Read Online Love Is Strange (A Paranormal Romance) by Bruce Sterling - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Bruce Sterling
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?”
“Because I’m an accountant, that’s how I do it. You do have a fiscal code, right?”
“My codice fiscale? Of course!” She’d had to memorize all sixteen letters and digits.
“That’s great. Well, you won’t be working for me. You’ll be working for a Seattle venture capital firm – Cook, Bishop & Engleman. They’re my associates. My firm always has some Italian paperwork filed — we call them our ‘ghost employees.’ So, when the time comes that we need somebody local around here, we just file a ‘correction’ on the Italian form that we already filed. Then that ‘ghost employee’ turns into a real person. That real person would be you.”
“I see. You’re very clever.”
“No, I’m not. Not really. I learned that trick from the Italians — from those Web boys over at LOXY. The Italians know all the back doors through their own hiring system — that’s the whole point of being Italian. But that’ll work, all right. And it’s totally legal, too. That’s the best part. There’s nothing crooked going on here, I promise. I am offering you a real, legal job. You can declare the income on your Italian taxes. You can put it on your resume. ‘Farfalla Corrado, Senior Trade Consultant for Cook, Bishop & Engleman,’ that would be you.” Gavin drew a breath, then paused. “If you’d like to help me out, that is.”
“Of course I will help you out, Gavin.” The words tumbled out of her before she had time to think. But, well, there it was. Of course, she would help him. It was her life, to help guests and travelers. “What do you want me to do?”
“I need to have a word with the Brazilian Culture Minister. It’s about electronics. It’s rather technical and boring, but it’s very important for my business in Seattle. I know that the Minister can speak some English, but I need to know, for sure, that he really gets what I’m proposing to him.”
“All right. If you can find him, I can talk to him.”
“I’m sure you don’t know too much about obscure electronic circuit boards...”
“I do,” she said, “I’m from Ivrea.”
“Of course, electronics are huge in Ivrea. Olivetti was there, I forgot about that... Well, wow, that’s so totally perfect! It’s amazing, the caliber of fine people you can meet at Italian tech conferences. There is really a kind of cool synergy happening here. I should go to more of these gigs.”
“I go to too many,” she sighed.
“Well, I came to this one just to meet the Minister. The rest of this gig, I can improvise. Except for my own speech, of course. I sure don’t want to blow that one.”
“I can help with your speech,” she promised. Not in ways he would ever expect — but, well, yes. She could help him.
“I don’t want to break my word,” he said. “Professor Milo needs help, don’t you think? No computer! I can’t get over that. She reminds me so much of my grandmother.”
“Your grandmother never used a computer?”
“Well, my grandma was from Seattle, so she used to program for Boeing. But my grandmother — well, she always doted on me. I mean, my mother’s mother. She just lavished her affection on me. She adored me. I took her completely for granted. When I was eleven, she died.” Gavin sighed. “You know how kids are. Kids can never look far ahead. Just as they can’t look far back.”
Farfalla gazed into his eyes. He was sincere. This strange man felt the loss deep in his heart — true grief — for something that had happened so long ago. “You loved your grandmother?”
“I never really knew her. I found it all out later, researching my family history. My mother’s mom worked on the Seattle World’s Fair. She could program in FORTRAN. She worked for Boeing, building fighter jets. An amazing woman and I never knew any of that! I just thought she was my nice grandma who made me snickerdoodle cookies.” Gavin’s brow was knotted. “I hate it when I overlook the obvious. She mattered, and I
“Because I’m an accountant, that’s how I do it. You do have a fiscal code, right?”
“My codice fiscale? Of course!” She’d had to memorize all sixteen letters and digits.
“That’s great. Well, you won’t be working for me. You’ll be working for a Seattle venture capital firm – Cook, Bishop & Engleman. They’re my associates. My firm always has some Italian paperwork filed — we call them our ‘ghost employees.’ So, when the time comes that we need somebody local around here, we just file a ‘correction’ on the Italian form that we already filed. Then that ‘ghost employee’ turns into a real person. That real person would be you.”
“I see. You’re very clever.”
“No, I’m not. Not really. I learned that trick from the Italians — from those Web boys over at LOXY. The Italians know all the back doors through their own hiring system — that’s the whole point of being Italian. But that’ll work, all right. And it’s totally legal, too. That’s the best part. There’s nothing crooked going on here, I promise. I am offering you a real, legal job. You can declare the income on your Italian taxes. You can put it on your resume. ‘Farfalla Corrado, Senior Trade Consultant for Cook, Bishop & Engleman,’ that would be you.” Gavin drew a breath, then paused. “If you’d like to help me out, that is.”
“Of course I will help you out, Gavin.” The words tumbled out of her before she had time to think. But, well, there it was. Of course, she would help him. It was her life, to help guests and travelers. “What do you want me to do?”
“I need to have a word with the Brazilian Culture Minister. It’s about electronics. It’s rather technical and boring, but it’s very important for my business in Seattle. I know that the Minister can speak some English, but I need to know, for sure, that he really gets what I’m proposing to him.”
“All right. If you can find him, I can talk to him.”
“I’m sure you don’t know too much about obscure electronic circuit boards...”
“I do,” she said, “I’m from Ivrea.”
“Of course, electronics are huge in Ivrea. Olivetti was there, I forgot about that... Well, wow, that’s so totally perfect! It’s amazing, the caliber of fine people you can meet at Italian tech conferences. There is really a kind of cool synergy happening here. I should go to more of these gigs.”
“I go to too many,” she sighed.
“Well, I came to this one just to meet the Minister. The rest of this gig, I can improvise. Except for my own speech, of course. I sure don’t want to blow that one.”
“I can help with your speech,” she promised. Not in ways he would ever expect — but, well, yes. She could help him.
“I don’t want to break my word,” he said. “Professor Milo needs help, don’t you think? No computer! I can’t get over that. She reminds me so much of my grandmother.”
“Your grandmother never used a computer?”
“Well, my grandma was from Seattle, so she used to program for Boeing. But my grandmother — well, she always doted on me. I mean, my mother’s mother. She just lavished her affection on me. She adored me. I took her completely for granted. When I was eleven, she died.” Gavin sighed. “You know how kids are. Kids can never look far ahead. Just as they can’t look far back.”
Farfalla gazed into his eyes. He was sincere. This strange man felt the loss deep in his heart — true grief — for something that had happened so long ago. “You loved your grandmother?”
“I never really knew her. I found it all out later, researching my family history. My mother’s mom worked on the Seattle World’s Fair. She could program in FORTRAN. She worked for Boeing, building fighter jets. An amazing woman and I never knew any of that! I just thought she was my nice grandma who made me snickerdoodle cookies.” Gavin’s brow was knotted. “I hate it when I overlook the obvious. She mattered, and I
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