Dangerously Placed
Page 21
‘It was Pierce Grody who upgraded Elena, you know,’ the CEO told me. ‘As far as we’ve been able to discover, he did it just to see how far he could take the bot program. Such a pity he didn’t appreciate how magnificent his creation was.’
I nodded.
‘But let’s get back to the point.’ The CEO ran an eye over the paper in his hand. ‘According to this, the senior staff at Impression Jeans were most pleased with the marketing proposal you created. So much so that they’ve decided to take the whole thing on board – they’ve already agreed to have our Hardware Division supply the equipment for the JeanScan system. Congratulations, Alex!’
‘Wow!’ It was my turn to do the blushing. My face was even sorer than yesterday, but it didn’t stop a huge grin from spreading across it at the thought of my first big success.
‘It’s clear to me that you’re not only a very brave young woman, you’re a very talented one too,’ said the CEO. He fixed his bright eyes on me. ‘And it strikes me that Simulcorp would be very lucky to have someone like that on the team. So I’d like to offer you an internship in the Marketing Division once you’ve finished school …’ He paused. ‘And a guaranteed job here when you’re ready for it.’
I stared at him, speechless.
‘You could go far here, Alex.’
‘Thank you, Mr Chander,’ I said slowly. ‘That’s incredibly generous of you – an internship sounds fantastic! As for the job though …’ I hesitated, then looked him in the eye. ‘I think I’d like to keep my options open for now – look around and decide what I really want to do with my life.’ I smiled. ‘A few people have told me lately that life’s not all about career prospects, and I think they may be right.’
The CEO seemed much struck by this.
‘Yes … yes, perhaps they are! Good for you, Alex.’ He stood. ‘I look forward to seeing you when you take up your internship, but in the meantime, enjoy your freedom.’ He smiled. ‘Enjoy being young!’
‘Thank you, sir. I intend to!’
The CEO showed me to the archway at the front of the palace that led directly back to realspace. Back in my Virk Room I took off my suit for the last time. Through the narrow window of the outer room, I could see a tall figure waiting outside, bodyboard in one hand, the other pushing his unruly brown hair out of his eyes. As I opened the outer door, Nix flashed me a welcoming grin and I forgot all about the CEO in his paradise.
Smiling, I stepped out into mine.
I’m extremely grateful to everyone who helped me write this book. Many thanks to my family and friends for their enthusiasm; to Zoe Walton, Kimberley Bennett and the rest of the crew at Random House for their patience, wisdom and hard work; to Detective Sergeant Matthew Height for his helpful answers to my questions about police procedure; to Jan Scherpenhuizen for telling me that all I had to do now was make the chair; to Jake for putting up with my writing time so sweetly; and, above all, to Michael for being utterly awesome and for making the whole thing possible.
Nansi Kunze grew up surrounded by books in Australia and the UK, but strangely never had a childhood ambition to become a writer. After studying European languages and ancient history at university she spent several years doing extremely important jobs, such as teaching overseas-trained doctors how to pronounce rude words, helping senior citizens email photos of their grandchildren and showing high school students how to mummify each other. One delusional day in 2000, the idea that she might be able to write a book for adults popped into Nansi’s head out of the blue. It was only after producing a lot of grown-up rubbish and winning two FAW Mary Grant Bruce Awards with her first attempts at young adult fiction that she realised her mistake. Since her YA novel Mishaps was published in 2008, she has been able to lead the awesome life of a full-time writer (which, it turns out, is even more fun than teaching people rude words). Her hobbies include reading manga, growing unusual vegetables and dressing like she’s off to a costume party. She lives on a small farm overlooking the Victorian Alps with her husband and son and their cat, Schrödinger.
Pen O’Connell is, without a doubt, the unluckiest girl at Callindra Secondary College. Her dream date’s just fallen through, her dog has literally eaten her homework, and don’t even mention the incident at school camp. But when Pen meets Sebastian Meyer, teenage genius and genetics expert, she begins to wonder if everything that happens to her really is just bad luck.
Could the bizarre theory that’s turned every teacher in the school against Sebastian explain why Pen is more likely to get a head injury than a hot date? Why does Pen’s name strike terror into the heart of pop princess Sereena? And just how far will Pen go to get what she deserves?