Chapter 13
Bonnie
“Heard you’re working on the Dakota ? Need any pointers?“ Jordan pops his head around my office while I’m typing away frantically.
“I’m just about finished.” I stretch out my cramping shoulders. The afternoon was filled with demanding work, but it was rewarding.
“Shall I send it to you as well as Sajid?” I ask.
Ideally, I should be showing it to Ethan since he’s suggested I work on it to get experience with identifying complex security breaches, but Zeus has been in full arctic mode for the past week, sending none of the emails or messages I’d begun to look forward to.
I wonder what’s eating him up now?
Shortly after that episode in his office, he’d started reaching out to me every day, sometimes even twice a day, sending me messages to check on my work, sometimes picking up on things I’d left out.
It’s uncanny how the man can anticipate my issues. It means Ethan not only knows the program I’m working on but also that he understands my personality and how I would approach a problem. I liked that he could do that so effortlessly.
I liked it a lot.
All we talked about was work, but those couple of hours we spent after work hours have been the highlight of my day for these few weeks.
I was beginning to see what had Sabrina so enamored. He can be a phenomenal boss and an amazingly warm person when he wants to be.
And then it all stopped. For almost a week now, I’ve heard nothing and I miss hearing from him.
“Actually, do you mind if I take a quick look now?” Jordan asks.
“Oh, not at all, please.” I stand so he can come around and sit at my desk. He adjusts the chair and desktop due to his height, then sits.
He whistles. “This is good. Wait till Sajid sees this. He’ll be in heaven. How are you this efficient, Bonnie?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I might just snatch your place as boss if you’re not careful enough,” I joke, and Jordan laughs.
“Please, do,” he says, leaving my desk and going across the office to sit in the sitting area, which has two small armchairs.
He massages his temples. Jordan has never been in my office for longer than five minutes, so I wonder why he’s suddenly hanging around.
“Headache? I’ve got an aspirin in the drawer,” I offer.
“I’m just a bit tired, that’s all. We’ve been in the eye of the storm a bit over the past few days.”
“Has it always been this busy here?” I ask, and he gives me a small smile. It truly is chaotic most of the time; the online gaming industry is tough, and although Acercraft crushes most of its competition, it comes at a price.
“Busy would be an understatement. But we love it,” Jordan says.
Employees work endlessly to make it happen, as well as the senior executives. I often see Jordan and Michael completely exhausted. Only Ethan appears to not be fazed by the never-ending client meetings, game product development sessions, and the creation and updating of programs.
It’s like Ethan is not even human; I’ve never met a man so absorbed in his work. It makes me think about whether he has something other than work to wake up for. Does he even enjoy anything outside of his job? My mind goes to the photos in his office.
“How come Ethan never hits burnout?” I blurt and immediately want to kick myself for asking. I wish I would just stop obsessing. There’s nothing interesting about the man.
Except I’m lying. I’m so freaking intrigued by everything about him.
Why he has a melt down with clutter.
Why his office is always dark.
Why he won’t get laser eye surgery.
Why he seems to know my thoughts.
Why he’s so rude sometimes.
Jordan thinks for a moment. “Oh, he is stressed, which is why we’re a bit screwed at the moment because he usually keeps his head above water. He only gets stressed about launching a new product.”
I’ve been trying not to think much about why he avoids seeing me in person because it’s clear that he does despite being so friendly in his emails and messages.
I understand that what happened in his office and me touching him and trying to provoke him into kissing me was out of line, but he started it, encroaching on my personal space and whispering into my ear. He probably regrets what happened, as I do, but I’m not treating him like a leper because of it.
And it really felt like we were turning a corner these past few weeks until he went cold again.
“Sometimes, he takes a while to warm up to people. I don’t know why he puts up a firewall, but once you’re in, you’ll love him,” Jordan reassures me.
Why is Jordan telling me this? “It’s fine, Jordan. I don’t want or need to be in his circle beyond him being my employer. We don’t need to be friends.”
“You might need to,” he argues.
“Why is that?”
“This is off record, but you’re getting Dreadlite.”
“Dread–what! Isn’t that a partner’s job? I’m only a staff trainee.” I can’t believe my ears. “Are you sure? I mean, it would be a dream come true for me, but I didn’t even think I’d be allowed to be on the team and—"
“Now you even get to choose the team you want working with you,” he reveals.
“Oh, my God!” I laugh giddily. “But was there some sort of review or interview I wasn’t aware of?”
“It was more of a nomination by the executives. The decision was unanimous. You’ve proven yourself beyond every doubt Bonnie. Now, Ethan was—" Jordan hesitates.
“He was what?” I resent the way my heart beats faster, and Jordan catches the excitement in my voice. His gaze narrows.
Idiot, why don’t you use a megaphone to let everyone know you’re crushing on Ethan?
“…quite spirited,” Jordan says at last, after moments when it seemed like he was carefully choosing his words.
“In recommending me?” I clarify.
“I guess you could put it like that.”
“Oh, I see.” I didn’t think Ethan cared that much, but it seems he’s been fighting my corner. He does care.
Maybe he’s just awkward with dealing with people in person.
Jordan looks like he wants to say more, but he remains quiet, studying my expression.
Maybe there’s no need to hide in front of Jordan; He’s such a great guy and he literally wrangled me into this job. I don't see him getting annoyed at me for asking personal questions about Ethan. And the fact that he's Ethan's friend means he must know something.
“Jordan?” My voice shakes with my nerves in case I’m making the wrong decision.
“Yes?”
“Is Ethan…on the spectrum?”
“What?” Surprise is written all over Jordan’s face, but I can’t tell if it’s because he didn’t expect my question or if it’s because I’m right.
“You know, autistic. High functioning. Maybe like Aspergers or something.”
His lips twitch, suppressing a smile. “What have you seen?”
“He can go from scorching hot to icy in two seconds flat. The other day, he was sitting in a dark office, and he got mad because I left fingerprints on his desk and something in his trash.”
“You left something in his trash?” He sits up straighter and inclines his head in wonder. “How did that even happen?”
“The system updates.” I feel sheepish for having to retell it. “It was a lunchtime appointment, and he asked me to do it while he was out. I sort of took my lunch there.”
Jordan is smiling in disbelieving amusement now. “Where was his assistant when you were doing all of that?” he asks.
“Will said he’d come in and sort things out once I finished. I guess he didn’t. Ethan kind of flew off the handle.”
“Of course he did.” Jordan looks serious, but his blue eyes are still twinkling.
“Well, what’s his problem?” I demand.
“First of all, bad move. Don’t ever mess up his workspace. But to answer your question, no. He’s not on any spectrum for autism. He just has certain quirks.”
“Really? Does he know how weird he comes across?”
“He might tell you why he is the way he is. If you ask nicely,” Jordan teases.
I laugh. “No thanks, I’m not about to get my head bitten off.” I remember asking him about his glasses back in Cancun and him calling me a liar with a horrible sense of style.
“Emphasis on nicely,” Jordan says knowingly.
“I’m always nice!”
“Of course you are, Bonnie. Of course you are.”