Taking Stock Read Online Free PDF Page A

me.”
    Gregg took his cue, thanked her and left twenty-two with a spark of hope.

 Chapter Six
     
    The sun disappeared behind the buildings leaving the streets blanketed in long damp shadows. A few hours earlier, office workers had been penned up in row after row of ten-by-ten boxes, twenty, thirty, even forty stories high. The sidewalks that had brimmed with primped masses were mostly empty now. Moms and dads had scurried out to the suburbs to get the kids. The younger crowd that remained churned energetically in bars scattered every block or two throughout the financial district.
    Eric a rounded the corner carrying a warm box of veggie smothered pizza that would sustain her through the late hours and into the morning. Jovial voices drew her attention halfway down the block. A group of twenty revelers spilled out of the International and onto Pearl Street . She recognized two women in their early twenties that had worked for her in client services and she detoured over to say hello. Other familiar faces appeared in the group as she drew near. Soon Gregg pushed his way through the crowd and stopped a few feet from Eric a.
    The women moved along reluctantly as if they’d been given some secret signal to get lost, but didn’t want to. Eric a and Gregg stood firm in the middle of the jostling, joking group that enveloped them as it moved along Pearl Street .
    “You’re going the wrong way aren’t you ? ” Gregg asked.
    “That depends where you’re headed.”
    “It’s seven thirty on Friday night. You’re not going back ? ” Gregg indicated the gray concrete building across the street.
    Two younger girls drifted back from the group to watch their conversation from a safe distance.
    “Your fans are waiting.”
    “This is the client services crew. We do this every couple months. Same as ever.”
    “I know who they are. No one from Bob’s group though, shame.”
    “Funny. We’re meeting Bob at The Rack. You should come.”
    “You already have both hands full of twenty-somethings. How are you going to have time to talk to me ? ”
    “I don’t date women from the office,” he choked.
    “Really. I wasn’t sure that was a problem for you.”
    “You know everyone here works in client services. If they worked in another department it might be different.”
    “Convenient. Sounds plausible, but not too limiting.”
    “You love making me suffer, don’t you ? ”
    “You make it way too easy.”
    “The Rack will be fun. You could let loose for a change. Whatever you’re going back for can wait.”
    “Looks like you’re going to have plenty of fun without me.”
    “Don’t you want to see all your old pals ? ”
    “Yeah, but I want to keep my job more.” She raised a hand to her forehead in a mock salute. “I’ve got bugs up to here and I’m running out of time. Even working seven days a week I don’t think we’ll be ready for go-live.”
    Gregg took a half step toward the office. “I am your number one beta user. We could talk systems stuff if that would make you feel better. You know how much I love veggie pizza.”
    For a second Eric a thought he was going to invite himself upstairs, and for a second she thought she wanted him to. He waited then took one tentative step back and then another. The girls behind him released a collective sigh.
    “Sbarro’s only two blocks from The Rack,” she said.
    Gregg wished her well, turned, and joined the group waiting for him near the corner.
    Eric a crossed the dark street and made her way up to her office. She found herself staring at the whiteboard holding a half-eaten slice of pizza, not quite seeing the neat handwritten tasks. She’d never been the life of the party, but before joining Brad’s team she wouldn’t have passed up an invitation to shoot pool and listen to a new band with her friends. The career she’d chosen left room for little else. Trading security for a bit of fun had never bothered her before. This was the first time she’d