TWENTY-EIGHT
ANNA
What did she get the man who had everything? And nothing.
The Week Before Christmas
I was standing behind E.G.’sdesk while he was pointing at various graphs on one of his monitors. “See that spike, Flowers? What does that tell you?”
“That there is interest in the technology, but that’s it.”
“Exactly right. Spikes over a rolling seven day forecast show interest, not necessarily sustained growth, but it’s a signal to do more research.”
“Got it.”
“I want you to find out everything you can about this company and prepare a report for me.”
“Got it,” I said, as I made a note in my phone.
“So, it’s this Saturday?” he asked, his face still turned to the monitors on his desk.
I knew what he meant. On Saturday, I was taking my driver’s test, both written and driving. If all went well, I’d have an official driver’s license by this weekend.
“Yep.”
“You prepared?”
“I am,” I said, as I came around from behind his desk.
“Maybe we should discuss next steps then.”
“What next steps?” I asked, truly not understanding what he meant.
He wanted me to get a license. I was going to have a license. What else was there?
When he’d initially taken me down to the DMV for my permit, he thought I had to wait six months, but that was only for people under eighteen. The reality was, once I had the permit, and felt prepared to pass my tests, I could take them at any time.
Tanner had been a great driving teacher.
Nothing but the best for E.G.
Now I was ready.
“Are you going to be, in a word,weirdabout this, Flowers?”
“I might be if I had any clue what we were talking about, E.G.”
“The Volvo.”
“What about it?”
“I’m turning the title over to you. You’ll need to get it registered, but then you’ll have one of the safest cars on the road.”
I laughed.
“What?”
“E.G., you can’t give me a car. And don’t start with benefits of the job. I’m pretty sure you weren’t handing out cars to employees previously.”
