Fiction Fix Seventeen

71
Fiction Fix
with freckles. His cargo shorts hit below the
knee. As far as Bill could tell, Danny’s wardrobe
was much like his own: a winter pair of
shorts and a summer pair.
“I was looking for you,” Bill said.
Danny gave Bill a big brother’s pat on the
shoulder. “I need an extension cord. Hey,
you look thin, bro, you okay? I was noticing
yesterday.”
“Just working too hard.”
“I heard your design is delayed again.”
Danny coiled the cord into a loop around
his elbow and thumb.
“Only a month late.”
“I can’t do my part until yours is done.
Come on, share the wealth.”
Bill sensed Danny’s ego wrestling for space.
Jealous, prying eyes, like Danny’s (Salary
Level 7) Programmer eyes were a constant
problem. It was a fact, not Bill’s paranoia.
Valley people expected to cash in big on
somebody else’s patentable innovation. So
the very idea of sharing, caring, or coming
to someone’s rescue—ha!
“I saw you with Sylvia,” Bill said.
“No big deal. Personal.”
“Personal?” Bill flailed his arms. “Talk to
me.”
Danny had never held out before, but rather
than fire up his prick routine, Bill drew on
skills previous HR ladies had forced on him.
From courses like: Join the Team and Avoid
Self-Sabotage. There were others too, dozens
of time management seminars, oh, and total
time-sucks like: Quick Confidence and Face
Your Fears Today. But this was personal, and
corporate bull wasn’t going to work.
Bill should have been pleased Danny was
safe. Instead, he raged with jealousy. Danny
had something going with Sylvia, trumping
his fear of layoffs. God, if Bill was jealous of
Danny, he was desperate. Desperate for what?
He wondered. Job security or the girl? I’m not
even worthy of the girl; forget the girl. She’s trouble.
Danny made lame excuses, but Bill couldn’t
hear. His head hammered with the thought
of interviewing and networking while Danny
made time with the ladies. Suddenly he was
alone in the stockroom. He was thinking out
loud, not able to stop himself from projecting
inside out as he recalculated the cost of
supporting his mother and two dead-beat