Chapter 2 - Quinn
TWO - Quinn
I've done this a million times, but walking into Obsidian today feels like the first day at a new school. I park in a new spot with the letters CSE stamped on a parking sign in front of the space. CSE stands for cybersecurity executive, my new role at the company, and the parking space is in line with a row of others that carry their own sign with their own acronyms. This is the row for the bosses. It’s crazy, but I'm here.
I'm one of the bosses now, and I didn't have to steal anything or hurt anybody to get here.
When I walk inside the gray building, everything is the same as I'm used to. Same smells, same sounds, same people, but my energy is different so it makes the entire place feel changed. I walk past reception and into the bullpen, where techs are already hard at work like I was when I first started my career here, trying to prove myself by coding like a maniac—a skill my father taught me. Now I enter and exit the room like I was never one of the techs, my eyes on the next set of doors at the end of the narrow path. With each step taking me farther, my anxiety rises higher like a thermostat on a hot day. By the time I reach the executive wing, my heart is pounding as I walk past the reception area, wondering if I’ll be stopped by the receptionist even though I have a brand new badge with my name and title on it.
I walk right past her and smile like an idiot simply because she didn't say a word to me.
I step through another set of double doors and nearly slam straight into Jon Reid, the man who gave his blessing on my promotion.
“Quinn,” he says with a smile on his face that looks just like the fake one he gave me the last time I saw him.
Jon is in good shape for fifty years old, with a five o’clock shadow that he never cleans up, and hair styled to what he clearly thinks is perfection with hardening gel.
There is something about his eyes that bother me, though.
It’s like something strange is hiding behind them every time he looks at me, and it makes me uneasy.
He's in a black blazer with a white button-up underneath like a true businessman, but the confidence he wears fits him better than his clothes.
“Hey, Jon,” I reply, shaking his hand.
He holds out his arms as if showing me a new car on display. “Welcome to your first day as CSE. You're just in time, because Olivia … excuse me … Miss Lucero has called a meeting first thing this morning. So, we need to get going. Come on, I’ll show you to the conference room.”
“Sounds good,” I reply as Jon turns on his heel and begins walking down the path.
We bypass a multitude of offices, including my own, which I moved into last week just before the weekend hit, and then approach two giant frosted glass doors.
Jon pulls one of them open and motions for me to step inside, still forcing that smile on his face.
I ignore his eyes being stuck on me and step forward
“After you,” he says.
I reply with a, “Thank you,” and step inside the large room with floor to ceiling windows on the far side and an oak table nestled in the middle. At the table are three more people—two men and a beautiful woman with red hair.
“All right, everybody, look alive,” Jon says playfully. “Our newest cybersecurity executive has entered the building.”
To my surprise, everyone at the table stands and comes to greet me with smiles and happy faces even though I know who they are. We’ve all been working here for years, but they’re acting as though they never saw me until I was high enough on the totem pole to become visible to them.
First is Nick Simms. He's the information security manager, which is just one spot below me on the pay scale because my promotion leapfrogged him. It’s probably why his smile doesn't reach his eyes, and I give him a look up and down to let him know that I recognize the disdain and have no problem mirroring it. Nick is forty-six years old, chubby, and balding. His beard is sprinkled with gray because it’s that time of the month that he needs to renew his dye job like a monthly subscription.
I am in no way, shape, or form intimidated by Nick, but it seems he may be a little intimidated by me, which means I'm going to have to watch out for him.
Intimidation leads to envy, and envy always leads to hate.
Next in line to shake hands is the VP of cybersecurity, Mr. Stephen Cohen.
He gets paid more than I do and has for a long time, which is made evident by the Gucci button-up he’s sporting.
A gold watch fits snugly on his wrist when I shake his hand, and his piercing blue eyes remind of the white walkers in Game of Thrones.
He’s a fairly attractive guy, just like Jon, and it’s obvious he has been told this enough times to truly believe the hype, as arrogance wafts off of him like a fragrance.
The last person to introduce themselves is Eden Graves.
She is the CEO’s assistant, and I assume she's here to take notes for the boss of all bosses. Eden assisted the previous CEO, Diego Lucero, as well as Jon when he was the interim CEO for three months after Diego died in a tragic car accident, killing both himself and the previous CSE, Peter Sloan. Diego collided with a concrete barrier while driving on the highway. A tragic accident. Peter’s death vacated the position I just filled.
Eden has been here to see all of the craziness of Obsidian play out, and I can sense the tension in her body language as she flashes a quick smile and returns to her seat to open a green notebook.
Everyone follows her lead and sits down at the table, with Jon at the right hand of the empty seat, awaiting the CEO.
“So,” Jon starts as we all get comfortable. “Has anybody heard about why we’re here bright and early this morning?”
Nick shakes his head as Stephen rocks in his chair with a smug look on his face.
“I heard there was a breach,” Stephen answers, rocking hard as if the news excites him.
“What?” I say with a deep furrow in my brow and shocked confusion spreading through my body.
Eden clears her throat and stares daggers into Jon, who raises his hands like he’s being confronted by the police.
“Don't blame me for the word getting out,” Jon says. “Don't worry, Eden, I won't spoil the new CEO’s first crack at crisis management. I'm sure with all of her experience in the field, she’ll have no problem solving the case and preventing us from leaking clients all over the floor.”
“Wait a minute,” Nick cuts in. “You were the CEO for three months while we waited for Olivia to decide if she even wanted the job, but now you can't tell us about a security breach?”
“It’s the CEO’s responsibility,” Jon answers, but there’s a bitterness to his words that he's not even trying to hide.
What kind of mess am I walking into?
“Everybody appreciates how you ran the company in the interim, Jon,” Eden says, pushing her red hair over her shoulder, and I can tell from her body language that this is a conversation she is tired of having.
“But Olivia has taken the mantle, and you're back to being chief information security officer, a job that you never really stopped doing even when you were interim CEO.”
Jon scoffs. “Yeah, I was good enough to do both my job and hers, but I'm not the founder’s daughter, so my twenty-five years here isn't enough to make me qualified to be CEO. Apparently, only blood can do that.”
“Jon, you're being childish,” Eden says, glaring across the table.
“Well, I'd rather be childish than a product of nepotism like our fearless leader,” Jon fires back.
He's smiling through each word, but every vowel and consonant is laced with venom for both Eden and the new CEO, who isn't even here to defend themselves. “Tell me, my former assistant, given Olivia’s background in finance, is she even qualified to deal with a security breach of this magnitude?”
Eden squirms in her seat like it’s suddenly heating up. She doesn't have to respond for the answer to be as loud as a bullhorn.
“She's just getting started, Jon,” she says softly. “Just give her time.”
“Try twenty-five years,” Jon snaps back.
“Don't let her hear you talking like that,” Stephen says with raised brows. “You know how mean she is.”
Jon rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I'm not scared of the fucking ice queen.”
Eden’s jaw tightens while Stephen and Nick laugh and cover their mouths like immature high school boys after a kid gets roasted.
The room suddenly falls silent as everyone sits uncomfortably in the awkwardness, but my mind is a runaway train spewing thought bubbles and question marks.
There is clearly a ton of resentment floating in the air in the executive wing of Obsidian Cyber.
Every employee knows that Diego Lucero and Peter Sloan died together in a car accident recently, and we all thought that Jon would take over the company.
He has been here the longest and has the most experience, but I'm not sure how many people knew that Diego’s daughter Olivia had the option to take over.
She was a financial advisor before and never worked in cybersecurity prior to her father's death, so her choosing to run the company is certainly a surprise.
I understand the confusion, but Jon is more than confused.
He's pissed off and wants the world to know it, and I can't help but wonder if Olivia is aware of how much the men in this room resent her.
After another tense minute of silence, Jon lets out a long sigh while looking at his watch.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he snips. “Is it an emergency or not?”
“Yes, Jon, it is an emergency,” a new voice cuts in, followed by quick footsteps and the swishing of a black and gray skirt.
I spin around and watch as a gorgeous woman with dark brown curly hair and the cheekbones of a goddess struts in and takes a seat at the head of the table.
Her plump lips are pursed as she glares at Jon for a moment before forcing herself to look at everyone seated at the conference room table.
Her eyes find me last, and they linger long enough to fill my insides with rabid butterflies trapped inside of steel cages.
I fear no man in this room, but I'm suddenly pressed into the back of my seat by the brown-eyed stare of Olivia Lucero, Obsidian Cyber’s new CEO.
“All right, everybody,” she says in a low, sultry voice, her eyes stuck on me. “Let’s begin.”