Page 9 of The Gambler

I think he just said Big Pharma.

The horror!

“You sold my software to Big Pharma?” Even speaking those words was like listening to the sound of nails going over a chalkboard.

He scrunched his noise. “Yoursoftware? Technically, it’s the university’s software.”

That was when she jumped out of the chair. “Excuse me?”

“Calm down, Tess. There’s no need for you to wave your hand in my face. And must you wear those leather gloves on campus? You look like a juvenile delinquent.”

Kick his ass.

Do. Not. Engage.

Yes. You. Should.

“I want to shove my finger in your eye right now, Trev. My leather-clad finger.”

“I wish you would be more rational about this. Youdiddevelop that program with the intention of selling it, did you not?”

“Yes, but—”

“Shh.” He put a finger to her lips. “There are no buts in business, dear. Either way, the deal is done. Don’t worry, you’ll get your cut.” Again, he cleared his throat. “Once I get mine, of course. It can take over a month though. You don’t know how corporate America works, but surely, they will want to test the software over and over. Only when they are completely satisfied will they pay a bigger advance.”

She slowly pushed his finger away and took a step back, sizing her boyfriend up as if she were just seeing him for the first time.

Trevor Miller. Her former college professor, pushing forty but in his tweed jacket, looking like fifty. A brilliant mind. They had been together for nearly six months. During that period, he’d praised her for her work. Praised her for her brain and could actually follow her train of thought when she explained something to him. A rare occurrence in a male she encountered. Usually, men were attracted to her for the wrong reasons and ran for the hills the moment they discovered she was smarter than them.

After having to dumb herself down for her first two boyfriends, and giving up on the dating scene for years, she’d believed she’d found a kindred spirit in Trevor. Yes, he was a bit spoiled and stuffy, but who was perfect anyway? She certainly wasn’t. With the way she was raised, it was a miracle she even had friends. People didn’t like being told the truth to their faces. The radical honesty approach she grew up with had its benefits, but it had even more side effects. Thing was, how did you break nurture? Telling it as it were was incredibly liberating, and if more people would embrace that way of life, surely the planet would be a much better place.

The planet.

He has sold my work to the kind of company that sponges off diseases and kills the planet.

“Selling my program behind my back was a dick move, Trev. This is why you told me the meeting was in the afternoon. But it wasn’t, was it? I bet it took place this morning, like it was initially planned.”

“I don’t like your tone, Tessa.”

“I hate it when you call me that and you know it. Which makes this yourseconddick move today.”

“Perhaps you should go home. I need to consider if I can live with my girlfriend calling me a dick.”

“I call bullshit. It’s not the first time I called you a dick. It is, however, the first time I did after you sold my program. Which brings me to the logical conclusion that since you don’t need me anymore, you’ve decided to dump me.” His second of hesitation was all the evidence she needed. “You know what? Don’t bother.I’mdumpingyou.” She snapped the laptop shut, put it back in her bag and gave him her back.

The rat bastard had used her. Stolen her source code. She couldn’t believe it. Not only was he a stealing bastard, but he’d sold it to her nemesis, Big Pharma. There weren’t enough expletives in the world to squelch her rage.

She was going to go nuclear on his ass! T-girl was not one to be trifled with. Of course, Trevor didn’t know about her extra-curricular activities. Or that she had the means to obliterate his digital existence. Had he known the shitstorm she was about to unleash on him, he would be peeing in his pants.

“Oh, come on, Tess!” he yelled after her. “You know you could’ve never got this done the way I have. You are the smartest person I know, but you just don’t have my business skills. We both know you’re a bit um… quirky. And I can’t do quirky anymore.”

She whipped around and glared at him. “Weird. You were going to say weird.”

With a swift motion of her hips, she gave him her back again, imagining herself walking out like a badass, head held high. When she turned the corner, though, she stepped into a pool of water, tripped, and landed on her butt. Her misery didn’t end there, of course. While bracing herself, her arms ended up in the bucket the janitor was using to swipe the floor with. It effectively caused her custom-made digital watch, Pops’ gift, to blink and bleep.

Inside her head, a mini bomb exploded, blaming Trevor for everything bad that had befallen her today. It didn’t take long for her to plot his demise.

Lock and load, young Padawan. T-girl will strike back.

---