Code

As hard as he tried, he simply could not find an answer this time. It had to be somwhere, hidden in the text, but this code was unlike anything he'd ever encountered before. There seemed to be no cipher whatsoever, no clue as to how he should interpret the apparently random sequences of letters and numbers.
     "Any of you fluent in Ugaric?" he asked.  "It was rhetorical," he muttered as one of the men started to answer.

Kathy

The heavy oak door finally opened, giving her a glimpse into the office beyond as HE stepped out. After dusting his hands off on his immaculate blue suit jacket, HE extended his right one out to her as HE approached the couch. She stood, taking the hand and smiling, trying to hide her annoyance at having been kept waiting - by herself - for two whole hours for what was supposed to be a brief visit.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Kathy," HE said in greeting.
Her left eye twitched ever-so-slightly as she dropped his hand and replied, "My name is Anne."