Part 2 (2/2)
”Where's Toot delayed,” T J said, overhearing her question as he walked into the booth, sliding the cell phone he'd just been talking on into his pocket ”I told hi commercial Listen, sorry I'ht you some dessert”
T J dropped a white box on the table and looked ery” He pulled her up gently from her keeled-over position and put his hands on her shoulders He looked straight into her eyes and said seriously, ”Aht Okay?”
She blinked her eyes Growing up, she never cried, but she felt tears forht desperately to hold them back
”I don't care what you did or where you ca at the expo and absolutely nothing anyone does or says will change that,” T J went on
A to appease her parent
”I mean, I'm a total asshole who always looks for the worst in everyone, so if I'h, wiping a tear fro, but he was pleased that it see Aet you back in front of your co about code” He led her to the front of the booth, where conference participants had already started to gather
Adam followed them, simultaneously impressed by and jealous of T J's ability to console A that if T J had just finished dinner with his fa around unoccupied somewhere in the hotel Just then, across the room, he spotted the back of a blond head set on a slender frame Lisa!
Adam raced across the room and tapped her on the shoulder ”Lisa!”
”I'm sorry?” He heard a British accent as the woman turned toward hiht you were someone else”
”Not to worry, Adam”
Ada briefly how the woathered around the Doreye booth as A an iPhone in her hand and linking it to her laptop, which was hooked up to a forty-eight-inch Alienware LCD monitor suspended above the booth A television, a radio-controlled toy car, a ed on the table
”I want to be honest about the shortcos of this alpha version,” Amelia said to the crowd ”I haven't yet been able to make Doreye as robust as I want to, which e multiple devices siood patch for now, but there's still a slight lag as Doreye switches between devices The lag is because of the network I ere on 4G Anyway, in the future this shouldn't be a proble”
The crowd sirl's honesty They all watched as she proceeded to open the Doreye app on her iPhone and use it to run the other devices on the table With the swipe of Aed channels before turning off again A brief moment later, the toy car moved in a semicircle and stopped next to the antly operating in concert, and A as h, the microwave shut down A to turn it off Then the toy car startedthe Doreye app She looked at the iPhone in her hand What was going on?
On theas ”in use,” then ”out of use,” and going coan to ?”
”I',” A on”
A ht?” he asked
Amelia looked up at the crowd and blushed ”I' on,” she admitted ”Maybe there's an issue with the network here?” She was desperately searching for an answer ”But that's never been a proble her tools,” a British accent called out froroup parted and the blond who looked like Lisa but wasn't sauntered forward She was glaring at Aly ”It's not the network, it's your progra able to handle multiple devices isn't the only problem It's entirely flawed software”
Amelia's and Adam's jaws dropped Who was this woman?
”She stole the idea from us, but she missed a few details If you want to see the real deal, come with me to the Re the Doreye table empty Adam, Amelia, and T J were stunned
CHAPTER 8:
So T J wanted to do was to go to Shandi Hawkins' ”Moonlight Drinks” reception on the Four Seasons terrace It would be like every other Atherton party-the same faces, the sa the ue a with a few East Coast WASPs interlaced, courtesy of Chad Sebastian Bronson of the Darien, Connecticut Bronsons
The deure out who that woman was and what RemoteX was all about
But, in truth, that was secondary What was really weighing on him noas Amelia, and a deep sense that he'd let her down He should have stepped in, should have been able to help her recover from the malfunction, should have been able to recapture the audience's attention when that woman interrupted
He couldn't explain it, except to say that he'd felt so good, so valuable, earlier in the day when he'd been able to protect A the panel And he'd felt exactly the opposite at tonight's demo
He rolled his head to stretch his neck and pulled up the sleeves of his pale-blue linen button-down so they just covered his elbows Then he took a deep breath and walked onto the terrace with a forced sne fro waiter as he headed to the bar
While he waited for the bartender's attention, a cute brunette in a purple maxi dress approached She was clearly already drunk, the pink cocktail in her hand swirling precariously as she swayed on her heels
”Are you T J?” she giggled
”I areat breasts and would be an easy score-girls at weddings alere
She giggled again ”Actually I already knew that Everyone has been saying you're the guy to reith Chad”
Good old Shandi, prepping all the single girls for his arrival
”Very nice to et you a drink?”
”Yes, please! I'll have another one of whatever these pink ones are” Lauren pointed to the menu where specialty cocktails were listed
He turned back to the bar, ht wouldn't be so bad after all
”Heard about the deh start for the weekend” T J's father suddenly appeared beside him