#CyberAttack? Let’s talk about readiness!

[exinent]

Magento eCommerce Development Trends in 2024

[novamariestark]

Hacked Hearts

Summary: When a series of hacks originate from your laptop, the FBI take you into questioning. Little did you know that this whole ordeal would lead you to the man of your dreams.

Warnings: age gap, kidnapping, mention of handcuffs (not detailed) lmk if i missed any, don't think I have.

Word count: 4095 (This one is longer than I expected)

Fandom: NCIS

Pairing: Alden Parker x fornell!reader

The way you met wasn’t something you’d want to happen again. The cybercrime investigation had led Parker and Fornell to an unexpected and delicate situation. Hacks originating from a particular IP address had pointed them directly to a dorm room at Georgetown University.

Fornell knocked on the door. Beside him, FBI Agent Alden Parker stood ready, their badges in hand, prepared to reveal their official credentials to the person on the other side of the door.

After a moment, the door swung open, and there you stood, a smile on your face. "Hey, Uncle Toby," you greeted warmly, the smile fading as you notice the badges in their hands, "Who's your friend?"

“Y/N? W-what?”

You raised an eyebrow in response to his reaction. "I live here," you replied, your tone filled with confusion, "What's going on?"

Parker took charge of the situation and spoke with a firm but gentle voice. "We need you to come with us, Y/N," he explained. Your smile fell as you realized your uncle wasn’t there for a social visit, "We also need to confiscate your laptop," he added.

Your expression shifted from confusion to concern, your gaze flickering toward your uncle. Fear and worry etched across your features as you nodded "Okay," you replied, your voice slightly tremulous. "It's on the desk." you gestured toward your friend's desk, where your laptop rested.

Alden nodded, appreciating your cooperation, "Thank you," you stepped aside to let them in. The agent, Parker, you think his ID said, walked over to the desk and picked up your laptop. It was then placed into a see-through bag. An evidence bag. What the hell is going on?

The car ride was quiet. All you could think about was what was going to happen. What is happening. Your fingers danced restlessly in your lap as you gazed out the window, the passing scenery a blur of buildings and people.

As soon as you arrived at the building, Parker escorted you to the interrogation room. He then left for a moment, presumably to talk to your uncle. You took a look around the small, square space as your fingers absentmindedly skated over the smooth metal table. Under the table, your leg was bouncing nervously. Was this because you hadn’t taken the 2 cents back to the coffee shop when they gave you the incorrect change? You had been meaning to take it back, but you hadn’t had the chance.

You jumped when the door suddenly opened, and Parker came back in. You looked behind him, but saw no one. You slumped back into your seat. You supposed it made sense, can’t interrogate family.

So, Parker took the lead. Your uncle stood on the opposite side of the one-way glass, watching on and hoping to God you didn’t have anything to do with this.

You looked at him as he sat across from you, his expression serious as he began his questioning. "Y/N," he started, his voice firm but composed, "we traced a series of hacks back to your IP address. Can you explain this?"

You met Alden's gaze, your eyes showing genuine surprise, "Hacks?" you repeated, a hint of disbelief in your voice. "That doesn't make any sense. I would never..."

The interrogation continued, as Alden delved into the details of your digital footprint and the cyberattacks in question. You answered his questions as best as you could, explaining your activities and the security measures you had taken to protect your laptop. Each piece of evidence that Alden presented seemed to cast a darker shadow over you, intensifying the feeling of entrapment. Your head buried itself in your hands as the situation became increasingly worse for you.

As the questioning continued, your frustration was palpable as you defended your innocence. "I don't understand how my laptop could have been used for these attacks. It's always with me, I have a password, and it's secure, and I've never lent it to any—"

You paused, a sudden realization dawning upon you. "Anyone," you finished, your eyebrows furrowing with confusion. Your mind raced back to your dorm room. "It was on her desk."

Alden leaned forward, his elbows resting further on the table, "Her desk?" he questioned.

You nodded, your eyes focused on his hazel ones, "My roommate," you started, "I let her borrow it. She asked me a couple of weeks ago if she could use it for a school project. I didn't think much of it at the time."

Alden nodded, his gaze shifting toward the one-way glass. After a moment, he turned his attention back to you, "We need to speak with her. Do you know where she is?"

You quickly checked the time on your watch, then looked back at Alden. "Yeah," you confirmed. "She's in class for the next 9 minutes, and then she's free. You'll most likely find her at the coffee shop around the corner."

"We're going to have to keep you here, Y/N, for the time being," he said, his tone apologetic. "It's a precaution."

You offered a small nod. "It's okay," you replied with a shrug, "You're doing your job."

With that, you settled into the seat. Accepting the idea of being temporarily detained as part of the ongoing investigation, hopeful that they’d be able to clear your name of any wrongdoing.

***

As the investigation into the cyberattacks progressed, you were eventually cleared of any involvement, as security footage from the bank and various other places confirmed your presence during the time of the cyberattacks. This evidence had exonerated you.

Their focus shifted to your roommate, Ciara, who had been tipped off about the FBI's interest in you. Now she’s on the run.

Now knowing for sure that you were innocent, they enlisted your help to track her down and counteract her new and current attacks. Each of you play a critical role. Your skills as a computer tech became an invaluable asset in the hunt for your roommate. Alden and your uncle, on the other hand, were busy uncovering who Ciara might have been working for and the motives behind her actions.

As the hours stretched on and the screen before you displayed the ongoing digital battle, your attention remained laser focused. You couldn't afford to look away for even a moment.

At around 2am, Alden brought you some food and coffee. He placed it on the desk beside you, “Thank you,” sending him a quick smile before turning your attention back to the screen.

Suddenly, the barrage of cyberattacks ceased, and you let out a sigh of relief. You leaned back in your chair, exhausted, wanting nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep. You looked around and noticed your uncle slumped in his chair, fast asleep, while Agent Parker still pored over old case files. The sound of the pages turning is a constant hum in the background in an otherwise empty office.

Whilst you had a moment to yourself, you take the time to look at Parker. You begin to notice the small things that he does, the way he concentrates on the papers in front of him, furrowing his brow in deep thought. You watch as he sips his coffee, noticing the way he licks his lips after each sip.

His soft grey hair was practically inviting you to run your fingers through it and a dance between an autumn forest, where the warm, earthy browns collided with the vibrant, sunlit greens eyes that made the most beautiful set of hazel eyes that you’d get lost gazing into. Every time he spoke, you found yourself lost in his voice, which was deep and smooth, like butter melting over hot toast.

As the night wore on, he moved over to sit next to you. You talked and got to know each other, sharing stories and laughing at each other's jokes. You found yourself opening up to Alden in a way that you never had with anyone else. Then it happened. Alden leaned in and kissed you.

For a moment, everything else faded away. It was just the two of you and nothing else mattered. It was a kiss so gentle you thought he was afraid of breaking you. Every other kiss you’ve had with a guy was never this gentle or patient. Every guy seemed to be in a rush to shove their tongues down your throat. But then, just as you were about to move to deepen the kiss, Alden pulled away, looking apologetic.

"I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened," he said, backing away. "We should get some rest."

You would be lying if you said you weren’t disappointed. All you knew was that it was a good thing the attacks had stopped because right now, all you could think about was the softness of his coffee flavoured lips and the way his darkened moustache tickled your nose.

He left to go home but you opted to stay, to see if you could find a trail your ex-friend/roommate had left. You continued working through the night or what was left of it. It didn’t seem long before people were filing in, practically on auto pilot as all of them headed for the coffee machine in the corner break room that apparently had the “best coffee,”

You had managed to track her down. You thought that since she didn’t have access to your laptop anymore, she’d need to get one somewhere. So, you checked internet café’s and sure enough there she was. She had been smart enough to use cash whilst paying for things but not smart enough to avoid security cameras.

You told your uncle and Parker where she was, and they went to arrest her. When they brought her back to the office for interrogation, you had to fight the urge to go and smack the shit out of her.

You sat back down at your temporary desk, awaiting to hear about her excuse. Soon, Fornell came over, planting himself on the desk with his arms crossed. You looked up at him and smiled.

“You did good kid,” he said, you looked down, smiling at the compliment, “You ever think about joining us?” he asked, you opened your mouth to respond but before the words came out, he continued, “As a computer expert, not in the field, I won’t allow that,”

You rolled your eyes at his protectiveness, “I’m sure I’d do a better job than you, old man,” you retorted playfully.

“Who’s an old man?” came a voice from behind you. You turned to look at Alden and smiled.

“Uncle Toby here says that I should come work with you guys, just not in the field,”

“We’d be lucky to have you,” he smiled back, god that smile is beautiful, what you’d give to see that smile every day.

You nodded towards where the interrogation rooms were, “So, what did she have to say?”

It turned out, your roommate was hired to hack into the FBI to find out details of an upcoming court case. She didn’t know which one they were specifically after, they just told her that she’d “know it when she saw it,”

“So, I can go back to uni now?” you asked, looking between the two of them, “Not that I haven’t enjoyed almost being arrested for cyber crime and then fighting said cyber-crime,” you quickly added when your uncle gave you his best hurt impression, “I just missed a few classes, is all. I suppose you’ll need to keep my laptop for now,”

“You can use mine,” Alden immediately offered. Your head snapped towards him. Alden's immediate offer to use his laptop caught you by surprise. You use his laptop? The one lucky enough to feel his fingertips dance along it? You appreciated the gesture, but it felt like an intrusion on his personal space.

He walked over to his desk, picked up a sleek, plain silver laptop, and extended it towards you, "You sure?"

He smiled, "Well, I trust you will take good care of it,"

"I will, I promise," you said, your tone expressing your gratitude. As you took the laptop from him, your fingers gently grazed his. You looked down, wishing you could just hold that hand in his, but he made his feelings clear last night. You obviously weren’t his type. Sure, he was older than you, but you didn’t care about age. You hadn’t trusted someone so easily before, one day together and you were already telling him things that your best friends don’t even know about.

You looked at your watch, 7:14, “I gotta go,” you announced, hoping to get back quick enough to have a shower before heading to your first class, “I’ll get this back to you as soon as possible,” you told Alden before turning to your uncle. You placed a kiss to his cheek and began heading towards the exit, “See you soon, Uncle T,”

***

Sleep was very inviting, and you thought as soon as you saw your bed, you would be compelled to sleep. That however didn’t happen when you saw the state your room was in.

What the fuck?!

Both mattresses were flung of the frames of the beds. Drawers hung half-open, their contents spilled across the room, evidence of frantic rummaging. Their search for something had left no stone unturned. Desks were turned upside down, their contents scattered haphazardly, and chairs lay toppled on their sides.

You searched for some answers - but little did you know that two men had quietly slipped into the room behind you and were now watching your every move.

Suddenly, the men pounced, easily overpowering you and pushing you up against a wall. You screamed as loud as you could, but it was too late. They grabbed you and tied your hands with rope before covering your mouth with tape. Someone would see this right? They can’t get you off campus without someone noticing. Surely. The men barked orders at you, telling you to shut up and cooperate or else.

Someone did notice. A security guard. He tried to intervene but got shot. You screamed as best you could, but the tape muffled your attempts. The strong odors of musty fabric and stale air filled her nostrils as you looked around the dark space.

After god knows how long of nonstop driving, the van finally stopped and the backdoors flung open. You heard a sharp voice ordering you out. You carefully jumped out, your legs shaking. Before you could even register your surroundings, you felt a strong grip around your arms dragging you away.

You were led to a room, a small room with no windows, no furniture. Nothing but a desk, a chair and a laptop.

Soon, you found out why you’d been taken. A man who you assumed was the leader of the group stepped forward.

“We need you to help us with something, Y/N. You see, your roommate was working for us, and she was helping us hack into the FBI. But then she was arrested. I assume you had something to do with that,” he said, his hand reaching to grab your face to make you look at him, “She said you are top of your class,”

You scoffed and tore your face from his hand. It hurt but you weren’t going to give him the satisfaction, “I’m not going to do a damn thing for you,”

He chuckled, causing a domino effect as the rest of the group laughed. He the pulled out a knife and pressed it just below your eye, “You think we’re messing?” he then pulled out a picture. A picture of a young girl with ginger hair. You immediately recognised her, “You see, Ciara told us every little detail about you.” He said putting the photo on the desk beside you, “You help us, or,” he paused, only to stab the picture, pinning it to the table. He moved his lips beside your ear, “Or we kill your cousin,”

You nodded, tears flowing down your cheeks as you turn to look at the computer. Your heart was racing as you began to type furiously. You couldn't believe you were actually hacking into the FBI. It was something you never thought you would do in a million years. But you had no other choice. You would do whatever it takes to keep Emily safe.

You felt like you were betraying your uncle by hacking into the agency he worked for. Would he be disappointed? He would, wouldn’t he?

“What happens to me after I do this?”

He chuckled again. He placed his hand on the back of your neck, his thumb stroking the side, “I’m afraid we’ll have to kill you,” his hand creeped lower down your back, his touch made your skin crawl, “Shame, beauty and brains. Such a waste,”

You gulped as you continued tapping away on the keys.  Once you got in, you started to search for the files that they wanted and download the necessary information. As you navigated through the intricate system, you encountered various firewalls and security, but you managed to bypass them all. After hours of searching, you finally found what they were after and quickly extracted it from the system. You knew its was no use, they wouldn’t get there in time, but you left clues along the way for the FBI computer experts to pick up and your uncle especially. You purposely used the wrong password few times, knowing it would show up on their system what was inputted. Diane and Emily’s birthday. To the men in the room with you, it’d look like random numbers, but to your uncle, you hoped he’d notice.

While you were at it, you disabled the security they had on the laptop that was bouncing the signal around the world, so instead they knew exactly where to look. You expect to be dead by the time they got there though. But maybe, just maybe, your last action was to take them down.

The leader went over to the printer, grabbing the information you had just stolen. He read through it, then looked up to his men and nodded to the door. They left the room, leaving you and the leader alone.

“I’ll make it quick and painless,” he smiled. He then grabbed his gun and pointed it at you. You closed your eyes and started counting to yourself. Then, there were sudden gunshots from the next room. Your breath caught in your throat, and you felt relief wash over you. You heard footsteps, voices, and the sound of a door opening, but you didn’t dare open your eyes.

You felt yourself being yanked up from your seat by his strong grip on your hair. He quickly placed you in front of him as a shield, pressing the cold metal barrel of his gun against your temple. Your breathing was heavy, and your heart was pounding against your chest, beating uncontrollably in fear.

You opened your eyes to see your uncle and Parker stood in front of you, their weapons pointed at the man.

Your uncle’s voice cracked as he sternly spoke, "We won't hesitate to fire if you don't surrender."

“You can’t kill me without killing her!” he yelled. “You’ll miss!” you squeezed your eyes shut, feeling as though your fate was sealed.

Then it came, the sound of a gunshot. You let out a scream and waited for the pain, but it never came. You opened your eyes to see the man on the ground, a bullet hole in his head and blood pooling around him.

You immediately ran across the dark room and into the arms of your uncle. He enveloped you with a tight hug and began stroking your hair. “Shh, you're okay,” he said, his hand gently stroking your hair. You cried into his chest and listened to his soothing words.

He led you outside, taking you to the ambulance to get checked out, ignoring your protests. You were still trembling as you stepped outside, the cold breeze dancing along your sweat painted skin.

Your uncle left you with a paramedic to call Emily and let her know you were okay.  

"How are you feeling?" a voice suddenly asked. You jumped and quickly looked in that direction. Parker mentally slapped himself, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,”

You smiled faintly, “It’s okay,” you closed your eyes. “It's been a crazy day,” you said, your voice soft and fragile. “But I'm glad to be alive. I don't know what I would have done without you here.”

He gently squeezed your hand, and tears began to run down your face. “It's alright,” he said, bringing you into a hug. Your head resting on his chest as his arms wrapped around you and at that point you knew you were safe.

It’s just a friendly hug, you told yourself. You wished it was more, but you knew it was unlikely to happen. But then he placed a gentle kiss on your forehead.

You lifted your head from his chest to look up at him, only to find him already looking at you. He looked down into your eyes once more and moved in closer, until your lips were almost touching. Your heart raced as his lips brushed against yours. You saw him hesitate, not letting his lips fully touch yours. You don’t know where your surge of confidence came from but your hand moved to interlock around his neck as you closed the gap between you. Everything else faded away.

You felt as though you were floating, every anxiety and worry evaporating from your body with this one kiss.

His fingers traced the paths those tears had taken, tears that glistened like crystal drops on your skin. You leaned into his touch, your head resting against his chest, his heartbeat a steady, reassuring rhythm beneath your ear. His arms encircled you, providing a sense of security that had been sorely lacking.

The sound of your uncle's voice shattered the fragile bubble of your moment together, "Am I interrupting something?" he asked, a mixture of surprise and discomfort in his tone as he approached the two of you.

Your heart raced as you reluctantly disentangled yourself from Alden's embrace. You met your uncle's gaze, struggling to find the right words to explain, but none came willingly.

You cast a quick glance at Alden, trying to read his expression. His eyes held a mixture of concern and something more profound, but it was difficult to figure out his true feelings. You couldn't help but wonder if he felt the same way, if the sparks that had ignited between you reflected a mutual attraction, or if it had been heat of the moment.

Needless to say, the attraction was mutual. He took you everywhere and anywhere. But you didn’t care as long as he was there. You loved how he would go out of his way finding new pastries for you to try and the childlike smile he has on his face as he awaits your reaction. You love how he plays piano. Sometimes he plays a soothing melody to help you relax after a long day and other times, you’ll wake up to a gentle melody, dancing through the air from the other room. Every day he’d do a million small things for you, no matter what, and it made you fall for him.

Now six months into your relationship, much to your uncle’s dissatisfaction, and you still couldn’t believe that all it took to find the man of your dreams was to be accused of cybercrime. Sometimes you’d joke that if he ever got bored of you then you’d know how to get his attention back. He never finds this funny but this time you replied with something that shocked both of you.

“Don’t tell me that you haven’t thought about putting them handcuffs on me,” you whisper into his ear before placing a soft kiss to his cheek.

Alden raised his eyebrows and looks at you, “I’m sorry, I think I misheard you,” he laughed, no way his sweet innocent girlfriend just said that to him. Sure, you two have slept together but you had never been kinky.

“I’ve thought about it,” you said, your fingers unbuttoning his shirt as your lips attached themselves to his neck. Soon your actions were stopped, and Alden took over. Before you knew it, you were handcuffed to the bed and about to get the best sex you’ve ever had in your entire life.

[A/N] Been working on this for over a week. I wasn't going to post it because I don't feel too confident about it but I just thought post it anyway

[smgoi]

Career Opportunities for Computer Science Engineers in India

In the era of digital transformation, Computer Science Engineering (CSE) has emerged as one of the most desirable fields of study for students in India. With India’s rapidly evolving IT sector and a strong global presence, there is an ever-increasing demand for skilled computer science engineers. This demand opens up an array of career opportunities for CSE graduates, especially in cutting-edge areas like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Cloud Computing, and Embedded Systems.

Let’s talk about top career opportunities for CSE graduates in India and how students can take advantage of these opportunities with the right skillset and education.

1. Software Developer

Software development remains the most sought-after career path for CSE graduates. As businesses and organizations move towards digital solutions, the demand for skilled software developers continues to grow. Software developers design, code, and maintain software applications for different industries, from healthcare to e-commerce. With the increasing focus on app development, web development, and enterprise solutions, software developers are in high demand both in India and globally.

At St. Mary’s Group, our students gain hands-on experience with programming languages like Java, Python, C++, and JavaScript, enabling them to become proficient software developers ready to take on real-world challenges.

2. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Engineer

India is becoming a significant player in the fields of AI and ML, and CSE graduates with skills in these areas are highly valued. AI and ML engineers design systems that can learn from data, make predictions, and automate complex tasks. These technologies are transforming sectors such as finance, healthcare, and transportation by improving efficiency and accuracy.

With the rise of AI-driven innovations such as smart assistants, self-driving cars, and personalized recommendations, AI and ML engineers are among the most in-demand professionals. At St. Mary’s Group, our CSE-AIML program equips students with the skills to build AI and ML models and work on cutting-edge technologies that drive automation and decision-making.

3. Cloud Engineer

As businesses migrate to the cloud, there is a growing demand for cloud engineers who can design, implement, and maintain cloud-based infrastructures. Cloud engineers work with cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud to help companies build scalable, secure, and cost-effective cloud solutions.

The rapid adoption of cloud computing across industries like banking, education, and retail has made cloud engineering a lucrative career option. St. Mary’s Group offers students the opportunity to learn cloud technologies, virtualization, and network management, preparing them for a career in cloud computing.

4. Cybersecurity Specialist

With the rise of digital transactions, data breaches, and cyber threats, the need for cybersecurity specialists has never been greater. Cybersecurity experts are responsible for securing networks, protecting sensitive data, and preventing cyberattacks. As organizations become increasingly reliant on digital infrastructure, the demand for cybersecurity professionals in India continues to soar.

St. Mary’s Group provides students with the knowledge and skills required to build secure systems, understand encryption technologies, and develop security protocols, making them well-suited for careers in cybersecurity.

5. Data Scientist

Data science is one of the fastest-growing fields, with companies across sectors using data to make informed decisions. Data scientists analyze vast amounts of structured and unstructured data to derive insights, identify patterns, and make predictions that drive business strategies.

For CSE graduates, data science offers excellent career prospects, especially in industries like e-commerce, finance, and healthcare. By mastering tools like Python, R, and SQL, students from St. Mary’s Group can enter the data science domain with confidence and expertise.

6. Embedded Systems Engineer

Embedded systems are integral to modern technology, from smartphones and medical devices to automobiles and home appliances. Embedded systems engineers design, develop, and maintain these specialized systems, which combine hardware and software for a specific function.

CSE graduates with knowledge of embedded systems can find career opportunities in industries such as automotive, aerospace, and telecommunications. At St. Mary’s Group, our Diploma in Embedded Systems provides students with the necessary skills to work with microcontrollers, sensors, and real-time operating systems.

7. Blockchain Developer

India is witnessing a rise in blockchain technology, particularly in sectors like finance, supply chain management, and digital identity verification. Blockchain developers design and maintain decentralized systems that are transparent, secure, and efficient.

Blockchain technology’s potential to revolutionize industries has created high demand for blockchain developers in India. CSE graduates with an understanding of cryptography, distributed systems, and smart contracts can explore this promising field. St. Mary’s Group ensures that students are exposed to the latest blockchain tools and technologies to stay ahead in this fast-evolving sector.

8. DevOps Engineer

DevOps engineers bridge the gap between development and operations teams by automating and streamlining software development processes. They work on continuous integration, deployment, and monitoring, ensuring that software updates are rolled out quickly and efficiently.

As companies look for ways to optimize software development cycles, DevOps has emerged as a crucial role in IT departments. St. Mary’s Group offers students exposure to DevOps tools and practices, preparing them for this high-demand career path.

Conclusion

India’s booming IT industry offers a wealth of opportunities for Computer Science Engineering (CSE) graduates. From artificial intelligence and cloud computing to cybersecurity and embedded systems, the career options are diverse and growing. With the right education and skills, CSE graduates can pursue fulfilling careers in some of the most cutting-edge industries in the world.

At St Mary's Group of Institutions, Best Engineering College in Hyderabad, we are committed to preparing students for the future. With our industry-relevant programs in CSE, CSE-AIML, Diploma in Computer Engineering, and Diploma in Embedded Systems, we ensure that our students are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in India’s dynamic job market.

[advizuru]

The Role of Managed IT Services in Business Continuity Planning

Hey there, business warriors and tech aficionados! Let's talk about something super important but often overlooked—Business Continuity Planning. It might sound like one of those corporate buzzwords, but trust me, it’s essential. And guess what? Managed IT Services can play a huge role in keeping your business afloat when things go south. So, let’s dive in and see how managed IT services can be your business’s lifeboat during a storm.

What is Business Continuity Planning?

First things first, what the heck is Business Continuity Planning (BCP)? Simply put, BCP is your game plan for keeping your business running during and after a disaster. Think of it as a superhero cape that helps your company bounce back from the unexpected—be it a natural disaster, cyberattack, or even a pandemic (we all know how that goes now).

The Role of Managed IT Services

So, where do Managed IT Services fit into all of this? Let’s break it down in a way that makes sense and maybe even brings a smile to your face.

1. Data Backup and Recovery

Imagine losing all your company data because of a cyberattack or a hardware failure. Yikes! Managed IT Services ensure your data is backed up regularly and can be recovered quickly. It’s like having an extra set of keys when you’re locked out of your house. No panic, just a smooth way back in.

2. Proactive Monitoring and Maintenance

Managed IT Services providers keep an eagle eye on your systems 24/7. They can spot issues before they become disasters. It’s like having a car mechanic who fixes your engine while you sleep, so you never wake up to a broken-down vehicle.

3. Cybersecurity Measures

In the digital age, cyber threats are real and scary. Managed IT Services offer robust cybersecurity measures to protect your data. Think of it as having a digital bodyguard who never takes a coffee break. They’re always there, keeping the bad guys out.

4. Remote Work Solutions

The recent pandemic taught us that remote work is not just a perk; it’s a necessity. Managed IT Services provide solutions for remote access, ensuring your team can work from anywhere, anytime. It’s like turning your office into a magic suitcase—compact, portable, and always ready to go.

5. Disaster Recovery Planning

Beyond just backing up data, managed IT services help create a comprehensive disaster recovery plan. This includes detailed steps on how to restore systems and resume operations. It’s like having a fire drill but for your IT systems—everyone knows what to do and where to go.

6. Scalability and Flexibility

As your business grows, your IT needs change. Managed IT services can scale up or down based on your requirements. It’s like having a wardrobe that expands when you buy new clothes—always the perfect fit.

The Benefits in Real Terms

Let’s put this into perspective with a little humor. Imagine you run a bakery. One day, a power outage wipes out your computer systems, and you lose all your customer orders, recipes, and inventory lists. Without a business continuity plan and managed IT services, you’re like a baker without flour—completely stuck.

With managed IT services, however, your data is backed up, your systems are monitored, and you have a plan to get everything back up and running quickly. Your customers get their pastries on time, and your business keeps rolling. Crisis averted, all thanks to your IT superheroes.

Conclusion

Business continuity planning is crucial, and managed IT services are the unsung heroes that keep things running smoothly during a crisis. They offer data backup and recovery, proactive monitoring, cybersecurity, remote work solutions, disaster recovery planning, and scalability.

So, next time you think about skipping that IT upgrade or ignoring the importance of managed services, remember this: it’s better to have a plan and not need it than to need a plan and not have it. And who knows, maybe one day you’ll be the hero of your own business continuity story, all thanks to the right managed IT services. Stay prepared, stay safe, and keep your business thriving!

[lsvdw-blog]

Not a Minute More: Part 2

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings; Rating: Mentions of a cyberattack, Angst; Teen+

Premise: MC's perspective on the day that rocks Ethan to his core and threatens to change his life.

Author’s Note: I was going to wait to post this, but I'm loving the flood of content we're getting rn, so I thought I'd hop on too. I cried writing this... I'm so sorry 😭. Part 1 here. I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading 💖

~ Monday, 8:20am ~

"Good morning, Mike!" Serena greets the security guard right inside the door.

"Hey! How are ya? How's that Dr. Ramsey?"

"We're both doing well, thanks! How about you and the family?" She asks as she puts her phone in a cubby and unplugs the Wi-Fi enabler from her laptop.

"It was the wife and I's anniversary this weekend! We went to Martha's vineyard and saw the most beautiful proposal! You and Dr. R gonna get going on that soon? Aly has been talking about going to y'alls wedding since she met ya!" Mike gives a playful wink.

"Oh, congratulations! That's wonderful and send Aly my best wishes. But you'll have to talk to E on that one," she laughs before opening the door to a stairwell that leads to a classified area.

After keying in her pin, the door clicks open. She grabs a static protection lab coat, walks through the entrance, and is met with a plethora of state-of-the-art equipment. Floor-to-ceiling grey switch panels, curved monitors as far as the eye can see, and countless probes, clips, and wires.

She walks over to a few familiar faces. “Good morning! How’s it going?”

“Nice of you to finally join us! Dr. Ramsey keep you this morning?” Isla, one of the engineers, jests.

“I saw your check-in on the monitor — you walked in two minutes before me!”

“Those diagnostic skills at work, I see,” Isla retorts and they both laugh.

Isla had become a fast and faithful friend since Serena joined the project. They bonded quickly over both being minorities in the world of science and supported each other in every work facet. They had lunch together everyday and gradually, their work bond grew into a personal friendship as well. They’ve become so close that Isla now also regularly spends time with the original Edenbrook gang.

“Alright, enough chit chat. Let’s get this show on the road.”

The team nods and responds, “Yes, Doctor.”

~ 12:00pm ~

Serena exits the classified area with some colleagues and they all make their way to retrieve their phones.

"No new patients. Stuck in meetings and doing paperwork. I miss you and wish you were here."

She immediately breaks out into a large grin after reading Ethan's text and hits the dial button.

"Hey, ready for lunch?" Carmen, one of the lead scientists, asks.

Serena nods and moves her phone slightly away from her ear. "Be there in a minute. You guys go ahead."

She waits for a few more rings. He’s probably busy, I’ll call again later. She hangs up and makes her way to the cafeteria.

~ 12:40pm ~

"We did all the necessary prep work this morning to begin testing after lunch. Everything is looking good. We can begin running our tests since everyone is here. Are we all ready to begin?"

"Yes."

The system engineers are sitting at connected computer stations, inputting the required credentials to start. The rest of the team is standing behind them, waiting and nervously watching the screens. After a couple minutes of tense silence with nothing but the clack clack clack of keyboard keys, Vincenzo, one of the lead engineers, speaks up.

"This is weird… we're having some trouble accessing the necessary data. Did someone put up a firewall?"

Everybody looks around at each other, shaking their heads and muttering "no."

"Isla, are you seeing this? Can you get through?"

Isla continues to type, not saying anything. After a few more seconds, she turns to look at Vincenzo with a concerned expression. "I don't recognize some of the items in our system."

Just as she finishes her sentence, everyone's attention is pulled abruptly to a wall monitor on the right as it starts showing nonsensical images and patterns. Two seconds later, an alarm goes off and a red warning light begins flashing within the building. Everyone's eyes go wide as realization dawns on them: they've been compromised and shelter-in-place has been activated.

~ 12:55pm ~

Everyone begins to evacuate the classified lab area, grabbing their phones on the way out, and peering through the one-way windows. They can occasionally hear Mike speaking rapidly into the phone with a 911 dispatcher, when he's not being drowned out by shouts from colleagues.

On the descent to the bunker, the tension is palpable. Individuals clutch onto each other, others try frantically to reach loved ones, and some are in complete disbelief and shock. As they all descend the five flights of the winding staircase to the basement, windows are no longer available, but the ceiling bulbs keep flickering on and off. Each time it happens, everyone stops in their tracks, ducks down on instinct, and picks up the pace when the lights come back on.

~ 1:15pm ~

The entrance to the Harvard labs bunker is protected by a vault door that has a counter system. When the system is in place, the door can be opened once for people to get in. Once it's been closed, it can only be opened when there's one person on either side working together — it's futile with only one person. The only other way it can be opened is by shutting down the counter system from the outside, with the correct override pin, which only a handful of the most trusted team members know.*

As the vault door comes into sight, the wheel on the outside is turned, and the door opens with a whoosh. People slowly start filing in and head towards the back. However, not everyone can stay in the safety of the bunker. In case of an emergency, the project they’re working on must be erased, to protect it from falling into the wrong hands. Certain people have been assigned particular instructions to delete specific portions.

Serena is one of them.

She's walking next to Isla and their arms are looped together. As Isla enters the bunker, Serena lets go of her arm, stopping at the threshold. Isla whips her head around.

"What are you doing?! Get in here!" She reaches for Serena’s arm.

Serena shakes her head. "I'm the only one currently here who knows the medical codes."

Isla's eyes are frantic in realization. "I'll go back with you! I'll be your lookout! You're not going alone!"

"You'll be safe here. This is my responsibility."

Serena reaches behind her neck and unclasps her gold necklace for the first time in 7 years. She grabs Isla's hand and places the jewelry into her palm, closing Isla's fingers around it.

Serena stares at their clasped hands. "In case anything happens," they both flinch at another flickering of lights. "Promise me that you'll get this to E."

Their eyes are locked now, having a silent battle: Isla begging her to stay and Serena finding the strength not to.

"Isla, promise me. Please." Serena squeezes Isla’s hand that much tighter.

Isla realizes that there's no use in fighting Serena. Risking her life to delete the project is part of the job. They all made a commitment and if the roles were reversed, Isla would be the one fighting to go back.

Isla slowly nods. "I promise, Serena. I promise. But do your best to keep yourself safe. Try and stay near the corners, away from any large equipment that could have aftershock effects, and—"

Serena shakes her slightly. "I know, Isla. We did take the same training," she smiles, trying to make a joke to lighten the mood, but Isla just stares gravely at her.

A booming sound rattles the building and Serena knows it's time to go. She gives Isla a quick hug, before pushing her backwards into the bunker. Before Isla has regained her footing, Serena has closed the bunker door with a resounding thud.

~ 1:30pm ~

On the way back to the classified area, Serena takes out her phone. Ethan hasn't returned her earlier call. Her heart is pounding and with trembling hands, she hits the call button on Ethan's contact card for the second time in less than two hours. After a few rings, his voice comes through.

"You've reached Dr. Ethan Ramsey. I apologize for missing your call. Leave a message and I'll get back to you."

Just as she’s about to start speaking, the lights go down for good. "Hey E," she tries her best to keep her voice from shaking. She puts the call on speaker, places the phone out in front of her, and turns the flashlight on. "I don't know when this will hit the news, but we're currently under cyberattack. I don't know from who or what, but they’ve already gotten into our mainframe and power supply. Everyone has sheltered-in-place and is awaiting further instructions." She takes a deep breath as she inches down a corridor.

"Everyone except me, Vincenzo, and Carmen. We’re the only three here right now trained to completely delete the project in the event something like this happened. I'm walking back to the lab as I speak."

Serena rounds a corner and the lab comes into view. Thinking about what she has to say next, silent tears stream down her face.

"Ethan, sweetheart, I need you to know that the last eight months by your side have been the absolute best eight months of my entire life. You are the light of my existence and mean everything to me." She lets out a deep breath. "I wish I could hear your voice right now… I'm really scared. But I made a commitment, so I need to go back in and finish the job. If something happens, know that you are unequivocally the love of my life and the one for me. I know we haven't talked about it yet, but know that I want to spend forever with you as your wife and have you be the father of my children." She sniffs and continues, "you would be a fantastic husband and dad."

She comes to a stop in front of the keypad located right outside the lab and swallows past the lump in her throat. "But if the universe has other plans for me, I'll be waiting for you and I can't wait to spend forever with you in the next life. This isn't how I wanted to tell you, but until next time, whenever that is, I love you so much, Ethan Jonah Ramsey, more than words could ever properly convey."

She ends the phone call with tear-filled eyes, stashes her phone on a nearby workbench, punches in her key, and enters the classified area one more time.

~~~~~~

*Disclaimer: I have no idea if Harvard labs has a bunker and if they do, what kind of door/system they utilize. This is all purely AU!

[xmxisxforxmaybe]

Decryption_Error: “Beneath the Bright Lights”

Summary: As the holiday season begins, Y/N sees a side of Elliot she had nearly forgotten about. However, Darlene is able to hit the reset button for her brother, and Elliot and Y/N end up having a memorable, happy holiday season.  

Decryption_Error: All Chapters

A/N: ** Lines/Story credited to the show, not me.

Word Count: 9100

Tags: @sherlollydramoine @rami-malek-trash @teamwolf2411 @limabein @txmel​ @alottanothing​ @ouatlovr @backoftheroomandnotbelonging​ @moon-stars-soul​ @free-rami​ @ramimedley​ @hopplessdreamer​ @sweet-charmie @polarcrystall​ @hah0106​

If you want added, removed, or if I’ve missed your request, let me know : )

Warnings: Angst, Verbal attack, Marijuana use, Smut (18+ up, please)

Gif Credit: @s-k-y-w-a-l-k-e-r​

“We could just . . . not pick her up?”

“She’ll love the organized chaos of a high-society social. Maybe she can even do some networking?”

Even though I couldn’t see it, I knew Elliot rolled his eyes; I chuckled and lightly smacked his shoulder with the back of my hand.

We were on our way to pick up Darlene before heading to my parents’ house in Greenwich to kick off the first event of the holiday social season. Every year, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Dad hosted a party for the members of the board and his investors. It was a way to maintain relationships, form new ones, and offer a thank you to everyone who helped with the company’s growth.

The general public was committed to its characterization of what it was like to be an owner of a company on Wall Street—bouncing from meeting to meeting before sitting in an office to bark out orders like a ringmaster in a circus, whose priority was not to entertain but to squeeze the most money out of every person in the tent or to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of every employee. In reality, owning a company meant maintaining a huge social jerk, a near-constant stroking of egos in order to reassure some of the most insecure people, who also happened to be some of the most wealthy people, that you weren’t going to lose the most important thing to them: their money.

This party was especially important because Dad was announcing his retirement. Normally, this created a drop off in stocks because people panicked. Out with the stability they had always known and in with something new. If there was anything people with money hated (aside from parting with it), it was change.

And Elliot wasn’t interested in any of it—he didn’t understand the need for it. Or perhaps it wasn’t that he didn’t understand it, but that he didn’t approve of it and was not willing to risk hurting my feelings to say so.

I had just returned from a business trip in Denver, and I was so insanely paranoid there would be another attack while I was gone. I was the one who had to deal with the brunt of the board and didn’t want to risk placing that kind of pressure on the new Senior Manager, JaLeah, or even Ali. But as of this evening, there were no further cyberattacks on our company. In fact, DoS attacks were down by 15%. Typically, there are surge of attacks close to the holidays like there had been on the Fourth of July.

Elliot’s voice startled me out of my thoughts, asking, “How many people are going to be there?”

“Many, many people, but since it’s at our house, you can hide in my room when you’ve had enough. You look handsome, by the way.”

He was wearing light gray pants, a nice slim-fit chino. He had donned a navy sweater over a white dress shirt and tamed his hair into a side part. He looked nice, normal, at least in the way I knew he envisioned normal.

He reached over and took my hand, pulling it into his lap so he could lace his fingers through mine.

“I missed you.”

“It’s a shame we have to spend my first night back surrounded by other people.”

“Are you tired?”

“Exhausted,” I breathed as I pulled in front of the building where Darlene was staying and threw my flashers on while we waited for her to come out. She wasn’t long, and I reached behind my seat to fish in my overnight bag for the black heels I promised her.

Darlene had her hair pulled up in a ballerina bun and her makeup looked flawless. Her dress was black, fitted, and fairly short with long, lace sleeves. She was currently accessorizing it with a worn pair of high-top chucks.

“You look gorgeous—even with the chucks,” I said as I dangled my heels. “These are the ones you tried on the other night.”

“Perfect,” she mumbled as she unlaced her shoes.

“Feeling conservative, tonight?” Elliot smirked as he peeked around his seat.

“Shut your face, Sweater Vest,” she retorted without looking up.

“I’m not wearing a sweater-vest.”

“Whatever, Mr. Tanner. Isn’t this what rich people look like? Basic black and heels and shit?”

“Is that what I look like to you?” I asked mildly offended and majorly concerned that I looked like a caricature.

Neither Elliot nor Darlene said anything for so long I actually guffawed.

Elliot laughed softly and pulled our still laced together hands to his mouth and pressed a quick kiss to the top of my wrist.  

“You look good. You always look nice.”

“Mmm,” I said, unconvinced as I pulled my hand from his grasp to put the car in drive.

We chatted on our way out of the city, mostly about the party and about our childhood Thanksgivings. I found myself scaling back the details of my own in the event that it would seem obnoxiously normal; I didn’t want to feel like I was throwing my happy childhood in their faces. However, it did seem they had some normality with Angela and her parents, always ditching their own house in favor of hers, especially before her mom died.

When we crept up the drive, the party was already in full swing in the heated tents in the backyard, so I pulled into the garage so we could sneak in our bags. The house was full of caterers and servers, so we quickly dashed upstairs.

I flicked on the light to Charlie’s room, which was closest to mine, and Darlene threw her bag on his bed, her eyes taking in the bedroom.

“If you ever need a house sitter, I better be your first call.”

“My parents are actually downsizing their place in the city and moving out here. I can’t remember if I mentioned it, but tonight’s the night Dad announces his retirement.”

“Is that, like, a big deal?” Darlene asked.

“For several million reasons, it is.”

Darlene nodded and said she was going to use the bathroom, if she could find it, she muttered as she flicked on the light to Char’s closet.

“It’s on your other left,” I laughed as I went to my room.

Elliot was on the balcony which overlooked the party. With my heels on, I was just a bit taller than him so I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my chin on his shoulder.

“Are you going to be cool with all of this? It won’t be as stuffy as the last few parties I made you go to.”

“I’m surprised the tent is big enough to house all of that ego.”

I turned into his neck and inhaled the familiar scent of his aftershave.

“Because you, Mr. Hackerpants, have no ego at all,” I teased before pressing my lips to his neck.

“I don’t use my skills to rob the masses blind.”

I loosened my grip on his waist and stepped back.

“You don’t have to go. I just thought it would be nice if the family was there for Dad’s announcement.”

Even with my loosened grip, I felt Elliot’s body tense. I let him go and he turned to face me, leaning back against the railing.

“I’m family?”

I shrugged, unable to meet his eyes because I feared his rejection when I answered, “Yeah. We consider you a part of our clan now.”

Elliot sighed and stepped forward, his finger moving to lift my chin.

His polychromatic eyes were a swirl of blue and grey tonight, making them seem almost ethereal in the flickering lights from below and the back light from my room. I couldn’t quite read his expression, which seemed to be something I struggled with a lot lately. I wasn’t sure why, but Elliot wasn’t the open book he was when I first met him. Long ago I had theorized that he hadn’t learned to guard himself from me in the early stages of our relationship, like the night we first had sex. His vulnerability had once been laid bare to me, but it was almost always gone now and I sometimes wondered if I had projected, idealized the version of Elliot I wanted to see, the version that needed me.

Elliot tilted his head slightly up and kissed me, a soft sweet kiss.

“Okay,” he whispered against my lips before he pulled away.

Darlene’s clicking heels on the hardwood floor interrupted the moment and we turned to meet her, ready to head to the party.

Dad’s announcement went over well since he said he’d remain on the board for at least two more years. His replacement was a company favorite, a man not entirely unlike Miles with his perfect reputation and his ambition to climb, but I thought he was a good choice, a safe choice.  

I left toward the end of the party, my face tired from the banal talk and the even more banal smiles. When I went upstairs to my room after grabbing a spoon, a can of caviar from the fridge, and a sleeve of crackers, Darlene was laying across the end of the bed sorting a pile of business cards.

“Oh! You did some networking?” I said as I emptied my hands and reached to open the caviar. I prepped a cracker and walked over to Darlene before popping it in my mouth.

“Networking for that rich D,” she said with a smirk.

I swallowed, barely holding back a laugh, “Even better!”

I leaned over to take a look at her pile and frowned.

“Can I help?”

“Have at it,” she said as slid off the bed and headed to the caviar.

“Married. Married. Married.” I said as I tossed those cards to the side.

“This one broke Char’s heart last season, so he’s maybe bi? Maybe in denial?”

“Toss. I don’t want your brother’s sloppy seconds,” Darlene said.

“Fair enough,” I agreed as I continued. “He’s nice. Nice. Holy fuck—”

Darlene grinned like a cat as I held up the most coveted number in my social circle. Alexander Strömberg was gorgeous, perpetually single, a tech genius, and a self-made billionaire.

“He overhead me talking about cryptojacking, hypothetically, of course, and before I knew it, he was fetching me a drink and holding my elbow like I was my fair fucking lady. We talked. And we totally made out by the pool.”

I made an incomprehensible noise between a sigh and a slight moan. “He’s gorgeous. And smart as a whip.”

Darlene raised her brow, “He did say he knew you . . .”

“We’ve crossed paths over the years,” I said, looking toward Elliot who didn’t seem to be listening to a thing we were saying. “But neither of us ever made anything of it.”

Darlene finished another cracker before she gathered up her pile of business cards, throwing the ones I warned her about in the trash. She stretched and said she was going to find her way to the kitchen to find something more substantial than “fancy-ass” caviar. I gave her directions and she waved, not bothering to glance back as she headed downstairs.

I stretched out in her vacated spot and used my feet to kick off my heels. I glanced up, angling my head to look at Elliot as his fingers never paused in their trajectory over the keys of his laptop. He had dipped out not long after Dad’s announcement, and he hadn’t even glanced up when I came upstairs. His sweater had been discarded and his white button down was open, revealing his white undershirt.  

“I hate these things. But I’m glad everyone knows about Dad’s retirement. I was tired of keeping that secret.”

“Didn’t look like you hated it.”

“I can assure you, I did. Now everyone thinks I’m maneuvering for a position in Dad’s company. I felt like a broken record repeating that I have no interest in leaving the tech side of things.”

“My heart bleeds for you.”

I sat up on my elbows and stared at Elliot, disbelieving of his cold tone.

“What?”

Elliot huffed and looked up from his laptop, and there was an edginess in him I hadn’t seen since Sarah had texted him about the server room. Anger seemed to be surging under his skin, humming.

Elliot’s eyes locked on mine, unwavering in their brutality before they flicked to the ceiling as he leaned his head back and stated, “Why the fuck should I sit here and listen to a rich little girl complain about doing rich people things? Do you understand everyone in that room tonight could cut their salaries in half and still have more money than they could spend in a lifetime? That everyone here, at this house, your house, could effectively end the desperate paycheck-to-paycheck struggles of every person who works for them? I don’t give a fuck if you’re tired from smiling at shitty jokes and drinking expensive champagne and eating fucking caviar.”

“What the fuck, Elliot?” I said as I slid off the bed and stood, the blood rushing to my ears, roaring with the humiliation that was coloring my cheeks red.

He rolled his eyes and shut his laptop, tossing it on the bed beside him as he stood to unbutton the cuffs of his dress shirt. I took a step back, and he didn’t even glance up as he popped the buttons and shrugged out of the sleeves.

“Elliot? Seriously! What the hell was that?”

He brushed past me and walked over to his backpack and dug out a pack of cigarettes. Without looking at me again, he went on to the balcony and lit up.

As I stood dumbfounded and staring at his silhouette, Darlene walked in, saying she forgot her phone as she walked over to my nightstand. When she processed the look on my face and read the tension in the room, she asked, “What’s up?” as her eyes looked between me and her brother on the balcony.

“Nothing,” I mumbled as I looked away and moved toward my desk.

“Tell me. Please,” she added as she stepped in front of me.

“It’s nothing,” I said as I stepped around her and gathered up the caviar and crackers and tossed them into the trash, disgust churning in my gut.

“Elliot’s clearly pulled a dumbass move. If we can’t talk to each other, who can we talk to?” she pleaded, her eyes, so like his, boring into the back of my head.

I pressed my lips together and inhaled, steadying my nerves as I turned to her and explained, “He’s not . . . himself. I haven’t seen him like this for months—I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him this . . . mean,” I finished as I blinked quickly, holding back tears because Elliot certainly didn’t deserve them.

Darlene frowned and for once she didn’t bite out a sarcastic remark. She seemed far away in her thoughts when she finally said, “Think I’ll have a smoke, too. You mind grabbing me a water? Sorta forgot to get one when I was talking to your parents.”

I took the hint and was relieved to get out of the room. My legs felt shaky as I made my way down the hallway, and when I descended the steps, my hand clung tightly to the rail as I continued to fight the urge to cry as Elliot’s dark words pierced through my mind, seemingly stuck in a belligerent loop.

I took a deep breath and steeled my features before I went into the kitchen and made light, normal conversation with my mom and dad.

Even after my parents said goodnight, I sat in the kitchen, replaying what Elliot said. It wasn’t the first time he had expressed himself about socioeconomic division, but it was certainly the first time I understood that he did not separate me from my parents’ wealthy status. I thought Elliot saw me just for me, but tonight proved I was wrong.

Darlene walked quietly into the kitchen and I looked up, not bothering to hide my hurt.

“Is Elliot asleep?”

“Nah. He’s waiting to see you.”

“I don’t want to see him.”

“I don’t blame you, Y/N,” she said, her expression soft as she approached me. “But please don’t give up on him now. Just . . . hear him out.”

I frowned and thought about all the times I swore to myself that I’d be someone Elliot trusted, someone he could count on, someone who wouldn’t leave him.

I nodded and gave her shoulder a squeeze before I grabbed two waters from the fridge. The walk to my room was long as dread settled heavily in my stomach.

Elliot was sitting on the bed facing the doorway as his feet dangled off the floor thanks to the high bedframe. The first thing I noticed was that the change in his demeanor was so stark it nearly made me take a step back. Gone was the edginess, the closed off body language, the skittish glances. In front of me was the Elliot I could read like a book, and when he didn’t raise his head to meet my eyes, I knew he was in the same state of misery as I was.

“I’m so sorry, Y/N,” his voice quiet, a deep sadness wrapping up every word.

“You hurt me.”

Elliot looked up, a flicker of relief on his face that I was being direct with him. He had trouble with ambiguity, especially when it came to feelings.

“I don’t want you to bury your feelings, ever. This life—my life—I know it fucks with your moral compass, the idea that anyone rich can’t be good. But fuck, Elliot. You really came at me, at my family, who, in case you forgot, consider you family, too.”

I was starting to feel angry.

“I know. And I am sorry.”

“I know.”

Elliot scooted forward and stood, taking a few tentative steps toward me.

“Do you have any idea what kind of people were at that party?”

“Good people. Bad people. In-between people. Money doesn’t change that.”

“Philip Price from E Corp was here.”

“Yeah? I’ve known him since I was little. E Corp financed Dad’s manufacturing plant in Colorado—the one that employs over 600 people, in case that mattered,” I sniped.

Elliot said nothing but came closer, watching my face and imploring me to remember—and then it hit me as effectively as a slap across the face.

“Your dad worked for E Corp before he got sick.”

“As a software engineer.”

Despite my anger, I softened, knowing what Elliot’s dad meant to him and to Darlene, as much as she remembered of him.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“He’s not the only one who got cancer. Angela’s mom, too. And there were over 20 others. All of them working out of E Corp’s Washington Township facility.”

I took some time to think about what I wanted to say next, my anger at Elliot continuing to recede.

“Are you saying E Corp was at fault?”

“Yes.”

“Have you . . . looked into it?” I asked, avoiding directly knowing whether he hacked the shit out of the biggest conglomerate on Wall Street.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“Nothing. There’s no conclusive evidence E Corp was involved.”

I shifted my weight as I thought about whether I wanted to offer my help, the last seeds of my anger dissipating as I looked at Elliot’s sad face.  

“Do you—I don’t know how far I could get, but do you want me to look into it?”

“I’ve already—"

“Sure, digitally, you’ve . . . researched it. But sometimes the paper trail can . . . disappear.”

Elliot looked at me for a long time and I would’ve given anything to know what he was thinking as he formulated what he wanted to say, or rather, what he was willing to say.

“I would appreciate that.”

“Oh, Elliot,” I said as I closed the tentative distance between us and wrapped him up in a hug which he returned with equal fervor.

“I feel like I have no control sometimes,” Elliot whispered into my hair. “Everything is out of my control.”

I laughed lightly into his shoulder.

“Control is an illusion, El. No one ever really has it.”**

Elliot’s grip tightened on me, and I fell into his embrace, letting myself believe his apology and naively, so naively believe this was the last of the anger and the apologies.

* Christmas Eve *

My apartment was so hot I debated turning on the air conditioning until Elliot suggested opening the balcony door.

I flung the door open as Elliot came up behind me, pushing me onto the balcony, almost tackling me into the railing.

I laughed and he turned me around his arms, his face split into a grin as he leaned in to sloppily kiss me.

He was drunk, I was drunk, and so was everyone else still at my Christmas Eve party.

Angela and Ollie had stopped by earlier, but they had made a pretty short evening of it. I hadn’t yet clicked with Angela, mostly because she focused all of her attention on Elliot as soon as she saw him. I told him he should hang out with her more often, but a part of me was relieved when he said he really didn’t want to. I didn’t push for an explanation.

Franco and his wife, Gianna, Jill and Jack, along with Darlene and a few more friends were all in attendance. Darlene’s sometimes more-than-friend, a good-looking stockbroker, stopped by around the same time as Angela and Ollie.

Erin, Ryan, and Charlie came, and since Kathleen was on-call, Josh brought Jared and Jack, who both competed with Elliot for the attention of Jack and Jill’s dog, Robert Goulet.

My parents stopped by for a little while, insisting they weren’t going to crash the good times of “the youth” for long.

I expected Elliot to stick to either me or Darlene, but he didn’t. Instead, he spent a long time talking to Franco about his business. Elliot had said once that he would like to do that someday; start up his own cybersecurity business, land a few big clients to pay the bills, but then operate pro-bono for as many small businesses as he could.

I offered him the start-up money and he promptly looked like I had just slaughtered a bag full of puppies, so that was the end of that conversation.

Things had been normal—we had a happy thanksgiving with my family, then Elliot invited me to go with him and Darlene to visit their mother. Darlene went as far as the lobby, but I went to Mrs. Alderson’s room with Elliot. She had suffered a debilitating stroke, most likely caused by smoking, and was mostly catatonic, her eyes only occasionally flicking to Elliot as he sat with her.

Elliot and I never really talked about what happened in my room after the social, so I considered Elliot letting me in to his life by taking me to meet his mother as a way of sincerely apologizing.

But by visiting his mother, Elliot opened a door I was dying to peek into. I tried to open the door and ask more about his relationship with her, but he slammed it shut. For the past few days, I had been warring with myself with whether or not to suggest he go to therapy, and I decided my best bet was to ask Darlene what she thought he’d say if I suggested it.

It was almost 2 am when I finally kissed Jill, Jack, and Robert Goulet goodnight, but I wasn’t the last person to kiss Mr. Goulet. Elliot carried him to the elevator and I had never seen him look so adoringly at anything, but the way he looked at Robert Goulet as he handed him over to Jill was heartbreaking.

Robert Goulet didn’t help matters either by looking back, upside-down at Elliot and giving him a sad, big-eyed glance. Elliot leaned forward and smooched Robert Goulet between the eyes and Jill yelled at me to take Elliot to the shelter to pick out a puppy.

I shook my head and sighed as Elliot waved goodbye as the elevator doors shut. Jill and Jack gave a wave but I knew sure as shit that Elliot was waving at their dog.

“You can see Robert Goulet anytime you want,” I said as Elliot turned around looking sad.

“I love him.”

“I can see that.”

“He’s such a good boy.”

“He is. I take it you and Darlene never had pets?”

Elliot’s expression darkened and he shook his head no.

“Are there any Jell-O shots left?”

“If you didn’t eat them all,” I said with a laugh as Elliot headed back inside to raid the fridge.

Just as I shut the door, I saw that Darlene was shrugging into her coat. She was the last to leave, but I begged her not to.

“Don’t go. I can’t stand the thought of you not being with people who love you on Christmas morning.”

I didn’t miss the way her eyes lingered on mine, an unspoken question of whether I meant what I said.

“Stay,” I pressed.

“If you’re gonna be so up my ass about it,” Darlene said with the least unaggressive huff I’d ever heard, so I smiled and walked over to her give her a big hug and a loud kiss on the temple.

“Eat chips with me,” I said, grinning.

She giggled, clearly still drunk, but not quite as drunk as her brother.

“That dog is really fucking cute,” Darlene said as she gathered up the pita chips and the layered hummus dip.

“His name,” specified Elliot as he hollowed out his cheeks and sucked down the last Jell-O shot, “is Robert Goulet.”

Darlene laughed at the offense dripping in Elliot’s voice.

I giggled at the two of them as I slid my chip through the dip and ended up miscalculating the dip to chip ratio, half of it landing with a splat on the floor.

“Fuck,” I said, contemplating whether I should still eat it.

“I got you,” Elliot said as he stumbled over with a wad of napkins, some of them trailing behind him as he miscalculated his hand to napkin ratio.

He cleaned up the dip and I thanked him when he came back and plopped on the sofa. His eyes immediately slid shut and he had a dreamy smile on his face as he leaned back into the cushion.

“He’s dreaming about that dog,” I loudly whispered to Darlene.

“I know,” she loudly whispered in return.

As Darlene and I chattered and ate entirely too many pita chips, she eventually looked around me to give her brother a wary eye.

“El—you alive over there?”

I turned to look as he jumped a bit at being addressed and vaguely hummed in response.

“Go to bed, dork,” Darlene barked as Elliot opened his bloodshot eyes.

He shuffled to the edge of the couch and looked around like he had forgotten where he was.

“Those Jell-O shots are lethal,” I said with a grin. “And you had a whole fucking tray’s worth when you weren’t laying on the floor with Robert Goulet.”

“Robert Goulet,” Elliot sighed with a half-smile as he shook his head and stood, stumbling just a little.

“Fuck,” he muttered, as he wobbled. “Night.”

We watched Elliot walk in a semi-zigzag down the hall. There was a questionable thump that caused us to giggle loud enough before Elliot swung the bedroom door shut.

“Guess he’s alright,” I said at the end of my laugh.

“He’s fine,” Darlene said with a roll of her eyes.

“I’m glad you’re staying,” I said as I moved into Elliot’s spot, stretching my legs out.

“Thanks for asking me to,” Darlene said with a soft smile that looked just like her brother’s.

“Water?” I asked, reluctantly swinging my feet off the couch.

“I think it’s about that time,” she said, laying her head back on the couch, again, much like her brother.

I glanced up at the TV as I walked back into the living room and handed Darlene a bottle of water. The TV was still softly playing Christmas songs as a fire burned on the screen.

The fake fireplace made me realize it was awfully chilly, and I walked over to shut and lock the balcony door.

When I sat down, I looked at Darlene who had turned her head to watch my movements.

“Spill. You look like Elliot—I can see the indecisive hesitation just about making your head ready to pop off.”

“I don’t know if I’m not drunk enough or if I’m too drunk to ask.”

“That serious? Gotta be about my bonehead of a brother. I swear to god if you’re thinking about breaking up with him, I’ll kick his ass.”

“Kick his ass?” I laughed.

“Yes—because somehow I know he’ll end up fucking this up. Not to, like, shit on your relationship because I hope to fuck he doesn’t fuck it up, but I’m just saying—”

“I know what you mean. You’re a good sister. And a great friend.”

“Don’t get sentimental on me now, Y/N. Spill.”

I took a long drink of my water and put the lid back on, stretching to set the bottle on the coffee table before I settled back into the sofa.

I took a deep breath and asked what I had wanted to ask Darlene since she and I really became friends.

“Did your brother ever tell you about the incident in the Server Room?”

“You mean how you saved his ass from getting fired?”

“About what he did after he got locked in.”

Darlene took a deep breath, her hands in her lap as her chip lay idle in her fingertips.

“He told me that those guys, like, played a prank or something—locked him in with the servers because he kept hacking through their security protocols. He said he lost it and the next thing he knew, you were there. Like a fucking knight in shining armor,” she said, her voice just hinting at being teasing.

I scoffed.

“He didn’t say that,” Darlene said with an eyeroll, “but that’s what he meant. He thinks you hung the moon, Y/N. I’ve never seen him like this.”

“Happy?”

“Not since we were kids. And even then it was less . . . consistent.”

“He didn’t say anything else about that night?”

“No,” Darlene answered, her eyes boring into mine just like Elliot’s.

“I need you to be absolutely positive he didn’t say anything else—are you totally sure?”

“Yes. I am positive that’s all he said. Why?”

After a pause, my explanation came out in a bit of a rush.

“Elliot has no memory of smashing up the towers. When I found him, he was blacked out. I thought it was the head gash, but Jill assured me it wasn’t. She—she rattled off a few things that could cause a person to black out like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Anxiety attack, a reaction to traumatic stress, dissociative or dissociative identity disorder, or,” I paused, “schizophrenia.”

Darlene was quiet.

“The first time I remember it happening was when I was like six, maybe seven. My grandmother came to visit, Dad’s mom, and she was showing us all these pictures from when Dad was little. I remember thinking about how much Elliot looked like him as a kid and being a little jealous because I didn’t. Anyway, my grandmother started to cry and she told Elliot how much Dad loved him, how special he was to him, and Elliot just froze before he started screaming. He told her to shut up and a bunch of shit I can’t really remember, but Mom got so pissed. She dragged Elliot upstairs and locked him in his room.”

It felt like I had swallowed lead as I listened to Darlene, the knot of leaden nerves growing heavier as she continued.

“Once Mom was in bed, I stole her key and took Elliot dinner. He was just laying in his bed, facing the wall like he hadn’t moved all day. I remember—”

Darlene faltered for the first time in her story.

“I remember,” she said finding her voice again, “the look on Elliot’s face when he rolled over. He asked, ‘Did Mom lock me in?’”

“I told him, yeah, she did, and he asked why she hated him so much.”

“I said that maybe it was because he yelled at our grandmother, and I’ll never forget the way he looked at me because I’ve seen it enough times now. He looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about—like I had just told him some horrible truth he had no knowledge of.”

“So, he’s blacked out since he was little?”

“I’m not sure how young, but that’s the first time I remember it happening.”  

“And has—has he ever been to therapy?”

“Definitely in high school. I remember mom being livid when she found out he met with the school’s psychologist once a week.

I don’t know what it was about Elliot that always set her off. It was like he couldn’t ever do anything right. I mean, she was a fucking bitch to me, too, but all of her anger was concentrated on him. It was like he was her trigger.”

“Did she,” I stopped and paused. “This is hard to ask outright. Did she . . . hurt either of you?”

“When I was, like, 8, I found this kitten. Gray and black with four perfectly white paws. She was so little, so I snuck her into my room, even named her. Moonpie,” Darlene said with a wistful smile. “Anyway, I built a little space for her in the backyard and that’s when Mom found out. She threw us in the car, went in and got Elliot, then drove to a lake. She said—she said I had to drown the cat so I would remember that actions have consequences, and disobeying her meant a consequence. I fucking took the cat and ran for it and found her a home far away from that monster.**

I’ve got a million stories like that,” Darlene finished, finally flicking her eyes to mine. “She was a stone-cold bitch.”

I was quiet while I processed Darlene’s story, thinking it alone confirmed why she stayed in the lobby when we visited her mom.

“I don’t want to push Elliot, but there’s something he’s not telling me. Maybe not telling any of us.”

“If you push him, you could lose him. That’s all I’m going to say. How important is it for him to tell you—or us—or anyone?”

“That night at my parents’ house,” I began. “That wasn’t the first time Elliot lost his temper with me.”

Darlene huffed, “That wasn’t—fuck. I don’t know how to explain it, but that wasn’t the same. Trust me. When he really loses it, you’ll know.”

“And he never remembers?”

“No.”

“Do you think it’s an act? A way to release aggression without suffering the consequence?”

“Y/N—this is the most normal I’ve ever seen my brother. Before you, there was nothing. No one. He stayed in and jacked around on his computer. What would be the point of putting on an act for years? It’s not like he was protecting some perfect life.”

“I don’t know. Had to ask,” I said with a shrug. 

“I’m just saying that he’s happy now. He’s in a good place—you are a good place.”

“I do feel like he is happy now, but I can’t stop thinking about what happens when he’s not. What if he gets depressed again? What if something does happen between us that isn’t fixable? Then he blames himself and it all goes to shit—again. How many times is he going to go through that cycle before he moves forward and stays in a forward momentum?”

I . . . want to ask him to talk to someone, a therapist, or whatever. Just . . . someone. How do you think he’ll react? Or should I just forget it?”

Darlene sighed as she thought, and I could see her nibbling her bottom lip.

“He trusts you. If anyone can suggest it, it’s you.”

“But should I?”

“I don’t know, Y/N. I mean, yeah. He’s got a fuckton of baggage, but I hate to stir shit up when he’s happy.”

“We shouldn’t have to walk on eggshells. No one’s happiness should be that fragile . . . that temporary.”

Darlene shrugged.

“Just maybe give me a warning before the shit hits the fan so I can get the fuck outta here.”

I laughed softly.

“You always assume the worst—and I get it. Well, I mean I think I understand it. I didn’t live through what you’ve lived through. And hey—this isn’t just about Elliot. If you ever need anything or anyone to unleash on, I’m here.”

Darlene looked at me and nodded her head, almost imperceptibly.

“I’ve made my peace with my shit childhood. But sometimes—"

I waited expectantly.

“Sometimes I wonder how much of it really fucked me up. I don’t—I don’t trust anyone. Like, ever.”

“Are you sure you don’t want a job?”

“What?”

“Considering what you do, I’m not surprised you feel like you have to look over your shoulder all the time. Even if you wanted to just set up a legit business for yourself, I could help you do that. Maybe you wouldn’t feel like everything was about to crash in on you at any moment. You could be totally independent.”

Darlene looked at me like I was crazy.

“You legit see the good in everything, don’t you?”

“I see the bad, but I choose to ignore as much of it as I can. I used to . . . not. That was one of the best things I learned from my therapist. She helped me climb over that wall of impending doom. Granted, it’s still there at times, but she taught me how to confront those feelings so they don’t paralyze me. I know my demons are nothing compared to yours or Elliot’s, and I know I have it easy because I can always rely on my parents to help me. But that kind of thinking leads to its own sort of darkness.”

I just want Elliot to be happy, really happy. And you, too.”

“Thanks. I don’t know if you realize what it’s like to just have someone care. That’s why I love Elliot so much—he’s always cared about me. I’ve never doubted that.”

“You shouldn’t. He loves you.”

“I haven’t always been the best sister.”

“None of us are—we have the longest relationships of our lives with our siblings. We are bound to fuck it up with them on occasion.”

Darlene laughed before growing serious again.

“Just promise me this?”

I nodded.

“If he bails on you, tries to push you away, don’t let him because it’s not really . . . it’s not really him.”

“Okay,” I promised.

“Think Elliot’ll be mad if we open a present early?”

“Oh, no way! Absolutely not! In fact, off to bed with you. Santa has to stuff the stockings.”

Darlene gave me a look of suppressed confusion and happiness, her mouth turning up in a sort of quirky smirk.

“Are you for real with this happy Christmas shit?”

“Yes—go to bed.”

Darlene shakes her head and slides off the sofa. She offers to help me clean up, but I tell her to get some sleep.

“Merry fucking Christmas,” Darlene says as hugs me.

“Santa is going to leave you coal,” I said as I gave her a final squeeze and she told me to shove it.

* New Year’s *

“I’m glad it’s just the two of us tonight. I feel like it’s been a whirlwind of parties and people.”

I brought Elliot his drink, enjoying the soft glow of the Christmas lights that sparkled on the tree Elliot helped me choose and trim. My apartment was over-decorated with lights and garland and the woodsy smell of pine was still strong because Elliot had gotten caught up in the holiday spirit, only pulling back when I told him it was all fun and games until it was time to take it all down.

Elliot’s bright, grey eyes were trained on my face as he said, “Because it has been. I’ve never socialized this much in my life and I don’t even know who the fuck I am anymore.”

“Excellent! I hope I’ve ruined you for any other person,” I said with a confident grin.

“That’s a guarantee. I’ve never been—” Elliot slammed his mouth shut and it would’ve been comical except for the look of horror on his face.

“Don’t do that.”

He shook his head.

“You can’t wait for the hammer to fall all the time. It’s a horrible way to live. You’ve never been what—say it.”

It’s clear Elliot is at war with himself in a Hamletian parody: to tell me, or not to tell me.

I huffed and leaned in to kiss him.

“You’ve never been . . .” I trailed off, a smile on my face as I placed kisses, playful and feathery, all over his face until I started teasing him with little licks under his jaw and down his neck.

“Come on, El. You’ve never been . . .”

I worked my fingers under his shirt and ghosted them along his stomach, feeling the muscles twitch as he fought not to giggle.

“Hap—hap—happier!” Elliot laughs out, unable to take my torture any longer. “I’ve never been happier.”

I grinned at him, his outburst before Thanksgiving feeling like it was a thousand miles in the past, nearly buried after the happy holiday season.

“This reminds me of Memorial Day weekend,” I said, looking over Elliot’s head as I reminisced.

“Oh yeah?”

“Do you remember? After that big meal we made together? We talked and smoked—and cuddled.”

“You told me you wanted to stop time,” Elliot said, looking at me with the slightest smile.

“Because you had me all fucked up.”

“All fucked up.”

“Don’t move—we’ve got one more Christmas present to open,” I said as I hopped up and went to dig around in the opened gifts still under the tree. I hated to put Christmas away until I absolutely had to.

“Here it is,” I mumbled as I pulled the plain black box out of the Kate Spade tote Erin had gifted me.  

The commotion on the television drew my attention as I realized we had about a minute until the ball dropped. I placed the black box on the coffee table and looked at Elliot.

“It’s almost midnight,” I said with a smile.

“Yeah? You wanna kiss me or something?”

“I do,” I said with a smile. “This is an important kiss, after all.”

“Oh?”

“A kiss at midnight means we’ll be together for the next year.”

“So you believe in superstitions now?”

“Listen,” I whispered, pulling Elliot onto his feet.

Elliot looked toward the TV as the ball began to drop. When he turned his eyes to mine, I was lost, lost as I realized they were nothing more than a reflection of my own deep happiness.

“3, 2, 1—”

Elliot’s lips crashed onto mine and he kissed me until I was light-headed, straining for gasping little breaths, unwilling to break this moment.

“Happy New Year,” Elliot breathed as he rested his forward against mine.

“Happy New Year,” I echoed.

“I never thought,” Elliot said with a surprising burst of laughter, “I never thought I’d be sharing a New Year’s kiss with . . . anyone,” he finished as he tugged me along with him back onto the couch, both of us plopping down in a bit of a tangle.

I looked at Elliot’s perfect three-point grin and felt my heart skip a beat.

“I think I’ve gained weight,” Elliot chuckled, shifting on the couch as his jeans strained against his normally damn near concave stomach.

“Guess you’re just going to have to forego pants until you lose those stubborn holiday pounds?”

“Oh?” Elliot said, but this time his voice was husky, a seductive purr as he reached for the button on his jeans, sliding it open and opening his pants.

I laughed, “Is this a glimpse into our future? Late nights on the sofa in front of the TV, your pants popped open because you ate too much?”

“Would that be a terrible fate for you?”

“No,” I said, smiling as I leaned in to kiss him lightly.

“What’s in the box?” Elliot asked as he peeked over my shoulder.

“Oh—shit!”

I pulled back and reached around to the coffee table, grabbing the box.

“A little present from Erin—would you like to do the honors?”

Elliot smirked and reached for the box, quickly pulling the lid off. He chuckled as he looked at the perfectly packed, pretty fat joints.

“More than a little present, I’d say,” he stated.

“This is a perfect opportunity to recreate our Memorial Day weekend. Thanks, sis,” I grinned as I got up to find a lighter.

Elliot and I each worked our way through a joint. It was good weed, and my state of consciousness quickly gave way to that fog, that sleepy-happy state of relaxation that only came with a good smoke.

Elliot’s face seemed to be permanently etched in a perfect three-point grin as his head rested on the back of the sofa, his eyes closed.

“What’s got you grinning?” I asked, feeling every word on my tongue as I continued to watch his face, the Christmas lights in my peripheral all blurring together so prettily.

“Guess what?”

“What?”

“We’re more than friends now,” Elliot said as he opened his eyes, lazy and half-lidded, his grin still planted on his face.

I chuckled as I slid onto Elliot’s lap and pushed his chin up so his eyes were locked on mine. I traced my fingers over his brow, his nose, his cheeks, his jaw, his lips, and I pulled back and reached for his hands.

I kissed across the knuckles of each of his hands, looking for any mark, any tiny scar from the incident in the server room, but I found none—it was like it had never happened, except that here he was, underneath me and looking at me with eyes that didn’t bother to hide the love he felt, and it was all because of that terrible night.

If good didn’t exist without condition, then maybe bad didn’t either?

“If it never happened, we wouldn’t be here now, would we?” Elliot asked, reading my thoughts.

I shook my head slowly as I let his hands fall to resting on the top of my thighs, near my hips.

“This face, El,” I breathed as I scooted closer to his body, “If I could draw, I would replicate it in all its perfection. And in your eyes, I would write the thousands of truths you carry inside so I could read them, know them, and in turn, know you.”

I was high—but I wasn’t so sure it was the effect of the weed anymore that made me feel so lightheaded.

Elliot’s eyes filled with a desperate sort of desire, and I wasn’t entirely unconvinced it was because he wanted me to stop talking, wanted me to stop looking at him so deeply.

“You do know me. And you love me anyway.”

“I love you because I know you.”

I kissed him gently, then with a sense of urgency, and again, it could have been attributed to the high, but I was suddenly filled with a sense of paranoia, a thought that nothing would ever be this good again, that nothing would ever be like this night again.  

Elliot’s tongue twined with mine as his fingers gripped my hips. I broke the kiss and pushed his head back so I could have access to his jaw and his neck. I licked along the sharp line of his jawbone before I placed sweet kisses down his neck. As I worked my way back up, I deepened those chaste kisses, sucking lightly in spots until Elliot’s fingers were threatening to snap with his tight grip.

“Touch me,” I whispered in his ear before I pulled the lobe into my mouth and sucked.

His hands moved, sliding under my shirt and going straight to unhook my bra. His nimble fingers managed it quickly and he switched his angle so that he was now massaging my breasts as they dropped free from my loosened bra. Elliot’s fingers were simultaneously working my nipples and I felt a rush of arousal between my thighs.

I was working the other side of his neck now, still pulling breathy moans from his throat, as Elliot began to tug at my shirt, trying to get me out of it and my bra. I sat back just enough to help, tossing the pile of fabric over the back of the couch. Since I was already leaning back, I reached for the hem of Elliot’s sweater and pulled it over his head. He had forgone a t-shirt underneath tonight and I was delighted to be able to dip my head and lick along the top of his chest, placing wet kisses across his skin and then onto the smattering of freckles that dotted his shoulders.

I pressed my body into his in a tight hug, my eyes rolling back a bit at the sensation of warm skin on warm skin.

Elliot moved forward, wriggling to the end of the couch and he stood up, after a moment’s struggle to get his hands under my thighs. I hooked my ankles together and he carried me to the bedroom, laying me on the bed and sliding into place between my legs.

I was still lost in the warm feel of our torsos, pressed together as Elliot’s hands pushed my arms up over my head so he could touch as much of me as he could reach, fingertips to waist, he ghosted along my skin until it broke into gooseflesh and I shuddered.

He was watching me with those big eyes, memorizing my face in yet another moment of passion before he pushed himself up so he could kiss across my chest.

Elliot’s lips quickly found one of my nipples, and I felt another flood of arousal as I watched his full lips pucker around it as he sucked. I ran my fingers up the back of his head and tangled them in his hair, enjoying the soft thickness.

Elliot let go with a slight pop and blew a cool stream of air over the wet patch, causing both nipples to grow impossibly hard and even more sensitive. Elliot smirked as he kissed his way to my other breast and repeated his sweet torture.

By the time he was kissing his way down my stomach, I was done, squirming with desire, the muscles of my abdomen twitching under his tongue.

“Stop,” I breathed. “Stop, stop.”

Elliot froze and looked up with wide-eyes, and I pushed out from under him.

I stood and shimmied out of my jeans and panties.

“Lay down,” I instructed, and Elliot’s face relaxed as he realized I just wanted to switch positions.

Elliot’s jeans were already falling off his hips, so with a good tug, I pulled them off and made quick work of his socks and his underwear. I took a few seconds to let my eyes rake over his naked body, his muscles taught, his cock hard, his eyes soft.

I smiled and kept my eyes on his as I straddled his hips. Elliot reached down to grasp himself, and he ran the tip of his cock through my wetness. I stayed poised above him, and I reached up to grasp his jaw, my thumb caressing the spot between his lower lip and his chin. When our eyes were locked, I lowered myself onto him and we groaned together, both overwhelmed at both the sensation and the feeling.  

I moved slowly, watching his mouth form a tight line as he struggled against releasing his pleasure.

“Let go, El.”

Elliot’s eyes swept over my face before he exhaled, his mouth falling open. He ran his hands up my thighs and swept around to grasp my hips. I loved the feeling of his strong hands on me and I sped up my movements, his cock hitting just the right spot.

I wanted him so much and my high had worn off to a quiet buzz, I knew my orgasm wouldn’t take long to achieve, but I wanted to come with him tonight—I felt a desperate need to be in sync with him, to be as close to him as I could be.

We were both covered in a light sheen of sweat, our bodies hot, flushed.

“Close,” I breathed.

“Y/N,” Elliot said in a moan. “Y/N, Y/N, Y/N.”

Elliot’s deep, raspy voice saying my name, again and again, drove me toward the edge, and I sped up my movements, my hands clutching at his chest as I began to bounce in earnest.

“Fuck,” Elliot hissed. “I’m coming.”

And my walls clenched at his warning, squeezing around him while he emptied himself inside of me, his heat spreading over my inner walls, making me feel so connected to him as we both worked through our climaxes. Tonight, like our first night together, wasn’t about fucking; it was about feeling, about us showing one another everything we didn’t want to taint with words.

We stayed connected, arms and legs tangled, but we said nothing—nothing needed to be said, and soon Elliot’s head was settled on my chest in a haunting, much more intimate mirror of the first, chaste night we had ever spent together.

Surrounded by everything that was Elliot, I knew I wanted to forget about the incident at my parents’ house, so I did, pushing it away until I thought it was gone.

I felt Elliot relax, falling asleep in my arms, but as this Elliot, my Elliot fell asleep, another part of him was waking up, that angry part of him I wanted so desperately to forget wasn’t going to stay asleep for much longer, and it would be all my fault.

[bitcoinstorms]

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Bitcoin Storm Up application has as of late delivered a media preparation cautioning its clients against the wild utilization of its name in phony news. Clients are instructed to consistently affirm any piece concerning news on the Bitcoin Storm Up site prior to accepting it as reality.

Bitcoin Storm Up programming never uncovers the personality of its financial backers. It is in this way improbable that they would unveil such data regardless of whether it were valid. We have attempted to contact Dick Smith to get his point of view on this talk, yet he was at this point to get back when of going to press with this survey.

All things being equal, we haven't found any proof connecting him to Bitcoin Storm, and henceforth it is improbable that he has put resources into any robot. Besides, those spreading the Dick Smith Bitcoin Storm Up gossipy tidbits are just doing it through the web-based media and superstar tattle stages.

Bitcoin Storm Up App Review – Overview

Bitcoin Storm up application logoThis exchanging robot was established in 2015 by the International Bitcoin Storm Council. The robot turned into a web sensation during the crypto blast of 2017 after it arose that its clients were making a great many dollars each day in benefits.A portion of its clients are said to have joined the dollar mogul club during the air pocket. Bitcoin Storm Up application has stayed famous from that point forward and has purportedly helped many clients become moguls.

Its prominence is experiencing the rooftop in 2021 as another greater crypto blast is normal. BTC cost is now past the $12k imprint, and experts are foreseeing that it will hit $50k by mid one year from now. Unpredictability is at its pinnacle and subsequently there is more lucrative potential when exchanging with Bitcoin Storm Up.

Advantages of exchanging with Bitcoin Storm Up

Bitcoin Storm Up programming is the smartest choice for you in the event that you are keen on a simple method to bring in cash on the web. The robot is the 2021 champ of the desired Most Profitable Trading Robot by the American Association of Auto-brokers (AAA).

It has likewise won different honors among them the best robot in exchanging stages 2021, the best robot in client care 2019, and the most easy to use exchanging robot 2019. Here are the top advantages of exchanging with this robot.

Exceptionally productivity

In the event that you are adequately fortunate, you ought to have the option to construct a respectable every day pay when exchanging with this robot. The base capital you can exchange with is $250, and this sum is sufficient to procure you up to $1500 day by day.

Bitcoin Storm Up programming amplifies clients' exchanges through influence. Its accomplice dealers give an influence of up to 5000:1. This implies that clients can procure benefits of a $5000 represent each $1 of contributed capital. Through the force of compounding, you can grow a $250 store to more than $500k in around a half year of exchanging.

Simple to utilize stage

You don't have to have experience with exchanging to work Bitcoin Storm Up. The robot requires almost no manual info, and there is an exchanging manual to manage you through the arrangement and exchanging.

There is likewise a devoted record chief to respond to every one of your inquiries and guide you through the initial steps of exchanging. You should take risk and connect with them completely during demo exchanging to guarantee that you are completely ready for live exchanging.

Consistent withdrawals

You can pull out your benefits from the Bitcoin Storm Up stage at whatever point you need. It requires about an hour for the assets to reflect in your financial balance.

If it's not too much trouble, note that the accomplice agent encourages all withdrawals. There are no withdrawal charges on the accomplice merchant. Notwithstanding, the bank encouraging the exchange may charge a little withdrawal expense.

Magnificent client care administrations

In contrast to most robots, Bitcoin Storm Up gives day in and day out client support accessible through telephone, live visit and email.

Our tests show that it requires around five seconds to interface with their client specialists through telephone and live visit. Bitcoin Storm Up client care works together with the fundamental intermediaries' representatives to offer all assistance in one spot. Bitcoin Storm Signup

As referenced before, Bitcoin Storm Up application is fueled by blockchain to guarantee a straightforward exchanging climate. The conveyed record innovation (blockchain) empowers straightforward shared exchanges. Bitcoin Storm Up clients can utilize the DLT Smart agreements innovation to tackle any questions with the robot or the fundamental representative.

We can likewise affirm that the Bitcoin Storm Up site has the RSA encryption and henceforth secure from most types of cyberattacks. It likewise works with firmly controlled intermediaries, and thus customers are guaranteed that their cash is just utilized for the planned reason.

The vast majority of its merchants are under the administrative order of level one controllers, for example, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).

https://www.cryptoerapro.com/bitcoin-storm/

[sciforce]

How to Make Team Communication Effective When Working Remotely?

So, your team has fully moved to remote work. You are probably already used to working in your pajamas, having endless snacks and communicating with your colleagues via Slack or Zoom. And suddenly you find out that your work has become less effective. It’s all about the discipline, you think at first. And your team thinks the same. And your manager. And to get your work back under control you start inventing new means of communication, having more meetings and then a few more. When hearing others’ experience with home office, the most common complaint (apart from having children at home, of course) is spending too much time on meetings. What can we do not to feel drowning in them?

In this blog post, we offer some possibilities to consider that might make your communication less disruptive and help you focus on your work instead of distracting from it.

Strategy 1. Document more

It sounds counter-intuitive — no one likes spending time on documenting each step or filling in lists of specifications and instructions. However unpleasant the process may be, it will boost the company’s effectiveness: on-site, people come up to each other’s desks to ask questions or just listen to conversations. Though fast and informal, this method can lead to rumors-like communication where the truth is eventually lost. With proper documentation, the team has a single reliable source of truth for all questions.

Make documentation everyone’s responsibility

Docs as Code is the approach that is gaining momentum now. It treats documents as a part of your code, ensuring version control, cooperation with other team members — and the importance of writing documentation for everyone. Even outside IT, this approach ensures that over time, teams that own their documents grow more responsible and respectful to one another’s time, move fast by adding changes to already existing docs, and are able to communicate the knowledge effectively across teams and to newcomers.

Write handbooks

Having documentation on the project somewhere in Gitlab is good, but when you don’t have a handbook that is reliably actionable, it can feel burdensome to seek answers in a repository. Handbooks usually are more human-friendly, as people tend to trust other humans who address them directly more than abstract words written online.

Documenting all your solutions makes communication more effective for team members who join a project or conversation midstream and need to understand what steps have been taken thus far, new hires who try to catch up with the rest of the team, managers who need to track the work done, and, finally, customers who want to understand what they get.

Strategy 2. Embrace textual communication

A logical extension of documentation, text communication can feel unusual or even uncomfortable for many. In remote environments, or in teams spread across countries with different time zones, communicating through text is ideal. It prevents a vicious cycle of meetings which serve only to “bring people up to speed.” Communicating answers to problems via text makes documentation easier and more trustworthy.

Make notes

When all your meetings are moved online, it’s crucial to maintain a written account of all the words said. Try to write everything down — from meeting notes to quarterly objectives. Before meetings, the lead can create an agenda and ask participants to add items for discussion. During meetings, team members or one person in charge can write down decisions, ideas, or notes to specify who is responsible for specific tasks or to trace the chain of reasoning leading to decisions. Documenting everything makes for a stronger, more informed, more trusting, and more connected team.

Writing down things is far from exciting, but it will provide you with reference that will evolve together with your team.

Strategy 3. Switch to asynchronous communication

We all are most likely used to communicating synchronously — gathering in the same place (physical or virtual) at the same time. An asynchronous workflow allows moving forward even when other stakeholders are unavailable. Asynchronous communication, by definition, is any type of communication where one person provides information and then there is a time lag before the recipients take in the information and offer their responses. Essentially, asynchronous communication is when you send a message without expecting an immediate response. The most common example of such communication is, of course, sending an email.

The major benefit of asynchronous communication is that it relieves employees from the burden of being always online and ready to react. Constant disruption of the work with requests for immediate reaction does not allow team members to concentrate and dive into the project, increases the stress and reduces their productivity.

However, though there are many tools of asynchronous communication — Google Drive, Monday, or Asana, to name just a few, they all have one prerequisite: a standardized method of documentation. Without a corporate standard, team members will be left to determine their own methods for communicating, that will inevitably lead to chaotic document movement across teams and departments.

Strategy 4. Make meetings optional

When we all have to work from home, sitting at another meeting becomes even more frustrating than ever. The way to avoid spending time on unnecessary meetings is to make them optional to attend. It is easy to reduce the number of mandatory meetings, if every meeting has an agenda that the team can collaborate on. The simplest way is to create a Google Doc that allows the team to contribute or modify questions. When the agenda is shaped, every person can decide whether to participate, or to catch up on the outcomes afterwards.

However, it is necessary to assure that all the information will not be lost even if some team members aren’t able to join you online. For example, Loom and Zoom allow recording meetings, which is particularly useful when some of the key stakeholders are absent.

Probably, the idea of “optional meetings” is absurd to those who are used to synchronous communication, but with the team working remotely, it is handy to ask people to contribute whenever they have time — with a deadline, of course!

Strategy 5. Maintaining informal communication

When people are physically located in the same place, informal communication is natural: social connections are crucial to build trust within the organization and to encourage knowledge sharing. Moreover, if we have friends at work, we are also more satisfied with our jobs and the company. But when working remotely, it may sound intentional and fake.

Using emojis

One thing that is easily transferred from personal conversations is using emojis to express emotions. Both remote employees and managers should feel comfortable using them in everyday discourse in professional settings. When working remotely, such visual tools bring about a larger pallet of tones and emotions, creating more empathy and the feeling of human connection. On top of this, using custom emojis allows colleagues to develop their own signal language and build more ties between team members.

It goes without saying that we all have a long way to go to adapt to working from home, and the feeling of isolation from your team is only one, though crucial, side of the overall struggle we are all having. The key to quick adaptation is to adopt a strategy and to try to find order in the present-day chaos. Let’s try and clean up our communication channels — and in the next post, we’ll talk about protecting our workplace from cyberattacks.

[ahad471]

Webdefence a cybersecurity firm

I am Ahad and I am a cybersecurity consultant you can check my work on (freelancer.com), I have been in cybersecurity business for around 5-6 years and still not a day goes by when I don’t think about it, its a great passion for me and now I have started a company called webdefence.in in hopes of using my experience, skills, expertise, and passion to help the cyberspace safer for everyone

As months pass by I have noticed people (Majority of them) don't care about their security posture at all and all they want is to accumulate more and more funds without having to care about how they can lose everything they worked for in moments. We can take an example here you have a multi-million dollar estate but no security how long till it gets looted its the same with your online business you have to protect and care for it safety like you would care for your own house, These are important times I see a number of attacks and attackers rising I want to request everyone who owns a business online to take a look and think about their business security.

Over the last 10 years, the world has seen an unprecedented amount of technological advancements, which has led to the simplification of many tasks and made our daily lives very easy compared to a decade ago, but one problem remains at the forefront of all things connected to the internet that is cybersecurity. 

The information security sector is on high alert with a host of new and growing cybersecurity threats. Increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks including ransomware, phishing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies, and more have put business, government, and individual data and properties at constant risk and with the continuous shortage of cybersecurity experts and professionals the stakes are higher than ever. In August 2016, the leading researcher and publisher of publications covering global cybercrime and cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Ventures, estimated that cybercrime will cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021, up from $3 trillion in 2016.this is where WebDefence.in comes in, we seek to provide an immersive and complete all-round solution to a secure online presence.

At WebDefence.in we provide a multitude of services. A few of our services are Vulnerability Assessment: which helps to identify and address weaknesses across your organization’s networks, Penetration Testing: to prevent your organization from possible breaches and reinforce existing security controls against a skilled attacker, Network Security Audit: which examines network vulnerabilities to determine whether they can be exploited by an attacker, Data Breach Prevention and Response: we constantly monitor your website and we will be notified in case of any potential breach and our team will act instantly to regulate the damage, Firewall Installation: we will install and setup WAF (Web Application Firewall) IDS (Intrusion Detection System) and IPS (Intrusion Protection System) so that your website keeps running without you having to worry about Hackers, Security Policy and Plan Development: where we review and create a custom tailored security policy and plan best suited for your company, Secure Code Review: where we look over your website code and remove any errors that may be potential risks, Back up and Disaster recovery: where we will help you restore your business as it was in the event of a crash or disaster so that you can pick from where you left off, Vulnerability Remediation Assistance: we won't abandon you after we submit our reports we also help you fix those vulnerabilities and conduct the test again to confirm that the vulnerability is fixed

Staying safe on the internet is a very hectic and essential task which requires constant attention from cybersecurity experts, Any mistake might prove fatal for your business. You have to constantly make the right decisions to stay safe

Webdefence.in is here to help you when it comes to cybersecurity so that you don't have to spend your hard-earned money and valuable time looking for a solution that is best suited for you. We are here for you. One solution for all your security needs 

Let us help you protect your business and your assets, Your business deserves the best protection that it can get and we are ready to provide it

Talk to us today

[hitoshikokumai]

New Development at ENISA

Besides the issue of security-destructive ‘Passwordless’ authentication schemes, ENISA ( The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity ) is now looking at the impact of our episodic memory on identity assurance of military personnel.

(A) This is the latest message from ENISA — “Thank you once again for sharing your work. We transferred your email to the team in charge of the topic.

We would like to suggest joining any of our future workshops or events around these questions. We invite you to keep an eye on our events page for that purpose: https://www.enisa.europa.eu/events#b_start=0 “

(B) The message I had sent was — “I have so far refrained from talking about what we can offer for solid digital identity lest your attention should be distracted from the grave issues of ‘passwordless’ and ‘biometrics’ authentication schemes. Exceptionally, let me change the subject to an issue of war today.

I have recently published a comprehensive presentation slide on our solution at https://www.slideshare.net/HitoshiKokumai/fend-off-cybercrime-with-episodic-memory-29july2022pdf

Page 11 refers to the adoption by Japan’s Army in 2013 as Typical Use Case of our solution. There, it reads “We humbly assume that they are well satisfied with us.”

We now have to change it to “We are proudly confident that they are very satisfied with us”; We have just been told that they want us to assure them of the continued support for at least 10 more years.

The ongoing ground battle in Ukraine, which could be replayed elsewhere, might possibly be behind it. We are certainly ready to share the information with defense forces of EU countries”

© This is my latest information provided to ENISA — “Many thanks for your heartening and informative message. I wonder if your defence-focused people might also be interested in this

subject — “Login under Duress” https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hitoshikokumai_mnemonic-guard-what-episodic-image-memory-activity-6963732325863997441-7bdk “

It would be a great pleasure if our proposition leads to the democratic nations like EU better prepared against the cyberattacks on their military personnel from anti-democracy adversaries.

Website — https://www.mnemonicidentitysolutions.com/

Digital identity blogs collected at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/collection-digital-identity-comments-hitoshi-kokumai-posted-kokumai/

[techy360]

Why cyber security is important

People often forget how important cyber security is. But what would happen to our computers if we didn't protect them? And what's the end of it? Let's talk about how important cyber security is and why it's important to keep our computers safe. We might be shocked to find out that most people who use computers don't know how important cyber security is. So what's the end result? Here are some important things to remember when talking about cyber security:

What is the most important thing to know about Cyber Security?

As people become more dependent on technology, cybersecurity has become a big worry. Cybercriminals are getting better at what they do, and it is now easier than ever to steal information. Because of social media and cloud storage, hackers can easily steal personal information. Cybercrime can happen to anyone at any time. There are many ways to keep your personal information private, which is good news. Here are some of the most important tips for keeping your computer secure.

It is important to find threats. Malware, phishing, drive-by attacks, and man-in-the-middle attacks are all types of cybercrime attacks. Crypto-jacking is a type of cybercrime in which criminals break into the security of a computer to steal digital currencies or data. Even though it's hard to say how big the gap is, it's important to know that cybersecurity has become a top priority for both businesses and people.

What would happen if we didn't protect our computers?

Cybercrime is becoming more of a problem, especially for small businesses. Because they don't have good security, they are easy targets and a quick way to get to bigger ones. Since the security of many Internet-connected devices is often unknown, they are also an easy target. This lack of knowledge can cause a technical gap between the network and the devices connected to it. Firewalls can help keep cybercriminals out, but they aren't foolproof.

Cybersecurity is becoming more and more of a problem as our society depends more and more on technology. Even a small amount of data getting out could lead to identity theft or other bad things. Also, cloud storage services store private information that cybercriminals can get to and use from anywhere. As technology makes the world more connected, cybercrime is becoming a top priority for governments. But how can we stay safe from these dangers?

What does cyber security lead to?

As the number of digital devices goes up, so does the number of things that could be stolen. Cybercriminals would love to get into bank accounts, paychecks, and government databases to steal from other people. The same goes for educational systems, which keep track of grades and report cards, and other systems used to communicate and share information. In some cases, security holes aren't found for months. A persistent threat is an advanced form of cybercrime in which a hacker keeps trying to break into a computer system until he or she is caught. Whether hackers want to steal money or damage infrastructure, it is important for governments and businesses to be ready for cyber attacks. An attack can have serious effects, from stopping the economy from working to causing huge financial losses. The only way to stop this from happening is to take action now. Cyberattacks have two parts: being proactive and getting worse. The first is to build a strong defense, and the second is to help the first.

[herasoftblogsinfo]

Cyber Security for Small and Medium sized businesses

Are Small and Medium-sized organizations an alluring objective for aggressors? Ongoing assaults support that idea. The danger entertainers don't actually separate SMBs and enormous business with regards to information that they are looking. Since both hold delicate information yet SMBs are more helpless in light of the fact that they don't have refined protection devices or master groups as those enormous organizations. Consequently Cybersecurity might appear to be predominantly intricate for SMBs proprietors. SMBs are considered as machines that powers development and they can't stand to remain not ready for the digital assaults that might happen any time. In this blog let us talk about a couple of tips to make a far reaching network protection procedure and plan for SMBs.

1. Have an obvious online protection strategy

The strategy ought to be characterized dependent on careful exploration regarding how effective organizations and organizing their approaches and systems and what has assisted them with being on top of their security. Second most significant things to adjust it to business objectives just as authoritative objectives. For instance, an association might choose to permit BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) for workers subsequently the digital protection strategies  gamification solutions, enterprise security, finance solutions and logistics solutions should incorporate how to control this to get the information. The method should have every one of the agendas that should be implemented.

2. Overseen Security Services with an incline in-house group

Cybersecurity specialists come for an extreme price henceforth having an undeniable group nearby may not be practical for SMBs. Re-appropriating a significant lump of exercises to a Managed Security Service Provider and keep a lean-inhouse group for coordination and direction locally would be a useful model. MSSPs influence their apparatuses and assets which may not be simple for a SMBs to obtain. You may likewise peruse the blog from our Insights library to know more.

Find out about the advantages of Managed Services Model

3. Execute the main security arrangements

Secure business records and organizations with dependable  Cybersecurity   gamification solutions, enterprise security, finance solutions and logistics solutions i arrangements, paying little heed to the size or sort of your business. The following are not many to have at any expense so to mitigate any danger and assault that come.

Interruption Prevention and Detection Systems

Multi-facet Firewall

Weakness and Patch Management Tools

Character and Access Management with Multi-Factor verification

There are a lot more which associations can use to defend organizations against cyberattacks, like virtual private organizations, antivirus projects, application and administration boycotting apparatuses, among others.

4. Representative mindfulness and preparing

The key viewpoint is to invest energy on an intermittent reason for preparing workers on an occasional premise in light of the fact that a large portion of the assaults have social designing perspectives and representatives falls casualties. These instructional courses ought to be utilized to authorize security methods, bring up any slip by happened in the past just as subtleties on ongoing assaults all throughout the planet and patterns. New cycles and conventions additionally should be presented with legitimate thinking and avocation so workers comprehend the need of doing them. Consider them responsible by marking statements on the data got just as on the activities if not followed completely.

5. Observing and reinforcement of information and audit of advantages

Keeping extensive reinforcements is vital so the information can be recuperated, subsequently limiting any potential monetary and reputational harm during an assault. It should be done routinely and at more than one spot. Cloud administrations can be taken on really an immense starting venture and they have appropriate system set up to get the information.

Processes should be set up to consistently check the personality prior to conceding admittance to the information. Access advantages should be checked routinely to eliminate any individual who is no more with the association and moved offices. This is a significant angle and have made breaks in the past due slips.

[orbemnews]

Some big risks to investors have been hiding in plain sight For months, it’s been clear that snarled supply chains could hold back the post-pandemic recovery and trigger worrisome inflation. Now, that fear is once again coming to the fore, sparking a global sell-off in tech stocks that looks poised to continue on Tuesday. What’s happening: Nasdaq Composite futures are down sharply in premarket trading. The tech-heavy index tumbled 2.6% on Monday. In Hong Kong, shares of tech giants Baidu and Alibaba dropped 3.5% on Tuesday, while delivery company Meituan’s stock plunged more than 5%. While economists expect price increases to be temporary, investors remain concerned that rising costs could force central banks to hike interest rates sooner than expected, hurting the investment case for high-growth stocks. “The [Federal Reserve] has reiterated its intention to stay behind the curve on inflation,” Jean Boivin, head of the BlackRock Investment Institute, told clients Monday, referring to a new Fed policy that would let inflation temporarily rise above its target. “Yet this has been met with some skepticism in markets, against the backdrop of a powerful economic restart.” It’s clear that Wall Street has been on edge even as stocks have continued to hit record highs, leaving markets vulnerable to any inflation-related triggers. That could come in the form of positive data, for example, that suggests the economy is close to overheating. Investors have been looking for signs of rising prices for months. Still, the pandemic is stretching supply chains in new ways that could apply further upward pressure to prices. See here: A record-breaking wave of Covid-19 infections in India threatens to send shockwaves through several important global industries. Should the crisis deepen, it could affect everything from clothing and pharmaceuticals to financial services and global shipping. So, risks from the pandemic aren’t going away. Then there’s the cyberattack. Security experts have warned for years that ransomware poses major risks to businesses, so it’s hard to describe the attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which delivers nearly half of the diesel and gasoline consumed on the East Coast, as a black swan event. But with the disruption raising the specter of $3-a-gallon gasoline in the United States for the first time since 2014, it’s a reminder that any problems with the supply side of the economy have major resonance at a delicate moment for the recovery. China records its slowest population growth in decades China’s population grew at its slowest rate in decades in the 10 years prior to 2020, according to census data released on Tuesday — a trend that could pose serious issues for the world’s second-largest economy. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the population rose by 5.4% over the past decade — or 72 million people — to 1.4 billion people, my CNN Business colleagues Ben Westcott and Eric Cheung report. The latest data represents an average annual population growth rate of 0.53%. It’s the slowest rate for China since at least the 1960s. Ning Jizhe, the head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said the falling growth rate was a result of couples putting off having children longer and the rising costs of raising a family. Why it matters: The figures raise the prospect of a demographic crisis for the world’s most populous nation, with a falling birth rate and rapidly aging work force threatening to curtail its rapid economic growth. The 2020 census data showed the proportion of the population aged over 65 rose rapidly, from 8.9% in 2010 to 13.5% in 2020. This increase is a “major headwind” for the Chinese economy, said Yong Cai, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina. “[But] China is not alone in this.” Big picture: Aging populations are a risk for countries around the world, raising the prospect that higher pension costs will kick in just as economic growth begins to lag. “Because of the aging of our populations, that there will be fewer and fewer persons of working age to support more and more older people,” the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has written. The race for lithium could wipe out this species Fewer than 40 years after humans discovered Tiehm’s buckwheat, a Nevada plant with yellow flowers, they may drive it to extinction in pursuit of electric vehicles, my CNN Business colleague Matt McFarland reports. Environmentalists say the benefits of Tiehm’s buckwheat could be vast, but its full significance is unknown. They’re impressed with its ability to thrive where few species can — poor soil that’s full of boron and lithium. That lithium, a critical mineral in the batteries that power electric vehicles, increasingly has the attention of businesses and governments ramping up sustainability plans. Ioneer, an Australian mining company, has said it’s ready to break ground on a lithium mine later this year on the land where Tiehm’s buckwheat grows. The project has been valued at $1.3 billion. Step back: The fate of Tiehm’s buckwheat highlights the tradeoffs and tough decisions surrounding green technologies. Businesses that talk of helping the environment may not be above putting a species at risk of extinction. Ioneer argues that from a big-picture perspective, building its lithium mine is good for the environment. It believes the plant can survive being largely relocated, a claim the environmentalists question. Patrick Donnelly, Nevada state director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told CNN Business his group is ready for years of fighting in court to protect Tiehm’s buckwheat. He believes society needs to think more critically about the appropriate sites for lithium mines. “On top of an endangered buckwheat isn’t the right place,” he said. “Biodiversity is what gives us clean air to breath and clean water to drink and it’s what puts food on our plates.” Up next Palantir reports results before US markets open. Lemonade follows after the close. Also today: The latest US Consumer Price Index, a key measure of inflation, posts at 8:30 a.m. ET. Coming tomorrow: Another look at inflation from the Producer Price Index. Source link Orbem News #Big #hiding #investing #investors #Plain #Premarketstocks:Somebigriskstoinvestorshavebeenhidinginplainsight-CNN #Risks #sight

[baby-batboys]

batfam + childhood friend s/o turned hero?

A/N: Thank you for such the creative prompt! Seriously this was so fun! I really liked the Jason one! This is really really really long, so sorry about that!

Dick:

It’s a simple hero team-up. Dick does it all the time. No biggie.

A villain from your city had their way over to Bludhaven to expand their ‘empire’ and it just makes sense that you two would team up. Crime fighting is way more fun in pairs and teams.

At first, he doesn’t even think about who you might be under that mask. It never crosses his mind once, but then when he lets out one of his one-liners and he hears your laugh and he just knows.

He’d know that laugh anywhere.

For a second he battles himself. ‘Well, it’s a pretty common laugh’ It isn’t. He knows it. He knows by the curve of your lips and the way you raise your eyebrow. It’s you.

It’s all he can think about. When you two finally take down the villain, he watches your every move. Damn, you’ve grown. You’ve grown into someone badass and strong as hell, but you’re still the same.

He asks to celebrate, maybe take you back to his hideout or apartment for some takeout before you go.

And as you’re sitting there on the roof of his building, eating chow mein and eggrolls, he says “You’d think after so long you’d get tired of fried noodles, Y/N”

You laugh again and the dominos come off, finally. “You’d think after so long, you’d get a better fashion sense. Electric blue, Dick? Really.”

Nightwing becomes Dick instantly and suddenly you two are laughing and joking like kids again, bringing up memories from years before.

It’s dawn on the horizon when he says “You know, Y/N, I had the biggest crush on you.” “Had?” “Have.”

Maybe you could get use to Bludhaven.

Jason:

Jason Todd was dead. That’s kinda his thing.

Your thing was being as good as dead.

After the Joker’s stunt against Jason and Tim’s arrival, Gotham was a graveyard to you. You’d rather not hang around the alleys where you and a dead man counted coins for dinner.

You’d rather not be on the stomping ground of the man who took Jason away from you or the one who refused to avenge him.

Still, you returned sometimes. Business calls.

Growing up, Jason talked of all the street scum he hated. Dealers who sold to kids, Arms dealers, and murderers. You hated them too. And as Robin, Jason had cleaned up the streets. Or started to. You were there to finish his mission.

And if by the time you finished, the Joker was still out there, you’d finish that too.

Red Hood was a lot more than he seemed. He saw straight through you for what you were, someone who was fighting to end the game like him. Someone undercover.

So when he found you when he was playing at the Black Mask’s ally, he decided to team up. He usually worked alone (how ironic), but he knew you could be a big help.

It was outside a bar, after a long night, when he asked the question of why.

And you told him. “I had a friend who hated all of this and in the end he lost his life to it. I kind of owe it to him. I owe it to myself.” “What was his name?”

“Jason. It was Jason Todd.”

For a long time Jason doesn’t say anything and then, “He sounds like one sorry motherfucker.” “That’s something he would say.”

The sound of a latch coming undone takes you from your brooding and you turn to see him there. Not Red Hood, but Jason. The helmet in his hands, you wonder how you couldn’t have realized.

Do you cry? Hell yeah. Over the years, you’ve cried enough tears for Jason to fill the river between Bludhaven and Gotham. And he holds you.

You don’t ask how. You don’t ask at all. You just tell him you love himand you don’t need him to say it back. You know he does.

Only someone who loves you could come back from the grave to show it. And that’s Jason Todds thing.

Tim:

Tim Drake was a detective, his own private investigator. He was use to searching and hunting. Oddly enough, he had to do no searching to find you.

You were always there, ready to help. While he searched and searched for what he needed behind a screen you were only a phone call away.

“Hey, can you check to see the Wayne Industry profits for the last quarter the year the Batman became active?” “Of course, Tim. Should I run by Starbucks when I bring the files?”

Before Oracle, there was you. You were the dynamic duo before Batman and Tim!Robin.

The night you two came to the conclusion of Batman’s identity was the best night of your life. You could finally breathe, celebrating over a pizza and some soda. And when Tim told you he wanted to be Robin, you couldn’t help but support.

Even if you knew the last Robin died. Even if you knew a lot of people around Batman died. You didn’t want Tim to die.

In the end it was you who died. Kinda.

When Tim became Robin, then Red Robin, you didn’t have that luxury. You made your money off doing what you do best, searching and searching like he did.

But the first time, you didn’t get caught because you had Tim. Without him, without your left hand, you got caught. You got caught up in something too deep. You had to disappear.

The second time, he had to do a lot of searching for you. It involved him dying too. (And getting kick-ass hair). It involved being the ‘replacement’. It involved many nights without you.

He found you in the place he least expected. In the paper. A hacker who took down an empire of criminals using humans to experiment gene mutation in order to duplicate heros.

The article was huge, displaying the aftermath of the cyberattack, a section of leaked culprit names, and a section of the code that took them down. And The nickname of the hero.

His nickname for you.

It was no doubt. Not one at all. He knew it was you. Not that it had to be. It was you. That wasn’t the problem, the problem was finding you.

He knew all your tricks, rerouting your IP every 30 minutes, personally making all programs, encrypting everything from top to bottom unless you wanted them to know who exactly had done it.

Instead, you found him. “Robin.” He smiles, he can’t help it. “It’s Red Robin, now.” He full on laughs when you reply “Red Robin. Yummmm.”

“So how’d you do it?” he asks. “The code was complicated as all hell.” His heart does twenty backflips Grayson-style when you smile and say “I have the files. Should we run by Starbucks while I get them?”

“….I always liked boys with long hair.” “I know. Kinda of motive to grow it out.”

Damian:

There was Starfire and Raven and Beastie and Kid Flash. There was his brothers. There was Alfred and his dad and all the other people around him all the time. Still, he had no friends.

When he meets Jon, you come with him. Like Damian, you’re not super. But you’re good. You’re his Lucious Fox, Oracle, and Alfred all in one. You’re smart and talented and sweet above it all.

You’re his friend.

The older boys tease you and him, Jon does too. But Bruce, Bruce is happy to see Damian find his. The one person he connects with, the person who balances him out.

Damian is Robin. He’s a Wayne and an Al’Ghul. He’s the leader of the Teen Titans, a highly trained assassin. His best friend is Superboy, out of this world powerful in it’s most literal sense. It would only make sense that you would feel alienated.

At school, you get alerts on your phone. Robin and Superboy save the world. Batman and Robin stop another drug ring. The Teen Titans get a key to the city. You’re always left out.

So you stop looking, you dive into your work and your mundane life. You stop being the side-kick of the side-kicks. And as much as Damian hates it, you drift away.

You become a hero by accident. No radioactive spider or experiment gone wrong. You’re just in the wrong place at the wrong time and out of instinct, you do it. You take out a burglar using a tactic you saw from Damian. A well aimed blow to the temple, a hit to the pressure point, and adrenaline flowing through you as you take him down.

That’s how you start, stopping the crimes that slip through the cracks when the big villains are out to play. And soon you end up in the wrong place at the right time. People know your face. You become a hero.

And Damian notices. He watches. And then he pulls up in a very nice, very expensive car at your job. He’s in a suit, his jaw more defined then the last time you saw him. But he’s still Damian.

“Is this the part where you ask me to join the Avengers?” you ask, sliding in next to him. He smirks. “Don’t be smart. It’s not everyday I give out gifts.”

“It’s dumb to run around with your face out like that.” A suit. He gives you a suit and a mask.

“So is this the part where you ask me to be apart of the Batfamily?” Damian’s smirk widens. “You’re already are.”

[xmxisxforxmaybe]

Decryption_Error: “Angela”

Summary: The cyberattacks haven’t stopped, and Y/N is struggling to make sense of them as she worries for her father, for herself, and for the future of the company; however, it’s nearly Halloween, and Angela has invited Elliot, Y/N, and Darlene to a costume party. For the first time, Y/N wonders if she’s really the only woman Elliot wants. 

A/N: I needed some time to process the end of Mr. Robot before this story would let me continue. I finally feel reenergized and ready to update regularly, MUCH in thanks to @alottanothing​ for prodding me along. This chapter wouldn’t exist without her, so thank you, my friend! 

Story Summary,  “The Server Room, Part I”,  “The Server Room, Part II”  “The Long Weekend, Part I”,  “The Long Weekend, Part II”,  “The Aftermath”,  “Undecided”,  **“Decided”,  “Spooked”,  **“Fourth of July, Part I”,  *”Fourth of July, Part II”,  *“Darlene”

Word Count: 5000

Tags: @sherlollydramoine @rami-malek-trash @teamwolf2411 @limabein @txmel @alottanothing @ouatlovr @backoftheroomandnotbelonging @moon-stars-soul @free-rami @ramimedley @hopplessdreamer @sweet-charmie @polarcrystall​

If you want added, removed, or if I’ve missed your request, let me know : )

Warnings: Mild sexual content/language, description of a panic attack, let me know if I missed something!

GIF: @s-k-y-w-a-l-k-e-r​

I couldn’t breathe.

I was too hot, way too hot.

Too hot. Too hot. Too hot.

My eyes shot open in the dark, and I clutched my chest as I felt the thudding of my heart against my fingertips. With a gasp, all traces of sleep were gone as I flung the covers off me with such force Elliot jumped awake.

I was already in the bathroom, pacing, my hand resting on my chest as I chanted the same thing in the same song-like cadence every time I had a panic attack.

“It’s alright, it’s okay, it’s alright, it’s okay—”

Elliot opened the door slowly, his eyes vigilant as he worked to figure out what was happening.

I took a few noisy breaths, in through my nose, out through my mouth, as my lips continued to recite that it was alright, it was okay.

Elliot approached me and when I didn’t bolt, he reached out to place his hand over mine. I knew he could feel the pounding of my heart, and I felt ashamed he was watching me fall apart.  

“You’re okay,” he said, his voice still raspy with sleep. “You’re okay.”

I couldn’t do anything other than stare at him, the hammering in my chest continuing as I took up my mantra again. Elliot’s lips moved along with the words, his eyes so focused on mine I couldn’t have diverted my gaze even if I wanted to.

“It’s alright,” Elliot said gently. “It’s okay.”

This time, I was able to nod. The thudding of my heart was subsiding, and my breathing was slowing, steadying in the now too-bright light of the bathroom while Elliot’s too-intense eyes bored into mine.

After a few more minutes, I found my voice.

“I’m okay—really, El. I’m sorry you had to see that.” I stepped back, embarrassment taking the place of panic.

But Elliot didn’t let me retreat; instead, he pulled me into his arms, his hand twisting into my messy hair as he held me tightly against his body.

I sighed and let him hug me as the last waves of panic subsided.

I shifted, still embarrassed, and Elliot relinquished his hold.

I glanced at his face and saw that it was filled with concern, but I needed to get out of the light and out from under his gaze.

“Back to bed,” I muttered, and Elliot followed me out of the bathroom, flicking off the light.

We settled into bed, and I pulled the comforter up to my neck as I faced away from him. I did back up enough to be touching him, just needing to feel he was there, but when I shivered, cold now that my body was returning to normal, he rolled onto his side so he could press against me and wrap his arm around my waist.  

“Please don’t feel ashamed,” Elliot whispered as he slid his arm up and over my chest, pulling me close. “You’ve seen me. . .”  

Elliot’s pause hung in the air and I didn’t say anything, afraid I’d start to cry.

“You’re still the strongest, best person I know.”

Well, that did it.

Hot tears fell down my cheek and across the bridge of my nose as I tried not to violently sob in the dark.

Elliot stayed quiet, his fingers twitching lightly over the skin on my chest as he held me.

“It’s the attacks,” I began, frustration mounting as I swiped at my face with the comforter. “If it had just been Colin, I think I would’ve made my peace with it and moved on. But it was Bill Baxstone and then Kurt Landley. I feel like someone close to us is trying to hurt my father—or me.”

“They were all bad people, Y/N. Don’t you think they deserved to be found out?”

“But who decided they were bad people?” I said, moving away from Elliot and rolling onto my back, swiping at the last of my tears. “Bill Baxstone raised millions of dollars to help during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina—he took me with him when his church went down to clean up. He held my hand, hugged me, when I stumbled across the month-old body of a little boy. Who decided money laundering was bad enough to erase every good deed he had ever done? I feel like someone’s playing god with other people’s lives—someone’s taking the grey and coloring it black. I—I can’t make sense of it.”

Elliot was silent for a long time as I continued to blink into the darkness, a sense of hopelessness settling over my chest and threatening to overwhelm me.

“What if Dad’s next? What if I’mnext?”

“You’re good people,” Elliot said softly.

My laughter was a bitter bark in the dark. “Sure—to you! Who knows how the hackers see us. Bill was a good person who did something stupid. If he’d been given the chance, I know he would’ve made reparations. He just did something really fuckingstupid. His entire family is devastated, horrified—once the media gets through with Bill, they’ll have to change their names.”

Elliot was quiet.

“I didn’t know you knew him so well.”

“Yeah, well, memories can’t be hacked. I’m sure the people that did this only saw what they wanted to see.”

“You have nothing to worry about. You work, every day, to protect your dad’s company, and by protecting his company, you’re protecting allthe people who work for him, especially the hardworking, average people who are just trying to survive.”

I looked over at Elliot in the dark, the outline of his face just visible thanks to the slight peek of the city lights that filtered in through a space in the blinds.

“I’m just another rich bitch who’s had life too easy. How long before they stop caring about anything other than people’s bank accounts? How long before they stop offering justification and just start fucking with anyone they want to fuck with?”

“They won’t—I mean, that’s not what drives black hats. You know that.”

“Why can’t you find them, Elliot?” I sighed, turning my eyes back to the ceiling. “If anyone could find them, it’s you.”  

“They don’t want to be found. Hackers leave a mark, something for attention because that’s what they all crave. This one—doesn’t leave anything.”

“I’ve checked myself. Again and again. Nothing.”

“Nothing,” Elliot repeated.

* * * * *

Halloween was fast approaching; it had been a warm October, and until today, the chill of fall had evaded the city. Walking into CIStech, I pulled my coat tighter as a gust of wind swept through the streets. I smiled as I thought about picking out some pumpkins and talking Elliot into carving them, maybe bribing him with the promise of sugar cookies.

I felt normal, happy again for the first time since the latest hacks. It had been quiet for well over a month, and I became convinced the hackers moved on. Analytically, I knew most black hats had short attention spans; the quicker they moved and the wider variety of targets they chose, the less likely they were to get caught by forming a predictable pattern.

Black hats, like the ones who tried to hack Dad’s company on the Fourth, were easy to catch. The perpetrators of the individual attacks were in an entirely different league and all I could hope was they lost interest.

My morning was filled with meetings, so when I finally had a minute to check my phone, I was happy to see Elliot had texted.

E: Angela is having a Halloween party. She wants to meet you. I’m sure we have Darlene to thank.

Y/N: Costumes?

E: Probably.

Y/N: Could be fun—What if I let you pick my outfit?

E: Ok

E: : )

I laughed, knowing that was about as flirty as Elliot got over text. I was intrigued, though. Between Darlene and Elliot, I heard enough about Angela to feel like I knew her.

Elliot and I mostly hung out with my friends and Darlene. I asked him once about his hesitancy when it came to spending time with Angela, but he never gave me a straight answer. I suspected it was because he didn’t like her boyfriend, and Darlene felt that was it, too.

I figured I’d find out soon enough, so my thoughts quickly returned to wondering about the costume Elliot would choose.

Never, even in my wildest imaginings, could I have guessed.

* * * * *

I adjusted my long, honey blonde wig, happy with how it fit so naturally. I spent far more than I should have on it, but I think it was due to the shock of Elliot’s request.

“I still can’t believe this is what you find sexy,” I said eyeing my bright red dress and adjusting the sleeves.

Elliot only hummed in response as he wrapped his arms around my waist and looked at us in the mirror over my shoulder. We both watched as his hands splayed across my stomach, flexing as they played with the silky fabric before moving up to cup my breasts.

I leaned into his body, smiling as I watched his black-clothed head turn toward my neck. He kissed the skin of my collar bone and made his way up my neck, slowly with torturous, tiny licks and nips.

My eyes slipped shut and I sighed, relaxing into his kisses. When Elliot’s name fell from my lips, that pulled a grin from his.

“Sexy,” he breathed, his mouth so close to my ear his voice made me shiver.

“Elliot. Stop teasing.”

“It won’t be teasing if we skip the party.”

Elliot’s teeth had captured my earlobe so I ground my ass into his crotch, delighted to feel his cock pressing into my backside.

“Definitely skipping,” Elliot mumbled just as the buzzer sounded.

“Darlene’s here,” I said taking a step forward and detangling myself from Elliot. “I’ll let her in while you—deflate.”

Elliot narrowed his eyes at me as I laughed, “You started it! Don’t look at me like that, farm boy.”

“As you wish,” Elliot quietly replied, a small smile on his face.  

I shook my head, knowing my grin was bordering on ridiculous as I walked out to buzz in Darlene, but who could have ever guessed Elliot Alderson considered The Princess Brideto be the perfect romantic film?

After Darlene knocked lightly on my door, I laughed with delight as I took in her costume. She was a dead ringer for Stevie Nicks.

“You look exactly like the goddess herself!”

“Too bad I can’t sing worth a shit.”

“You’d be too powerful, Dar. The universe just can’t allow it.”

Darlene fixed me with one of her wide smiles, and I offered to make her a drink before we set out.

“Oh, hell yes. Whatcha got, Buttercup?”

“Did you know this would be your brother’s idea of a sexy Halloween costume?” I asked over my shoulder as I pulled down a bottle of rum from the cupboard.

“I had a general idea, yeah,” she said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and plopped ice into her glass and mine. Just as I was cracking open a can of Coke, Elliot came into the kitchen.

“Hey, Zorro,” Darlene deadpanned.

“Stevie Nicks?” Elliot replied with a quirk of his brow. “Predictable.”

“At least I’m not one half of a lame couple’s costume—no offense, Y/N.”

I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders as I finished pouring the soda before sliding Darlene’s drink across the counter.

“I’m amazed myself,” I replied as I moved to Elliot’s side and placed a kiss on the edge of his jaw near his ear. “But how sexy does he look as the Dread Pirate Roberts?”

“All black—huge leap for Elliot,” Darlene said, her eyes dancing over the rim of her glass as she took a long drink.

“Got some cocaine in your boot, Stevie?” Elliot shot back at his sister. “No suspension of disbelief required for you either.”

“Fight nice, children,” I said as I finished my drink much quicker than Darlene, suddenly realizing I was quite nervous to meet Angela.

“So where is this party?”

“Angela just moved into a place with her boyfriend. Gramercy Park, I think. Do you have the address, El?”

Elliot dug his phone out of his pocket and nodded after he scrolled through a few messages.

“Well, shall we?” I asked, watching as Darlene downed the last of her Rum and Coke.

“Let’s,” she said, adjusting her top hat.

I took a deep breath, and Elliot, sensing my nervousness reached out to take my hand.

“You have everything?” he asked, his eyes examining my face like they always did. Sometimes, I felt like he was reading me, scanning me like a barcode.  

“Yup—did you remember your mask?”

“I put it in your bag,” Elliot said as he handed it to me.

I smiled and moved to shrug into my backpack, but Elliot stopped me, his voice low as he said, “We really don’t have to go.”

“I want to,” I said earnestly. “I’m just a little nervous. Probably how you felt before meeting my friends. Plus, I’d never let this ‘lame’ couple’s costume go to waste.”

Elliot gave me a half-smile, “Darlene’s such a witch.”

“I heard that,” she called over her shoulder, causing me to laugh as I shut the door to my apartment.

* * * * *

Darlene was kind of right—I did feel a little lame with my modest costume as we walked up with a few people I assumed were also party guests. We were following a bouncy Playboy bunny and a rather risqué bee as we ascended the stairs, so when we were greeted by a very sexy angel who turned out to be the hostess, I wasn’t surprised.

“I should’ve known you’d eventually rope someone into playing the Buttercup to your Westley,” Angela said as she smiled and introduced herself.

“I’m Y/N,” I said with a wave, again wondering why I felt so damn nervous. I was confident, successful, attractive woman. What was it about Angela that made me feel—

“Heyyyy, Elli-man! It’s great to see you again, bro!” interrupted a boisterous devil who I assumed was the other half of Angela’s costume.

I cringed as Angela’s boyfriend thumped Elliot on the back and attempted to shake his hand. I watched, as if it were in slow motion, as Elliot took a full step back and almost knocked the bouncy Playboy bunny into the wall.

“Shit, dude. Forgot about that whole no-touching thing.”

Angela looked mortified, and yanked Ollie back, his beer sloshing over the side of the bottle.

“Ollie, this is Y/N. Elliot’s girlfriend.”

“I kinda thought you were a myth,” Ollie said, his grin reaching buffoon-like proportions. “Do you do the whole no-touching thing, too? Cuz I’m sure that would make for a—”

As my mouth dropped open, Angela interrupted who I could now definitely call her idiot boyfriend for the second time.

“Let’s get you some drinks,” she said, ushering us inside and leaving Ollie to greet the next batch of people.

“He’s pretty drunk,” Angela said by way of an apology as she glanced at me from under her long lashes.

I said nothing. I wasn’t about to make this easy on her since she just let her idiot boyfriend accost Elliot. Angela, of all people, should’ve made sure that hadn’t happened. All it took was one conversation with my family to make sure they didn’t make Elliot uncomfortable.

Angela weaved through her party guests and I glanced to see if Darlene was following, but she was long gone. Come to think of it, she ducked inside the apartment as soon as we arrived, completely avoiding Ollie.

Smart witch, I thought.  

I felt Elliot’s light touch on my lower back as we reached the kitchen. He seemed to be on high alert, and my gut told me it had more to do with Angela than with the throngs of people in her apartment.

“Beer’s iced in the sink. Mixers and liquor are on the counter. What can I get you guys to start?”

“Beer’s fine for me,” I said, and Elliot nodded.

Angela dipped through two girls, a slender black cat and a vibrant peacock, and returned with two, cold bottles.

“Thanks,” I said with a tentative smile. “Nice place!”

“It feels small with all the people, but it’s like a palace after my studio. Where do you live?”

“15 Cliff—in the Financial District,” I said.

“Well, I hope you spend more time there than Elliot’s place.”

“My place is a lot closer to CIStech, but El’s apartment is cozy.”

“CIStech. My boss, Gideon, who I love, talks about you guys from time to time. He’s really down with the business within a business model, but he’s also trying to make it independently. He’s got some great ideas—we just need to land a big fish.”

Elliot must have read something into what Angela said because he stepped closer and asked her who they had in mind.

“I’m not sure I should say,” she said with a quirk of her brow and a glance in my direction.

“I’ll let you two catch up,” I said, taking the hint and feeling relieved I could walk away.

“I’m glad you got him to come out,” Angela said, a genuine smile turning up the corners of her lips.

I glanced at Elliot, who, in a move that shocked both Angela and me, leaned over to press a soft kiss to my lips.

“She’s good for me,” he said, his voice just audible over the din of the party.

I gave his hand a squeeze before I shuffled out of the kitchen in search of Darlene.

I ended up bumping into a guy I knew from school and while we chatted about the smallness of the world, I glanced around for a hint of stark white next to a void of black.

Elliot and Angela had moved out of the kitchen and were talking in a recess of the narrow hallway. Elliot’s back was to me, but I could tell from the way Angela looked at him that their conversation was intense. After a few minutes, she rolled her eyes and took Elliot’s wrist, yanking him farther down the hallway and out of my line of sight.

“So, seriously—what’s it like dating Elliot?”

Ollie’s obnoxious voice yanked my attention away from the spot Elliot and Angela had just been occupying as effectively as if he had reached out and taken my wrist, too.

Fuck me, I thought as I took in his bleary eyes.  

As I fielded his questions and realized that Ollie talked far more than he listened, I focused on the feeling in my gut that had been preoccupying me all day. I wasn’t the jealous type—I always figured if I was with someone who wanted someone else then they weren’t worth my time.

Elliot was so complicated I just assumed I’d never have to worry. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would thrive off of juggling more than one girl at a time; in fact, I assumed his anxiety would eat him into an early grave if he ever got himself into a situation like that.

You know what they say about people who assume! my own anxiety cheerfully reminded me.

I returned my attention back to Ollie who was still talking about a party from his sophomore year of college and interrupted him.

“Have you seen Angela?”

“Huh? Oh, I haven’t in a while,” he said, his brow furrowing as he glanced around the room.

“She and Elliot must have gone off somewhere,” I suggested.

“Those two are kinda weird. Every time she’d hang with him, she’d come back all sad and mopey. I was glad when you came into the picture because they don’t talk as much.”

I looked at Ollie and the expression on my face must have prompted him to realize he’d said yet another stupid thing.

“Listen—I know how important Elliot is to her, childhood mom and dad death shit and whatever, but sometimes the past needs to just, like die, ya know?”

I figured my paranoia had gotten the best of me because what Angela’s idiot boyfriend said actually made sense.

“I think I do know what you mean, Ollie.”

“Cheers, babe! Let’s get you a refill,” Ollie said as he thunked his empty bottle against my own before leading me into the kitchen.

Four beers and a shot later, I was standing with Darlene, listening to her verbally eviscerate a cute guy who had made the mistake of saying that Flame was the best rootkit written in the past five years, when Elliot found us.

“Are we taking bets on when she makes this guy cry?” Elliot whispered, his breath disturbing the strands of my wig that hung around my ear.

I smiled and turned into Elliot’s body, leaning in to quietly reply, “I think he’s getting off on it.”

Elliot chuckled and joined the conversation, playing devil’s advocate until Darlene grew frustrated and snarled, “Who asked you anyway? Come on—let’s get me a drink,” she said as she pushed the cute guy toward the kitchen.

“Ready to go?” Elliot asked, his features schooled into a practiced indifference.

“Are you? You’re wearing that face I can’t read.”

Elliot’s lips quirked into a nanosecond smirk.

“Let’s go.”

“That’s better,” I said. “I should say goodbye to Angela and thank her for the invite.”

“She’s in the hall. We’ll catch her on the way out.”

Angela was preoccupied with a few people Elliot said were from Allsafe, the company she worked for, so we said a quick goodbye and made our way out to the street.

I took a deep breath and my body practically vibrated from the feel of having space to stretch without bumping into a body and from the chilly, fresh night-air.

“There’s nothing like space and cool air after escaping from a crowd,” I said as Elliot looked at me, his eyes filled with a happiness that only came when someone understood something that you thought only you understood.  

Elliot waved for a taxi after he assured me for the third time that Darlene would be fine. I sent her a text, just to be sure, and she replied immediately.

D: I’m fine MOM. Go home and bone DAD so he learns to have some fucking chill and not be such a dick when I’m working my mojo.  

Y/N: You two have very different ways of flirting lol—be safe! Text me in the am.

D: : )

As we slid into the taxi, I smiled at my phone thinking how alike and how very different Darlene and Elliot were.

“Where to?” the driver asked, his voice curt as he wondered just how drunk Elliot and I were considering our costumes.

I answered with Elliot’s address and the driver relaxed as he realized we weren’t shitfaced.

I quietly said to Elliot, “Figured you’d need to go home to your space after all of . . . that.”

“Thank you,” he answered just as quietly as he gave my knee a quick squeeze.

The rest of the cab ride was silent, which gave me time to consider how and where Elliot had spent most of the party. I did tell the driver to take us to Elliot’s because I knew he’d want to go home, but I also had an ulterior motive. I wanted him to be in his most secure place in the hopes he would be comfortable enough to answer the questions I had about Angela. Watching them interact and my conversation with Ollie did nothing but heighten that feeling in my gut.

As soon as we stopped in front of Elliot’s building, I slid out of the cab and let him pay the driver. I waited at the top of the stoop before following Elliot up to his apartment.

As soon as the door shut and I dropped my backpack onto the kitchen table, I spoke up.

“So . . . you and Angela?”

Elliot turned to look at me, his mouth dropping open a bit as he decided whether to reply or to wait for me to go on.

“You have history. That’s evident. I’m just curious about how much history you have . . . and if any of that history is not so . . . past tense.”

I couldn’t look at him when I said it, dropping my eyes and feeling ashamed for even implying he still had feelings for her. But I had to know.

God I didn’t want to know.

“Forget it,” I said quickly, opening Elliot’s drawer to yank out a t-shirt before I went into the bathroom and shut the door.

I pulled off my wig and relished in the feeling of shaking out my hair after it had been confined inside the wig cap.

I undressed, leaving my costume in a rumpled pool on the floor, and got ready for bed, slowly, hoping Elliot would be asleep or pretending to be asleep by the time I finished.  

I pulled my hair into a messy bun, unable to meet my own gaze in the bathroom mirror. My stomach was still clenched in a weighted ball of anxiety as I opened the bathroom door and sent one more prayer to the powers that be that he would be in bed.

No such luck.

Elliot was on his computer when I came out of the bathroom, and as soon as he heard the door open, he swung around and said, “Come here.”

He stood up and waited for me to find my feet. I took a deep breath and crossed the room, slowly sitting down in his computer chair. I turned to face the screen, wondering what it was he wanted to show me.

Elliot opened a file and a sweet picture of Darlene, Elliot, and Angela popped up. Elliot and Darlene were grinning widely as they each had just clearly smashed a piece of cake against Angela’s cheeks, her blonde hair clinging to her face in sticky strands, the smile on her face priceless. Despite my dread, I found myself smiling at little Elliot.

Elliot’s arms were around me on either side, one hand resting on the desk while the other clicked the mouse as he showed me more pictures. I watched the three of them age until there were just a series of pictures of Elliot and Angela that stopped on the day of their high school graduation.

“She’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember,” Elliot said quietly, his face next to mine, his eyes locked on the image in front of us.

“You love her,” I stated.

“I thought we’d never be separated, but she went to college in the city and I didn’t. She wanted to get out of Washington Township even more than I did.”

“Is that why you broke up?”

“Angela and I were never really together like that—like weare,” Elliot said as he closed out of the pictures and turned his monitor off.

He turned and faced his bed, leaning on the computer desk as I swung the chair around so I could look at him.

“You never dated?”

“Not . . . exactly.”

“You’re not making this very easy to understand.”

“I’m sorry—it’s hard to put a label on it. I don’t think I can.”

“Try.”

“We had sex, but it was more because I trusted her. And she trusted me. You get to a certain age. Everyone’s talking about it, so you just do it. And I thought, maybe that was all there was to it. That Angela and I would get married someday. That I could have a life with my best friend.”

“But?”

“Angela has a flaw. She never loves anyone who loves her. I knew that, and when I was young, I accepted that. I figured I could still be happy even if she never really loved me back—loved me like that, I mean.”

“What changed your mind?”

Elliot ran his hands through his flattened hair as he struggled to say something he knew was too heavy, too much of a burden to place on someone else.

“You did,” he said, still looking at his unmade bed.  

The weight of Elliot’s statement settled over me, the silence in his apartment feeling oppressive as I waited for him to continue.

“You loved me first. And after you knew me, after you knew my . . . abnormalities. I never thought anyone would love me first.”

Months ago, I had known Elliot would never be the one to admit his feelings first, but now I knew why—he had already been in love with me, but he didn’t want me to love him like Angela, to love him only because he loved me first.

He wanted—needed—to know I loved him all on my own, without obligation.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, determined not to cry as a desperate, emotional ache filled my chest.

“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit, Elliot. Anyone who could see your heart, would love you.”  

“I don’t exactly make it easy.”

“True,” I said, finally drawing his eyes to meet mine as I smirked.

“I love you, Y/N,” Elliot said with such straightforwardness that the smile fell from my face. “Please don’t ever doubt that.”

“I won’t,” I answered softly, rising from the chair to stand in front of him.

Elliot’s hands came to rest on my hips as I cupped his face, my thumbs lightly sliding over his cheekbones as we looked into each other’s eyes, both of our vulnerabilities laid bare.

A frantic, daunting thought flashed through my mind as I leaned in to kiss him and I wondered—no—somehow I knew the same thought flashed through Elliot’s:

Please don’t break my heart.

[expatimes]

Biden denied key US intel briefings as Trump delays transition

As President Donald Trump continues challenging the election results and delaying President-elect Joe Biden's transition planning, a key part of US intelligence is being kept from the incoming president.

The Presidential Daily Brief (PDB), the ultra-secret daily briefing of the nation's most sensitive intelligence, is a key part of keeping the president fully informed and, in recent years, the president-elect prepared.

In 2000, when the presidential election was still in legal limbo due to a recount in Florida, outgoing President Bill Clinton decided to let then-Governor George W Bush read the daily brief of the nation's most sensitive intelligence.

Clinton was a Democrat and his vice president, Al Gore, was running against Republican Bush. Gore had been reading the so-called PDB for eight years; Clinton decided to bring Bush into the fold in case he won - and he did.

President Donald Trump has not followed Clinton's lead.

Oklahoma Republican Senator James Lankford said on Wednesday he will intervene if Trump does not loop Biden in soon.

“I've already started engaging in this area ... And if that's not occurring by Friday, I will step in and push and say this needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election, whichever way that it goes, people can be ready for that actual task, ”Lankford told Tulsa, Oklahoma radio station KRMG.

He said Vice President-elect Kamala Harris also should be getting the briefings, which should not be a problem because she already has security clearances as a member of the Senate intelligence committee.

Lankford on Thursday reiterated his view Biden should be getting intelligence briefings as a growing number of other top Republicans including Senators Chuck Grassley, Lindsey Graham, John Thune and others joined in calling for the Trump administration to reverse its posture.

“I would think - especially on classified briefings - the answer is yes,” Grassley told reporters at the US Capitol when asked if he thought Biden should now begin receiving presidential daily intelligence briefings.

“Yes, I think so,” Graham told reporters when asked about Biden receiving presidential briefings.

National security and intelligence experts hope Trump changes his mind, citing the need for an incoming president to be fully prepared to confront any national security issues on the day one.

“Our adversaries aren't waiting for the transition to take place,” says former Michigan Republican Representative Mike Rogers, who was chairman of the House intelligence committee. “Joe Biden should receive the President's Daily Brief starting today. He needs to know what the latest threats are and begin to plan accordingly. This isn't about politics; this is about national security. ”

US adversaries can take advantage of the country during an American presidential transition and key foreign issues will be bearing down on Biden the moment he steps into the Oval Office.

Among them: Unless Trump extends or negotiates a new nuclear arms accord with Russia before Inauguration Day, Biden will have only 16 days to act before the expiration of the last remaining treaty reining in the world's two largest nuclear arsenals. Perhaps US spies have picked up tidbits about the Russians' red lines in the negotiations, or about weapons it really wants to keep out of the treaty.

That is the type of information that might be in the PDB, a daily summary of high-level, classified information and analysis on national security issues that has been offered to presidents since 1946. It is coordinated and delivered by the Office of the National Intelligence. Director with input from the CIA and other agencies. It is tailored for each president, depending on whether they prefer oral or written briefs or both, short summaries or long reports on paper or electronically.

Having access to the PDB could also help Biden craft a possible response to North Korea, which has a history of firing off missiles or conducting nuclear tests shortly before or after new presidents take office.

Biden has decades of experience in foreign affairs and national security, but he likely has not been privy to the latest details about how Iran is back to enriching uranium, or the active cyberattack operations of Russia, China and Iran. China's crackdown on Hong Kong is heating up. And the threat from armed groups, although curbed, still remains.

Biden is trying to play down the significance of the delay in getting access to the PDB.

“Obviously the PDB would be useful but it's not necessary. I'm not the sitting president now, ”Biden said on Tuesday.

He was also asked about needing access to classified information as soon as possible if Trump does not concede the race.

“Look, access to classified information is useful. But I'm not in a position to make any decisions on those issues anyway, ”Biden said. “As I said, one president at a time. He will be president until January 20. It would be nice to have it, but it's not critical. ”

While the Bush team had access to the intelligence brief in 2000, the election recount delayed the Bush team's access to government agencies and resources for more than five weeks. Biden is missing out on all counts: More than a week into his transition, Biden does not have access to the PDB, the agencies or government resources to help him get ready to take charge.

“President-elect Joe Biden and his transition team should not suffer a similar delay,” John Podesta, who served as the White House chief of staff under Clinton, and Bush's chief of staff Andrew Card wrote in a joint op-ed published this week in The Washington Post.

“We have since learned the serious costs of a delayed transition,” they wrote. "Less than eight months after Bush's inauguration, two planes flew into the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 Americans."

The 9/11 Commission Report on September 11, 2001 attacks warns of the danger in slow-walking presidential transition work in general, not just the intelligence piece. The Bush administration did not have its deputy cabinet officers in place until early 2001 and critical subcabinet positions were not confirmed until about that midyear - if then, the report said.

For now, the office of National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe says it cannot begin talking with the Biden transition team until a federal agency starts the process of transition, which the Trump administration is delaying.

The office, which oversees more than a dozen US intelligence agencies, said it must follow the Presidential Transition Act, which requires the General Services Administration to first ascertain the winner of the election, which Trump is contesting. GSA administrator Emily Murphy, who was appointed by Trump, has not yet officially designated Biden as the president-elect.

. #world Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=13905&feed_id=16532