Cory is impressed by Rob's extremely steady hands, like a surgeon's. He watched in admiration while Rob inserted a tiny Bluetooth chip and controller in the right shoe. The guy didn't screw around, he just held it under the light and attached the components.
Rob gestures with the sneaker. "I put the battery on the inside of the tongue. It'll get a lot less jostling that way when you walk. Maybe I should build a little chassis, a little cage for it, as an additional safeguard. Before I do the left shoe."
"No need. If the glue holds, it should be fine." Cory smiles. "I'll be walking sedately. Like a blind guy." He looks at Rob. "We need to set the Bluetooth device codes differently for each shoe, so their transmissions will be picked up correctly by the antenna in my glasses."
"No prob. I'm setting the right one to 0000 and the left to 0001.”
"Yeah, that'll work."
Chapter Twenty-Four
It's late afternoon and Cory is returning from a bike ride with Snoots. He gave the dog some extra play time in the park to relax before the evening training session.
The strategy of successive approximation has entailed getting Snoots to first press the finger of a Bluetooth-enabled gardening glove firmly enough to activate a circuit glued inside it, which then causes a text message to appear on a small LCD display inside a pair of sunglasses. The circuit signal that causes the data to be displayed is received via a tiny antenna located in the sunglasses.
Snoots has recently also learned to press one location on a black sneaker hard enough with his nose to activate the little circuit inside the shoe.
The most difficult and uncertain part of the training still lies ahead; The dog must learn to transfer his pressing behavior to the more complex context of a shoe with wine samples on it. He must learn to locate a wine-doped spot on the shoe that matches the control and then press it with his nose hard enough to activate the circuit hidden below that location on the shoe.
Cory gets a surge of adrenalin as he realizes there are only two weeks now before the tasting up in Napa.
As he cycles up to his house, he sees a familiar car parked on the street, a white Miata. It's Becca's and she's sitting in it. Emotions flood over him as he brings his bike to a stop.
He dismounts and props the bike in the driveway, hanging his helmet on it. He starts to walk toward the Miata. Becca gets out and walks toward him. He drinks her in with his eyes, her long hair flowing around her slender, graceful body. She is not smiling, what is there in her expression?
"Becca." It's a statement more than a greeting.
"Hi, Cory." She stops in front of him, looking into his eyes. "You've grown a beard."
"Yeah."
"How are you?"
"I'm okay."
She tilts her head, a tentative smile appearing on her perfect mouth. "I sure could use a friend if you're available."
Snoots approaches her and she allows him to sniff her hand, she touches his head.
Cory shrugs, looking at her. "I guess I'm available. What's up?"
She lets out a long sigh, pushing her hair back from her face. "Things are weird at work. I don't know, I don't know what's going on anymore." She shakes her head, her hands covering her face. She's crying.
Cory instinctively touches her shoulder with his hand, but he doesn't know what to say.
She turns her head and presses her cheek against his hand in a gesture of gratitude. At this point it seems natural to put his arms around her to comfort her. She leans her head against his shoulder and begins to sob quietly.
The contour and warmth of her body against him are dangerously familiar, he needs to remain on guard, find out what's going on. She slides her arms around his neck; her violet perfume is making rational thought increasingly difficult. This feels too good.
Marshaling his self-discipline, he pulls back from her. "You want to come in?" It's all he can think of to say.
She nods. "Thanks."
They go into the house, Snoots leading the way, his tail high.
The living room is a mess of wine bottles, blotters, and assorted bits of electronics used for wiring sneakers and glasses.
Cory now wishes he'd remembered this before he made the invitation.
She notices the profusion of wine bottles and paraphernalia. "Are you okay? I mean-" She points to the bottles.
"Yeah, I'm running some experiments."
He quickly concludes that he will not reveal what he's up to. It's not fair to Dawn and Rob, now his business partners.
"Experiments?" she asks, sniffling.
"Different chemical properties of wines," he adds, with a smile. "I'm not drinking all of it."
His smile seems to improve her mood a little. He's hoping she's been told enough to satisfy her curiosity.
She has. She looks at him, her brown eyes receptive, beckoning. "I was really stupid wasn't I?"
He shrugs. He isn't ready to discuss their past.
"Cory, do you totally hate me?"
"No, Becca."
She pauses, then walks toward the couch and sits down. She sits on the edge, a little formally, and he is reminded again of her graceful body, her graceful gestures.
She looks up at him. "I've missed you."
He isn't going to tell her how much he's missed her. He needs to find out why she's here. What she wants from him. "So, are you still at iPhlox?"
This question brings on more tears. "I don't know. I'm not...anywhere right now, I guess."
"Want some tea?" Cory thinks drinking wine right now could be a bad idea.
Becca wants the tea.
As he puts a kettle of water on to boil, she gets up from the couch and wanders into his kitchen. He notices the deep blue earrings she's wearing, rather large sapphires.
She sits down on a kitchen stool, tossing her long hair to one side. She's really seductive, even in the state she's in. He keeps his guard up while putting tea bags into two mugs.
She looks around the kitchen, idly glancing at the needle-nose pliers on the counter, the spare LEDs. Where are the sunglasses?
In a flash of relief, he remembers they are next to his laptop on the dining room table. He needs to hide them.
The kettle whistles and Becca watches him pour boiling water into the mugs.
"I trusted Derek," she states quietly.
He feels his stomach muscles clench at the mention of that name.
Becca takes a cup and continues, "I really got what he was doing with iPhlox. It was kind of magical, especially Shanghai. Not so much Hong Kong."
He doesn't want to know the details, but he listens anyway. After the trip to Shanghai, Derek asked Becca to move in with him. And she had. Her transition from new hire to live-in girlfriend was accomplished in less than a month.
Cory learns about Derek's feng shui eco-perfect house in the Los Altos Hills with terraced gardens and lap pool. IPhlox has been growing, including the hiring of a new graphics art director, a Japanese-Brazilian woman with long black hair.
When Becca discovered that Derek was fooling around on the side with Raula she confronted him, they had a fight, and she left. That was this morning.
She is vaguer about iPhlox. "I didn't quit. I guess I should. I mean, I can't stand the sight of Derek, but I have stock options." She shrugs. "Maybe he's already fired me. That witch would love to move in with him."
Cory has never observed such focused anger in her face before. Does she want the guy back? He sits down next to her, trying the tea, wishing it were a glass of good zinfandel.
"Your hair is shaggy." She brushes her hand against the back of his collar, to confirm the shagginess for herself.
It isn't helping him think clearly.
He gazes evenly into her eyes. "Becca, you said you could use a friend."
His implied question puts her back on fragile ground. "I don't know what I should do. Do you think," she hesitates and looks down, then back into his eyes, "would it be possible for me to...stay here? Just for a little while?"
T
his is not a request he is prepared for. He's not sure how he wants to answer it. How can he train Snoots without revealing everything if she is here? How can he sleep at night?
Rob is at the front door and wants to know if Cory needs him for the session tonight. Then he notices Becca at the kitchen counter and realizes the evening plans may have changed.
When Cory tells him the sunglasses he forgot are on the dining table, Rob instantly infers this is code in front of the ex-girlfriend and snatches the wired glasses off the pool table. He waves casually. "I'll catch you tomorrow, Core."
Cory has to think fast. If Becca stays here, he'll have to move the center of operations with Snoots elsewhere. His garage? It's completely full of stuff. Maybe Dawn's place. He realizes Becca is watching him, waiting for some answer.
"I feel pretty weird about this."
"I know I don't deserve it, Cory. Could I just park my car in your driveway for a few days? I can sleep there until I-"
It's too much. He glares at her. "Why are you asking this of me?"
She looks away. "Because, you're a really good person."
He ignores the compliment. A little cynically he asks, "You want to get some dinner somewhere?"
They get sandwiches and sit outdoors at a familiar cafe, something they used to do for a quick dinner before catching a movie or other event.
It feels depressing in the present circumstances, and Cory's mind constantly drifts back to Snoots and the training that isn't complete. Becca is quiet, contrite. She really seems sad and it's making him feel guilty, responsible.
What should he do? He could let her sleep on his couch, but then what about the training. Maybe he and Snoots could stay with Dawn until Becca figures out her life? He is pretty sure what Dawn's reaction to all this is going to be, and he dreads it.
He tells Becca he has to make a call and walks some distance away from their table, He calls Dawn and tells her everything.
She listens without interruption and then quietly expresses her disgust with Becca's disheveled personal life, more vehemently suggesting that Becca is not Cory's responsibility.
Cory listens to his chastisement without interruption.
Dawn finally sighs and changes course. Certainly he can bring Snoots over to her place for training. She'll give him a spare key to share with Rob. She'll try to join them in the evenings, but some nights she'll have to remain at the lab. They are all welcome to crash at her place any night. Dawn emphasizes that this invitation does not extend to Becca.
Now feeling more in control with a plan, he tells Becca she can stay.
Many hours later Cory is lying in bed wide awake, Snoots curled up in his now-regular spot next to him.
Cory had half-heartedly offered the bed to Becca, prepared to sleep on his own couch, but she insisted on taking the couch herself. He didn't push it.
He half-closed the door to his bedroom for some sense of privacy. Snoots liked to get up sometimes for a drink of water or to stretch out in the hallway to cool off, so he didn't shut the door completely.
Now Cory is aware of every small rustling coming from the couch. He glances at the clock, 2:48 a.m. He rolls over, trying to sleep, realizing he's missed the entire training session with Snoots tonight. These hours cannot be recovered.
Cory wakes up early despite his restless night and dresses quietly. He avoids looking at Becca asleep on the couch as he takes Snoots out for a brisk morning run on the bike.
The fresh air feels invigorating, the leafy streets are quiet and he feels his mind getting focused again. He'll give her a key, make it clear that he's busy, that he may not be around much.
When he returns, he hears the shower running. She's up. He makes coffee in his French press and pours a bowl of cereal for himself. He leaves the cereal box out on the counter and gets Snoots his breakfast.
Becca walks into the living room wrapped in a large blue towel. He remembers it was her favorite when she stayed here. Displaced memories of other mornings, once happy, now strange, flash through his mind.
He stares at her, munching a bite of oat clusters, his eyes involuntarily moving across her long, graceful limbs, her bare shoulders, her flushed skin and wet hair.
She sits down on the couch, flashes a bewitching smile at him, and pulls her phone out of a bag to check messages.
"Want some coffee?" He knows she likes diet colas in the morning, but he has none stocked.
She shakes her head, smiling. "I'm going rollerblading with Kate and Muffy. They might be able to keep some of my stuff if their new roommate doesn't mind."
Cory puts down his cereal, picks up his coffee and walks to the couch. He sits down next to her and she turns her full attention toward him. Why does she have to be so fucking beautiful?
"Listen, Becca, I told you I'm running experiments."
She nods empathetically, brown eyes wide.
"I may not be here much, I'll give you a key, okay?"
"That's really sweet of you. And, Cory?"
He feels his guard going up.
She gazes into his eyes. "I don't want to intrude on you. Just do whatever you normally do, I'm going to be looking for a new job, And I need to sort out financial stuff. At iPhlox."
"Okay."
"Thank you so much." She leans forward and kisses him on the mouth.
It feels too familiar. Too seductive. He pulls away to keep his thoughts clear.
He stands up and goes to the kitchen for more coffee, distancing himself from her -- before he succumbs to the growing urge to pull off the blue towel and carry her into the bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-Five
When Becca's car is gone an hour later, Rob drops by. He doesn't ask Cory about her and, with all the training still to be done, the two friends get down to business at once.
Cory is now concerned that Snoots may be learning the sneakers in too limited a context; he'll need to perform in a strange winery in Napa, so he needs to generalize the routines to other settings. It's called proofing in the training manuals. He concludes he should be training Snoots at Rob's place as well as at Dawn's.
They're at a critical juncture today; he is going to imprint wine samples for the first time on wired sneakers. Will Snoots learn that he must not just touch a matching wine sample, but also press his nose on the sneaker location forcefully enough to activate the little circuit hidden within?
Rob doesn't have stools, so Cory conducts the training session sitting on a chair. He puts on the wired dark glasses and begins with a merlot as the control, dabbing his finger in a wine glass and offering it to Snoots as inconspicuously as possible.
The dog sniffs his finger and immediately touches his nose to the spot of merlot. No pushing though. Okay, only half a biscuit for a reward, and try a different wine and a different spot.
During the second trial with a pinot noir control, Snoots noses the shoe where the pinot noir drop is located, and the wine's name appears inside the glasses on the LCD display. A hit! This more forceful pressing was likely a pure accident, but it doesn't matter. It needs reinforcement.
"Good boy, Snoots!" Cory immediately rewards him with a piece of cheese, a major treat.
Dog and master keep at it. There is more touching without circuit activation intermingled with sporadic nosing of various intensities, some hard enough to activate the switches, some not.
Cory continues to reward the touching behavior because he doesn't want Snoots to stop matching controls to their correct samples, but he rewards the dog with the smaller, less interesting treats in these instances. When the correct sample is identified and nosed hard enough to send the signal, Snoots receives the much tastier cheese treat.
By late afternoon, Snoots is activating the circuits about half the time he finds a match. For the first time, Cory thinks he might really meet his deadline.
"This dog is fucking rad," Rob says, pulling his hands through Snoot's fur and playing roughhouse a little with him.
"Yeah, he really is."
F
eeling exuberant, Rob asks, "You want to go to a party tonight in San Jose? A guy I raced Lasers with in college. His girlfriend plays competitive volleyball and some of her friends will be there. You know, tall really fit women?" He raises an eyebrow at Cory and illustrates with his hands.
"We're not home yet. I've got to work a lot on my finger moves still, and Snoots is not a hundred percent with the circuit activations."
Rob points at the dog who is lying down now, head resting on one forepaw. "That guy needs a break. We've got all day tomorrow. And I'm going to wire more sets of sneakers for you, so don't worry about going through them. Come on."
Cory shrugs. "Why not." It's a better plan than sitting around waiting for Becca to show up.
"You think Dawn would like to come?" Rob suddenly asks.
“Call her. If she's working, she probably won't answer. Don't take it personally."
"She's working on Saturday night?"
Cory nods. "Yeah, if she's on to something." Unless she's got a new thing going with some forty-year-old neurologist or head of surgery. He doesn't share that thought with Rob.
Rob calls her and leaves a message.
Cory takes Snoots for a walk around the neighborhood, takes him home, feeds him and leaves a light on. He takes his own car and follows Rob to San Jose.
It's a big, loud party. One of the guests, a rangy jock in a Hawaiian shirt, is playing bartender at a table set up in the living room. Rob was right, there are a lot of tall, athletic women here. There are a lot of jocks in general.
Rob introduces Cory to Bruce, the Laser buddy, and Cory listens, fascinated, while they talk about sailboat racing rules and the latest materials technology for sails and hulls. They're all talking loudly to hear each other over the even louder rock music.
When things are less crazy with the blog, Cory decides he'll ask Rob to teach him how to sail.
A tall, willowy woman with short brown hair sidles up to them. She smiles at Cory. She's confident, good-looking and very fit in a revealing black tank top and pink shorts.
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