"I just wanted to touch based to let you know I'm going to need to make some rather expensive purchases in very short order. The deadline for replacing all of the faulty and outdated equipment is extremely short. I need to know if this is going to present any issues for your department," he explained.
"Ms. Villamor spoke to me this morning to fill me in on the project. I have been authorized to support any and all purchase orders you submit to the department... as long as it pertains to technology and software for VRL," she finished with a coy grin.
He smiled in return. "I guess I'd better cancel that beer fridge and foosball table order. I do have a more immediate requirement though. I have no computer of my own and I need to pick one up this morning. Is there a company credit card I can use for that?"
"Ah, yes. I can take care of that immediately." She placed her thumb against a desk drawer and there was an audible beep and click. She pulled the drawer open and looked inside to pull out a black and gold credit card. She turned to her terminal and tapped out something on the keys. "Ok, it's activated. There is no credit limit on this so again, only purchases for VRL. We watch the bills very closely. Don't even add a pack of gum to the invoice. Alright?"
"Understood! Thank you!" Stanley said and accepted the card from her hand and added it to his wallet. When he looked back at her she was still smiling at him. "Congratulations on your promotion and thanks again."
"Anna and I are looking forward to working with you Stanley!" she said standing up to shake his hand once more.
"Same here," Stanley said and made his way out of the office. He nodded to Anna and made his way to the elevators and down. He stepped out and headed left as his favorite tech shop was only a few blocks away. He kept his eyes open and left himself space when he crossed alley ways. He had no intentions of being grabbed again.
It didn't take him long to select a machine that would meet his needs and soon he was heading back to the office with his purchases. He felt eyes on him as he walked along the street and glanced over his shoulder a few times but it could have just been paranoia due to carrying the expensive equipment along the street in bags that advertised where he'd just shopped.
As he stepped up to VRL's glass doors he saw the distinctive shape of the car from last night's abduction attempt reflected in the glass. He spun to see its tail lights move off down the street. He went inside and headed directly to the security office. They buzzed him in.
"Is Mr. Duncan in?" he asked a man watching the bank of monitors. The man simply pointed towards his office.
The door was open so Stanley knocked on the door jamb. The Security Chief looked up and smiled.
"Mr. Garin! How are you this morning?"
"I'm good! Better. Do you have a second?" Stanley asked.
"Sure. Close the door and pull up a chair," the large man said gesturing to the seat in front of his desk.
Once he was seated he suddenly felt silly for wasting the Chief's time. "It's probably nothing... but on the way back from the store I think I was followed by the same car that was used in the attempted abduction last night."
Mr. Duncan looked at him until he began to squirm. "You think or you know," the big man asked.
"You're right, I'm just being paranoid," Stanley apologized and began to rise.
"I didn't say that. Did you see the car this morning or not?"
"I did."
"Where?"
"Driving slowly past the front of the building."
"When?"
"Just a few minutes ago."
Mr. Duncan turned to his computer and selected the camera feed on the street in front of the building. Stanley winced at the low-res quality of the image. Mr. Duncan nodded his agreement with a growl. He rolled the time back on the camera until Stanley could be seen holding the bags. He slowed the reverse until the back end of the car could be seen. He froze it there. There was no way they could read the rear plate.
"This car?" Duncan asked.
"Yes."
"Pretty distinctive. Very expensive. One is owned by someone Ms. Villamor knows quite well. I'll let her know he's still a problem. She can deal with him. Thanks for bringing this to my attention."
"Oh! Great! Well... thanks and I'll see you around," Stanley said as he definitely got the impression that their little chat was over.
He was almost out the door when he turned back. "Can you send me a count of how many cameras you intend to upgrade?"
"Sure."
Stanley nodded and headed upstairs. When he reached his office, Siobhan looked up from her desk. She smiled when she saw the packages he was carrying.
"Oh! You've bought yourself a new computer! Is it the ultimate gaming rig with all the megabytes and the video thingy."
"Video thingy?" Stanley asked.
She waved her hand dismissively. "My younger brother is always going on about the floppity flips or the Giga-whatcha-ma-call-its! He likes to play games and is saving up for his ultimate gaming rig."
"Oh, well... no. This is strictly a business machine. I won't be playing any games on it. I actually don't play video games," he replied with a shrug.
"You don't- My, aren't you a serious young man!" she said with wide eyes and a smile.
Stanley grinned smugly. "I guess that's what it takes to become CIO and have a lovely assistant!" His face froze when he heard the words coming out of his mouth. He might have somehow miraculously been cured of his stutters but that didn't mean he was suave enough to pull off a line like that without his face spontaneously igniting.
"Oh my god! I'm sorry-"
"It's alright this time. I'll let you off the hook. But if you're going to get all charming and flirty with me next time I'll feel obligated to tell your true love that you're a bit of a player," she scolded him with a false scowl on her lips.
"True love?" he mumbled in confusion.
"Have you forgotten her already? My, you are a player!" she grinned, enjoying how his face got hotter and hotter. "The lovely Ms. Villamor junior, of course!"
"She's- she's not- I mean... I've got work to do!" Stanley huffed and went into his office. He pulled the notebook PC out and quickly finalized the software install on it to make it usable. He heard a sound from the doorway and looked up to see Siobhan standing there leaning against the door jamb, a contrite look on her face as she bit her lip.
"Yes?" he said, just a bit guarded.
"I'm sorry if I teased you a little too much."
Stanley nodded his acknowledgement of her apology.
"It's just that you were flirting with me so I thought-"
"I'm sorry about that. I really am. Until yesterday I couldn't even look at a pretty girl much less talk to one-" Stanley's voice ran out on him again as he realized he'd just called Siobhan pretty. He gave her an apologetic look and she just nodded her acceptance of the compliment.
"You may not be intentionally flirting but you do know how to make a lady feel special," she said. With a grin she turned and went back to her desk.
Stanley tried to get his head back in the game and the name of the game was saving VRL from its technical debt before it collapsed under its unstable foundation. He connected to the mail server with the credentials Sigrid gave him this morning. Apparently, HR had an interface for defining accounts for their network resources.
He read Ms. Villamor's messages to him with the information he needed on the diesel generator and air conditioning units. He read over the building code restrictions then did some research on units he thought he might need. He wouldn't know the actual requirements until he'd completed his server room design but so far it looked like the building codes weren't going to hinder him.
He'd just begun putting together a list of replacement equipment based on the inventory he and Paloma had created when Sigrid poked her head in his office door.
"Hey, are you ready to look at the condo?"
Stanley blinked at her then looked at the time on his screen. "It's lunch already?"
"Actually, it's one o'clock. I spoke with your pretty assistant earlier and she let me know you'd gone out. I figured you'd need at least an hour to get some actual work done."
He put his face in his hands when he heard her emphasis on 'pretty'.
She grinned. "As head of HR I have to tell you that you're treading some dangerous waters with all this flirty talk. Lucky for you I am the head of HR, I know you're not some kind of player, and I like you."
He pulled his hands away from his face and gave her a defeated look. "My mouth is just as troublesome as it was when I stuttered... just in a different way."
"Come on! Let's go look at the unit I got a line on. The property manager said he would only hold it for us until this evening so we have to look now."