Chapter One
CHAPTER ONE
On the day she was fired, Kya woke up in the Miami Beach villa to the sound of tiny paws scratching at her bedroom door. Her brother, Adrian Reid, and his husband, Hugo Oliveira, had purchased the house, adopted a dachshund named Lucky who loved to nap but flat out refused to let anyone else sleep in, and promptly started inviting houseguests. Kya Reid was the first of a long line. She’d arrived from California the day before.
Groggy and jetlagged, Kya let Lucky in and ceded her bed. Since she was up, she decided to catch up on emails. This was an ambitious, some may say ridiculous, start to a weeklong Miami break, but they’d be wrong. Her work ethic was her superpower. Break or no break, it was better to stay on top of things.
On that bright summer morning full of promise she was as clueless as Lucky, curled up in a ball and snoring in the centre of her bed. Nothing could have tipped her off. The day before, she’d waved goodbye to her team, grabbed a handful of protein bars from the snack room, and left for the airport. She flew from cloudy Northern California to sunny South Florida without issues, streaming podcasts all the way. Adrian swung by to get her at MIA. Later, they met up with Hugo at an Italian restaurant. No calls from the office. No texts. No red flags of any kind. All quiet on the western front.
That was about to change.
After powering up her laptop, she logged into the company network … or at least, she attempted to. ACCESS DENIED. Second attempt. ACCESS DENIED. She checked her password and even the wi-fi connection. ACCESS DENIED.
Kya called her office, but it was 3 a.m. in San Jose. She left a voicemail and went on to text her teammates: Seth, Alek, John Riley, Jon Yi. Night owls, they texted each other at all hours for far less serious reasons but her messages went unanswered.
Feeling uneasy, and with nothing to do but wait to hear from IT, she logged in to her LinkedIn account and tinkered with a post still lingering in her drafts folder.
GIRL DECODED
PRIVATE GROUP
15.3K MEMBERS
ADMINISTRATOR: KYA REID, SOFTWARE ENGINEER AT EX-CELL
MISSION: SHARING EVERYTHING I’VE LEARNED ABOUT THE TECH INDUSTRY
SEVEN DAYS IN MIAMI
Hi guys! It’s Kya with another day in the life in big tech post.
I’ve got a busy day ahead. I’m traveling to Miami to visit family later this afternoon and comfort is key. OOTD: I’m wearing new trousers, a plain white tee, these old boots, and my fav leather jacket. (Pic 1)
At the office, I stash my luggage behind my desk (Pic 2) and swing by the cafeteria for coffee and a bowl of oats. The breakfast buffet has everything I love! (Pic 3) My heart could burst, but I’m steering clear of the pancakes.
I get a lot done before the 9AM stand-up meeting then keep on pushing until it’s time to break for lunch. The team treats me to Thai as a nice sendoff. (Pic 4) It’s been a while since I’ve taken a vacation and, honestly, I can’t wait. For more on how I plan to stay connected with work while away, watch this space.
Bye for now!
She scheduled the post for later that night when traffic on the site was high. Then she responded to a few questions in the Q Kya was growing anxious. She checked the time. A solid hour had passed. Seth, Alek, John, and Jon should have responded by now. Those were her people. They’d started at the company within weeks of each other, tasked to lead a new division. Trading information was their love language. They kept each other informed, always, through reams of text messages. Why hadn’t any of them reached out?
Here, on the East Coast, life was unfolding at a leisurely pace. Her brother took off for work and Hugo set out for the gym. Kya refused to leave the house. ‘I have to be here just in case,’ she said. ‘You understand, right?’
Her brother-in-law did not understand. ‘No,’ he replied. ‘But you do you.’ It was lunchtime when she finally got an answer. She was warming up leftover pasta when she got a call from the IT help desk. After confirming her name and ID number, the guy on the line confirmed something she already knew.
‘You’re locked out of the system.’
‘For what reason?’ she asked. ‘Maintenance?’
‘Nope.’
It was possible, though unlikely, the company had implemented new rules to keep employees from working while on paid time off. She’d never heard of such a rule, but it was possible.
‘When will I get access back?’ she asked.
‘No time soon,’ he replied. ‘The account is suspended.’
‘Until when?’
‘Indefinitely.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘Check your inbox. You should’ve received an email explaining all this.’
‘How can I check my inbox?’ she snapped. ‘I’ve been suspended … indefinitely .’
‘Please hold.’
The call was transferred to HR. She confirmed her name and ID, and groaned when, once again, she was placed on hold. Kya came close to ripping out her hair when, finally, someone answered.
‘Ms Reid, our standard practice is to cc the personal email account on file, the one linked to the job application. I would check there.’
‘Check for what?’
‘Sorry, I cannot assist you any further.’
Damn it!
Chest tight, Kya punched in the password to an Outlook account she rarely used anymore. She feverishly scrolled through newsletters, credit card offers, and coupon codes, until she found the message from corporate, timestamped 10 p.m. Pacific time. In an effort to streamline the workforce … Redundant … Effective immediately … Return all equipment …
Kya dropped the phone. Stunned, she made her way back to the guestroom, Lucky trailing close by, and lowered herself onto the bed. Because the stylish Miami Beach villa wasn’t home, she couldn’t rage-scream as freely as she would have liked. Instead, she slipped on noise-cancelling headphones and blasted Eminem. When the tears came, she switched to Mariah.
Hours later, that’s how Adrian found her. He’d returned home early looking forward to a fun afternoon at the pool with his baby sister. Instead, he found her in the foetal position, blubbering like a baby, crooning the lyrics of a sad girl’s anthem for the hundred and fiftieth time through her massive headphones.
‘Kya, what’s wrong?’ Adrian asked, alarmed. ‘What happened?’
‘I got fired, that’s what!’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes! I’m sure. What kind of question is that?’
‘How do you know?’
‘ACCESS DENIED!’
‘Why were you logging in? You’re on vacation.’
‘You’re missing the point!’
Adrian climbed into bed with her and gathered her in his arms. ‘Shh … It’s going to be okay.’
‘I did not see this coming,’ she babbled wetly. ‘They were always going on about cutting dead weight, but I didn’t think that was me.’
‘Screw them,’ Adrian said, raising a middle finger to the invisible powers that be. ‘You’re better than those greedy bastards.’
She sniffled. ‘No, I’m not.’
‘Yes, you are.’
‘I have no idea what to do. I thought I’d work at Ex-Cell forever.’
‘Oprah says when you don’t know what to do, do nothing.’
‘Unless Oprah has a job for me, please leave her out of this.’
Kya rested her head on her brother’s shoulder. They were not close in age, but they’d had to band together out of necessity. Both queer, they fought for every scrap of approval their conservative parents could spare them. Their older, straight-laced brother was the golden child. Their childhood was a constant tug-of-war between him and them. Now that he was married with kids, the competition was over. She at least had the advantage of being the only girl and the baby of the bunch. Kya would always be the apple of her dad’s eye. It was different with Adrian. As the middle child, he’d largely gone unnoticed. The medical degree, the honours, the brand-new house, all of it was to impress Don and Myriam who, for the most part, remained unimpressed.
‘You’ll find another job,’ he said reassuringly. ‘A better job.’
She was an MIT-trained software engineer. It was only a matter of time before headhunters came sniffing. But when you began your career at the top of the pyramid, with one of the world’s leading tech companies, top tier in every respect, all other prospects looked dismal.
Hi guys! It’s Kya, a twenty-six-year-old washout. Like and follow for more.
‘You chose a cut-throat industry,’ he continued. ‘This is just how they do things; it’s not personal. You’re young and talented. You have your whole career ahead of you.’
‘Thanks.’ Kya planted a damp kiss on his cheek. ‘Now go away, please. You’re hogging the bed.’
She needed to be alone in the dark with her dangerous thoughts.