Page 16 of Stanton Adore

Dad was on the phone. “Good god, he’s gone fucking mad,” he yelled.

I frowned. “Who?” I mouthed at Mum.

“Joshua,” she replied.

Oh shit, this can’t be good, what happened? Do they know? Am I next? I quietly made myself a cup of tea as I listened to the conversation.

“He said what? And then what did you say?” He listened. “And did you tell him that’s ridiculous? Surely he can’t be serious?”

“What?” I mouthed to Mum again.

“Joshua seems to think he’s fallen in love with a girl from Sydney and he’s not going to America.”

My eyes widened. Holy shit. “How do you know this?”

“I’ve been on the phone to Margaret all day on and off. He seems to think he’s transferring to Sydney Uni, apparently to be near this girl.”

My father hung up the phone. My eyes were the size of saucers.

“Who is she?” I whispered.

“Some fucking idiot, no doubt,” my father snapped. Shit, he was really mad. “He’s known her for two frigging weeks, and he’s throwing away an internship at Apple. This is the opportunity of a lifetime; he will never get this chance again.”

I sipped my tea in silence while my parents continued their outrage.

I asked my mum, “Why is America so important?” I was genuinely interested.

“Josh developed an app as a hobby; it was a carb counter for diabetics.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It has ended up being used all over the world. It had to be tweaked a bit, but doctors and hospitals are using it to educate diabetics.”

“What’s an app?” I asked.

“It’s the way computers are heading, something to do with Apple computers, new technology stuff.”

“Oh,” I murmured. “I had no idea.”

“No, and Joshua doesn’t get it. He gave this technology away but if it were designed on the market it would be worth millions.”

My mouth dropped open. “Millions,” I repeated.

“Yes,” said my mother. “Steve Jobs, the founder of this organization, has personally invited Joshua to come and work with him.”

“Who’s Steve Jobs?” I asked.

“He owns Apple, he’s one of the smartest, richest men in the world.”

“And he wants to work with Josh,” I replied. Suddenly, the very serious ramifications if he didn’t go became all too obvious. My dad nodded and I raised my eyebrows. “Shit,” I whispered.

“Exactly.” My father nodded. “Joshua is going to throw his whole future away for a girl he hardly knows and in twelve months down the road will leave anyway.”

“You don’t know that,” I snapped.

“True.” My mother nodded. “But if she did love him, surely she wouldn’t let him give up this chance. He can’t be that stupid, can he?” she muttered to herself as she rubbed her forehead.

I wandered out into the backyard and sat on the back step idly patting Sadie, our cocker spaniel. Shit, this was heavy. I knew I was the girl and part of me wanted to jump off the step and punch the air. He’d missed me, he did love me. I was thoroughly thrilled with myself and trying to stifle the huge grin threatening to cover my face when the phone rang again. I walked to the door to listen to the conversation.