Free Fix You by Carrie Elks Page B

London, or even New York,
come to that. If Chris and I want to get this business off the ground, then I
think we’ll be working too hard to leave San Francisco for any length of time.”
    “Tell me again what you’re planning to do?”
    “Okay, have you heard of Friends Reunited?” He decided to
try and start at the basics, to help her understand the concepts.
    “Yeah, my mum has made contact with some of her old school
friends through that.”
    “Well, Chris and I want to use that sort of concept, but
make it wider, and more modern. Not just catching up with old friends, but
keeping in touch with your current ones, chatting, letting them know how you
are doing. Maybe even playing games against each other, that sort of thing.”
    “Why would you do that when you can just pick up the phone
and call them?”
    “Because this way you can keep in contact with hundreds of
friends at once. With a click of a button, you can let everybody in your life
know what’s going on with you. Say, for instance, you want to tell them that
you’ve graduated. You either have to phone or email them, send them a letter,
or rely on word-of-mouth. With our site, you’d be able to write a line to say
you’ve graduated, and all of your friends will read it at once. You’ve spent
less than a minute updating them, and can spend the rest of your day reading
Jane Austen, or whatever the hell it is you want to do.”
    “Hmm. I can’t really see why I’d ever want to do that.”
    “Did you ever think that you’d want to have a cell phone?”
    “A what?”
    “Surely you know what a cell phone is?” Richard felt
incredulous, pulling his Nokia 8250 out of his pocket and showing it to her.
    “Oh! You mean a mobile phone?” Hanna took the phone from
him, looking at the chromatic display. “Ooh, this one is nice.”
    Richard shook his head. “As I was saying, although you may
not have thought about needing a mobile phone,” he drawled the last two words, “now
everybody has either got one, or wants one, and it’s changing the way we
communicate. It will be the same with websites like ours. We’re fulfilling a
need people didn’t even know they had. That’s the way to innovate.”
    “Well, I’ll let you know if I ever feel the need to tell
hundreds of acquaintances that I’ve just bought a loaf of bread. Until then, I’ll
reserve judgment.” Hanna smiled, as if she was enjoying winding him up, and
Richard realized he was enjoying it, too.
    “I’ll expect a very public, web-based apology. Perhaps some groveling,
too.”
    “I can do dribbling, if that helps?”
    “I noticed.”
    They had reached Hyde Park Corner. Hanna jammed her hands in
the pockets of her shorts. “You’d better get back. Ruby won’t be happy if you’re
not there when she gets home. It was so nice to see you again.”
    “And you. I’ll miss you.”
    “It doesn’t sound like you’ll have time to miss me.”
    “I’ll make time.”
    “Then make sure you email me. Or invite me to join your
website. I’m still all about the groveling.”
    Richard laughed, running his hand through his hair. He
looked down at her smiling face. “I can’t wait for the groveling.”
    “Seriously, good luck with it all. Don’t be a stranger.”
Hanna pulled her hands out of her pockets and threw her arms around him,
pulling him closely for a brief hug before she released him and stepped back.
    He leaned down and brushed his lips against the soft skin of
her cheek, taking a moment to breathe her in. Hanna turned and walked down the
steps, into the depths of the underground station. Standing at the top of the
steps, Richard watched her retreating body until she had reached the bottom and
he could see her no more. Touching his lips briefly with his fingers, he turned
and walked along the sidewalk in the direction of Chelsea.
     
     

 
     
    Seven
     

     
    September 11 th 2001
     
    T he shrill sound of the telephone, ringing in
the kitchen, cut straight through the