Net Force - Tom Clancy [37]
Maam?
Toni hadnt realized shed said the word aloud until hed responded. She flushed, glad the visual wasnt on. Sorry, Mr. Russell, never mind. What do you want?
Well, maam, I wanted to apologize. For that business in the gym. I was showing off for Barry and I kinda put my brain on hold. I shouldnt have acted that way. It was stupid and Im sorry.
Toni grinned. Well, well. Would wonders never cease? An asshole apologizing. And because she knew she shouldnt have done what she had done, she could be gracious about it now. Its all right, Mr. Russell, forget about it.
No, maam, Im not likely to forget that anytime soon. I was, uh, wondering if maybe you might be willing to show me some more of the style sometime? You know, so I could see what you did instead of decorating the floor with my backside?
Toni chuckled. Maybe he wasnt so bad after all. He had a certain charm. She said, If we run into each other at the gym, sure.
Well, Miz Fiorella, if you could tell me when you might be working out again, I could arrange my schedule to break loose for a while. They keep us pretty busy in class, but we are allowed some free time now and then.
Toni thought about it for a second. Was this guy hitting on her? Or was he really interested in learning silat? Background in another art was a hindrance sometimes, but not always. And Guru kept telling her she needed students, that shed never really master the art until she taught it.
I sometimes do mornings, but I usually work out on my lunch hour, noon to one. You could drop by if you want.
Oh, yes, maam, I want.
Might as well drop the maam and Miz Fiorella stuff. Im Toni.
Im Rusty to my friends, he said. Thank you. You gonna be at the gym Monday?
Unless something comes up.
Ill see you there, maam-I mean, Toni.
She found herself smiling as she put the dust mop away. Spandex-Russell-had been pretty much a typical macho idiot from his reactions both before and immediately after shed decked him. But this call, assuming there werent any hidden agendas in it, made up for some of that. Most people deserved a second chance most of the time. Lord knows shed stepped into things shed regretted, and had been glad to be on the receiving end of somebodys forgiveness.
People could change. She had to believe that. And he wasnt all that bad-looking, either.
She immediately felt a twitch of disloyalty. Whatever else Russell might be, he was not Alex, in no way, shape or form. Alex was who she wanted. And sooner or later, if she worked hard enough, maybe he would want her, too.
But a student wouldnt be so bad. And who knows? A good-looking student might give Alex a jolt, show him Toni was somebody to look at. It couldnt hurt.
Sunday, September 19th, 11:15 a.m. Quantico
Jay Gridley cranked up the big motor on the Viper, and left a trail of smoking rubber as he popped the clutch and burned up the freeways on-ramp. Why not? He didnt have to buy new tires in VR.
He had spent a good part of the last few days cruising the net, looking for more roadblocks, but so far, nothing out of the ordinary. Oh, yeah, sure, there were traffic snarls, a fender bender here or there, but those were normal.
He was on the 405 close to LAX when a black kid on a big hog whined past, doing eighty. Gridley smiled at the kid on the Harley. He knew who that was, even if the VR image was a little older and more muscular.
He upshifted, felt the Viper strain to be released and let it go as he pressed the accelerator to the floor. The big V-10 rumbled, roared, and the traffic around him turned into a painting.
He surged the little car from sixty to ninety in a couple of seconds. Ka-wham!
Born to be wild, and if you cant drive it, pal, park it!
He pulled alongside the black kid on the bike, grinned, honked his horn.
In reality, the two of them were linked via the net in a real-time on-line connection, much as twenty million or so other people did every day on the big commercial nets, but the VR visual mode made it so much more fun, when the software allowed for overlapping scenarios like this