Chapter Nine
Delilah
“So, what did you do to the system this time?” Robert said as he hovered over my desk.
“Like I said in my message to you, I didn’t do it. I actually had the error fixed last week and my changes have been removed. I think it’s possible someone has hacked into the account, but I’m not sure.”
It was so frustrating to talk with Robert about what was going on. He was, by far, the most useless person at our company. He didn’t really do anything. His whole job was to supervise other people while they did their jobs. I didn’t even know what skills the guy actually had. He certainly was good at delegating work and not helping with anything.
He was also good at making me feel like crap and like I wasn’t doing my job well enough.
The way he talked to me, it was as if he thought I was just pretending to know about computers and didn’t really know how to do my job. He didn’t seem to think a woman could do much and often made rude comments about any number of the women in the company. It was surprising that he had lasted so long at our organization because most of the people in charge didn’t seem to share his belief that women weren’t capable.
“Or, it’s possible you don’t know what you’re doing and you messed up?” he asked and then stood there waiting for me to agree with him.
There was no way I could have removed all my own work and I knew it, but I also had learned that arguing with Robert was very counterproductive for me actually getting my work done. He had the strange ability of twisting everything around and making me feel like maybe I had done something wrong.
I could have explained to him what work I had actually completed, and if he had been a halfway decent manager, he might have asked that of me. But instead, he just stood there waiting for me to tell him he was right and that I had totally messed up my own work. It was ridiculous, and I wasn’t about to give in to him. I wasn’t going to let him think that I had messed everything up when I knew I hadn’t.
“It’s possible there is another reason for the errors,” I said. “We have a lot of old code in here and some of it might be interacting poorly with the new code. I’ll go back through it line by line and see what I can find.”
“You’re the one who crashed her computer and had to get a new one last week, right?” he asked.
“Yes, but that wasn’t because of something I did. It just crashed and wouldn’t turn back on,” I protested, although I was starting to see where he was coming from on thinking I had something to do with the errors. “This is the new computer, and it’s working great, I really appreciate you making it happen so quickly so I could keep up with my job tasks.”
My attempt to praise him went unnoticed as he just huffed and tried to figure out what it was he was supposed to do with my information regarding the possible hacking. I really didn’t know if it was hacking, but there was a bigger error than I thought I was capable of fixing and I needed help. He was my supervisor and seemed so worried with what I was doing with my time, I’d hoped he would actually try and help fix the problem.
“Do you know it’s a hacker?” he asked.
“No, I don’t. I could have Tom come sit with me and go over what’s going on. Is that all right with you?”
“Tom’s on vacation,” he said. “I’ll call the computer guy who brought that computer in for you. He knows a lot.”
“But it’s not actually a computer issue, Robert; it’s an internal server issue that-”
“Okay, you’re welcome. He’s a high-level consultant. I’m sure he will be able to figure out what you’ve done. Hell, maybe if he’s really good, I’ll even hire him.”
“Robert, it’s an internal issue and that computer guy doesn’t know our system; he just knows the hardware that he brought in. I really think-”
“I’ll see if he can come today,” he said. “Try not to break anything else until then,” he said as he walked away.
“Don’t quit your job,” Mattie said as she leaned over and tried to calm me down. “Remember, you have bills. You have a son. Don’t quit your job,” she continued to say quietly to me as Robert walked away.
“Who does he think he is? He literally has no idea what he’s talking about and thinks some random computer set-up guy is going to be able to fix the problems that I’ve been wrestling with for weeks? Damn chauvinist pig.”
“Remember you love your job, you just don’t like him. He’s not going to last much longer; I know a lot of people are getting angry with him. You need this job,” Mattie said in a calm voice as she comforted me.
She was right, I needed my job. I was one of those people who literally lived paycheck to paycheck. I could probably only last one month on the savings I had, and even that would be really tight for us. It wasn’t how I wanted things to be. I really had great intentions to save my money and make sure Connor and I were secure. Unfortunately, there just was never enough money to save.
“You’re right. It just makes me so mad that he talks to me like I have no idea what I’m doing,” I said. “Who does he think is setting up our website on a daily basis? Does he really think the guys do all of the work and I’m just for decoration? I swear he wouldn’t know a line of code if you sat it right in front of him. I have half a mind to storm into his office and tell him what a total ass he really is.”
“I hate to break it to you, but yes, he’s an ass, and he probably does think the guys do all the work. That’s probably what he thinks and you can’t do a damn thing about it. Just keep doing your job and that is all that matters. Oh, and who were you on the phone with?”
“Brandon,” I said as a huge smile crossed my face and I was pretty sure I blushed a little as well.
“Oh, Brandon. As in the Brandon that you dumped me for over the weekend?”
“Yep, that would be him,” I noticed he had sent me a message online and quickly typed a response to him while I kept talking to Mattie.
Delilah: Sorry I had to go so quickly; my boss was here.
Brandon: It’s all right. So, how is Friday for me to take you out? Will you let me pick you up from your place this time? I think I’ve proven I’m not a lunatic.
Delilah: Hmm, I’m not sure it’s safe for me to be alone with you.
“Oh, I see what’s going on,” Mattie said as she leaned over the desk and saw I was messaging Brandon in the Dating the Rich app.
“Shhh, I’m trying to work here,” I joked. “I wouldn’t want the boss man to see me actually talking to someone on here.”
“Yeah, I see you’re working really hard.”
“Go back to your desk before you get me in trouble,” I demanded as I pushed my friend away playfully. “I’ll fill you in when I’m done talking to him.”
I really did want to talk with Brandon and I couldn’t have Mattie ruining it for me. My heart raced as I went back to my conversation. If I closed my eyes, I could still taste the delicate softness of his lips on mine. I wanted him again. It had only been a few days and I already felt like an addict who needed her hit.
After being with Brandon, I had been high on life for the rest of my weekend. Connor and I went to the park, and I ran with him like my energy levels had been doubled. When the night calmed down and Connor crawled into bed, I spent the next couple of hours doing chores around the house that I’d been wanting to get done for months.
Brandon certainly had done a number on me, and my smile was another positive outcome. I’d probably been smiling since I’d left him at the bagel shop. I just couldn’t stop, or at least I couldn’t stop smiling when I thought of him. And, it happened to be pretty damn impossible not to think of him, so that meant I was walking around with a permanent smile on my face.
Brandon: You could always meet me, but I’d really like to come pick you up and make it a proper date.
Delilah: I was just teasing; I’d love to have you pick me up. Would seven o’clock work all right?
Brandon: Yes. Now, enough about that, let’s talk about this damn profile picture again. I must say you look just as beautiful in person, which is a unique quality in the online dating world.
Delilah: Yep, I have just as much cellulite in person as I do in that photo.
I instantly cringed as I sent the message. I didn’t want to be one of those pretty girls that complained about her ounce of cellulite when a guy was trying to pay a compliment. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a confident woman who could just answer with a plain “thank you” when a guy offered me positive affirmations like that either.
Brandon: Absolutely do not agree!
Delilah: So, what are you doing with yourself today? Do you learn investing every day? Or are you just sitting around the house eating bonbons?
Brandon: I was working on it for a little bit, but my friend Josh had to run. Now I’m doing nothing. I’m literally the stereotypical unemployed man right now. Not exactly eating bonbons, but I did just eat peanut butter from a spoon.
Delilah: I’m picturing you sitting on a couch with your feet on a coffee table and the remote next to you. Are you watching daytime soap operas?
Brandon: How did you know? *shocked face* You’ve uncovered my dirty little secret.
Delilah: I was working for a little bit. That darn error that happened last week is going on again, plus some new ones. It’s a bit of a disaster; that’s the only reason my account is active again. Otherwise I’d have it hidden.
Brandon: Sure, sure, I bet you’re just on the lookout for another handsome billionaire to take you out on dates.
My heart sunk as I read his words. He seemed to have a joking tone to his message and I really didn’t want to take offense at what he was saying, but my gut spun in circles at the idea I would be looking for another man when I had just had such a wonderful date with Brandon.
I stared at the screen for a while as I tried to think of an appropriate response. If he was teasing me, it was easy – I’d just send a laughing emoji back to him. But what if he actually thought I was doing something like that?
Delilah: LOL. Well, I better get back to work. My computer is having a hell of a time. I’m going to be making my account private, so just text me if you want to talk this week.
Brandon: All right. Talk to you later.
I turned back to my work at hand. If I had to call some sort of consultant in to look at what I was doing wrong, I needed to make sure I’d done the best I could to check for all the possible errors first.
When anyone outside of my close group of computer friends had to look at my work, I got so self-conscious. Because I was blonde and a woman, guys really did think I was dumb, and I couldn’t give them any ammunition to add to those thoughts. I knew what I was doing and that frustrated me even more as I read through the code and looked for my errors.
“What happened? Why does your face look like that?” Mattie asked as she put her customer on hold to talk to me.
“What are you talking about? This is just my face, nothing going on here. Go back to your customers before they get angry.”
“You can tell me at lunch.”
I suspected I wasn’t going to be able to get out of going to lunch with her that day; there was just too much going on. But she was going to want some of the details or I was never going to hear the end of it.
When lunch rolled around, I had Mattie standing right next to me, waiting for me to finish up so we could go down to the lunch room and talk. I didn’t mind talking with her about my date. I didn’t really have anyone else in my life I could trust like I trusted her. It had just been a really long time since I had to tell anyone about a date I’d gone on.
“So, let’s skip past the bagel and get right to the part where you canceled meeting up to workout,” she said. “I’ve done the math that means you’d already been out with him for three hours. That’s one hell of a long date. Details, I need details.”
“Yeah, well, we went swimming and hung out on his private island. You know, just a typical date,” I rolled my eyes dramatically and pretended like it was normal to say I’d been on a man’s private island. “It was amazing. He was so nice, and we had so much fun.”
“Oh, yeah, so basically just like my date last week,” she laughed loudly and everyone turned to look at us. “Well, except for the island, swimming, and handsome guy part; other than that, it was identical.”
“He’s truly a good guy, Mattie, and oh man, he kisses like I’ve never been kissed before. I could seriously make out with him all day long. We talked for hours, made love, and even took a shower with rain water he had gathered. I’ve never been around someone like him and I can’t wait to see him again.”
“What else? Tell me everything.”
“Have you ever seen that tiny island north of Venice beach? The pier is called Planter’s Pier.”
“I think I’ve seen it. I thought it was some sort of city storage place for the life guards or something like that. Does he own that?” she asked.
“Yep, and he owns another island somewhere in the Caribbean, I’m not sure where. Can you even believe that I went out on a date with a guy that owns a friggin’ island? How the heck did this happen? Last month I’m getting hit on by complete losers, and this month I’ve got a billionaire asking me out.”
“You deserve it, Del. If there is any woman in this world that deserves to be happy, it’s you. Well, it’s me first, but since he picked you…then it’s you,” she laughed. “I have a good feeling about this guy. I think things are going to be a lot of fun for the two of you.”
The time Mattie and I had together since losing my husband had really been priceless. It was her humor that kept me going on my worst days. She didn’t let things build up and always was ready to be a warm shoulder for me to cry on. She had started as a friend from work, but quickly moved into becoming my only close friend.
I had lots of acquaintances and I knew there were friends who cared about me a lot. But everyone had their own lives and their own struggles; it was hard for them to pull away from their life and come be part of mine.
“Thanks, Mattie. So how are you and Markus doing? I really do appreciate you guys coming to the art show with me. You know I hate going to those alone.”
“We broke up,” she said.
Normally, a good friend would act shocked at the notion of her best friend breaking up with her long-term boyfriend, but I was truly excited. I wanted to scream happily at the top of my lungs. He had treated her badly for far too long.
I also wasn’t sure that Mattie was going to stay broken up with him, so I had to walk a very narrow line as I waited to see if it would last.
The two of them had broken up before and I had talked badly about Markus, then when Mattie decided to get back together with the guy, I had to play nice. This time, I was going to play it as neutral as possible until I knew for sure that they weren’t going to get back together.
Although, I really, really hoped she didn’t get back with him. Mattie deserved a love like she hadn’t experienced yet, and if she stayed with Markus, she might miss her opportunity.
“Oh, what happened?” I managed to ask calmly.
“You know, it just didn’t work out. I’m going to try and get me one of these guys from our website. It seemed to work for you, so maybe it will work for me, too.”
“I don’t know, it was sort of a lucky break for me,” I said. “I browsed through some of the other profiles and a lot of them are really old. I wouldn’t have gone out with very many of the other guys I saw on the app.
“But maybe if you put a little time into looking through them, you’ll find someone. Margret in marketing said that the really good guys find a woman really fast and then take their profiles down. Maybe it’s just a matter of catching them when they get on.”
“I’ve decided that looks and age are no longer my criteria. I want rich and nice,” she said as she put on a pretend happy face. “I’m fine with dating one of the old guys. I’ll learn to love him, I promise.”
“Are you sure you’re doing all right?” I asked. I could see the sadness behind her smile. “It’s okay to be sad about Markus. I’ll be here no matter what. You have to know that.”
Mattie quickly turned into a puddle of tears as she started sobbing in the middle of the lunch room. Her crying was making quite the scene, but I wasn’t about to try and stop her. Markus was a jerk, and she had dedicated a lot of her time to him, she deserved to have a good cry over those wasted months of her life.
“I loved him,” she whimpered through her tears.
“I’m sorry, honey. I’m here. Do you want me to cancel my date for Friday so the two of us can go out?”
“Absolutely not! What, do you think I’m some kind of animal? I need you to go out with this guy and prove to me that there are decent men out there. This has to happen,” she said with a totally serious look on her face.
“It’s still possible that he’s not a decent man, you know,” I said.
“Nope, I refuse to believe that. He sounds pretty damn good to me, and I need you to follow through with this guy. Don’t start getting all freaked out the second the two of you get close. I know it’s hard,” she said. “Well, okay, I don’t know how hard it is to lose a husband, but I know you and I know you’ve been through such a tough few years. You really deserve to just have some fun. This guy doesn’t have to be the happily ever part two guy; he can just be the guy who gives you lots of orgasms and makes you smile.”
“Yeah, that’s the guy I need,” I said. “A fun guy who gives me lots of orgasms and doesn’t cause me any heartache.”
“Me, too. Find out if he has a brother. We could both have the perfect guy.”
Even when I wasn’t up for talking with Mattie, she had a way of brightening my spirits. She had taken my mind off of what was going on at work and moved it onto the delicious Brandon Baker.
“I don’t actually know all that much about him. I know he sold his parts manufacturing company last year for over a billion dollars. I think his parents live out east, and he’s an only child.”
“A billion? Like the letter B?”
“Yep.”
“Wow, he’s a great catch, for sure. I mean, it’s not all about the money and I know that’s not important to you. But he’s got to be really smart if he built a company that was worth that kind of money,” she said. “Plus, he’s really damn handsome and makes you smile from ear-to-ear, so that’s a definite good sign.”
“I also know he lost his son to cancer six years ago,” I said as I let Brandon’s secret out of the bag.
I had debated whether or not to tell her, but I just couldn’t keep that big of a secret to myself. Plus, he was a pretty public figure around Los Angeles, and I figured details about his son’s illness were probably posted on the internet anyways.
“No, that’s horrible,” Mattie said as her normal smiling face turned to a frown.
“I know. I started crying when he told me. I could only imagine how horrible it would be to lose Connor. I just couldn’t do it. I don’t know how a parent could move on after going through something like that.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty intense. So, he’s divorced?” she asked with a look of disappointment.
“Yes, but it’s really hard for people to stay married after they lose a child. He said they are still friends and his ex is even getting re-married soon. He seemed really well adjusted about the whole thing.”
“Okay, we need to get out of this sad zone,” she suggested. “Let’s get back to talking about the sex. Tell me all about him.”
The desire to know about my sex life wasn’t new with Mattie. She had an insatiable appetite for everything sordid when it came to me – and anyone else who sat near her in the office. I did my best to keep the main details to myself, but there were a few things I couldn’t help but share with her.
“You know, he’s really good with his hands. Like expert massage level good. When his hands pressed against my lower back, I wanted to move things to a massage table and just let him go to town. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good massage,” I winked.
“Girl, me, too!”
“I’m seeing him again Friday, but we are doing the real date thing,” I said. “I’m not going to sleep with him.”
She just shook her head at me in disappointment.
“Why on earth would you make such a decision? You like him, and he likes you. If the date goes well, you bring him back to your place and screw his brains out. This isn’t a marathon you’re running; you don’t need to save your energy for later. This is casual dating, Del. Casual means you have fun and relax.”
“I don’t want him to think I’m easy like that,” I said.
“Oh, because sleeping with him on the second date would mean you’re easy, but the first date didn’t?” she teased. “Come on, just have fun for once in your life. Let things progress. Get to know him and just enjoy yourself. Just because you go on more than one date with the guy doesn’t mean the two of you are going to be walking down the aisle.”
Logically, I knew Mattie was right. I was enjoying getting to know Brandon and wanted to date him casually. The problem was that I only had two speeds when it came to men: I either fell in love with them, or I discarded them after one night. If I planned on dating this guy, it was going to be really hard for me to keep my feelings in check and I knew it.
“I’ll do my best,” I said.
“Yeah, do your damn best and forget about the rest,” she said in a chant as we made our way back to the elevator and to our desks.
When I arrived back at my desk, the computer consultant that had been there the other day to bring me my computer was there again. If Robert had called him earlier this morning, the guy sure did move quickly.
“Your boss says there are some errors in your system?”
“Not really. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. There are errors in the website coding, not actually with the computer. I’ve gone over the code and just can’t seem to figure out what I’m missing.”
“Oh, I see. If you’d like to log into your administer section, I can take a look. I’ve got several years of coding experience. Sometimes it just takes another set of eyes.”
“Sure, I could use another person scanning through it. Anything at this point,” I said as I logged in and pulled up the internal code I was having trouble with. “I’ll be just across the way talking with my friend for a minute; let me know if you need anything.”