Outsourced by Dave Zeltserman Read Free Book Online

of work? They know Massachusetts law?”
    “Apparently so.”
    “How is that possible?”
    “Law books and court decisions can be put on compact discs and studied anywhere.”
    “What are they cutting your hours to?”
    “They’ll let me know by the end of the week. Nancy thinks this is just an experiment. That they’re waiting to see if the Indian paralegals work out before getting rid of us.”
    Dan got off the barstool and moved to the table, taking the chair next to his wife. He took hold of her hand. “Whatever happens, don’t worry. We’re going to be okay.”
    She reacted as if she had been slapped. Incredulous, she asked, “How can you possibly think that?”
    “You just have to trust me.”
    “No, Dan, I don’t think so. What I do think is that you have to face reality. We have no money, we can’t pay our bills and we’re starting to get calls from collection agencies.”
    “That’s going to be over soon.”
    “How?”
    “I’m working on some ideas. Just trust me, it’ll work out.”
    She fell back into a catatonic stare, then all of a sudden hit the table hard with her open palm. The noise made Dan jump in his skin.
    “Damn it! I’m not going to just sit here and trust you! We’re going to lose our house! We’re going to lose everything we have and be penniless, can’t you see that?”
    He stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head. “We’ll get through this,” he said at last.
    “No we won’t. We don’t have the money to live the way we’re living. Dan, I know you don’t want to hear this, but we have to sell the house.”
    “We’re not selling the house. And you had no right worrying Susie about it!”
    “She’s a smart kid, so’s Gary. They both see what’s going on.”
    “Why don’t we just drop this, okay?”
    “How are we going to pay the mortgage?”
    “We’ll find a way.”
    “No, we won’t. We need to sell this house and move someplace we can afford.”
    “What’s the point?” Dan said. “We’re mortgaged up to the hilt. With property values dropping, if we sell now we won’t get a dime out of this place. We’d probably even have to bring money to the closing. So why not just stay where we are? Worst case, we get foreclosed on. If that happens we can move someplace cheaper.”
    She opened her mouth to argue with him, but seemed to get stuck. Slowly, her mouth closed as resignation set in. Then, under her breath but loud enough for him to hear, “Maybe you could get a job.”
    “What do you think I’ve been trying to do?”
    “It doesn’t have to be in software.”
    “What do you want me to do? Wash dishes? How about bagging groceries?”
    “At least you’d be bringing in some money. It’s not as if I enjoy working in that law office.”
    As he stared at her he felt himself slipping over the edge. Whatever control he had was gone. At first all he could hear was the blood pounding in his head. After a while he could hear the words that were pouring out of him.
    “You got some fucking nerve. Twenty-five years as a software engineer. Last thirteen years you sit on your ass while I’m out there working like a dog. Sometimes putting in sixteen-hour days, seven days a week. And you have the fucking nerve to complain after working for a little over one year. Goddamn you!”
    As quickly as the rage had hit him it was gone. Drained, he collapsed back into the chair, dropping his face into his hands.
    “I’m so sorry,” he said.
    He could hear Carol sobbing next to him.
    “Darling, I didn’t even know what I was saying. I guess we’re both on edge, huh? Can you just forget the last few minutes?”
    He reached over to touch her shoulder. She moved quickly, knocking his hand away.
    “Don’t you dare touch me,” she said, still sobbing, hard lines etching her neck.
    Dan sank back into the chair. For a long while all he could do was watch her as she sobbed. Eventually her crying subsided.
    “How many times do I have to apologize?” he