Page 33 of Like It's 1999

Feigning ignorance, I ask, “Alice? Alice… what is her last name these days?”

“She’s back to Kim.”

As if my heart isn’t going all pitter-patter at the prospect of actually seeing Alice—the woman I’ve chatted with on the phone almost daily for the past month—I do my best to adopt an indifferent tone. “Is she coming to this shindig too?”

She narrows her eyes at me as if she doesn’t quite buy my performance. “She’s supposed to come here straight from the airport, but I haven’t seen her yet.” She scans the ballroom, which is set up more like a business conference than a gala. “I was hoping to get her to talk to one of my local mentees.”

Following her gaze, I don’t see Alice but I do note that mosts guests are dressed for a night out, but instead of drinking and dancing they’re drinking and chatting at the presentation tables spread around the room. Perhaps Kate’s idea is a good one; people can do a little giving back here before heading out for a night on the town.

“Don’t see her.” Kate gives me a quick pat on the shoulder. “Keep an eye out for her, will you? Right now, I have to go make sure that my PowerPoint is ready to go.”

“Wow, look at you all up on the latest technology.”

“Yeah, well, I hope I don’t end up wishing for an old-fashioned slide show. The AV people just keep yammering on about Y2K preparedness. I’m afraid they’re going to screw up my presentation because they’re so afraid of what’s going to happen in a couple of hours.”

“Yeah, you’d better get everyone’s money before the world shuts down at 12:01.”

She shakes her head. “God, I hope this hysteria is unfounded. I’m having a hard enough time wrapping my head around the idea that it’s going to be a whole new millenium tomorrow. Makes me feel old.” She scrunches up her nose before pointing in the direction of one of the tables. “Anyway, you should talk to Randi over there. She wants to create a nonprofit that puts up races—10ks and marathons and stuff—like your company does but with an added element of community building.”

“Good idea.” I nod. “Maybe I can do a little pro bono consulting.”

Her brows rise. “Or you could mentor her?”

“AndI can mentor her.” I shake my head, but she’s got me grinning. It’s good to be back in Boston for lots of reasons, and Kate’s definitely one of them. “Glad to see you’re still good at getting people to do what you want.”

After I grab a Harpoon from the bar—smart Kate has local Boston brews instead of Bud and Michelob—I have a long chat with Randi. She’s got some great ideas about putting together racing clubs for at-risk youth. Like Kate said, my company—god, I love saying that—contracts to organize charity races, but I’m happy to help her out. We exchange phone numbers and plan to meet in the new year. In the year 2000. Wow. Itiscrazy.

What’s even crazier? It was a comment from Alice ten years ago that planted the seed that grew into the business that has me jumping out of bed every morning to get to work. Turns out there are a lot of people who want to run races—for fun, as a fitness goal to work toward, or as a serious competition—so my company makes that happen. I’m still selling things, but getting sponsors is not only easy, it does some good. Since we’ve gone national, I also get to travel.

I’ve been wanting to tell Alice all about it, but working out the prank has taken priority in all of our phone calls. Just as I’m wondering if it’s actually going to happen, since neither Will or Alice is here, my cell buzzes in my pocket. “This is Steve.”

“Houston, we have a problem.”

“What do you need?”

“I need you.”

I look up, and there she is, not ten feet away. Ending the call and shoving my PDA in my pocket, I’ve got her in my arms before I can take another breath.

ALICE

With a chest you can lean on and strong arms that support you without squashing, the man can hug. After what might’ve been thirty seconds or an hour, he steps away. “What can I do?”

Was Hot Steve always perfect and I never realized it? Memories of our two nights together crowd my brain. And other places. However, our shenanigan plans are in danger—not to mention the fact that the guy is married—so I quickly reprioritize and grab his hand to pull him into the hallway. “Operation 2000 is in motion. I need the hard drive so I can switch it for Kate’s. Problem is, she’s on the AV crew like a fly on honey. So I also need a distraction.”

“Yeah, she’s worried about Y2K. And did you hear? Will’s at home. Babysitter malfunction.”

“Got a cigarette?”

“What? You’re the one who got me to quit ten years ago.”

“I did?”

“Yeah.” He crosses his arms, muscles bulging under a nicely tailored suit. “Don’t tell me you smoke now.”

“No. I was just thinking it would complete the picture. Spies conferring and all.”

He taps his watch. “Times a wastin’, missy. We’re minutes from Kate’s presentation. And you know the woman waits for nothing.”

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