Egress Point

Chapter 4

Wednesday started with another lie in, just until 10. Arebecca felt she had earned it with the Chinese translation. She showered and thought about what to wear to the meeting. She figured that Nick would be in his unremarkable jeans and t-shirt or something just as unimaginative. Perhaps she should match him? No, something that might catch his eye without being too flamboyant. Or something downright sexy. The possibilities were laid out on the bed and pondered on. And tried on. And eventually, after much deliberation, decided on.

The walk to the union bar was short. It was warm again, but Arebecca felt cool in a light summer dress that looked fantastic on her. The union was at the back of a small square courtyard, called Beit Quad. The exams must be nearly over, only a few groups of students were scattered throughout the usually bustling courtyard. Inside was a mixture of well-worn dark wood and cheap furniture. This time she was five minutes early, but Nick was already there, on his phone, half-watching the door, with a coke already on the table. He didn't seem to noticed her as she approached. She sat down opposite and smiled.

"Hi," he said, putting the phone down. "How did you get on?"

"No problem." She pulled the work laptop out of her bag. "But I didn't know how to send them back to you, I couldn't attach them using the funny email program."

"You don't need to send them, you're working directly on our server. Any edits you make are immediately visible. How was the Chinese stuff?"

"It was fine. I didn't know all the characters as some were specific to data and security and need to know. But I cross-referenced against the others and worked it out."

Nick looked pleased. They talked about the three documents for a while. Nick explained that these high-level documents were a starting point for more specific and technical policies and procedures all about securing data. He wanted to make sure that she was totally happy with all the terms used before the harder documents started. She assured him that she was fine so far, and ready for whatever was next.

Lunch was edible. He had fajitas. She had a salad. She asked what data the documents were protecting.

"Lots of data. Some of it is valuable on its own, like personal data for customer accounts. Names and addresses. They also deal with transactions, so there could be card numbers and related information. Some of the data is linked to the valuable data, like logs of when it's accessed. It all gets classified and protected accordingly. It's our job, eventually, to work out if all their protection is actually keeping things safe."

She tried to look interested. He made it sound interesting, but Arebecca suspected that it was going to get very boring very quickly.

"Where did you study? Which university?" she asked.

"Oh, er, I was up in Birmingham before I came down here." He went quiet. And checked his phone.

"And you live in London now?"

"Yes, well, here and in some other places too. I spend quite a lot of time travelling. And working." He went back to his phone.

Arebecca was right. He would not fit in on one of Sabby's nights out. But there was something about him that she liked. At the end of lunch he handed her a new crypt-stick. She'd left the other back at the hotel, he said she could bring both next time.

And that was it. Nick paid, and they went together out through the quad. On the street he gave her a nod and a wave. She smiled and walked back to the hotel.

***

"How was it?" Sabby asked at dinner. "Did you invite him out with us tonight?"