Cristal - Novella by Anne-Rae Vasquez Page B

uncovered
today in Gaza ?” she responded.
    “ After I teach you a few more phrases in Hebrew
and Arabic .” He turned to her and winked. “ Like, I love you,
my sweetheart. ”
    Her cheeks turned several shades of red. Did he
say that out loud? She calmed down when she saw that everyone
was focused on Harry at the front of the room. Harry’s eyes seemed
to bore into hers. He was talking to everyone, but he seemed to
only be looking at her.
    “ I wish we could sneak out of here,” she said
in her thoughts.
    “ Patience, my dear Cristal. Let’s save the world
first and then we can go play.”
    She glanced over at Kerim who reached over
and squeezed her knee.
    Silent conversations—it was weird, but
romantic. Most importantly, it was their little secret.
    ***
    The hotel phone rang, startling her from her
thoughts. She glanced at her watch as she picked up the phone.
Kerim must be in the lobby now.
    “Kerim, I’m on my way down.”
    A deep voice responded, but it wasn’t
Kerim’s. “Ms. Hernandez, this is the hotel concierge. There is an
I.S. agent here who wants to speak with you.”
    Why would a security agent want to speak with
me?
    “Madame, are you still there?”
    She shook her head to clear her
thoughts.“Yes, I am coming down.”

Chapter 17
Joanna Makes Plans
    Zero : The data you sent this morning
should have been encrypted.
    Onyx : It’s been crazy here. Elf man
is riding my back and now I have to do the reports for our whole
team. Thanks a lot for leaving me behind.
    Zero : We need you over there. You’re
one of the best programmers on our team. We’re counting on you to
get the data we need.
    Joanna was about to type something
sarcastic, but paused.
    Zero: I am personally counting on
you.
    Before responding, she thought to herself,
Oh, really? You think I’m that stupid to believe that crap?
    Zero : I’ll contact you again in 10
hours. SYL
    OMG. Seriously? She wasn’t going to let
Harry get away with this. She finished typing an email and sent it
to her friend, Jenna Adams, a journalist for the New York
Times . You wait and see who should have gone to Tel Aviv with
you, Harry, she thought to herself.
    “Joanna, are you on planet Earth?”
    Beaver, the Elf man, was standing at her
cubicle. Just the sight of him made her want to barf. Everyone on
the IT team knew he was a useless dweeb. He wore his senior manager
title as if it were his shield that would protect him from the
truth.
    She rolled her eyes.
    “What do you want, Beaver?” She turned back
to her screen.
    “Shelley wants to see you,” he said with a
sly smile.
    Freak! What does the boss want to see me
about? Why did Harry leave me here to hold down the fort all by
myself?
    “Did you hear me? She’s waiting for you.” He
turned away, waving his hand as if he was summoning his pet
Schnauzer. Her hand tightened around her mouse as she imagined
hurling it right between Beaver’s beady brown eyes.
    He turned his head around and mouthed to
her, “Well, are you coming?”
    She pushed her chair back, stood up and
walked towards him, trying hard not to make a face. He pointed to
his watch with his “hurry up” face and let out an exasperated sigh,
which sounded like air coming out of his rear. Ugh! She let him
walk ahead of her. His royal “highneyness” was enjoying having his
minion follow three steps behind.
    Her cell phone vibrated inside her pocket.
It was a text message from Jenna.
    Jenna: Hey, Joanna, got your email.
What’s up?
    Joanna: You asked me about Harry
Doubt. Have a story about his close friends.
    Jenna: Finally came to your senses,
girl? Come over after work. You still like sushi?
    Joanna: See you @ 6. Will bring
drinks.
    A smile crept onto her face. She shoved her
phone back in her pocket.
    ***
    They were polishing off the contents of
their Bento boxes while sitting around the coffee table,
cross-legged on the floor—like the good old days. She watched Jenna
clearing up the empty food containers and bringing