A Perfidious Exchange (Trifecta Challenge, Week 61, January 2013)

Rob sits on the steps of the office block, his belongings in a box beside him.  Fired!  All because of problems with that bitch of a software program he’s designed.  The boss launched it too quickly; no sooner had Rob fixed one glitch than another developed.  He’d needed more time but the boss lost patience.

Good job he’s got Plan B in hand.  Not something he’s proud of, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers.  That geeky girl in his apartment block, Shelley, asked him a while back to look at her laptop. Just a minor problem as it turned out, but whilst browsing her files he discovered she’s writing a novel.  It’s brilliant!  So he downloaded it, and after that he simply planted a bug that would need fixing every month or two, so he could download the next few chapters when she returned it.  He’s submitted the first few chapters, in his own name of course, to a publisher… and bang! Twenty thousand dollar advance and a six figure sum on completion.  Shelley will be his very own cash cow!

And speaking of Shelley, isn’t that her coming down the street?  She nods curtly and enters the office block.  Shortly after she emerges arm in arm with his boss!  They hail a taxi, give the name of the best restaurant in town.

The boss turns.  “This is Shelley,” he says. “Your replacement.  She’s just debugged your program.  It was a virus, dumbo, something really sophisticated.  You must have downloaded it from somewhere.”  He gets in the taxi.

Shelley smiles.  “I really fancied you, Rob. I could have fixed my own computer problems, I’m pretty good with technology, as you see.  I just wanted to get to know you.  And now I do, I don’t like what I’ve found.  Oh, and that novel you’ve been stealing… I already sold it, in its entirety.  It’s out next week.”

The taxi disappears.

Rob groans.  Terrific!  And he owes twenty thousand dollars!

–0–

This was created in response to the Trifecta Challenge Week 61, details below:

BITCH (noun)

1: the female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammals
2 a : a lewd or immoral woman
b : a malicious, spiteful, or overbearing woman —sometimes used as a generalized term of abuse
3: something that is extremely difficult, objectionable, or unpleasant

Please remember:

• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.

• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.

• The word itself needs to be included in your response.

• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above.

• Only one entry per writer.
• Trifecta is open to everyone.  Please join us.