Cheryl came back and put down two plates of crispy hot wings in front of them. "Here you go guys. Anything else right now?"
Dar selected a wing, and saluted Cheryl with it. "Nope. We're just fine."
Kerry picked up a wing of her own, and waited for the waitress to leave before she spoke. "Thanks."
Dar winked, and munched on her wing, apparently unconcerned. "Your wish is my command." She announced. "Besides, the best we could find out is what we already know."
Kerry took a bite, satisfied with the answer. At least for now.
Chapter Seven
KERRY LEANED BACK in her chair, balancing her keyboard on her lap as she typed out a spurt of emails dealing with two of the minor projects she was supervising along with the ship one. In the time since she'd gotten back from lunch with Dar, she'd gotten a lot done as well as felt her earlier aggravation dissipate.
She had noticed recently that Dar's presence tended to do that to her. It wasn't anything her partner did or said, particularly, but if she was angry or upset, hanging around Dar just made her feel better. Even when she was hurting; if she had a headache or a bellyache, she'd curl up with her head in Dar's lap and it would all just go away.
Why was that? She wondered idly. It had been really noticeable that afternoon when she'd come down for lunch. She'd been steaming as she stepped off the elevator, but when she spotted Dar heading her way, her blood pressure had dropped and the knots in her gut had eased the minute they came together.
Ah well. Kerry shook her head a bit, and went back to her typing. Certainly, Dar wasn't around to make her feel warm and fuzzy right now. Her partner was stuck in the downstairs closet again, testing her new program.
Which reminded her. She hit the button for a new message and addressed it to Mark.
Hey--Dar's testing some new code downstairs. So if you seefreaky things, it might be her.
She hesitated a minute, then continued.
Sorry I went off today. I should be used to the talk bynow, but when it comes to Dar, I never am. Thanks for lettingme know about it.
K
She hit send.
A small box popped up in one corner. Hey.
Kerry grinned. Hey.
Do we have marshmallows at home?
Marshmallows? Kerry nibbled her lower lip thoughtfully. Marshmallows had never been a particular favorite of hers, since she found them relatively tasteless and preferred to squander her calories on something more appropriate such as chocolate. I don't think so. Why?
There was a faint pause before the answer, and then it popped up. I want rice crispy treats.
A new message popped into her inbox. Kerry clicked on it while she considered how she should respond to that request.
Hey, Kerry -- No problem, I know big D's A number 1 on your list.
Thanks for telling me she's down in the dungeon -- I haven't seen anything yet but with her you never do until it's too late.
Oh, that's not really true. Kerry shook her head back and forth. Sometimes she's just very, very obvious.
Anyway, sorry all that stuff got dredged up. People justtalk shit because it's how they make themselves feel betterabout not being you guys.
Kerry read that last bit a few times, then shrugged. Personally, she just viewed the talk as venal human nature. It was easy for her to rationalize it that way, but far more difficult for her to ignore it when it was directed at Dar, and not at her. For herself, she'd been talked about since she was old enough to realize what that meant.
She keyed the instant message box and typed a reply. If you swing by Publix on the way home, I'll make you some. She hit enter, and then typed another message. I hear they're really good when you dip them in hot fudge.
The answer came back immediately. Why not? You are. "Yerk." Kerry muffled a squeak. You are such a punk. They could be random logging this, y'know!
And?
Yeah, and? What are they going to find out, we're lovers? Whoohoo... news flash...call Panic Seven. Kerry wrinkled her nose and grinned again in acknowledgment. How's it going?
Good. You?
Kerry reviewed her inbox and sighed. There were a number of mails backed up waiting for her attention, and she knew she had to plow through them if she wanted any chance of getting out of the office early the next day. Eh. I'll be here a while.
Surprisingly, an answer came right back again. Me too. How about we meet for a romantic dinner over a pile of cable later on?
She simply regarded the note for a while, a fond look crossing her face. I love you. She typed back, hesitating, and then just hit send. Really, was there anything that needed to be added to that? She clicked back on her mail and continued to type, justifying for the nth time why new computers had to be budgeted for and not just plucked out of a non-existent IT genie bag.
"Keeeeeeerrrrry."
She jumped, and then looked at her screen. Gopher Dar was back, peeking around her email program and waving. "Oh, my god, she got it to talk! C'mere, you little rascal." Her mouse pointer chased after the critter, and she poked him in the tail a few times. "Aggghhh...gotcha!"
Far from being disturbed, Gopher Dar turned and waggled his behind at her, then somersaulted over and ended up sitting down. "I llooooooooovvvvvvveeeee youooo..." He warbled. "Youurrreee the best!"
"Oh, my god." Kerry repeated, biting her lower lip. "You are so amazing sometimes." She continued, in a softer voice.
Her office door opened, and Mayte poked her head in. "Did you call for me, Kerry?"
"Shh." Kerry admonished Gopher Dar. "No, I was just talking to myself." She directed her attention to Mayte. "Sorry. I'm trying to get some of this mail cleared up. Did you need me for something?"
Her assistant entered and walked over to her visitor chairs sitting down on the left hand side one. "I have a little question for you." Mayte said. "I really want to understand more about what we are doing so much of the time. Could I ask you which class I can take? In my school, we did a lot with software, and programs. We did not do so much with the networks."
Ah. Career advice. Kerry gladly turned her attention from her mail, though reluctantly from Gopher Dar, and focused on Mayte's slim form. "Well, I can fully appreciate how you feel, Mayte. I had some experience with infrastructure before I started here, but it's been a learning curve for me too. The best person to really ask about that is Dar. She's the expert."
Gopher Dar chittered softly. Kerry clicked on him. "You hush."
"Excuse me?" Mayte gave her a puzzled look.
"C'mere." Kerry motioned for her to come around the desk. "Want to see something really cute?"
Mayte willingly got up and circled the desk, peering over Kerry's shoulder. "What is that?" She asked, as Kerry chased the little critter around the screen. "Oh, look! Que Linda!"
"This is Gopher Dar." Kerry pinned him down by the tail, and watched his tiny feet scrabble. "He was talking a minute ago."
Mayte gave her boss a faintly skeptical look. "Si?" she asked. "But what is it? Where does it come from?"
Gopher Dar sashayed across the screen, doing a little dance. He had on a tank top and shorts, and incongruous rubber boots today. "Keeeeerrrrry..." He warbled.
"Oh!" Mayte covered her mouth.
"He comes from Dar," Kerry explained. "It's a program of hers that she works on when she's not doing anything else, and every so often she sends this little guy over here to interact with me."