Chapter Twelve
Emma
I couldn’t believe what I read in the employment contract. Yes, I read it before I signed it in HR last week. I didn’t read every word and, apparently, had missed the section about the working hours.
They don’t trust people to find their own balance, so they mandate it in a damned contract?
Going forward, I was going to have to deal with the distraction of keeping track of the total number of hours I worked and stop at some arbitrary limit.
I understood people needed a work and home life balance, but I was different.
I had no good friends; my family was in another state, and I spent most weekends reading, walking, gaming, developing personal apps, and yes, working my job. That was my work-life balance.
I appreciated Asher’s misguided concern about my eating habits, but coffee and food kept me awake and focused on the job. His critique at the restaurant, the contract, and his observations about my eating habits, it was like living with my family all over again.
When Asher headed for the café, I stopped him. “I’d rather do Daily Perks.” I’d texted Cassie and told her we’d have to skip meeting up this morning since I came in so early.
He frowned at me. “You need more than a snack.”
He thinks he’s looking out for me. Pick your battles, girl.
“She has breakfast sandwiches; I can get one of those.” I really didn’t want a sit-down meal. It seemed like a waste of time to me. “Please.”
Asher nodded, and I followed him into Daily Perks. There was a line out the door. Not unusual, the place was always busy. The café’s coffee was too strong and bitter for me, and I preferred the crafted coffees at Daily Perks.
We reached the front of the line, and I smiled. “Morning, again, Amelia. I’ll have a large vanilla latte, one of those delicious chocolate chip muffins, and a breakfast sandwich.”
“You got it. I wondered when you’d come down for food.” She glanced over my head. “Large vanilla latte, large black coffee,” Amelia called out to the barista. “Any food for you, Asher?”
“I’ll try one of the breakfast sandwiches too. I didn’t realize you had those.”
“Trying something new. They’re easy to heat up.”
Asher tried to nudge me out of the way. “I’ve got it.”
Ha! No, you don’t.
I beat him to it and scanned my card for our food and drinks, then stepped aside. The consternation on his face almost made me smile.
Once we had everything, we made our way back up to the office. I understood after the first two days why almost everyone had their keycards on lanyards. The amount of scanning was crazy, but I understood about the security.
I sat down at my computer, making sure my coffee and food were well away from the keyboard. I got back to work, but I could feel Asher’s presence next to me. What was it about him?
He was nice looking. Okay, some might say he was a handsome devil. His short black hair would get spiky when he ran his hands through it. His green eyes twinkled at times. And that smile…
My bones almost melted whenever he flashed that wide smile at me. It was flirty and sexy.
And his hands…
Strong hands.
Hands that could take care of a woman. Be it holding her tenderly in his arms or bringing her pleasure. Heat flashed through my body.
No, no, no. Fantasizing about someone I was working with? No. What was wrong with me? Maybe not wrong, but I should not be thinking like this in the workplace, especially about a colleague.
This fantasizing was part of the reason I worked yesterday—to get my mind off Asher. I was over his comments from Friday night. And the stuff from this morning? Pfffft. Just like the crap my family shoveled.
I typed in the command to run the code changes I’d made, picked up my breakfast sandwich, and bit into it.
The taste of bacon, cheese, and egg filled my mouth.
Delicious. I continued to eat as the lines of code scrolled on the screen.
I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but I was feeling those first signs of excitement that always showed up when the app was working without error.
If I could get customer service up and running with their apps, then I could move on to the other departments. I’d only been here a week, but I was still amazed at how the company’s multiple departments worked together almost flawlessly even with the hindrance of the software compatibility issues.
STEM had never been welcoming for women, and we still hadn’t smashed that glass ceiling, but we had the hammers, and there were cracks in the glass. Patriarchy was the rule rather than the exception.
My boss at Tri-O-Tech was a bit better. I suspect that was one of the reasons he sent me on this job, not just because FI would be using my software, but he was also aware no one else could do what I was doing with Asher. This assignment was likely my trial by fire.
I was up for promotion to head Tri-O-Tech’s development team.
First woman in that position, yada, yada, yada.
I’d been with the company since they recruited me right out of undergrad.
I’d dealt with the misogyny on the job the same way I dealt with the toxicity in my family.
To observers, it slid off me like a waterfall.
In my mind, it made me more determined to smash that ceiling.
Even today, of the top ten CEOs in tech, only one was a woman.
But from my first day here, Asher’s team had accepted me without reservation, And the respect on the job, extended without question, was a welcome change. I’d always loved my work, but the acceptance here made the job fun, even when I had to deal with Asher’s bossy side.
Fantasies, Inc. would be a nice place to work, and as soon as the thought filtered into my mind, I pushed it away. I had a job. I was up for a promotion. But I couldn’t deny that a part of me liked the excitement here.
As for that glass ceiling, getting that promotion would be one more crack in the glass. Was the possibility of that promotion worth going back into what would likely get worse if I accepted that position?
The computer ping brought me out of my head and back to the monitor. I almost pumped my arm in the air. The app had run perfectly. I couldn’t wait for Cassie to try it out.
“Finally,” I whispered. I double-checked everything, then reached for my cell phone. “Hey, Cassie, it’s Emma. Do you have time this afternoon to do a beta test of the new app?”
“It’s ready?”
“I believe so. I want you to test it out first, so if there are still bugs, I can fix them.”
“Done. How about after we have lunch together today?”
I chuckled. “When did I agree to that?”
“Spur of the moment decision since we didn’t get coffee together this morning. Twelve-thirty in the café, then I can test the app.”
“Works for me. See you then.” I set an alarm on my cell before placing it back on the table, feeling lighter than I had earlier. Possibly one app down, about thirty more to go.
“Sounds like you fixed one of the customer service apps,” Asher commented.
“That’s what I was working on yesterday, I had some ideas after Cassie and I talked Saturday.”
“Saturday?” His eyebrows rose.
“Cassie called me to meet her for lunch. There’s nothing against it, right?” Hmm…Was that the slightest hint of sarcasm in my question?
“Of course not.”
“Good.” I turned back and switched over to the other screen to begin working on another part of the R my phone would ping when the run was finished. I glanced at the screen. Fail flashed across the screen. I sighed.
“Problem?” Cassie asked.
“The app for R&D failed.” I rubbed my forehead. “It’s a difficult one to get right.”
“I understand. There is so much to deal with in that department.”
“Yeah. Why don’t we go up to your office, so I can show you your app, and you can test it for me.”
“I’m excited. It will make things easier.”
We bussed our table and then headed to Cassie’s office.
Note to self: Concentrate on showing Cassie the app rather than on Asher and what Cassie told me about him.