The Wall Crossers

Aug 2016 - Olivia Forever

Olivia's perspective

I am working at a guest cubicle in a job I have held for only a few months at business software provider Intacct. I still live in AZ, but come to San Jose once each month to meet with co-workers and plan activities. Otherwise, I work from home.

I no longer think about the long past. I am in my settled life, presenting as always, and being, Bob, since 2000, when I gave up the transition to Barbara.

I am working quietly when I notice that someone has walked up and is standing, staring at me. I raise my head and see: a tallish man with dark skin—possibly of South Asian descent. Clean shaven, jet black hair cut medium length with bangs in front; dark, intelligent eyes; wearing a light blue button-down collared shirt and black slacks with Zappos shoes. He has a large-size messenger bag over his right shoulder. As I take all of this in, we make eye contact and he says, "Hi! I am Jairaj, but everyone calls me Raj!"

I stand and we shake hands and before I can say my name he quickly adds, "And you are Bob Reary, of Customer Success?" I nod to show that he is correct. We stop shaking hands and he steps across to the near-by half-cubicle like mine, drops his bag on the small desk surface that parallels mine and takes his laptop out of his bag, putting in on the desk surface that points over toward me. He also takes out a small sheaf of papers, places them flat on the desk on the other side of the laptop. He sits and opens his laptop and I sit as well so we are sort of facing opposite directions but can easily turn our heads or bodies toward each other.

Raj says, with a strong accent, "I work in Marketing, up on floor fourteen." I start to resume my work when Raj interrupts, now turned toward me with one ankle crossed on his knee, like men do, and arms crossed, and he says, "Tell me more about yourself... Bob. You know... where you were before you came to this company. Your family. Like that. Okay?"

I clear my throat and talk a bit about my career, what I do here at Intacct, my immediate family, where they live in AZ and CA, their occupations, my parents in NC. He is nodding, watching me, turning back toward his laptop, typing. I assume he is working, doing e-mail, as we talk.

"How long have you lived in Arizona?" He waits on my answer.

"Oh, almost fifteen years... will be next month." He begins typing again.

Raj asks me, "What do you like about Intacct?"

I talk for a while, answering his question fully because I love this company and its people and culture and Customers. As I continue to talk, he types.

"Tell me about your parents."

I tell him about my mom and dad. Where they live. What they are doing at this stage of their lives. Mom is in a nursing home. Dad is retired from his third career. I talk for a while about them. Raj types into his laptop, sometimes looking over at me, nodding, then typing again. Is he typing and sending e-mails? His screen is sideways to me so I can't see what app he is in.

"And your sister?" As I reply, telling him she died three years ago, I think, How did he know I had a sister?

Now he stops typing and turns to me, crosses his leg as before and intertwines his fingers placing them on his knee. He wets his lips and squints his eyes a bit, furrowing his brow, as if what he will ask next is so important. He asks, "Do you have any relatives in Europe?"

"What?" I am perplexed why he would ask this. I cross my arms, knees together, face scrunched up, looking at Raj.

"You know, any family who live in, like, France, or... or Germany, or... or like..."

"No. I don't." He turns to his laptop and begins typing again. "Are you writing a book about me?" I ask him.

He looks over at me again, ceasing his typing, gives me a skeptical look, asks again, "None at all? No one?"