Chapter 6
Dr. Eppes had been to Director Thompkins office many times and he saw a lot of familiar faces. The secretary was a motherly type woman who Charlie thought the world of. Diane Conway was married to an NSA agent who had died the year before from a heart attack. She was not very tall but she had a giant presence about her.
When she saw young Dr. Eppes heading in her direction, a smile broke out on her face and she left her chair to meet him before he could even get to her desk. She hugged him and he returned the embrace.
"Charles Eppes, you have gotten too thin and you look so tired. Don't those people take care of you in California?"
"Hello Diane. I am pretty much old enough now to take care of myself. You are still thinking of me as the sixteen year old kid I was when I first met you. I am twenty-seven years old now you know."
"She patted his cheek and said "Still a baby to me Charlie. Director Thompkins is expecting you of course so you can go on in. I am really happy that you will be spending more time here during this trip. You never seemed to stay around long enough in the past."
"Charlie!" Bob was very enthusiastic about welcoming Charlie. He came around the front of his desk and shook Charlie's hand. "I was a little surprised with your request to take up temporary residence here in DC but I cannot say I am at all unhappy with that decision. How have you been Charlie?"
Charlie smiled at Bob as he plopped himself down in the chair opposite the Director's rather large and very tidy desk. Charlie noted there was not a file to be found anywhere in plain site. Bob set back down behind his desk.
"Finals Bob, you know how I get during finals."
"That means you need some R & R Charlie, not more work, different scenery. That program we spoke of did not need to be started for a few more months, pushing up the time is not a problem. But what are you running away from?" With a small smile he asked "Hiding from the law?"
Charlie had to give a small laugh at his friend's observations.
"Okay Bob, you got me, one FBI agent and one slightly overbearing father may have something to do with my coming here now." With a serious expression he added "You know it is scary how much you seem to know about me".
"That's why I get to be Director, Charlie. Not much gets by me. Before we even talk about the security system that you will be working on, I want to hear more about why you look like you have spent the last six months of your life in a concentration camp. Were the overworked professors of Cal Sci staging a hunger strike that I missed news reports of?"
Charlie really did laugh then. It was the first time he had really laughed in so long he could not remember. He was having a hard time picturing Larry on a hunger strike and pitching the terms to the public and media.
"No nothing like that Bob. It was the child killer case that I was helping Don with and then finals right on the heels of closing that case. A lot of stress and not enough time in between. But I am fine now."
"Well, I have to disagree with you there. I will give you the notes on what this new security system should do as opposed to what the one in place is doing now. But, all I want you to do with those notes between now and next Monday is reading them at your leisure. What I insist you do is take the remainder of the time to do nothing but sleep, eat and relax."
Charlie looked like he wanted to argue. The last thing he wanted was time for him to think over what had been going on in his life.
"Charlie the one thing you mentioned on the phone was that you wanted to make some changes in the way you were living your life and unless you meant DC as opposed to LA, now is the perfect time to work on those. Now how about you run a few ideas by me and we can see if there is something that I can do either as your friend or as someone with some influence should you need it".
"Okay Bob, but only as my friend. Nothing drastic enough to require assistance from the government. This is years overdue, but I want to do more with my life than numbers. Everything I do, everything I am all comes back to math. There is a lot out there that I have missed out on because I focus my whole being on math. I spent a lot of my younger years not being able to focus on anything else. That has changed over the years and now, while I do have control over thinking of and doing other things, I really haven't done anything else" He paused and wandered if what he had just said made sense to a man who would not really understand what it meant to have little control over where your thoughts were.
" I think I am following you Charlie, but I have to ask if you mean in your professional life or are you referring to personal changes?"
"Most likely just personal, I can't imagine getting the same satisfaction from another career than I get from teaching. One thing I really want from my life is to be more self-reliant. I have never really had to take care of myself before. There was always someone there for me if I was not doing all that was needed. I love having my father living there, I like having family and friends around. I don't necessary mean living alone as much as I mean being able to depend on myself more. I came to get away, that's true but I also wanted this time to work on the changes I need."
"While we are on the subject of my learning how to take care of myself, I want to bring up a few things that are not helping me here. Not that I am not appreciative, I am, but I am pretty sure I could have managed the grocery shopping on my own."
It was Bob's turn to laugh out loud at that one. "You know, I told Diane that was not a good idea but she wanted to do this. She said that she thinks of you as the son she never had and I don't think there was any way I could have stopped her short of a direct order and I have a suspicion she would have risked insubordination charges and done it anyway. So, you are on your own with Diane and her mothering instinct."
Well Charlie supposed he would be able to deal with some mothering from Diane. She had been a good friend to his own mother and maybe she could not help but feel she should be filling in for the now absent mother.
At that second a light came on in Charlie's head, Charlie knew exactly what he was looking to change. The illusive IT that he had been trying to put in to words was narrowed down to one word. Don. But, now that he knew, he would have to use the time later to think about what that meant for him.
"Well, one thing you can do is call off the limo driver. I intend to make getting my drivers license my first priority. Then, I will be looking for a car."
"Okay Charlie, but you have no doubt heard the horror stories of the DC roads so, anytime you change your mind, just let me know."
"I won't Bob, but thanks again. If the traffic is too bad, it is not too far that I can't ride a bike here".
That comment had given Bob an idea. He snapped his fingers and said "that's it".
At Charlie's startled look Bob said, "I know what would be prefect for you Charlie. On Monday morning you report to the NSA training class that we have starting up. You can decide which of the programs you do or do not want to train in, but one thing for sure, it is physical, as well as mental and there is a lot that you can learn and experience in these classes. The agent recruits are required to get into shape, and while I think the physical training would go a long way in helping you with your goals, you will not be participating in the long term or endurance hard physical training."
Charlie was surprised as just how appealing that sounded to him.
At his interested look, Bob continued. "I have always told you that you have a permanent position anytime you chose with the NSA and you would not have to go to the recruit classes to do this. You more than qualify on your background as it stands."
"The training classes offer physical training of course and while it is like having your own personal trainer, you will not be required to reach any goals other than what you set for yourself. I hope I have made it clear that you will not be required to do any of it at all. Just go to the training class on Monday. It is more of an orientation and introduction. Any and all programs you are interested in, you need only show up, drop them if you decide and we can work the security program around any schedule you decide on. The training personal are best in the country and I can't see anything but good coming out of this for you."
This certainly seemed like a step in the right direction. Certainly not one he would have thought even applied to him but as Bob stated, he could drop them if it wasn't working.
"Thanks Bob, I intend to be at that class Monday. You have given me some real ways to set some goals." 'or at least to fill the hours and not think about home so much' "I want you to know I really appreciate it."
"Glad I could help Charlie, now might I suggest that you make your goal this week catching up on sleep, putting back on some of that missing weight and enjoying your time off?"
Charlie smiled and said "That is a goal I can live with."
"Good, now on your way out Diane can give you the when and wheres of the class. After the first class, attend when you want and as I really want to stress again, nothing about any of the training is mandatory for you. After the class finishes on Monday, you can come back up here and we can work on getting started on that security system. I have some idea for the team you will be working with but the original design will need to be yours alone and once it is configured, you can train the others on what to do."
"Now go and get some food and sleep and enjoy your week. I will call off Brian, who is my favorite limo driver by the way, but you be sure to let me know if you change your mind."
Charlie felt like a major weight had been lifted from him and he was all smiles as he stopped at Diane's desk for the training class information.
Diane went to a filing cabinet to get out the needed paperwork. She really was not surprised that Charlie was interested in joining some of the classes. For as long as she had known him Charlie had been a scholastic sponge and since he would he in the area for an extended amount of time, it made sense that he would want to not only work on the new program, but also to continue learning.