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After I’d sent all the materials over to “Operation Diana” (so stupid), I got a message on my group chat with Patrick and Heidi. Patrick was dying to come over, so I told him they were both welcome whenever. It was just under twenty minutes before there was pounding on the door.
When I opened it, not only were Heidi and Patrick there, but so were Jason and Joseph. Everyone crowded into my apartment, all talking loudly.
“And now she has these little helpers,” Patrick was saying.
“Not the way I expected this whole thing to go, if we’re being honest,” Jason replied.
“Me neither!” Heidi exclaimed. “And c’mere, Jason, you have to see all of Ana’s little babies.” She led him over to the tank, while he gave me a big grin over her shoulder. Hopper greeted them enthusiastically as I turned to Patrick and Joseph. “Looks like we’re having a party. Or something.”
Patrick nodded happily. “I’ll order the takeout. We all want a rundown of how things went.” Patrick put in a huge order, while Jason and Joseph pretended to share Heidi’s enthusiasm for the baby fish.
When the order arrived (dim sum and dumplings), everyone grabbed floor pillows and sat around the coffee table. Then I filled them in on my coffee meeting with Evan. It took longer than it needed to, punctuated here and there by Patrick adding comments like, “And then he said he wanted to be Indiana, and she said, ‘Shut your damn mouth, son!’” which I had to correct. Afterward, I told them about Operation Diana and how my team had come through for me in a touching and unexpected way.
Jason shook his head. “Melvin’s always been a bit of a dick, but I didn’t expect him to take things that far. Though, technically, all the work you do at Apollo belongs to Apollo.”
“That’s true,” I allowed. “It belongs to Apollo IT but not to Melvin. I need this for future employment. What he’s done is unethical, dishonest, opportunistic—”
“I agree,” Jason said. “And who knows how many times he’s gotten away with this in the past.”
“And it’s not even all that uncommon,” Joseph threw in. Then he looked self-conscious. “I’m assuming. I know I’m only a personal trainer, but taking the ideas of your employees and presenting them as your own seems to be common.”
Patrick touched his shoulder gently. “You’re not ‘only’ a personal trainer. You’re gainfully employed with a difficult and rewarding job that really helps people.” Joseph gave him a sweet smile that made my heart feel like it would burst. “And it may be common, but I think Ana and her fellowship are taking a good first step to stopping it.”
“Dude,” I said. “We’re not a fellowship, and we’re not destroying some guy’s ring.”
“But you’re embarking on a journey together to preserve your way of life?” he asked.
“I guess you could put it that way, but it’s a little dramatic.”
“Do you call the interface ‘my precious’?” Jason asked.
I turned to him. “Et tu, Brute?”
He grinned. “Are you the last hope for Middle Earth?”
Patrick looked back and forth between us, clearly ecstatic.
“I’m going to throat punch all of you,” I muttered.
Jason snickered at me, then cleared his throat. “So, I’m assuming you’ve heard about the change in plans for the annual event in Las Vegas?”
“Evan mentioned something about it, but I don’t know a lot of details,”I said. “Melvin made himself keynote speaker and made the deal with S.J. Sporting the highlight?” The yearly company meeting in Vegas had always struck me as completely useless. I’d never gone before, so this would be my first, and likely last, opportunity.
“All of Apollo IT employees are invited. The S.J. Sporting interface will be the main draw and the keynote event, but there will be other tech advancement presentations, too.”
“Great. Well, I guess that’s the night I quit then,” I said.
“No!” Heidi cried. “I still don’t like that.”
“Melvin’s going to fire me either way. I was insubordinate, I went behind his back, and I’m not going to take on extra responsibility without the title or the salary that goes with it. So I’m going to make the best interface the world has ever seen, with the help ofThe Fellowship of the Ring. Then I’m gonna get a better job somewhere else.”
“I wanna be Stryder,” Patrick muttered under his breath at me.
“You can’t be; you’re not on the team,” I told him.
“Melvin’s kinda like Golem, trying to steal your stuff,” Jason interjected, and I stared at him again.
“I really didn’t expect this of you.”
