17. Talia #2
He tilted his head to the left, cracked his neck, tilted it to the right and cracked his neck again. Then he shook out his shoulders like he was gearing up for a big workout.
A little strange, but Talia would see where it went.
She knew plenty of people who had small, quirky procedures they had to run through before getting down to business.
A novelist friend of hers had to light a candle and open two fortune cookies before she could start writing each morning.
One of the engineers at Ideal Life sang “Scotland the Brave” before he fired up his computer.
And Sam had his no-distractions, total-immersion routine before poker tournaments.
“So, I’ve always loved the water,” Thaddeus began. “See, I’m a competitive swimmer—I’m on the team at Stanford—and I’m also majoring in earth systems there with a focus on oceanography.”
“Wait, did you say you’re majoring in earth systems?” Talia took a step backward from the bar. “As in, you’re an undergrad?”
Thaddeus’s eyes widened. “Yeah, but don’t worry! I’m twenty-one, totally legal for everything! I’ve always been told I had an old soul, and I’m really into mature women.”
Talia almost gagged on mature women. “I just… no, sorry, I can’t do this,” she said. “You seem smart and nice, Thaddeus, but this isn’t going to work.”
“But—”
She turned the watch crown back again.
This time, she spent half an hour with an age-appropriate chief technology officer who seemed great until he mentioned that he still lived with his mom.
On the next rewind, Talia chatted with a carpenter who liked talking too much about wood, a crypto bro, and a guy who had come straight from a forty-mile bike ride and smelled like it.
No, no, and no.
And yet, she didn’t know if she had it in her to reset the clock again.
She’d been turning the watch dial slowly, but even so, the scenery around her still spun every time, and a baseline level of nausea was settling into the bottom of her stomach.
A faint fog of fatigue was beginning to float around her head as well.
A pattern was establishing itself clearly—moving through time was not without physical toll.
Maybe she should just call it a night. After all, even with a numbers game, there was no guarantee that you’d win on the first try.
Talia wondered what Sam was up to right now.
She briefly considered calling him to find out but then decided she didn’t want to bother him.
He was probably doing something cozy yet so very typically Sam, like curling up in his armchair and reading Dostoyevsky or…
What was the name of that philosopher he’d mentioned recently? Alain de Button? Botton?
She snagged a few of the petit fours that were being circulated on dessert trays and wrapped them in a napkin, then headed to the front of the hotel.
As she waited for her car to be pulled up—the Manzanita & Oak did free valet for those who’d participated in the Techie Singles Mixer—she unwrapped the napkin and nibbled on a small chocolate tart.
“That’s probably the best part of the night, huh?” a woman said as she handed her ticket to the valet and unfolded her own napkin, revealing a selection of petit fours.
Talia laughed.
“I’m Evangeline,” she said. “I’d offer you my hand to shake, but it’s occupied right now.” Evangeline raised a small square of lemon cake as a kind of toast instead.
“Totally get it,” Talia said, raising her own half-eaten chocolate tart.
“Did you meet anyone promising in there?” Evangeline asked.
Talia shook her head. “Proud of myself that I made an effort, though. I’m usually too busy for it.”
“Same.”
“Where do you work?” Talia said. “I’m at a startup, and the hours are relentless. I love it, though.”
“I’m actually not in tech. I’m an independent journalist.”
“Oh yeah? What outlet?”
Evangeline gave Talia a sly smile but didn’t say anything.
Talia’s eyes widened. Could she mean Your Gossipy Tech BFF?
Of course, no one knew the identity of the writer behind Your Gossipy Tech BFF, but besides scoops on dramatic boardroom power struggles, scrapped IPO plans, and big product disasters before they went public, there was also plenty of dish about who was dating whom.
“I love your work,” Talia said.
“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Evangeline said. “But women in tech are still too few and far between, and we have to stick together, so let me know if you ever want to connect and grab coffee.” She fished a business card out of her purse and gave it to Talia.
Evangeline Gray
Journalist
“Wow, this is old-school,” Talia said, turning the heavy card stock in her hand. “I don’t think I’ve seen a physical business card in the last decade.”
Evangeline laughed. “Everything we do is digital these days. It just seems nice to have something real to hold on to. But of course, Silicon Valley being what it is, there’s a QR code on the back to my LinkedIn profile.”
The valet pulled up with Talia’s car, a beat-up purple Honda Accord she’d had since her grad school days.
“Well, it was great to meet you, Evangeline.”
“Likewise. And good luck with Ideal Life.”
It wasn’t until Talia was driving away that she realized she’d never mentioned the name of her startup to Evangeline.
Talia laughed out loud.
The mystery writer of Your Gossipy Tech BFF really did know everything and everyone.