me warm inside to look at her, to see her smile, to hear her laugh.