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She nonchalantly came up the stairs, rubbing her hands together to warm her skin as she turned
and walked into Ross’s bedroom. When she entered, she saw him standing there, his back to her, his
laptop open on his standing desk. And in a brief moment she saw something that took her back to their
time together in Austin: a dozen black-and-white windows open on his computer, some with chat
logs, others with code, and a Web site with a small green camel for a logo in the corner. In mere
milliseconds she knew exactly what he was doing.
“Hi,” she said from behind him.
Startled, he quickly tapped a single button on his laptop that made the screen go dark and he
turned around.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said, flustered and nervous. “Just some work.”
They stood in silence for a moment. But she knew. And he knew. Ross hadn’t given up the site as
he had once said. He was still very much involved in the Silk Road. Julia knew then that she had two
choices: stay and accept him for who he was or turn around and leave.
Or perhaps there was a third way.