Crystal Trino's Journal Sep 19 2006 Entry

September 19. Tuesday Night.

Hi Journey.

Joni’s easy to deal with, but Brady? Well, with him today at first I wasn’t so sure.

Brady came over to fix Dana’s computer. The whole time he was working on it I felt a sub-zero tension between Joni and him. Shelly and I both instantly tiptoed on eggshells.

And Dana wasn’t even in the office when Brady swung by to check if her spyware was updated; she and Viv were out on a pitch--together for a change. Honestly, Journey, I think he really just conjured up an excuse to stop by and see Joni. But he blundered when he bee-lined it to Dana’s machine as soon as he came in.

Hell hath no fury like a pregnant Joni scorned…even if it’s inadvertent. OK, especially if it’s inadvertent, because Brady should have known by this point in their pregnancy to at least glance into Joni’s office and toss out a quick "hi-hon" before he started messing around with his first love.

The hard drive, Journey, not Dana.

Thank the Lord for Shelly. She was sitting at her desk, talking on the phone with Dirk. I guess they call that undertime in a big company; here in our small shop we call it chatting up the boyfriend. And Lord knows as much weekend-time as Shelly puts in, I’ll never get on her case for spending a few minutes rambling on with Dirk.

"Hey Brady," Shelly said.

"Yeah?" His tone was pleasant, but he didn’t pull his eyes away from the screen for a second as his fingers pounced from key to key on Dana’ keyboard.

"Truck your butt over here and check out this crib."

And to his credit he froze his fingers in mid-stroke and walked over to her desk.

"Nice Jenny Lind set, eh?" Shelly said, pointing at the screen. But she also swung around in her chair so she faced away from Joni’s office, then cocked her head backwards ever-so-slightly toward Joni. She tossed Brady a quick wink and a slight smile in one motion.

He bobbed his head up and down agreeably. "Yes. And I love cherry wood. Reflects the light wonderfully."

My heart soared. I guess computer-techies aren’t always lunkheads after all.

Of course, Joni had tracked his movements since he appeared at our entry threshold. She pushed herself back from her desk with both hands and walked over to Shelly’s monitor.

"I need some coffee," Shelly said as she excused herself.

Brady and Joni surfed through a variety of cribs until Shelly came back with a fresh mug. As she passed my office on the way to the coffeepot she smiled proudly. I gave her a quick thumbs-up while the other two were both dreaming of their family’s future.

Peace was restored.

I didn’t even call a Bloom Team meeting today. We can discuss the contest to The London Design Festival next week. Too many client calls and presentations and proposals.

Went for a short run tonight; wore long sleeves but not brisk enough for anything more than my shorts.

Goodnight, Journey