25-12-2018, 05:32 PM
About 2 weeks later Jen got her period.
Jen felt like crying. She always got emotional around her period. But it was more this time. Way more.
Jen had so many doubts. Mike cheated on her. He cheated. Was he still her rock? It was like when he left her. That was Broken Promise #1. The cheating was #2. Could she still trust him?
Jen saw the hypocrisy of course. But she couldn't help how she felt. She felt betrayed. Not just by Mike but by Allie too.
She was scared too. Now that Mike had tasted forbidden fruit, would his eyes wander? Jen knew men got more attractive as they aged. Mike was cute. He was kind and considerate. He was a great husband and father. He was freaking brilliant and had unlimited earning potential. Jen knew there weren't many men in the world like Mike.
What about her? Okay, she was pretty. But there were zillions of pretty, leggy blondes in the world. For some reason Mike was fixated on her. He was practically obsessed with her. But what if his "fooling around" with Allie broke that spell? Mike could easily find another hot blonde. A younger blonde with longer legs and bigger tits. That freaking Jasmine Kelly would take him back in a second!
It didn't help Mike was traveling this week. He was at CATF. So they weren't able to talk.
There are crossroads that define a person's life. Where you have the option of going left or right. Call it fate, or karma, or God. If you go left, your life goes in one direction. Right, in a different, much more complicated direction.
Jen didn't know it but she was at a crossroads. The decision she made wasn't a monumental one. She went right, deciding to go into a Starbucks for a latte. That's when her life changed. And Mike's life. And Anna's. And Jasmine's. Even Frank's.
Others too. So many lives, changed because Jen went right instead of left.
Because she ran into Ricky.
Cheating and Rivals Part 54
"Who's he?" Brent asked with a frown.
"Alan Bigebers," Maria said. With a smile she said, "They call him Mr. Big."
"Sex and the City reference?" Brent asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sidney Poitier," Maria said with a grin.
Brent frowned at Big. He was brilliant but insecure, always worrying about the New Guy knocking him off his perch at the top of the CATF IQ mountain. For a while he feuded with Mike Andrews but they were friends now; also, Mike was content working behind the scenes and letting Brent remain the unofficial leader of the QC team. Usually at meetings Brent held the yellow ball, their symbol of the team leader. Not once had Mike ever picked up the ball. Brent wondered if he'd be competing with Big for the ball in the future.
"What's his thing?" Brent asked.
"He's a user interface specialist," Maria said.
"UI?" Brent said with a contemptuous laugh.
"Don't be mean," Maria chastised her fiancée. "They say he's a problem solver. He's going to help us with the X-Factor math."
"You know a lot about him," Brent said sourly. He was jealous. He was often insecure having such a beautiful fiancée (much like Mike with Jen).
"They sent around his resume last week," Maria said with a playful laugh. She looked at Bigebers. "He's kind of cute. Sorta looks like Jon Hamm."
"Who?" Brent said, his jealousy and insecurities spiking.
"The guy in Mad Men," Maria said grinning. Then she got serious. She whispered "He's supposed to be the new Mike. JJ got him from NSA."
Brent frowned. JJ's distain of Mike was a well-known secret. Despite their rough beginning, Brent respected Mike; more than that he liked him. He whispered back "If he's the new Mike, what happens to the old Mike?"
Maria shook her head. She didn't know but looked worried. So did Brent. In the super secret CATF, sometimes people just disappeared. You learned not to ask questions.
****************
The next day the QC team ran a test of their latest quantum computer prototype. They called the prototype Hal. Officially it was Hal 27, the 27th iteration.
The test was simple in concept. Hal was asked to decrypt an intercepted ISIS email.
Colonel Banks and the rest of the Big 5 watched the test from the observation deck of the Bunker (the Bunker was the nickname of the CATF operations center). JJ was there too. He said "Big, is your UI ready?"
"Yes sir," Big said. He punched a few buttons and a GUI appeared on the huge screens lining the walls.
Banks frowned at JJ. He whispered "Big reports to Abraham and Brent. And Mike. You don't direct him. Breach of protocol."
"We don't have time for niceties Colonel," JJ whispered back. Then in a normal voice he ordered "Run the test."
Big punched a few buttons to start the test. Abraham and Brent scowled, clearly put off that JJ had unilaterally elevated Big to such a high leadership role. To his credit, even Big seemed embarrassed by it.
The GUI was a series of 7 concentric circles with the ISIS email at the center. Each circle represented a layer of defense, the outermost (layer 1) being the weakest, the innermost (layer 7) the strongest.
As Big's GUI appeared on the displays, Brent said sarcastically in a low voice, "Look at all the pretty shapes and colors." There were snickers among the QC team. Big heard the snickers but pretended not to.
Hal quickly defeated layers 1 and 2 with those layers vanishing from the GUI. It took longer but then layer 3 disappeared.
"This is it," Brent said to anyone listening. The intensity in the room increased. They'd never gotten pass layer 3. If Hal defeated layer 4 it meant the team was making progress.
Everyone - even Brent - intently watched as the layer 4 circle went from dark blue to light blue to still lighter blue. The circle hovered there, almost but not quite disappearing as Hal attacked the layer 4 defenses. Finally though, the layer 4 circle returned to its original dark blue. There were groans as people realized the test was a failure. Once again, Hal wasn't able to get pass layer 3. "Time to work on 28," someone joked. There were a few scattered laughs but they were without any humor.
Mike had watched from the back of the Bunker (his normal spot). He walked up to Big. "Can you ...," he sputtered. "I'm sorry, you're Alan right?"
"Yes," Big said, looking warily at Mike. Big knew all about Mike: Sapphire, the Ring, Apple code master, even JasMike. Also, as his hand-picked man, Big got a briefing from JJ on Mike too; all negative. He didn't know what to believe about Andrews.
"Can you display Hal's decision trace next to the GUI?" Mike asked.
"Simple," Big said. "What are you looking for?"
"I'm not sure ...," Mike said uncertainly.
With a shrug, Big punched a few keys. He rigged it so every 20th decision was displayed; otherwise, with Hal's super-fast operating speed, the display would be little more than an unintelligible blur. Then he ran the test again.
Mike stood and watched the screen, half looking at the concentric circles, half looking at the decision trace that ran in a window next to the circles. Everyone had heard Mike talking to Big. They saw Mike intently watching the screen. They watched too.
The test ended, again in failure. "What did you see?" Big asked Mike.
Mike looked contemplatively at the screen. "You slowed it down?" he asked.
Big nodded. "By 20," he said. "Does that matter?" When Mike didn't answer, he asked "Did you see anything?"
"Hal still spends too much time on the wrong paths," Mike said in frustration. He said it to himself though, as if he'd forgotten Big was there. There was something at the edge of consciousness. An idea about the X-Factor. He tried to focus, pull it in. But it was elusive.
"You saw that from the trace?" Big said surprised. He asked "How's that possible?" Hal was a super computer. Even after slowing it down by 20, its processing was much too fast for humans to follow.
Mike wasn't listening though. He was too lost in thought as he tried to reel in the idea. But then it was gone. He silently cursed, feeling frustrated.
After a few moments Mike remembered where he was. The Bunker. Standing next to the new guy. "Thanks for the GUI. It was helpful," Mike said nodding at Big.
Before Big could respond, Mike turned and walked away. What the hell? He leaves a meeting without saying anything?
By now the rest of the QC team was used to Mike's idiosyncrasies. Sensing Big's thoughts, Maria defended Mike by saying, "He likes to debrief alone."
Big looked at Maria. Then he looked back at Mike as he disappeared down the hall. He wasn't sure what to think. Abruptly leaving a meeting - especially after a failed test - wasn't team play; it certainly wasn't leadership.
JJ scowled and glared at Mike's back, thinking the same thing.
Mike though, didn't notice any of that. He was too distracted thinking about Hal and the failed test.
***************
Mike went to his dorm room. He tried to focus on the QC test - on the elusive idea - but he wasn't able to concentrate.
He thought about Jen. As always, she dominated his thoughts.
A couple weeks had passed since Christmas. Their relationship had been chilly since then. No, chilly wasn't the right word. More like wary. Wary of each other. Unsure where they stood, what was going to happen next.
Mike had talked to Allie a couple times. She was scared. Jen was being just as wary with her. This was new. Jen had never treated Allie that way. Allie was distraught, worried her friendship with Jen was permanently damaged. She seemed more upset by that than her impeding divorce from Darren.
Last weekend they hooked up with Frank. As usual, Jen played Frank's girlfriend, giving Mike the 3rd wheel treatment. But her heart wasn't into it. It was more like she was going through the motions. It was a disappointing evening for all of them.
Mike wasn't sure what to do. Sure, the knee-jerk answer was to stop playing the game. But would that solve things? Would it take back Christmas night with Allie? Make Jen trust him again?
***********************
"You look like shit," Ricky said to Jen as they sipped coffee in the Starbucks.
"Thanks a lot," Jen said with a humorless half laugh.
"What's wrong?"
Jen shrugged but didn't answer.
"How's Frank?" Ricky asked. "You still with him?"
"I was never with him," Jen said emphasizing with.
"Okay, whatever," Ricky said with a laugh. "You still fucking him?"
Jen winched at the blunt question. She shrugged and said "Yes."
"Is his last name Tower?"
Jen's head snapped up. "Why do you ask?"
"I got transferred back here. It came with a promotion," Ricky said. "My CO looked into it. He said a Frank Tower was behind it."
Jen stared at Ricky. Then she shrugged. "I'll tell him thanks for you," she said.
"So Frank Tower IS your boyfriend," Ricky said. He said it like an accusation. Before Jen could respond, he said angrily, "Well you tell him to go to hell! I'm pushing papers here. A desk job. I want to get back to my unit."
"Why'd you take the promotion then?"
"I had no choice," Ricky said, annoyed and angry. "The word came down. Up or out. Who is this Frank Tower?"
"You should be grateful," Jen said eyeing him. "A desk job's safer."
Ricky glared at Jen. It was like they were continuing a conversation from years ago. "You had no right!" he hissed.
"I had nothing to do with it," Jen said.
"Who is Frank Tower?" Ricky asked again.
"A very rich and powerful man," Jen said.
"Why'd he want me here?"
"No clue," Jen said with a shrug.
"You're lying," Ricky said.
"I'm not."
"Yes you are," Ricky said with annoyance. He said irritably "If you wanted to see me all you had to do was call."
Jen looked incredulously at him. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm here because of Frank Tower," Ricky said. He'd given this a lot of though. "Frank's your lover, the way I used to be. Mike's getting off on it. Somehow I'm mixed up in your game."
"You're fucking crazy," Jen said dismissively.
"Frank went to a lot of trouble to get me here," Ricky said. "Just like Atlantic City. You're telling me you didn't know?"
"That's right Ricky, I didn't know," Jen scoffed.
Ricky shook his head. He clearly didn't believe her. "If you want fucked you should've called," he told her bluntly. "I'll fuck you. You didn't have to get me transferred."
Jen felt like crying. She always got emotional around her period. But it was more this time. Way more.
Jen had so many doubts. Mike cheated on her. He cheated. Was he still her rock? It was like when he left her. That was Broken Promise #1. The cheating was #2. Could she still trust him?
Jen saw the hypocrisy of course. But she couldn't help how she felt. She felt betrayed. Not just by Mike but by Allie too.
She was scared too. Now that Mike had tasted forbidden fruit, would his eyes wander? Jen knew men got more attractive as they aged. Mike was cute. He was kind and considerate. He was a great husband and father. He was freaking brilliant and had unlimited earning potential. Jen knew there weren't many men in the world like Mike.
What about her? Okay, she was pretty. But there were zillions of pretty, leggy blondes in the world. For some reason Mike was fixated on her. He was practically obsessed with her. But what if his "fooling around" with Allie broke that spell? Mike could easily find another hot blonde. A younger blonde with longer legs and bigger tits. That freaking Jasmine Kelly would take him back in a second!
It didn't help Mike was traveling this week. He was at CATF. So they weren't able to talk.
There are crossroads that define a person's life. Where you have the option of going left or right. Call it fate, or karma, or God. If you go left, your life goes in one direction. Right, in a different, much more complicated direction.
Jen didn't know it but she was at a crossroads. The decision she made wasn't a monumental one. She went right, deciding to go into a Starbucks for a latte. That's when her life changed. And Mike's life. And Anna's. And Jasmine's. Even Frank's.
Others too. So many lives, changed because Jen went right instead of left.
Because she ran into Ricky.
Cheating and Rivals Part 54
"Who's he?" Brent asked with a frown.
"Alan Bigebers," Maria said. With a smile she said, "They call him Mr. Big."
"Sex and the City reference?" Brent asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sidney Poitier," Maria said with a grin.
Brent frowned at Big. He was brilliant but insecure, always worrying about the New Guy knocking him off his perch at the top of the CATF IQ mountain. For a while he feuded with Mike Andrews but they were friends now; also, Mike was content working behind the scenes and letting Brent remain the unofficial leader of the QC team. Usually at meetings Brent held the yellow ball, their symbol of the team leader. Not once had Mike ever picked up the ball. Brent wondered if he'd be competing with Big for the ball in the future.
"What's his thing?" Brent asked.
"He's a user interface specialist," Maria said.
"UI?" Brent said with a contemptuous laugh.
"Don't be mean," Maria chastised her fiancée. "They say he's a problem solver. He's going to help us with the X-Factor math."
"You know a lot about him," Brent said sourly. He was jealous. He was often insecure having such a beautiful fiancée (much like Mike with Jen).
"They sent around his resume last week," Maria said with a playful laugh. She looked at Bigebers. "He's kind of cute. Sorta looks like Jon Hamm."
"Who?" Brent said, his jealousy and insecurities spiking.
"The guy in Mad Men," Maria said grinning. Then she got serious. She whispered "He's supposed to be the new Mike. JJ got him from NSA."
Brent frowned. JJ's distain of Mike was a well-known secret. Despite their rough beginning, Brent respected Mike; more than that he liked him. He whispered back "If he's the new Mike, what happens to the old Mike?"
Maria shook her head. She didn't know but looked worried. So did Brent. In the super secret CATF, sometimes people just disappeared. You learned not to ask questions.
****************
The next day the QC team ran a test of their latest quantum computer prototype. They called the prototype Hal. Officially it was Hal 27, the 27th iteration.
The test was simple in concept. Hal was asked to decrypt an intercepted ISIS email.
Colonel Banks and the rest of the Big 5 watched the test from the observation deck of the Bunker (the Bunker was the nickname of the CATF operations center). JJ was there too. He said "Big, is your UI ready?"
"Yes sir," Big said. He punched a few buttons and a GUI appeared on the huge screens lining the walls.
Banks frowned at JJ. He whispered "Big reports to Abraham and Brent. And Mike. You don't direct him. Breach of protocol."
"We don't have time for niceties Colonel," JJ whispered back. Then in a normal voice he ordered "Run the test."
Big punched a few buttons to start the test. Abraham and Brent scowled, clearly put off that JJ had unilaterally elevated Big to such a high leadership role. To his credit, even Big seemed embarrassed by it.
The GUI was a series of 7 concentric circles with the ISIS email at the center. Each circle represented a layer of defense, the outermost (layer 1) being the weakest, the innermost (layer 7) the strongest.
As Big's GUI appeared on the displays, Brent said sarcastically in a low voice, "Look at all the pretty shapes and colors." There were snickers among the QC team. Big heard the snickers but pretended not to.
Hal quickly defeated layers 1 and 2 with those layers vanishing from the GUI. It took longer but then layer 3 disappeared.
"This is it," Brent said to anyone listening. The intensity in the room increased. They'd never gotten pass layer 3. If Hal defeated layer 4 it meant the team was making progress.
Everyone - even Brent - intently watched as the layer 4 circle went from dark blue to light blue to still lighter blue. The circle hovered there, almost but not quite disappearing as Hal attacked the layer 4 defenses. Finally though, the layer 4 circle returned to its original dark blue. There were groans as people realized the test was a failure. Once again, Hal wasn't able to get pass layer 3. "Time to work on 28," someone joked. There were a few scattered laughs but they were without any humor.
Mike had watched from the back of the Bunker (his normal spot). He walked up to Big. "Can you ...," he sputtered. "I'm sorry, you're Alan right?"
"Yes," Big said, looking warily at Mike. Big knew all about Mike: Sapphire, the Ring, Apple code master, even JasMike. Also, as his hand-picked man, Big got a briefing from JJ on Mike too; all negative. He didn't know what to believe about Andrews.
"Can you display Hal's decision trace next to the GUI?" Mike asked.
"Simple," Big said. "What are you looking for?"
"I'm not sure ...," Mike said uncertainly.
With a shrug, Big punched a few keys. He rigged it so every 20th decision was displayed; otherwise, with Hal's super-fast operating speed, the display would be little more than an unintelligible blur. Then he ran the test again.
Mike stood and watched the screen, half looking at the concentric circles, half looking at the decision trace that ran in a window next to the circles. Everyone had heard Mike talking to Big. They saw Mike intently watching the screen. They watched too.
The test ended, again in failure. "What did you see?" Big asked Mike.
Mike looked contemplatively at the screen. "You slowed it down?" he asked.
Big nodded. "By 20," he said. "Does that matter?" When Mike didn't answer, he asked "Did you see anything?"
"Hal still spends too much time on the wrong paths," Mike said in frustration. He said it to himself though, as if he'd forgotten Big was there. There was something at the edge of consciousness. An idea about the X-Factor. He tried to focus, pull it in. But it was elusive.
"You saw that from the trace?" Big said surprised. He asked "How's that possible?" Hal was a super computer. Even after slowing it down by 20, its processing was much too fast for humans to follow.
Mike wasn't listening though. He was too lost in thought as he tried to reel in the idea. But then it was gone. He silently cursed, feeling frustrated.
After a few moments Mike remembered where he was. The Bunker. Standing next to the new guy. "Thanks for the GUI. It was helpful," Mike said nodding at Big.
Before Big could respond, Mike turned and walked away. What the hell? He leaves a meeting without saying anything?
By now the rest of the QC team was used to Mike's idiosyncrasies. Sensing Big's thoughts, Maria defended Mike by saying, "He likes to debrief alone."
Big looked at Maria. Then he looked back at Mike as he disappeared down the hall. He wasn't sure what to think. Abruptly leaving a meeting - especially after a failed test - wasn't team play; it certainly wasn't leadership.
JJ scowled and glared at Mike's back, thinking the same thing.
Mike though, didn't notice any of that. He was too distracted thinking about Hal and the failed test.
***************
Mike went to his dorm room. He tried to focus on the QC test - on the elusive idea - but he wasn't able to concentrate.
He thought about Jen. As always, she dominated his thoughts.
A couple weeks had passed since Christmas. Their relationship had been chilly since then. No, chilly wasn't the right word. More like wary. Wary of each other. Unsure where they stood, what was going to happen next.
Mike had talked to Allie a couple times. She was scared. Jen was being just as wary with her. This was new. Jen had never treated Allie that way. Allie was distraught, worried her friendship with Jen was permanently damaged. She seemed more upset by that than her impeding divorce from Darren.
Last weekend they hooked up with Frank. As usual, Jen played Frank's girlfriend, giving Mike the 3rd wheel treatment. But her heart wasn't into it. It was more like she was going through the motions. It was a disappointing evening for all of them.
Mike wasn't sure what to do. Sure, the knee-jerk answer was to stop playing the game. But would that solve things? Would it take back Christmas night with Allie? Make Jen trust him again?
***********************
"You look like shit," Ricky said to Jen as they sipped coffee in the Starbucks.
"Thanks a lot," Jen said with a humorless half laugh.
"What's wrong?"
Jen shrugged but didn't answer.
"How's Frank?" Ricky asked. "You still with him?"
"I was never with him," Jen said emphasizing with.
"Okay, whatever," Ricky said with a laugh. "You still fucking him?"
Jen winched at the blunt question. She shrugged and said "Yes."
"Is his last name Tower?"
Jen's head snapped up. "Why do you ask?"
"I got transferred back here. It came with a promotion," Ricky said. "My CO looked into it. He said a Frank Tower was behind it."
Jen stared at Ricky. Then she shrugged. "I'll tell him thanks for you," she said.
"So Frank Tower IS your boyfriend," Ricky said. He said it like an accusation. Before Jen could respond, he said angrily, "Well you tell him to go to hell! I'm pushing papers here. A desk job. I want to get back to my unit."
"Why'd you take the promotion then?"
"I had no choice," Ricky said, annoyed and angry. "The word came down. Up or out. Who is this Frank Tower?"
"You should be grateful," Jen said eyeing him. "A desk job's safer."
Ricky glared at Jen. It was like they were continuing a conversation from years ago. "You had no right!" he hissed.
"I had nothing to do with it," Jen said.
"Who is Frank Tower?" Ricky asked again.
"A very rich and powerful man," Jen said.
"Why'd he want me here?"
"No clue," Jen said with a shrug.
"You're lying," Ricky said.
"I'm not."
"Yes you are," Ricky said with annoyance. He said irritably "If you wanted to see me all you had to do was call."
Jen looked incredulously at him. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm here because of Frank Tower," Ricky said. He'd given this a lot of though. "Frank's your lover, the way I used to be. Mike's getting off on it. Somehow I'm mixed up in your game."
"You're fucking crazy," Jen said dismissively.
"Frank went to a lot of trouble to get me here," Ricky said. "Just like Atlantic City. You're telling me you didn't know?"
"That's right Ricky, I didn't know," Jen scoffed.
Ricky shook his head. He clearly didn't believe her. "If you want fucked you should've called," he told her bluntly. "I'll fuck you. You didn't have to get me transferred."
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