What you Said

Jake struggled with his hangover. The tequila had seemed like a good
idea at the time but now&;#8230; He shook his head, realising it was
a mistake as pain shot through his temples. His computer 'pinged',
letting him know he'd got mail. The sound resonated through his skull.
He turned down the volume then opened the message from his girlfriend
Lisa, feeling worried as he saw the message header, 'What You
Said'.
"I heard what you said about me. Don't contact me. If I can bring
myself to speak to you again, I'll call - but don't wait by the
phone."
"Shit!" he cursed under his breath. She must have heard about him in
the bar last night. OK, he was drunk and he'd mentioned one or two more
intimate things about her to Ben, but he never realised she'd mind that
much. Clicking reply, he typed rapidly. They'd only been seeing each
other for a couple of months, but he liked her, and he really didn't
want to lose her.

Lisa was feeling the worse for wear too. Her girlie night out at Lulu's
with her best friend Jill had involved far too many daquiris. She'd
barely got into work on time this morning. Turning on her computer, she
read the message from Jake.
"I'm sorry about what I said to Ben last night. I know it's no excuse,
but I was drunk. If it's any consolation, I was very complimentary. I
didn't mean to tell him about your fantasy. Can I take you out to
apologise? Please? "
Bastard! Lisa typed a rapid reply, saying in no uncertain terms that
she never wanted to see him again. Ben knew friends of hers. If they
found out, she'd be a laughingstock. Clicking send, she made a mental
note. "I'm never trusting a man again!" She picked up the phone to tell
Jill all about it.

Jill put down the phone. Lisa was in a bad way. It looked like they'd
be back out at Lulu's tonight, even though she'd sworn this morning
that she'd never touch alcohol again. She turned on her computer to
send a commiserating mail. All men really were bastards - although she
might make an exception for Jake's gorgeous workmate, Ben. "S'pose
that's out of the picture now. Can't see Lisa been too chuffed if I
went out with one of Jake's mates." She opened her email account but
before she had a chance to start typing, a message from Lisa
appeared.
"I heard what you said about me. Don't contact me. If I can bring
myself to speak to you again, I'll call - but don't wait by the
phone."
"Cow!" thought Jill. "After everything I just said to her. She must
have called Ally to tell her about Jake. I can't believe Ally could
tell Lisa what I'd said about that dress, especially when she's just
been dumped. I was only joking." Well, she admitted to herself, pretty
much joking. Lisa did look fat in it - but she'd only made the comment
to Ally because Lisa usually looked so perfect. She couldn't believe
Lisa had taken a stupid comment to heart so much, without even calling
her. She'd have thought six years of friendship had been worth more
than that. "If she wants to play drama queen, let her. If she expects
me to get all defensive over something that petty, she's got another
thing coming. Stuff Lulu's. Maybe I will call Ben."

Ben sat in his City office waiting for the Williams contract to come
through. Once it was signed, he'd be laughing. The boss had said he'd
get a promotion if he cleared ?100K of deals this month and the
Williams deal blew his target clean away. He impatiently hit 'send and
receive', smiling as a message appeared. Opening the mail, he realised
it was from Jake and the smile fell from his face as he read the
message:
"I heard what you said about me. Don't contact me. If I can bring
myself to speak to you again, I'll call - but don't wait by the
phone."
Ben paled. McKinney &; Laing had sworn that references were
confidential. It wasn't that he'd lied about Jake - there was just no
way Jake would have been right for the job and he couldn't bring
himself to lie for him. After all, it would only have come back on him.
He fired off an angry e-mail to McKinney's about 'best practice' then
headed off for a beer. He needed one.

Jake saw Ben heading off for a beer on his own and knew he'd been
right. Ben hadn't been able to resist telling his mates about Lisa and
was feeling guilty. "Ted," he called, "do you fancy lunch?" He was
buggered if he'd alleviate Ben's guilt. "Sure," called Ted. "As long as
it's liquid - I've had a hard morning." As Jake headed off to lunch, he
swore he wouldn't trust someone he worked with again.

The fifteen year old sat in his bedroom reading about his handiwork in
the newsgroups. It really was a clever little virus. Worked the same as
any worm. Once someone had got it, it forwarded a copy of itself to
everyone in their address book. The thing that was clever was the
message.
I heard what you said about me. Don't contact me. If I can bring myself
to speak to you again, I'll call - but don't wait by the phone.
It had taken two days before anyone had noticed. In that time, it had
hit over 2 million people - and he had no doubt that most of them had a
guilty little secret. They had said something unpleasant about someone.
By the time they'd found out 'What You Said' was a virus it was too
late. They'd already confessed too much. The recriminations were
glorious: divorce, job losses, friendships torn apart. They'd blamed it
all on 'What You Said'. And they were right.