Chapter 10
When I returned to the office on Monday, Kim thought she had the solution to my stresses and problems all wrapped up and ready to go for me.
“That’s her?” I said, standing next to Kim and looking into the lab where the new junior engineer, Nina, was sitting.
She was only junior in a professional sense, as she’d spent a while in programming and graphic design before making the engineering jump, but she’d only been doing engineering for a couple of years, and it was my job to bring her skills up.
After my little meltdowns and frustrations about this launch, Kim thought it was a good idea to bring another person in, and I couldn’t really disagree with her.
Well, OK, I did disagree with her when she told me about it the first time…
and the second through fifth times she brought it up, but after the heart-to-heart with her and Vi over some Korean BBQ, I relented and made peace with the fact that, yes, even the most perfect engineer in the world, me, could use some help sometimes.
That was me being self-effacing, to be clear. I’m also trying to be more funny, but the jury is still out.
“That’s her, flew in from Florida last night, and she was eager to get in and get started, so Yara fast-tracked her new hire paperwork, and she said she was waiting at the door when she came to open up the building this morning.”
“She’s eager at the very least.” I said.
We were far enough away that she probably couldn’t see us looking at her, and I used the opportunity to get a good assessment of her.
Kim told me I couldn’t be in the hiring process because I would just reject viable candidates in search of the perfect one, and that’s a fact I relented on really quickly because she was right.
“She just looks…buttoned up.” I said.
And I meant it literally. Nina was dressed in a navy blue blouse that had golden buttons up to her throat.
A little formal for a first day, I’d think.
She was looking around the lab, seeming a little lost in it all.
I hadn’t been part of Nina’s hiring process, so I didn’t even know her background, but she looked overwhelmed.
If she wasn’t sure of herself, it was going to be a long road to get her up to the level I needed.
But, hey, she was also cute, so that was a plus in her column.
Not every woman you meet is a potential sexual partner, the rational part of my brain said to me, and it was right, but…I’m just saying I wouldn’t say no to Nina, that’s all.
Her hair was a short blonde bob stopping just above her shoulders, and her face had an angular, model-like look to it.
Maybe that was some of it, her eyes were unusually large, making every motion and fixation look more full of wonder and awe than it would on someone with a less, literal, wide-eyed stare.
She was really quite thin, again keeping with the model comparisons.
And like a model, she looked sort of frail and wispy, like she’d fly away if you shut a door too hard in her presence.
“Emma, you should probably go in and say hi, she is your coworker after all.” Kim said, knocking her shoulder into my back gently, pressing me into action.
And so I did as commanded, walking into the lab after swiping my ID badge. The pop of the magnetic lock cause Nina to spin around in her chair, looking back at me with a big, if slightly nervous, smile.
“Hey, you’re…Nina?” I said, walking over and extending my hand.
“And you must be Emma.” Nina said, standing up from her seat and shuffling over to greet me and shake my hand. “Sorry, I’m…I got here a little early, and Kim said it was ok.”
“Good to have you hit the ground running, we have a lot to do.” I said, sitting down on my stool and sliding across the tile floor a little.
I was trying to gauge her vibes, and trying to stay cool myself, but I was mostly eager to see how well she could do all the things needed of her position. I trusted Kim’s judgment and knew that Nina was probably at least competent.
Emphasis on probably.
But, hey, Kim had hired me mostly on vibes, and I know I didn’t represent myself the greatest in interviews, and she was still able to recognize my skills. She knew that I was good, but was Nina able to match up?
“So you know what we do here, right?” I said.
“Of course I do.” Nina said. “I mean, I wouldn’t exactly call myself an expert on sex, but I’m pretty decent at programming and industrial design, so that should help out, yeah?”
“It should.” I nodded.
“So, well, how’d you end up here?” Nina said, getting rather close to me, closer than a lot of people would on first meeting them…I mean, I guess in one to talk, but Nina was being rather intimate rather quickly. Maybe that would serve her well here at Pallas.
“End up here?” I scoffed, “I founded this place…well, co-founded.”
“I know that, but…” she put her hand on my forearm, excessively familiar but I didn’t exactly shy away from the touch.
Emma, don’t.
“Like, how did you get into this stuff?” Nina raised an eyebrow.
“Well…I just like…cool tech.” I said, evading the kind of flirting that I usually folded for in an instant. I was really trying to resist this, but the way Nina looked at me, the feeling of her delicate fingertips pressing into my forearm, she was making it a hell of a problem.
“And I liked getting the fuck out of Florida, as quickly as possible…didn’t know I’d end up in such a great place, though.
” She was flirting hard, and I didn’t know what to do with it.
I’m usually the one that initiates this kind of thing, but as I looked down to see her pink nails digging into my skin, I mean, how was I supposed to interpret this as anything but flirting?
“Yeah!” I yelped, way too loud, and way too abruptly. “It’s…hey, let me ask you…” I stumbled over my words, and I could tell Nina was noticing how flustered I was. “What…why are you…how’d you…apply here?”
Well, maybe now that I could tell she might be interested, I was going to tank the whole thing by being the most awkward person to ever exist.
“I saw a post on a job site? And then a couple days later, Kim reached out, and…one browse of my portfolio later, and an interview where I had to try to stay normal while Kim grilled me, I ended up here.” Nina shrugged.
“By the way, how do you deal with talking to her every day? That tone, that…just…everything about her. I’d be so distracted. ”
I bit my tongue. No matter how hard Nina was flirting, she was not at all ready to hear how I dealt with the fact that Kim was sexy as hell. “You, uh, get used to it…the whole muscle mommy thing wears off after a while.”
An absolute, utter lie. Even after years of working with her, the appeal hasn’t subsided one bit.
“So what about you? Do you have a muscle mommy in your life?” Nina said, toying with one of the gold buttons.
Again, not the time to let her in on the whole thing, but it was tough not to.
“I, um…yeah, I have a girlfriend, Vi. We just moved in together and…I’ve proven to be at least tolerable to live with since she hasn’t decided to kick me out.”
“Hmm, nice…” Nina said, the urge to pounce maybe dimming in her now that she knew I had a girlfriend, but it wasn’t gone entirely. “Based on my impression of you, Vi’s probably pretty cool and…lucky…” Nina smirked.
So, clearly, this was going to be something.