Who Is Lucas Ryker O'Riley?

15. LUCY?

The rest of breakfast was awkward. Knowing dad knew everything I had told mom made me very uncomfortable, because he was now thinking . . . well, who knows what he was thinking, and that really made me uncomfortable.

I kept my eyes focused on my plate, afraid to look at anyone out of fear that making eye contact with one of them would cause a non-verbal conversation to be exchanged.

Mom and dad discussed dad's new office and made plans to go looking at SUVs soon, so mom could have her own vehicle. Nothing was said about me or to me during the meal.

I quickly finished my plate, asked to be excused, and dad finally allowed me to leave.

With a satisfied stomach and a mission to fulfill, I headed to the hallway and began rummaging through boxes marked 'fragile - electronics', digging for the equipment I would need; the modem, wireless router, mesh extenders, and all the cables.

I found the cables I'd need in the first box I opened, all tangled around other cables and other  things.

After spilling styrofoam packing peanuts onto the floor, I finally spotted, in the second electronics box, the rest of the components that I needed to finish my important project.

Once I had picked out the perfect spot right next to a coax outlet and power socket on my father's desk in his new study area,  I hooked the modem and wireless router to each other and plugged it all in to the laptop and the wall.

None of the necessary lights other than a green power indicator came on, which meant the internet service provider probably hadn't yet connected us to their service.

Just to be sure, I powered up my laptop and checked for internet service. When none was found, that confirmed we weren't yet connected. The realtor was wrong about the internet already being on.

Wait, I told myself. Maybe it is. Somewhere around here there should be some info for me to input into the modem settings.

I began to look around. That's when I noticed a flyer on dad's desk with the number for an ISP and a note from the realtor that said, contact for internet service activation.

After sitting on hold for quite a while, I finally got someone on the line. I explained the situation to her and she replied, "No problem, ma'am. I can have you up and running in just a moment."

She then asked me for my name.

I paused. She had called me ma'am. Do I go with it, I thought, or correct her? I hesitantly decided to play it out.

Then I spoke. "Lu-" No, not my boy name, a girl name. Think. "-cy. My name's Lucy, Lucy O'Riley."

She then asked me for our address and some other information.

"Ah, here we are," the lady on the other end of the line, proclaimed. "But it's in another name."

"Lars O'Riley?" I questioned. "That's my dad."

"Yes ma'am, thank you."

Over the phone I could hear fingernails rapidly tapping on keyboard keys.

"Ms. O'Riley, I have put you down as an alternative contact for this account. Mr. Lars' spouse?"

I freaked that she had put Lucy as a contact, but what could I do? If I said not to put me on there, then she might ask more questions about who I was and say she couldn't give me the information. So, I replied with the only acceptable response.

I corrected her.

"His daughter."

"Oh, sorry ma'am." She apologized, while continuing to type.

She then gave me the information I needed to put into the modem settings that would allow the ISP to provide a data pipeline to and from my modem. I logged into my modem and input the information.

A few moments later a couple of lights on the modem began to flash.

I crossed my fingers that everything would work on the first try. Checking my laptop screen, I could see that the wifi reception bars were lit up solid, indicating I had internet connectivity.

I opened my browser and the home page instantly loaded.

Hallelujah! It's about time for some things to start going right again, even if they are just minor things.

I told Charlotte that I was connected and she asked if there was anything else she could assist with.

"No, I think that's it. Thank you for your assistance, Charlotte."

"Any time. Have a great day . . . Ms. Lucy."

I hung up the phone and began cleaning up the mess I'd made, while pondering the conversation I'd had with Charlotte. She had assumed, based on the sound of my voice, that I was a girl and when I told her my name was Lucy, she didn't question it. Now Lucy O'Riley was listed on our internet account as my dad's daughter.

This weighed on my mind while I continued cleaning up and then installed the mesh extenders throughout the house.