Another week skipped... but this time at least it's a combination of busyness and boredom, no major crises. No major personal crises, I should say, things haven't been so easy at work.
I tried for several days - even after the fiasco with the mail - to put my dislike of Darrell, the new IT manager, aside. I figured he'd just had a problem with me. But it seems that it goes further than that. Larry and Susie were running ragged last week trying to recover the network. That wasn't unexpected, even working this past weekend, but it carried on into this week. They're running ragged trying to keep up with changes he's insisting on making. Not all bad, but not necessary... especially in the short time he has been here.
He seems to be trying to rearrange everything to the setup he had at his last company. Which in itself isn't bad, that model works, but it isn't any better than what we had, and it will need a significant amount of effort and training to get in place. At least he's having the sense to make the changes slowly, but of course the effort of testing is high, and the group is still responsible for day-to-day admin.
Well, I didn't even finish that last entry. I was distracted. I don't recall why... though I can probably guess. There isn't much to add to it as far as the company goes, nothing much has changed since then. I am afraid that if the pace keeps up, we're going to lose some very good people. Kelly in particular, cute, petite, Kelly, has been looking especially peaked.
We've seen Clarice and Rob several times in the last few weeks. Rob's short-term lease on the furnished apartment is going to expire without renewal, they seem closer than ever to a permanent relationship. Which I think chafes Clarice, and that's probably why they had the big blow-up. But I think she realizes that giving up what she has now isn't worth it. The possibility of losing him completely loomed too close.
She isn't going to tell him that, though. I mean, obviously, she can't tell him how close it came, or why, but she isn't going to let him know how much she thinks she needs him. So they happily snipe and bicker at each other all evening, then leave here hand-in-hand. It seems to me that she positively glows when he's around, and I have never seen her so happy.
Whatever it took to get her to this point, it was worth it. I don't know if she'd agree, but it's true.
I've been working on more stories. I started two at the same time. One's a concept piece that is going very slowly, but I think it has promise. It will probably be one of the least popular stories on the site, but the few who do appreciate it will probably find the effort worthwhile. Like The Prince, which it most resembles. The other is more straightforward, a young college kid being given a new kind of education.
Anyway, those were in work when an email from a reader started me thinking about an interesting approach. He was talking about something different, about the stories themselves, in fact, and he mentioned how exciting it could be when seduction sneaks up on you unaware. I thought what a great situation, where two people are not even aware of what they're doing to each other, until it's too late, they want each other too much to back away.
So I began Best Friends, and it became an obsession, which is partly why I haven't been updating my journal. The story has been almost finished for days, but I keep going back and tweaking. I'm happy with the result. I hope y'all are. I know Brian is... at least with its effects, since it was one of those stories which really turned me on while I was writing it.
And then, while I was writing it, I realized that I could make it mesh with the other story I mentioned, so the college-kids story is going to be a prequel to "Best Friends", but each will stand on its own. I'm working on that story now, as the concept piece is still taking shape. Expect the prequel in about a week.
Now "Best Friends" is put to bed (are put to bed? :-) I'll try to get back to almost-daily journal updates.
I do appreciate all the emails I've gotten in the last couple of weeks, concerned about me. I really am fine.
Oh, one follow-up to the recent problems. It seems that Brian is so pleased that everything seems to be working out that he has stopped pressing me to set a wedding date. Which makes me wonder if I really should start seriously considering the issue. But right now, I'm not willing to make changes.
Oh, and next weekend (the 8th-10th, not tomorrow) I'm taking Brian to meet my mother. I am not looking forward to that.