Day 11: Bam Bam and the A Hoc Wifi Contemplation and Coordination Committee boost me to 13,058 words

I don't think this excerpt really needs an introduction.

“Ah, just who I was looking for,” comes a voice from behind me. Not a voice that I recognize. Who could it be?

I turn and see a man walking down the hallway towards me, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He is about six feet tall and looks to be in his mid-twenties. His light brown, thick, curly hair hits at about shoulder height and he has a perfectly groomed light brown beard. He looks strong, confident and filled with mirth. I like him immediately.

“Addison,” he says, holding out a hand for me to shake. “Addison Barger. From IT. But you can call me Bam Bam.”

“Hi, Bam Bam,” I say, barely suppressing a laugh. An adult man calling himself Bam Bam?

“I know, I know,” he says, shaking his head and smiling. “You’ll get used to it though. It’s an old baseball nickname that stuck. Everyone calls me Bam Bam. Except my mom.”

“Got it,” I tell him. “I’m Lena. But you must already know that. Since it was you looking for me.”

“Right, yes,” he stammers. “Well, before she left yesterday Chazzy told me that you would be a great selection for the Ad Hoc Wifi Contemplation and Coordination Committee.”

“The what?” I ask.

“The Ad Hoc Wifi Contemplation and Coordination Committee,” he reaffirms, clearing up nothing.

“The Ad Hoc Wifi Coordination and Contemplation Committee? What do they do?” I ask.

“It’s actually Contemplation and Coordination,” he reaffirms, again clearing up nothing. Luckily this time, he continues. “I guess there have been some rumours going around about the Wifi since the whole return to office thing.”

“That was two days ago. Gossip sure does travel fast…” I tell him.

“Sure does,” Bam Bam agrees. “Anyway, there have been some complaints to HR, IT, Legal and Senior Leadership that there is a secret ‘VIP Wifi’ network.”

“Oh yeah,” I say. “I’ve seen that come up. The Wifi has been so slow. I tried to click on the VIP Wifi, though, and it was password protected.”

“I’m not sure how you could have seen something that does not exist,” Bam Bam says, shaking his head. “And I’m not sure how the rumours got started. But this whole thing has really stirred up the hornet’s nest. As it were. Anyway, Chazzy thought you would be the perfect Chairman for the Ad Hoc Wifi Coordination and Contemplation Committee.”

‘I thought it was Contemplation and Coordination,” I say, dropping a wink that I hope comes off as neither creepy nor unhinged.

When Bam Bam laughs and shakes his head unselfconsciously I am reassured that I pulled it off.

“Right, it sure is a mouthful,” he agrees.

“I’m not sure what expertise I have that would earn me the coveted spot of Chairman of this committee, but I’ll take the position,” I tell him. “It will look great on my resume.”

“Thinking of leaving, are you?” Bam Bam asks, raising an eyebrow.

“No, not at all,” I backtrack, befuddled. “Just like to keep the old Curriculum Vitae in ship shape and up to date for fun. In my free time.”

“I can see that you are going to be a real blast,” Bam Bam says. “I’ll fire off an email with a Doodle poll for dates for the meeting. But probably best if we get on this quickly. Everyone is real fired up about it. Maybe after the pot luck tomorrow?”

“I’ll check my calendar,” I tell him, knowing that I will do no such thing.

I head back to my office and sit down. Chazzy must be alive. Or at least someone wants me to think that Chazzy is alive. Is Bam Bam a part of the resistance? Can he be trusted? Time will tell.

In the meantime, I am re-thinking my plan to head down and talk to Chad in Legal. The pot luck actually now seems like the perfect time to see if Chazzy is still ‘with us’, and if she is not there to do some digging into what happened.

I’ll just have to wait until then to get some answers.