“Come on, I know a great place.”
I follow her to one of the nearby restaurants. Pen snags us a corner booth in an American Diner replica.
“Missing American cuisine already?” I ask drily, only to be rewarded with a grin.
Pen knows I’m not a burger and chips kind of guy. Years of training at Olympic level, I’m cautious about what I put into my body, carefully balancing my diet.
“No.” Pen laughs, her eyes locking on my face, sparkling as she takes in what is no doubt a scowl. “This place serves the best shrimp in London,” she says, handing me the menu. “See for yourself.”
I take the menu. She’s right. The food here looks good.
It’s not long before the waitress comes and takes our order. I copy Pen. She knows I have a weakness for shrimp and seafood. Especially as my daily workout means I need to consume a vast quantity of protein.
Shrimp improves my mood, and right now, I could do with a mood enhancer.
We remain silent until the waitress is out of sight.
“It’s okay, we can talk freely.” She pats her pocket.
Ah, her cloaking device.
“Pen. I don’t know what you think you can do, but I’ve reviewed a large portion of the code changes. There’s nothing obvious. I’ve also checked. The firewall and main security code appear untouched.”
Pen shakes her head as our waitress delivers our drink.
“The code changes have to do something. Or someone has gone to a lot of trouble for nothing,” she says, eyes losing focus, a habitual response to deep thought.
“As I said before, I was investigating when you arrived.”
“So you said. You also said you hadn’t got very far. Two heads are better than one. That’s the reason I’m here.”
One look at her expression tells me I will not win this battle. I have to admit, Pen is one of the best coders I know, or at least she was. If anyone can decipher the additional code, it will be her.
“Shouldn’t you be planning your wedding, attending a dress fitting?”
Pen scowls. “For your information, I was. Until someone called and said I was needed.”
I’m being an ungrateful jerk. I can do with her help, I’m not getting very far by myself and time is running out.
“Fine, you can look.”
I sigh.
Pen grins. “I was going to, with or without your permission,” she says, just as our food arrives. “I didn’t travel all this way for nothing.”
I grunt, making her chuckle. Damn woman, why is she so perky? I think I preferred the moody Pen of old. It’s like we’ve done a bloody role reversal.
We finish our lunch in relative silence. I have to admit, Pen is right, the food is good, and I was hungry.
While Pen excuses herself to go to the restroom, I settle the bill, much to her disgust.
“Look, as you pointed out. You’ve flown all the way over here to help me.”
“But you didn’t ask me to.”
“No, but you did it anyway. The least I can do is buy lunch.”
“Well, thank you.”
