by Robyn M Ryan
Was that irritation in Drew’s voice? “I’m just kidding, you know.”
“Seriously, Caryn?” Andrew’s voice sharpened. “Your father’s still manipulating your head. Can’t you just let that go? Be proud of your choices, and if he doesn’t have anything better to do that scour the Internet trying to find me in compromising photos, I feel incredible pity for him.”
“Okay,” she said softly. “Message received. Any idea when and where the next series starts?”
“Looks like Detroit, unless the Hawks pull a miracle.”
“Practice today?” Caryn tried to change the tenor of the conversation.
“Nah, actually have the day off. I think Dave, Jim and I will get in a short skate this afternoon. Other than that, I’m getting caught up on mundane stuff like picking up the drying cleaning and laundry. Should be a truly exciting day.”
Now I know he’s irritated. “I watched the game. You guys didn’t give the Leafs a chance. And thank you for the goals. I was jumping and screaming so loud the neighbors probably wondered what was going on.”
“You don’t think they’re used to that by now?” Andrew chuckled softly. “You off to lunch?”
“Already ate—most of the interns stopped at that pizza place across from the bank. It’s a pretty good group.”
“So…should I be expecting a text with any compromising photos of you and another guy?”
Caryn laughed in relief as she heard the teasing tone in his voice. “I don’t expect anything that exciting, Drew. But feel free to check.”
Caryn felt unsettled after the call ended and regretted teasing Andrew about women at the team party. Or did she strike a nerve? I’m being irrational. Why would Andrew behave any differently last night than in any other situation? Just because the team won a playoff series? Caryn walked to retrieve Andrew’s car. Her thoughts swirled, presenting images she knew were unlikely, yet unable to banish from her mind. Or, was he more irritated that I mentioned my father again? Dad still is messing with my mind in absentia. I should be passed all that by now, shouldn’t I? He isn’t controlling my life any longer…or am I subconsciously still trying to earn his approval?
For the first time, Caryn regretted having taken Andrew’s phone call.
***
Caryn spent the afternoon examining the bank’s various social media sites, making notes on the style, tone, and distinctive features of the brand. She read through the bank’s social media guidelines several times, trying to ignore the pesky little voice urging her to google the Leafs’ celebration the previous evening. What could it hurt? Other than admitting I don’t trust Drew. I do trust him. I’m just curious.
She replayed their conversation for the umpteenth time. He’d asked why she still allowed her father to manipulate her mind. Was that what had irritated him? Or was it her teasing about the women at the team party? He’d practically challenged her to see what she could find on the Internet. He knew she’d feel compelled to tell him if she tried to google him or the team celebration.
Caryn shoved the curiosity to the back of her mind. Maybe she couldn’t control her father’s intrusion into her thoughts, but she could resist falling into one of his traps.
THIRTY-THREE
Jennifer worked closely with Caryn to help her learn Facebook basics. “You might want to try setting up your own profile to experiment.” She saw the hesitation in Caryn’s expression. “Let me show you how to set your privacy settings. You can decide who, if anyone, sees what you post.”
“But how will that help me manage a corporate page?”
“Good question. They have different purposes, but the basics are the same—uploading photos, publishing a post, and interacting with those who contact you through Facebook. You can play around with your own account without anyone seeing it. That’s much easier than learning on the fly—especially when the stakes are much higher.”
Reluctantly, Caryn agreed to set up an account, and without saying anything, changed the spelling of her last name and the date and place of her birth. She’d go back later and change her education information, pick a university on the other side of the country—maybe in the States. Jennifer helped her set the privacy settings, then left her to complete her profile. “I’ll check back later. Just try to upload photos from your phone, write a post—even if no one ever sees it. It’s all just practice. Ask someone you trust to ‘friend’ you. You’ll get the feel for it very quickly.” Jennifer glanced at the clock. “I didn’t realize it was so late. Go on, get out of here. You have your login info and password?” Caryn nodded and then followed Jennifer’s instructions to completely exit the account.
“Thanks for taking the time to teach me something the rest of the world already seems to know.”
“Well, welcome to the ‘rest of the world.’ Is there a specific reason you’ve stayed off the grid—if that’s something you feel comfortable sharing?”
Caryn glanced at her fellow interns, who were watching the exchange.
“I just like my privacy,” she said simply.
“Fair enough. It’s good to know you’ll be just as protective of the bank’s image.” Jennifer’s smile and tone conveyed the confidence behind her words. “Have a good weekend, everyone. You’ve survived your first week.”
“So, do you want us to try to hack your Facebook account?” Scott teased as they left the bank.
“Give it your best shot. You won’t find me.”
***
She alone knew the misinformation she’d included in her profile. She told Drew about it when they spoke early that afternoon. “Feels like I’m creating an impostor,” she admitted.
Andrew laughed softly. “Sounds brilliant to me. Don’t do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, Cary.”
“I won’t. My immediate problem is finding someone I can trust to be my Facebook friend.”
“Lauren?”
Caryn burst into laughter. “No way—I never told you about our assignment last semester researching another student’s Internet presence. Lauren and I researched each other—she has absolutely no online discretion.” She grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and took it to the couch.
“I’ll do it, then.”
“No, it’s not that important. You have more important things on your mind. I can create a ‘friend’ and keep everything under my own control.” She laughed at the thought. “Imaginary friends at my age.”
“He or she?” Drew challenged immediately.
“Hmm…what do you think?” Caryn wished he were beside her so he could see the deep thought she placed on his question.
“I think you should just go on and manage my page,” Andrew pressed the topic he had previously suggested. “It’s set up and Don’s paying someone to handle it—might as well be you.”
“Two problems,” Caryn said. “I don’t want to take someone’s job and…”
“And what?” he prompted.
“I feel that I would invade your privacy.”
Andrew’s laugh was genuine. “I’d rather you invade whatever privacy there is on that page. You won’t displace anyone, don’t worry. There’s plenty to do—or so Don keeps telling me.”
Caryn grabbed her iPad and logged into the profile she’d created that morning. “I think I already have friend requests…I mean from actual people.” She clicked on the link and saw the names. “Crap, already busted. I think all nine of the other interns found me.” She counted the names. “How did they figure it out so fast?”
“Did you all leave at the same time?”
“Yes, well…Scott forgot his briefcase and had to go up and get it.”
“And while he was doing that, he just happened to check the Internet history on the browser you used. Once he found how you spelled your name…”
“Now I feel like I’m being stalked.”
“Suggestion?” He didn’t wait for her response. “Don’t accept any of the friend requests. If someone mentions it, don’t react. Then talk to your
boss in private and explain why you don’t want or need a profile. She should respect that.”
Caryn sighed. “My father has made me paranoid about this whole online thing. I know that’s stupid, but I can’t get past the feeling I’m putting myself out there for the entire world to see.”
“You know what I think?” Andrew’s tone changed abruptly.
“No, what do you think?” She laughed, her mood brightening at his tone.
“You need a weekend in St. Louis. How about it?”
“It’s Friday afternoon. Don’t you have practice and…?”
“The earliest we’d have to travel is Monday. Game seven tonight for Detroit and Chicago. Chicago wins, we play here Tuesday. Detroit wins and we fly up there Monday. I can use the distraction.” Caryn laughed softly. “Give me a few minutes—go throw some things in your suitcase. I’ll call you back as soon as I look at the flights.”
THIRTY-FOUR
Facebook was the furthest thing from Caryn’s mind several hours later as she settled into Andrew’s room. He’d already apologized twice for not getting the suite, and Caryn threatened to leave if he mentioned it again. “Being with you is exactly what I want—not a fancy suite.” She stopped unpacking and reached to touch his face. “When I got up this morning, I never dreamed I’d see you tonight.” She fingered the neatly trimmed hair on his cheek. “So how long do you let this grow?”
“You don’t like it?” His grin challenged her.
“Actually, I really liked the way it looked a week ago. Don’t go all mountain man on me.”
“Only during the playoffs. I’m not going to be the one responsible for any team bad luck.” His eyes still had the ability to mesmerize her, and she shook her head silently as he leaned to kiss her.
“No, no bad luck.” She leaned her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. “This is the perfect way to end this week.”
“Hungry? We can go to that little jazz club around the corner.”
She pulled back slightly so she could see his eyes. “What do you usually do for dinner?”
Andrew shrugged. “Go out. Room service. Whatever.”
“Take out?”
“What do you want? I’ll get it while you get settled.”
“No, I’ll go with you. I need to walk—no leaving my side until you go to practice tomorrow.”
Once outside, the warm late-spring evening beckoned many into the streets. “How about a picnic over at the Arch? I hear the view is spectacular at night.” Andrew bit back a smile as she cast a reproachful glance his way.
“How about a picnic by the pool or in your room?” Caryn countered, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward her. “I didn’t come to St. Louis to confront my fear of heights.”
“You did get on the plane…”
“Only because it’s the only way I could see you today.” She waved to the selection of small restaurants nearby. “Pick one, Drew. Then let’s go somewhere absolutely private for our ‘picnic.’”
Thirty minutes later, Caryn spread a cloth over the bistro table on the hotel room’s balcony, and then opened the selection of foods while Andrew brought paper plates, plastic cutlery, a bottle of wine and two glasses. Caryn looked at the table a minute, and then went back inside, returning with napkins and several votive candles she’d noticed earlier. “Matches?” She looked at Andrew.
“I’ll see.” He took a few minutes to return with a box, then lit the candles. “I’ll be glad to get home. I can’t keep up with anything in here.” He reached to switch off the porch lights and pulled two chairs near the table, where they could enjoy the view.
“Sit down, Drew—I’ll fix a plate for you.”
“Glass of wine?” he offered.
She nodded as she arranged food on both plates and then looked over her shoulder at the city lights. “It’s beautiful. This is perfect.”
“Not so perfect when I’m eating alone.” Andrew took both plates as she stepped by him to her chair.
“Why are you eating alone?”
Andrew raised his eyebrows questioningly. “And who would you suggest I invite over to dine?”
“I don’t know all your friends—Jim, Dave?” She teased him as she sat down.
“Thanks, but I’ll save this view for you only.”
Caryn laughed softly. “I didn’t tell anyone I was coming here. Off the grid and off the planet.”
“Not even Lauren?”
“She’ll call if she misses me. We’ll see who notices—no one probably.”
Andrew set his plate on the table. “Got something to show you.” He kissed her forehead as he stood. “Be right back.”
Caryn sipped her wine, her curiosity piqued. Drew returned, iPad in hand.
“I figured out how your fellow interns found your ‘private’ account.” He opened the app and looked at her. “What’s your login info?” He entered it as she told him, then turned the tablet so she could also see the screen. “I bet there is one setting your boss forgot.”
“Which is it? I thought we had locked everything.”
“Did you limit who could search for you?” When Caryn shrugged, he looked for the correct privacy setting. It took a few minutes, but finally Andrew handed the iPad to her. “Right now, anyone can search for you by name.”
“And I stop that how?”
He pointed to an option. “Only friends. Go ahead and change to that. You have accepted no friends, so theoretically no one can find you using the search function.” He logged out of her account, and then opened the browser version of Facebook. He entered various spellings of both her first and last names, and her account did not appear in the list. “See? Lots of people have similar names, but your profile does not show.”
“So you miss just one little setting and you’re exposed?”
“Far as I can tell.”
“I’m impressed. You should be the one teaching me. How did you find this information?”
Andrew shrugged with a smile. “Got to the airport early. Didn’t want to get caught in traffic and leave you waiting. I took the crash course—Facebook for Dummies.”
“Hardly,” Caryn laughed. “You’re brilliant.”
“Don’t go that far. Oh, by the way, did you notice you had well over one hundred friend requests before you changed that setting.”
“Creepy.” Caryn shuddered involuntarily. “I’m just going to delete that account.”
Andrew motioned for her plate. “Anything else?” When she shook her head, he set it on the table. Then, he refilled her wine glass. Their eyes met and Caryn’s stomach did that little flip as he held her gaze.
Caryn broke eye contact with a laugh. “You know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you, Drew?”
He pretended ignorance. “What am I doing?”
“So how long did it take to master that blue-eyed hypnotic smile?”
“I have no idea what you are taking about. I can hypnotize you?”
She pushed his arm as she sipped her wine. “You know you can. When you look at me, I just get lost in your eyes. You’ve known that from the first time we met.”
“And I thought it was my captivating personality.” He noticed Caryn shiver as the wind shifted. “Come on, let’s continue this discussion inside.”
***
Caryn murmured sleepily as Andrew kissed her forehead the following day. “Morning already?”
“It’s very early. I’m going to skate with a few of the other guys. Optional today. Go back to sleep. I’ll bring breakfast on my way back—or we can order room service.”
Caryn nodded, reluctantly opening her eyes. “What time is it? We just went to bed.”
“Too early to get up unless you need to. Sleep, babe. We’ll have the rest of the day together.”
“Hmmm…wonderful.” She was asleep before he’d placed the Do Not Disturb sign on the door and closed it behind him. She quickly drifted back into her dreams, reliving the past twelve hours moment by moment, kiss by kiss, caress
by caress. She had no motivation to leave her dream world, whispering a curse when she realized the persistently ringing phone she ignored in her dream actually was her phone. She shook the hair away from her face as she reached for her phone. Lauren’s ringtone. Of course. She answered the call as she sat and glanced at her watch. “Good morning!”
“Where have you been? I went by your place, sent you a text, left a voice message…thought you’d dropped off the earth.”
“Guess where I am?”
“If you tell me the computer lab, I’ll scream. That’s one place I didn’t…”
“I’m in St. Louis. Andrew called yesterday afternoon and I was on a flight in less than two hours. I’m sorry—it happened so fast.” Caryn reached for the bottle of water on the nightstand.
“Don’t apologize—that’s totally romantic! I’d love to be swept off somewhere.” Lauren giggled. “I wanted to check something with you,” she added slowly.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I didn’t think you had a Facebook account.”
“I don’t really. I had to set one up at the bank to ‘practice.' I changed the spelling of my name, but the other interns figured it out and sent friend requests.”
“Of course.” Lauren’s tone was sarcastic.
“Why? Drew showed me how to prevent friend requests. That was one tiny setting that my boss forgot to show me.”
“Did you actually list your cell phone number?”
“Only to confirm I was a real person by responding to a text.” Caryn brushed the hair away from her face and reached for her iPad. “Did I mess that up too?”
“If some knows your number, they can find your profile. There’s another setting that prevents anyone from seeing your phone number. You’ll want to change that.”
“Hang on—can you walk me through it?” Caryn asked as she logged in. The number of friend requests was well over one hundred as Andrew had noticed the previous evening. She had a sinking feeling that promised a headache would shortly follow. “How did you know all this, Lauren?”