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face like red flags, and pushed her into another universe with his lusty lovemaking. With Sam, she could
be bold and strong. Without him But she couldn't bear to think about life without Sam. Left on her
own, she would probably crawl back into her proper hollow shell and stay there until she died.
She realized that the events the night Mitch had joined the company had changed their relationship. Both
of them sensed that they had nearly lost something precious. Ironically, Sam was the one who had begun
to press the idea of getting married. Being Sam, he had painted word pictures for her of what their
marriage could be the endless possibilities of a union both spiritually and physically sublime, the power
of that sort of synergy, the unlimited potential of the joining of matched minds. As always, his rhetoric
had mesmerized her. They had even gone so far as to apply for a marriage license and to get their blood
tested. But then Susannah had found office space and everything else stopped.
They christened the wall with a six-pack of beer that evening and spent the next day moving in. At ten
that night, dirty and exhausted, they made their way to Mom & Pop's.
Mitch had been talking for some time about the need for a formal organizational chart. Yank had said that
he wouldn't accept any title except Engineer, but even Sam knew that the rest of their responsibilities had
to be better denned. After the waitress had taken their order, Mitch pulled a neatly folded piece of paper
from his pocket and slid it toward the middle of the table. Even before he opened it, Susannah suspected
that it was the organizational chart he had been talking about.
It was illogical to hope that she could retain her position as president. Mitch had far more experience and
was the better choice to head the company. But although she was reconciled to the fact that she would
be demoted, she wasn't going to let Mitch give her an empty title. If it meant another fight, then so be it.
Mitch unfolded the paper and straightened it with his fingers. It was the roughly drawn chart she had
expected, and her eyes first fell on Yank's name written in neat block letters slightly below center. He
was listed as Head Engineer.
Sam gave a hoot of laughter and pointed to his own name. "Chairman of the Board. Yeah, I like the
sound of that."
And then, to her astonishment, Susannah saw she was listed as President and Chief Operating Officer,
while Mitch had appointed himself Executive Vice-President of Sales and Marketing.
Mitch took in the expression of surprise on her face. "Being president sounds impressive, Susannah, but
it'll be mainly dirt work for a long time. I hope you're up to it."
"But you're far more qualified. Why "
"Marketing technical products is what I do best, and it's why you recruited me. I don't want to be
distracted with day-to-day operations. You've said that you're a detail person. Now you're going to have
to prove it."
Her mouth felt dry. Even though this was what she had wanted, she was frightened. They weren't
operating out of a garage anymore. What did she know about running a real company?
Mitch called for a vote, and before the pizzas arrived, she had been officially elected SysVal's first
president.
On a warm and sunny afternoon just before Halloween, Susannah was in the Gamble garage packing up
the last of the equipment. Mitch had been right, she thought, as she slapped a pile of tools in the carton
with a little more force than necessary. Being president sounded a lot more impressive than it was.
Everyone had gone off and left her to do the final cleanup. Yank was working on the prototype, and
Mitch had flown to Boston to see his children. Sam was supposed to be helping her, but he had run off a
couple of hours ago and not returned.
In the past two weeks she had been able to handle most of the emergencies that had popped up, and the
company was still running. Although Yank continued to grumble about the way the three of them had
strong-armed him into leaving Atari, the work on the prototype for the self-contained computer was now
progressing much faster. They had hired a talented engineer from Homebrew to design the power supply,
and spent hours debating what they would name the machine. All of them had discovered they liked
images that had to do with heat and fire. After much discussion, they voted to name the machine the
Blaze.
Sometimes as she studied its emerging circuitry, Susannah found herself remembering the evening at the
playground with Sam. Do you know what Yank's machine is going to give you? he had told her. It's
going to give you courage. In a funny way, Sam's prophecy had come true.
As if she had conjured him with her thoughts, he poked his head in through the garage door. His hair was
even longer now than when they'd met. At night, when she was naked, she liked to comb it through her
fingers and pull the inky strands across her breasts.
"It's about time," she said grouchily.
He grinned like a kid who'd just gotten away with something. "Sorry. Things to do."
"I'll bet. You've probably been out joy riding."
Removing the wrenches she was holding, he cupped her bottom and pulled her hips forward so that their
jeans rubbed together. Then he kissed her. "You're sounding like a nagging wife. Come to think about it,
that's not a bad idea. Go get your face washed. We're getting married in half an hour."
Her head shot back. "What?"
He grinned. "It's all arranged. Mom just left to pick up Yank, and they're meeting us at the tire
playground. I like the idea of doing it there. The guy who's marrying us is the brother of this guy I know.
He's got another ceremony at one o'clock, so we sort of have to rush."
She stared at him.
He stepped back, tilted his head to one side and gave her that cocky I-dare-you look. A police siren
whined in the distance. She could see him waiting for her protests, waiting for her to give him a long list of
all the sensible reasons they couldn't do something this impulsive. She thought of the hundreds of phone
calls and endless rounds of appoint-ments that had gone into the preparations for her wedding to Cal
all those intricate, elaborate, ultimately useless preparations.
Although she had known him only six months, her mind refused to consider the possibility of a future
without Sam. She needed to touch his skin and breathe his air for the rest of her life. "All right," she said
breathlessly. "I'll do it."
He let out a whoop of delight and drew her back into his arms. "God, I love you." He pulled her into the
house, where he barely gave her five minutes to comb her hair and dab on a few cosmetics. She
substituted a purple gauze blouse for her T-shirt, but before she could unfasten her jeans to exchange [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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face like red flags, and pushed her into another universe with his lusty lovemaking. With Sam, she could
be bold and strong. Without him But she couldn't bear to think about life without Sam. Left on her
own, she would probably crawl back into her proper hollow shell and stay there until she died.
She realized that the events the night Mitch had joined the company had changed their relationship. Both
of them sensed that they had nearly lost something precious. Ironically, Sam was the one who had begun
to press the idea of getting married. Being Sam, he had painted word pictures for her of what their
marriage could be the endless possibilities of a union both spiritually and physically sublime, the power
of that sort of synergy, the unlimited potential of the joining of matched minds. As always, his rhetoric
had mesmerized her. They had even gone so far as to apply for a marriage license and to get their blood
tested. But then Susannah had found office space and everything else stopped.
They christened the wall with a six-pack of beer that evening and spent the next day moving in. At ten
that night, dirty and exhausted, they made their way to Mom & Pop's.
Mitch had been talking for some time about the need for a formal organizational chart. Yank had said that
he wouldn't accept any title except Engineer, but even Sam knew that the rest of their responsibilities had
to be better denned. After the waitress had taken their order, Mitch pulled a neatly folded piece of paper
from his pocket and slid it toward the middle of the table. Even before he opened it, Susannah suspected
that it was the organizational chart he had been talking about.
It was illogical to hope that she could retain her position as president. Mitch had far more experience and
was the better choice to head the company. But although she was reconciled to the fact that she would
be demoted, she wasn't going to let Mitch give her an empty title. If it meant another fight, then so be it.
Mitch unfolded the paper and straightened it with his fingers. It was the roughly drawn chart she had
expected, and her eyes first fell on Yank's name written in neat block letters slightly below center. He
was listed as Head Engineer.
Sam gave a hoot of laughter and pointed to his own name. "Chairman of the Board. Yeah, I like the
sound of that."
And then, to her astonishment, Susannah saw she was listed as President and Chief Operating Officer,
while Mitch had appointed himself Executive Vice-President of Sales and Marketing.
Mitch took in the expression of surprise on her face. "Being president sounds impressive, Susannah, but
it'll be mainly dirt work for a long time. I hope you're up to it."
"But you're far more qualified. Why "
"Marketing technical products is what I do best, and it's why you recruited me. I don't want to be
distracted with day-to-day operations. You've said that you're a detail person. Now you're going to have
to prove it."
Her mouth felt dry. Even though this was what she had wanted, she was frightened. They weren't
operating out of a garage anymore. What did she know about running a real company?
Mitch called for a vote, and before the pizzas arrived, she had been officially elected SysVal's first
president.
On a warm and sunny afternoon just before Halloween, Susannah was in the Gamble garage packing up
the last of the equipment. Mitch had been right, she thought, as she slapped a pile of tools in the carton
with a little more force than necessary. Being president sounded a lot more impressive than it was.
Everyone had gone off and left her to do the final cleanup. Yank was working on the prototype, and
Mitch had flown to Boston to see his children. Sam was supposed to be helping her, but he had run off a
couple of hours ago and not returned.
In the past two weeks she had been able to handle most of the emergencies that had popped up, and the
company was still running. Although Yank continued to grumble about the way the three of them had
strong-armed him into leaving Atari, the work on the prototype for the self-contained computer was now
progressing much faster. They had hired a talented engineer from Homebrew to design the power supply,
and spent hours debating what they would name the machine. All of them had discovered they liked
images that had to do with heat and fire. After much discussion, they voted to name the machine the
Blaze.
Sometimes as she studied its emerging circuitry, Susannah found herself remembering the evening at the
playground with Sam. Do you know what Yank's machine is going to give you? he had told her. It's
going to give you courage. In a funny way, Sam's prophecy had come true.
As if she had conjured him with her thoughts, he poked his head in through the garage door. His hair was
even longer now than when they'd met. At night, when she was naked, she liked to comb it through her
fingers and pull the inky strands across her breasts.
"It's about time," she said grouchily.
He grinned like a kid who'd just gotten away with something. "Sorry. Things to do."
"I'll bet. You've probably been out joy riding."
Removing the wrenches she was holding, he cupped her bottom and pulled her hips forward so that their
jeans rubbed together. Then he kissed her. "You're sounding like a nagging wife. Come to think about it,
that's not a bad idea. Go get your face washed. We're getting married in half an hour."
Her head shot back. "What?"
He grinned. "It's all arranged. Mom just left to pick up Yank, and they're meeting us at the tire
playground. I like the idea of doing it there. The guy who's marrying us is the brother of this guy I know.
He's got another ceremony at one o'clock, so we sort of have to rush."
She stared at him.
He stepped back, tilted his head to one side and gave her that cocky I-dare-you look. A police siren
whined in the distance. She could see him waiting for her protests, waiting for her to give him a long list of
all the sensible reasons they couldn't do something this impulsive. She thought of the hundreds of phone
calls and endless rounds of appoint-ments that had gone into the preparations for her wedding to Cal
all those intricate, elaborate, ultimately useless preparations.
Although she had known him only six months, her mind refused to consider the possibility of a future
without Sam. She needed to touch his skin and breathe his air for the rest of her life. "All right," she said
breathlessly. "I'll do it."
He let out a whoop of delight and drew her back into his arms. "God, I love you." He pulled her into the
house, where he barely gave her five minutes to comb her hair and dab on a few cosmetics. She
substituted a purple gauze blouse for her T-shirt, but before she could unfasten her jeans to exchange [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]