Beyond the Point(56)
Laura paused, and in that moment, Dani assessed that everything she said seemed rehearsed, like she was playing a part for Jim’s benefit. The smart, authoritative businesswoman. Dani wanted to reach over and tell her it was okay to take off the mask. To relax and be herself. Instead, she just listened to Laura’s tight intonation and overconfident up-speak.
“I just want to make sure you have the math brain for what we’ll be asking you to do here,” Laura continued. “It’s research. Statistics, data mining. Dry stuff.”
The news stories Dani had scanned the night before had informed her that E & G was trying to land a five-hundred-million-dollar client, a men’s product line based in France called Gelhomme. She’d already read the job description online, and every line she’d checked off in her mind—she had exactly what they needed.
“Behavioral psychology isn’t dry to me. And, at the risk of sounding overconfident, I’m light-years ahead of any other applicant in terms of understanding the male psyche, simply because of my time at West Point. Honestly, if you want to get Gelhomme’s business, you’re going to need me.”
After a long pause, Jim said, “You understand it will require you to watch men shower?”
“Well, they’ll have on trousers,” Laura said, to clarify. “Swim trousers.”
“Of course,” Dani added. “That doesn’t bother me. The trousers or the showers.” Just wait until Avery heard her job description. The research would have its perks.
Jim grabbed his chin and looked her straight in the eye. “You’ll be based out of Boston,” he said, suddenly shifting the tone of his voice. “It’s going to require sixty, maybe seventy hours a week. And travel—a hundred global interviews in the first ninety days.”
“I understand,” Dani explained. “I’m not afraid of hard work.”
“All right,” he said. “Well in that case, welcome to the team.”
WITHIN THE NEXT half hour, Dani had signed a contract. There was a hefty signing bonus, and somehow, the sight of those zeroes helped Dani breathe a little easier. Earlier in the day, she’d refused to hail a taxi, simply to save a few bucks. But now, exiting the hotel lobby onto the muggy streets of Manhattan, Dani smiled broadly, stepped to the curb, and raised her arm into the air.
“Taxi!”
From: Dani McNalley <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Update
Date: September 1, 2004 17:56:41 PM GMT +01:00
To: Avery Adams <[email protected]>, Hannah Nesmith <[email protected]>
GUESS WHAT?!
I got a JOB!!! Finally. Everyone exhale!
Now get this. I’m moving to Boston. Who’s coming to visit? We can go to Martha’s Vineyard, or whatever yuppie people do around here. I’m so stoked.
PRAISE JESUS, I’m not homeless anymore!
Now . . . you girls give me an update! Are you both feeling settled at Fort Bragg? Still don’t know how you managed to get stationed at the same Army post. I’d be happy for you two if I weren’t so jealous.
Much Love to the Cult:)
Dani
14
Spring 2005 // Fort Bragg, North Carolina
A wire snapped, shooting sparks into the air.
“Shit!” Avery spat. She sucked her finger for a moment, then shook the pain out of her hand. A soldier cutting a large hole in the wall lifted his safety goggles.
“You all right, Adams?” he asked, but replaced his glasses and revved the saw before she could answer.
Looking at the mess of wires in front of her, Avery knew she had to start over. At least with that one, she thought, tracing the cable back to the wall.
“Do we have another five-gauge?” Avery yelled over the noise. No one answered. The team was dispersed around the room, focused fully on their own tasks—breaking through walls, running wires, testing circuits. White dust filled the room like puffs of baby powder.
If Avery had known that joining the Signal Corps would mean managing an electrical construction team, she would have branched engineering, like Hannah. As it was, she could barely program her own television remote, let alone rewire and encrypt an entire building’s communications system. But who wouldn’t jump at the chance to work with the most elite unit in the entire Armed Forces?
“As in black ops, D,” Avery had told Dani over the phone several months earlier. “Special Forces.”
“Aren’t they out somewhere hunting Bin Laden?” Dani had asked.
“Yeah, well, I guess the hunt’s on hold,” Avery replied, spooning cereal into her mouth. “They’re home and I’m the cable guy.”
Dani had burst into laughter and Avery had followed suit. It was completely absurd. But Avery lived for the kind of life-changing events that morphed into great stories. Plus, she had a simple philosophy on life: Say yes. Figure the rest out later.
When Avery stepped outside, she took a deep breath of fresh air. New York’s false springs were really just extended winters—snow rarely melted at West Point until mid-April. But spring in North Carolina was proving to be a different experience altogether. The sun warmed her skin. Fresh grass, verdant green, emerged all over post. A cool breeze wafted across her face surprising her with its kindness. Soon, everyone will be discussing their summer plans, Avery thought before she realized that wasn’t true anymore. All of her friends were professionals now. There was no such thing as summer break anymore.