The Desire Variable - Vol. I

【56】The Nerd Herd

The three guys were on the third floor and I was with them. Steven and Brian were on the fifth floor. And Lex was alone on the seventh floor.

My room was five doors after the elevator, so I parted with the guys who kept walking for theirs. I slid my keycard in the handle's slot, and the door unlocked with a satisfying sound. The little time I had was used opening my suitcase, settling a few things in the chest of drawers, and setting my shirts on hangers. After a quick go to the bathroom, I checked on my makeup and hair, before deciding it was the best I could do, anyway.

When I returned to the main hall, only Brian and Steven were there. It wasn't long before everyone arrived, and I noticed Lex holding a large brown envelope. He fished out our passes from it and handed them to us. Each pass was attached to a lanyard with this year's Hello World logo printed on it. We all hooked it over our heads, checking out our names on it.

"To mark the occasion, I also have gifts for everyone," Lex added. We all waited excitedly while he took out something else from his envelope. It took me a few seconds to understand what it was as Lex read something on it and passed it to Mason. It was a business card holder, made of stainless steel and leather. "I know it's old-fashioned, but we figured with Kevin it was time for all of you to have business cards," he explained as he handed one to everyone.

I quickly opened mine and took out a card, proudly looking at it. The design was sober yet chic. The paper seemed to be of high quality. Over the lettering, dots were embossed, and when I checked closer, I understood it was braille. Under my name, there was my Kelex email address, and under that, Kelex's location in Seattle.

"That coloring is bone," Oliver told me with a strange expression. "And the lettering is something called Silian Grail," he continued. I squinted my eyes at him because the words were familiar. When I still didn't have it after a few seconds, he gasped, looking at me with shame. "American Psycho!"

"Oh, right. That weird movie you convinced me to watch but made zero sense," I responded with sarcasm.

"But... it's a classic."

"Which doesn't mean it's good."

"Hmm... I guess you're right. I ended up watching Jaws, by the way. It was kinda good."

I nodded but answered nothing, remembering what had happened the last time we'd talked about Jaws. I had invited him to come home to watch it with me and had ended up kissing him in the car on the way back. The memory of it made me feel guilty toward Oliver, but also Lex. I knew I didn't owe anything to the latter, but I couldn't help but feel some sort of culpability. I looked at Lex and met his gaze for half a second before he turned back to Mason, who was talking to him.

Since it was past noon, we stopped at a steakhouse on the way to Hello World, and Lex offered us all lunch. It really was a lot of fun to be sharing those moments with the guys. We were a tight bunch, and I was blessed to be friends with my colleagues. It wasn't always like this, and I knew that quite often, people didn't consider their colleagues as friends.

With our stomachs full, we walked the short distance that remained to the convention center. We showed our passes to the people at the entrance, went through the metal detectors, did a quick bag content check, and we were in.

The gigantic hall was divided into stands of various sizes, grouped in blocks separated by alleys. Hanging from the very high ceiling, some banners and installations showed the location of the biggest companies. From where we stood, we could see Google, Facebook, Avoss, Blizzard, Microsoft, Apple... So many huge corporations.

We were all energized like overcharged batteries, delighted to be here.

"Everyone," said Lex, claiming our attention. "I can already see all of you with stars in your eyes. Don't go near Avoss, or they'll try to poach you. It happened in the past." Everyone nodded gravely, and I understood one of their old colleagues must have left to work for the internet giant.