Lex comes closer to me to put his warm hand over my shoulder, encouraging more than intimate. “Don’t stress about it. This morning, I read that focusing on some random point across the room helps.”
It’s surprisingly sweet to know he’s been doing research for me, and I listen as he tells me everything he can remember. His voice has a soothing effect that I can’t comprehend.
“Everything’s ready,” the sound guy interrupts. “You can go whenever.”
I can do this. I’ll nail this for Narnia and for Aslan. And for Kelex, too. Lex gives my shoulder one last gentle squeeze and lets me go.
Before I know it, I’m walking on the stage, trying to look casual despite my overbearing nervousness. A surge of adrenaline peaks through me, making me almost shake. Lex suggested getting in a good headspace, so I summon the memories of this morning, away from the world, with just him, me, and a bed. It works wonders, and I now dare to look at the people in the room. Oh, three hundred people aren’t that many. For some reason, I thought it would be way more.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Andrea Walker, junior developer at Kelex,” I start with a smile, my gaze fixed just above the public’s heads. “So, there’s been a slight change of plan, and I’m not here to present the amazing braille solution my colleagues developed as it says in the leaflet, but a revolutionary app meant to help out millions of Americans, as well as dozens of millions of people worldwide once we expand.”
Before I dive into my app, I give a quick presentation of Kelex, the company’s goals, purpose, values… It’s the polished PR pitch the communication team sent me.
“In their pursuit to improve the lives of people with disabilities, Kelex recently acquired an app meant to act as American Sign Language’s Rosetta Stone. ASL is one of the numerous sign languages that exist around the world. With one million Americans who are functionally deaf, over ten times more who are hard of hearing, and one in eight who has measurable hearing deterioration in both ears, hearing loss is the third most common chronic health condition in the US.” I take a short break, remembering I should move around.
“These stats are growing because of various factors—including exposure to loud noises. And they are growing fast. The number of Americans with hearing loss grew by over 100 percent from 1971 to 2000 when the population only increased by 30 percent. And it’s not only aging people who are becoming deaf. One in five kids suffers from some form of hearing damage, and the numbers are also increasing for teenagers.
“Some of those kids will be lucky enough to grow up in families who will learn ASL to interact with them. But ninety percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents, and an alarming number of families will never bother to learn it. It can be out of denial or because they want to raise their child in an environment they deem ‘normal.’ This results in isolation and a secluded childhood,” I explain, feeling myself grow a little emotional. Thank God we never did this to Rafa. “What we aim to do here is to not only help people learn ASL with a process that will make it easier for everyone. It’ll also allow deaf and hard of hearing people to communicate with whoever, whenever they want, via a solution more organic than writing their words down.”
I’m actually feeling great. The adrenaline is doing its job, and I’m speaking with ease and clarity, addressing the public, moving around, smiling… I get into some coding technicalities, and I can see the subject interests most of them.Those nerds…Most of my jokes land, and I decide it’s thanks to my fantastic sense of humor, rather than being a woman when most are men.
“We all know hand recognition is particularly tricky. Facebook has worked on it for a while for their controller-free Oculus experience, so if any of you work for the social media titan, you’ll get what I mean. Now, you have to realize ASL actually uses way more than hands. We are talking movements of the face, torso, and arms as well,” I reveal, feeling quite proud of myself for developing such an app. I’m not exactly bragging, but almost.
Time flies by, and everything goes as smoothly as it can. The visuals are displayed without an issue, I don’t forget anything, no one is getting up and leaving…
The live demo approaches, so I peek at the side of the stage to make sure Mason is ready. Instead of seeing him about to come up here, I catch him ripping his mic off and shoving it in Lex’s hands before running away with a hand over his mouth, about to be sick.
What the shit?
What’s happening?
Oh God, what am I supposed to do now?!
Ialready knew it, but fuck, this woman is incredible. She was a little tense earlier, but it’s all gone now, and she moves with confidence around the stage, her brilliant mind shining for all to see. The crowd is mesmerized by her presentation, just like I am—even though I’ve heard it several times already.
My chest is full of what must be pride as I watch her explain her application to the world. She has never felt as uniquely brilliant as she does now, and I find myself wondering how I got lucky enough to have her on my team. More importantly, I wonder why this woman somehow wants me to the extent she does. She could have any man she wants with her incredible physique and even better mind, yet I’m the one she picked. For now, at least.
I’m entirely absorbed by her performance when Mason suddenly slams his mic system on my chest and bolts off with a hand plastered on his mouth. Andrea notices, and shock widens her eyes. Fuck, he was supposed to join her on the stage in a minute.
“Go get Oliver,” I hurriedly sign to Joseph, who immediately complies.
Andrea’s panic makes her stumble on her words, her speech now stilted. Oliver will take too long to arrive, so her stellar presentation will now be remembered as a poorly organized failure. I can’t let all her hard work go down the drain like this.
“Put this on me,” I ask one of the stage managers, showing him the mic.
He swiftly moves into action and pins the mic on my jacket, and I help him slip the transmitter into the inside chest pocket. Just as he turns it on, Andrea looks to the side again and sees what’s happening. Once more, she isn’t very good at containing her surprise. But she recomposes herself quickly and clears her throat.
“Alright, enough chit-chat,” she tells the public. “We’re going to proceed with a live demonstration to show you the extent of the application’s capacities.”
After one deep breath, I shake my nervousness away and step onto the stage with the phones and improvised holder. My eyes are fixed on her as she introduces me. “This is my boss, Alexander Coleman, co-owner of Kelex.”
I give the crowd a vague hand wave, looking above the public, and then back at her.
“So, who in the room has some basic knowledge of ASL?” she asks the audience. A few of them raise their hands. More than the average. “For the ones who don’t know about it, you have to understand that when using sign language, you aren’t formulating standard sentences. It is an entirely different procedure that is extremely complex to cram into an algorithm. Even the most basic sentences can be signed in several ways. And facial expressions can also add meaning to what’s being said.”
Andrea explains what’s happening as I settle the phones on a high table someone from the backstage crew brought. “Now, we could be in a bar, workplace, public service building… The idea is that all you need are two smartphones and a holder. Or not even if you’re a bit of a MacGyver and can improvise something to keep them standing.”
All of my focus is on her, and it somehow helps with my nerves.
