They won’t back a talented kid who needs a scholarship, but a brand-new McLaren for their own offspring? Without blinking.
At least here, the emphasis falls on education and on what I can actually give my students, not on how well I can charm one of the university’s major donors at a cocktail party.
I check my watch and realize that under normal circumstances, I would have used these two free hours to work through a research paper on optimization algorithms in the automotive industry.
Under normal circumstances, I keep to my routine. Routine is a constant I know and can control.
But as I run through all the reasons I shouldn’t be standing in the shadow of this lecture hall watching a head of chestnut-brown strands, I notice something: the anxiety that usually kicks in when I break from my usual activities isn’t there.
Hmm. Interesting.
I watch her color-code the formulas from the whiteboard, and even though I have the answer to most equations, Amalia Sanchez is the one that keeps eluding me.
One last look, and I get up and walk out of the lecture hall.
I don’t like unsolved equations.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and when I glance at the screen, I roll my eyes.
“Yeah, Silvio?”
“Silas, I need a hundred and twenty thousand dollars to disappear from this month’s balance sheet.”
Silvio is connected to the Italian mob and uses a construction company as his front. He’s also an idiot who doesn’t understand that you cannot make sums like that vanish without something solid to show for it. Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be an issue. The problem is, this would be the third time I’d be stepping in for him within a few months, and that is not how I operate.
I don’t take more than one job per twelve-month period for the same company. Two months ago I did him a favor and helped him out, but he apparently hasn’t grasped the fact that I don’t do magic. I do math. And lately, his numbers have been trending in the wrong direction.
“I’ve already explained that it’s not possible. If I step in again, you’re going to find the IRS on your doorstep, and I’m fairly certain Alessio is going to have something to say about that.”
The head of the Cosa Nostra knows the terms of my contracts and why I run them the way I do. Not all of his associates, however, are sharp enough to connect the dots.
“You don’t get it, Silas. I blew it on some bets last week. I need to put that money back somehow.”
“That’s not my problem, Silvio.” And I hang up.
Another night of calculations. Maybe by the end of it, the image of those chestnut-brown strands will have cleared out of my head.
It’s raining outside. No. Scratch that. It’s pouring outside.
The hallways are packed with students rushing between classes, and I’m one of them, because I have math and I hate being late.
My phone rings, and I can’t help the small frown when I see the name on the screen.
“Sí,señorGustav.”
“Amelita, I need a little help…” Before he can finish, I’ve already stopped walking and set my laptop on a windowsill. “Some clients got locked out of their accounts and can’t log back in.”
I roll my eyes because this is a recurring problem. When you tell people to set a password they don’t breathe out loud, forthe love of Newton, everyone looks at you like you’ve just asked them to lasso the moon.
“Which clients,señorGustav?” I ask, already pulling up the database to make sure those accounts get flagged as inactive until I sort it out.
He gives me the names, and the noise around me fades out.
This is why I love my projects. They have real stakes. What this code does impacts real companies and real clients.
Once I’ve confirmed that every device connected to those accounts has been logged out, I generate a new password reset link and send it over to señor Gustav so he can forward it to the clients.
Could my former teacher handle this himself? Technically, yes, but I built the entire database infrastructure with the latest tech and extra authentication layers he considers more trouble than they’re worth.
