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Before she could call back, the phone vibrated in her hands. When she saw Jude’s face and name appear on the screen, she didn’t know what to do. It was as if something reached out from her childhood all of a sudden and she was no longer a child.
“Hello,” she answered calmly.
“Hey, Tory. So glad to hear you, your voice, I mean. I hope you don’t get near anybody with that bat disease. Can you believe it? Chinese bats! It’s insanity. They think the virus jumped from the bats to another species and then to humans. Jumping virus, Tory! From bats. They say it was a wet market. I don’t know what that means, but were they selling bats?”
“I don’t really know what’s going on. Rumors are flying. I don’t think we will ever really know what’s going on in the world today. My father used to say they shot Kenedy on TV in front of the whole nation and we still don’t actually know what happened.”
“Yeah, your old man’s trip, anyway, I was talking to your mom and she says you’re in quarantine with that hotshot scumbag, Harlem Dawes,” he remarked.
“Harlan. And he’s not a scumbag,”
“Right, Harlem Dawes. I’ve seen him with supermodels. He’s just another old guy, who’ll jump on anything hot and you know it,” he countered, “Do your Social Distancing with that one, Tory, please. And what do you wear over there anyway?”
“I have to get back to the design studio. They are letting the contest winners, who are here in quarantine, work in the design studio. We are revamping the iGo App’s Icon,” she told him brightly.
“Wow, that is big, Tory. I wanna come see you. We need a celebration in all this. There are dark days ahead. The death toll is rising, the stock market plummets. People are scared.”
“I’m really trying to focus on the positive. I’m looking at an opportunity,” she told him. “Plus, we, um, broke up, remember?”
She tried to say it gently because she didn’t want to upset him.
“Yeah, yeah. But I have a feeling we can get back together if we can just see each other again. But whatever you do, just stay away from that Dawes guy. Don’t let him tempt you. Or like lead you into temptation,” he said, sounding as if he was quoting the Lord’s Prayer.
“Don’t worry about me. Worry about our parents. Don’t travel unnecessarily, like they say on the news,” she warned.
“You know I love you, Tory. Ever since sixth grade. Even when you were taller than me,”
“Think about those times. When things were simple,” she said. “Things have gotten very, very complicated now.”
“They sure have,” he agreed.
Tory knew he was talking about the virus. But she was talking about how her entire life had changed ever since coming to New York. She wasn’t going to mention that to him, though. She just said goodbye, grateful to be getting off the phone.
Chapter 15
Dan sat in the conference room at the far end with Harlan when Tory walked back in. Immediately, Harlan waves her over.
“Sorry, I was on the phone,” Tory began to explain.
“Oh. No, you’re not late. I called Dan in a few minutes earlier,” Harlan told her, “I have a couple things. First. Mahira has bowed out. You’ll see her quarantining here but she’s off the iGo project. Next thing. Get it? ‘NextThing’? I love saying that again. It got old around here real quick,” he joked with them.
Dan laughed loudly, relieved by Harlan’s levity.
“The Gradient,” Harlan pronounced majestically, beaming at Tory. “We are going to run with this. And when I say we, I mean you, Ms. Stadler, ably assisted by Dan Ennick. Tory’s smile delighted him so that when Dan stood up to shake his hand and thank him for the opportunity, he had no idea what had been said at all.
Quite satisfied with the turn of events and his own handling of the situation, Harlan worked out enthusiastically then soaked in the pool afterwards. Stresses falling away, he wanted her and became aroused remembering the orgasmic plunder of the previous evening.
Out of the pool, he started off toward the elevator but turned around and walked back to the picture window over the city, where he had found Tory, previously. Harlan walked up to the glass. He could still see her handprint. He raised his hand to it for a moment and had an idea.
Tory had just showered when her phone beeped. She picked it up and saw the text was from Harlan. It read MEET ME IN THE LOBBY AT 9PM. DRESS WARM. Not certain what to expect she put her jeans on again and zipped her light blue suede jacket over a sweater.
In the lobby, Harlan walked up to her in his leather cafe racer’s jacket with a pair of helmets.
