The Hacker - Nancy Herkness Page 0,5

start typing. Was it embarrassment at having solicited his services when they weren’t wanted? Or was she trying to prolong their brief email relationship? Either one was not useful.

She forced her fingers to tap the screen.

The boss’s wife just informed me that the Wi-Fi problem will be resolved by the end of the day. I’m sorry I raised a false alarm. It was nice of you to be ready to jump right in. I appreciate it.

Dawn

That seemed to strike the right note of friendly professionalism. She hit “send” and picked up her fork again, jabbing a mouthful of grains and greens.

Before she could finish chewing, an email from Leland popped up in her in-box. The man must type at ninety miles an hour.

Shall we make sure the problem gets fixed before we call it quits? Many an IT expert has made promises they can’t keep, myself excluded, of course. Let me know if the Wi-Fi indeed recovers by the end of the day . . . or not.

Leland the skeptic

“Ain’t it the truth?” Dawn muttered as a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. One more email exchange at least.

Skepticism is usually my job, but I’ll keep you posted.

D.

She left her fork in the bowl while she waited.

I knew I recognized a kindred spirit.

L.

A kindred spirit. That was a laugh. He was rich and famous for his tech genius on an international level; she worked as a personal trainer in a Jersey gym. He had the elegance of a southern aristocrat; she was pure peasant Italian.

But his words twirled like a happy pinwheel in her mind for the rest of the day, giving her a tiny lift every time she remembered them.

At about six thirty, a cheer sounded from the room where the ellipticals and treadmills were lined up. Dawn was in the midst of demonstrating how to do a burpee using a BOSU ball.

“What’s that all about?” her client asked, staring in the direction of the racket.

“We can find out or you can start on your burpees.”

He draped a sweat towel around his neck and grinned at her. “What do you think?”

She leaped to her feet with a mock glare. “Fine, but you’ll have to do five extra to make up for the break.”

They walked into the big space swirling with the motion of customers of all shapes and sizes, dressed in outfits that ranged from knock-your-eyes-out neon to gray sweats. Now the only sounds were the hum of treadmills rolling and the metallic clunk of weights being lowered.

“What was the celebration about?” Dawn asked a trainer who was restocking the towel shelves.

“The Wi-Fi’s normal again. Everyone’s streaming on the machines.” He gestured to the pulsating glow of the built-in screens.

Her disappointment was more than a twinge this time. It was a downright sinking feeling. All because of that damned “kindred spirits” comment.

“Yeah!” Her client pumped his fist. “I run a lot longer when I’m distracted by the news. Sometimes it makes me so mad that I go even harder to blow off steam.”

Dawn knew all about sweating off emotions. That’s what had drawn her to the gym in the first place.

“Okay, back to burpees,” she said, waving toward the training room.

“At least I got to catch my breath.”

“You’ll need it.”

As soon as she was done with the session, she headed for the break room, where it was usually quiet at this time of the evening. The staff was busy since many people trained after work. She wanted to be able to focus on her last communication with Leland. Plunking down on a white bean-shaped chair in the corner, she pulled out her phone.

There is great joy at the gym tonight. The Wi-Fi has returned to full speed. Who knew that people were so dependent on distraction from their sweating? They literally cheered.

Again, thanks for taking the time to email with me about this matter. I’m sure you could have fixed it in a lot less time than it took Vicky’s boneheads to finally come through.

Dawn

She was sure he would answer her immediately. She might be flattered by that if she didn’t suspect that he was always at his computer. Although he must be working on other projects, so it was kind of flattering. Of course, her messages took him mere seconds to respond to. He didn’t need to weigh each word and phrase like she did.

I am less joyful than your patrons. Out of curiosity, I took a quick, cursory look at the general data inflow/outflow at