Discovering the differences. Part 3

Philip went in for the next night of work at the normal time. He took the handover, and settled in, looking through the list of items for him to work on. Part of his brain wondered if he would get a phone call. It was left as a very loose suggestion between him and this mysterious woman Elena, and he was telling himself that if he didn’t get a call, then it was not to be. He would move on, continuing with his work.
He was busy for the first few hours, as there was always a long ‘to-do’ list, and he couldn’t help but notice himself looking at the time, as it approached his planned break time - and the anticipated time for the call from Elena.
And then the call came through. He could not assume that it was Elena, so he answered in the professional way he had 24 hours before. There was a silence at first, and then “Good morning, Philip. This is Elena.”
He smiled and laughed. “How delightful! You rang back! Excellent!” He had a huge smile on his face, and he hoped the excitement in his voice carried over the connection. “Elena - I am so pleased that you called again. How are you, after last night? Are you well?”
She chuckled. “Philip, I am well, thank you. I actually had one of the best nights sleep in some time. Are we both able to have a few minutes of clear communication? Are we both alone?”
“I’m fine here. I assume you are, too, otherwise you would not have called.”
“Correct.” There was a pause, then “Philip, I enjoyed last night. It was different for me to be able to have an open, honest conversation. But… But what are we doing Philip? Where is this leading?”
He sensed the shift in the tone, immediately. She was nervous - was she having second thoughts?
“Elena, that’s… an interesting point. Leading? Where might this lead? Truthfully, I have no idea. I can’t predict the future any more than you can. Where is it leading? I think that might be the wrong question to ask, at this stage. Look, Elena, I’m going to jump right in here. We hardly know each other, and last night was just an explore. For my part, I am delighted to be relaxed and in conversation with what sounds to me to be a responsible member of the Dominium. I really felt that we were at ease with each other, and my hope is that we can continue this with the conversations. Where that leads, over the next few days and weeks, I cannot guess. We have already mentioned my worry about messing up, if I ever meet anyone from your world. That is a real worry! I don’t know you well enough right now, but I must assume that you would be concerned about meeting people from Earth, and saying or doing something that might be embarrasing. I get that, and I agree that it should concern both of us, but it should not stop us talking. Us. Just you and me - ” he chuckled. “Like I said yesterday, ‘two old friends’ having a chat. I know that you and I are not yet ‘old friends’, but if we stop talking now, through nerves or whatever, then we will never find out if we actually can’t stand each other, or if we are going to truly grow to be ‘old friends’… or something else. Look, Elena, I don’t know. We are literally from different worlds, you and I. Could this be the start of a beautiful relationship? Could this grow into something absolutely amazing, for both of us? I am thrilled with the possibilities. I am fully prepared to try it - I really, really want to find out where this could lead.”
There was silence from the other end for a few seconds. Philip was beginning to suspect that Elena was someone who thought her responses through first, before airing anything. A very cautious person, he thought.
“Philip. Oh, Philip.” More silence. Give her time, he thought. Let her get her things in order. Then “Philip! My favourite ‘old friend’.” Then laughter. “Sorry, my friend. I was thinking too much into this, and I really need to stop myself from doing that. Philip, you are correct in what you say - I’m sorry, but I think I have just experienced what you call ‘cold feet’. And if I really think about it, I am doing both of us an injustice. So, Philip Kingston, IT Wizard, First Class, if I hear you correctly, and thinking on what we spoke loosely about yesterday, you would be happy to continue with this.. well, I would call it unorthodox, at least - situation? You want me to explain the protocols that we have, what would be expected in terms of behaviour, and more. What that means is that I have to agree to all of this.”
The line went silent again for some seconds, and then she said “Philip, I do agree. It is as you say - if we do not continue, then we will never know where this might lead - and I feel that for us to skip out on that would be a shame. So, Philip, I agree. Oh, wait… I have already said that.”
They both burst out in laughter, each feeling that the initial ice had been broken. Everything from here on in was building - the initial doubts and anxieties were put behind them, and each was looking towards an interesting next few months.
It came to the end of the time, and Philip had to say “Elena, I am truly sorry, but I need to go. There is a mess of things that I really need to work through tonight.”
“I understand, Philip.” She chuckled. “Even though it is the middle of the night, you have a ‘day job’. That is fine.”
“I need to ask a big favour, Elena. I will not be able to take any calls for the rest of the week. We have some major releases scheduled for the last three months, and they absolutely have to happen in the next two nights. I am going to be very busy, and there will be another twenty people here over this time, to help cope with what is needed.”
“I can understand that, Philip. Are we good to continue next week?”
He went silent for just a few seconds. “Elena, I was hoping that we could continue over this weekend. I’m sorry, but I have no idea of your pressures or your schedules - do you have any time this weekend? Before you answer, let me tell you what my circumstances are. I have my apartment. It’s not much, but I call it home. I am single. I was last in a relationship four years ago, and she moved away for work, and I did not go. I haven’t spoken to her in all that time, but we parted on good terms. So it’s just me. After I end the work this week, I will be relaxing at home. If you have any free time, you are very welcome to call me - that’s day or night. I am flexible. I will be completely honest with you, we could probably cover more ground in a single weekend than we could during these ‘bitty’ calls during the week.”
There was laughter from the other end. “Philip, that is a wonderful idea. I have actually had words with people here, those who try their best to arrange my time, and I moved a couple of small meetings over this weekend to next week. What that means is that I am free for a lot of the time. I will still have people buzzing around me for some of it, but I have created some clear slots in my calendar.”
“Elena, you are planning ahead? Did you expect this?”
“No I didn’t, actually. I just felt that I needed a small break from things. The idea of calling you is surely a bonus.”
“Fantastic! This is working out better than I had hoped.” He looked at the clock. “Elena, I need to go. So we leave it until the weekend, and then you can call my private number. Like I say - any time, and we will talk for however long we are comfortable. We could build in lunch or supper… but potentially we could have a ‘working lunch’? That will be up to us, and how flexible we both want to be.” He stopped, and then continued in what he hoped was a warm voice. “I am looking forward to it, but right now I have to go, my ‘old friend’.”
She laughed. “’Old friend’… Good bye, Philip. I will call you at the weekend, you have my word.”
“I look forward to it.” and he ended the call.
So Philip continued with his week - he had been very busy for some months before the initial call, and knew that the window for the upgrades was very small. It had to go in during the next two days or it would be another three months until the next window showed. Philip was precise - he and the rest of the team had covered every possibility that they could, and the events of the next two nights went very smoothly. There were no isses raised, as this was being done by IT professionals - and Philip and the team were all very good at what they did.
That is not to say that there were not tense moments. A few times there were two-hour blocks where the systems were locked, and in each case, if anything went wrong then the whole thing had to be backed out - resetting the clock back to the start.
But all the many days of preparation showed to be worthwhile. So at the end of the week, at the end of the last day, Philip looked around the room at his colleagues. All of the upgrades were done, the new releases were tested and proved to be working.
“Great job, team.” he announced. “Absolutely brilliant job! I am now off to collapse for the weekend. Don’t call me unless the sky falls in” he joked.
He left, and went slowly home. All of the last two days hard work played through his mind as he marked the items in the long list off. When he got to his apartment he was smiling. He was extremely tired, and went straight to bed, feeling exhausted.