Page 58 of Ideal Life

“Well, first I want to say that you continue to impress me. But maybe that’s egotistical, because you remind me of myself at that age. All brainpower and ambition, wanting to change the world.”

Erin’s cheeks pinked. “Wow, thank you—what a compliment.”

“But I know that you want constructive criticism, and if I were in your position, I would ask for it as well. So I just have one suggestion for now, and that’s to pull back on bringing in treats to the office. It’s kind of you and endears you to the rest of the team, but you’ll want to do it sparingly—that way they view you as a future equal who occasionally buys donuts for her colleagues, rather than, if you do it all the time, then it starts to cast you into a certain old-fashioned female stereotype and could be read as subservient. I hate that, believe me, but it is something that can happen. And take this with a grain of salt, because it’s just my very subjective opinion.”

“Noted,” Erin said, typing everything Talia said word for word. “And I can see what you’re saying. There is the world the way it should be, and there is the world the way it is. You’re trying to help me succeed in the way the world currently is, even though we both hope for more change and equality in the future.”

Talia nodded, even though that made the rooftop around her look wobbly, and her stomach flipped. Damn watch.

She paused for a second, then said, “Exactly. And your ability to consider both logic and emotion while keeping them separate when necessary will take you far. So that’s it. Just keep working on that brainstorming project. I look forward to what you come up with.”

Erin tilted her head. “Brainstorming project?”

“The one we just talked about.”

She started typing furiously and squinted at her computer, looking for something.

“I’m sorry, Talia, but… maybe I misfiled the email. I don’t see anything about a brainstorming project.”

Dammit again! Talia had mentioned it the first time—no, the second time?—they’d done this midsummer performance review, but she hadn’t explained it this third time, had she?

“No, Erin, it’s my fault—sorry. I’m feeling a little off this morning. I must’ve thought about the project but not said it out loud. I appreciated your ideas at the recent marketing meeting. It’s smart to expand Ideal Life into your generation, and I’d like you to come up with more ideas we could explore.”

“Oh my gosh, I would love to do that! I mean, thank you, of course, I’d be happy to.”

“Wonderful. Well, that’s all from me. Keep up the great work.”

Erin grinned as she picked up her laptop. “Would you like me to get you a Tylenol—no, wait… Scratch that. Too submissive?” She looked to Talia for guidance. “Or is it good to be nice?”

Talia wondered if she’d given the wrong piece of advice. She didn’t want to break the part of Erin that made her a fundamentally good person. Maybe she ought to rewind again.

But she didn’t think she could do it so soon without feeling more ill. Using the watch at Aquarobics and twice in such quick succession here on the roof (plus the cumulative rewinds overall) seemed to be taking a toll.

“I’ll be okay, Erin. But I appreciate you offering.”

Staying put in the present for the rest of the day grounded Talia again. By midafternoon, she felt steady enough to check the stock markets, which had closed in New York, to see if there was anything she could invest in for her parents.

Last year, as part of their “graduation” from the Ideal Life app and becoming more responsible adults, Vera and Dave had hired an attorney to help them write a will. During that process, they’d also given Talia power of attorney to handle their money. She had opened a brokerage account for them and helped them invest their savings, which wasn’t a lot, but they were only in their early sixties and still had time.

Today, there were no big surprises like when BiomeLabs’ share price quintupled overnight, but there were some mid-cap nontech companies that had done well. Talia noted the exact time of each one’s lowest price earlier in the day, then rewound very, very slowly to before those moments. She bought each stock at the dip for her parents.

If they continued to rise tomorrow, great. If not, she could come back and sell them for a small profit, then take the proceeds and invest in something else.

Talia felt a twinge of guilt.

But it was for a good cause—her parents! And every little bit would help.

If Sam were here, he wouldn’t let Talia accept the rationalization so easily. But he wasn’t here, and she’d already done it. And really, if Sam had his way all the time, Talia never would’ve dove so deep into the tech world because of his post–Nowhere Cat reticence, and she wouldn’t have Ideal Life, and so maybe he wasn’t the best with advice!

Ideal Life Queen Elizabeth: I’m sensing agitation, reflected by higher beta activity and diminished alpha rhythms in your brain activity—

“Dismiss!” Talia shouted, aware that this probably made her alpha and beta bands even more irregular, but sometimes Queen Elizabeth was such a pest.

When Talia got back to present time, a wall of exhaustion hit her. She could hardly think; it was like her brain was lost in a thick, pea soup fog.

The sun dappled through the trees, and a warm breeze made their leaves’ shadows dance hypnotically. Maybe I’ll just close my eyes for a few minutes. There was no one on the roof right now, since lunch had been a while ago.

But then the elevator dinged and the doors opened, and Ideal Life’s chief privacy officer, Sara Trankjaer, stepped out. “Hey, Talia, I heard you were up here. Do you have a few minutes?”