Chapter Three Fuel My Fire
Fuel My Fire
Joseph
EARLY THE NEXT MORNING, MY FATHER knocks on my office door, entering without waiting for my response. He doesn’t need to, he’s the CEO. He chuckles as he closes the door and sits facing my desk.
“Good morning, Dad. What’s so funny?”
He shakes his head. “You’re either crazy stupid or crazy brilliant, and honestly, I’m not sure which.”
I follow his meaning as he motions to the door. “Brilliant.” Having Samantha here with me day in and day out for as long as I can is pure genius. Too bad it wasn’t my idea.
“I don’t know how you talked her into it, but just remember to treat her with respect above and beyond how you would your normal assistant.
Because you know each other so well, it will be easy to take advantage and let simple niceties slip.
‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ go a long way. Remember, you go home to her every night.
Make it a good experience for you both—you’re crazy brilliant.
Make it miserable—you’re batshit crazy stupid. ”
I laugh and bow to the master. “Noted. Thanks for the advice.”
The intercom buzzes. I pick up the line instead of using the speakerphone. “Sweetness.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but you have ten minutes until your nine o’clock meeting in the executive conference room.”
“Is the team here?”
“They’re setting up. Do you need something before the meeting, coffee or water?”
You are what I need. “I’ll grab a water from the refrigerator in there. You’ll be joining me, right?”
I’m met with silence.
“Samantha?”
“Is it expected that I join you as your PA?”
She’s hesitant. This is her old team. She worked closely with them over the summer. This was her project, and she had to let it go to return to school. Now, I’m asking her to join me in a lesser capacity as my assistant.
“We don’t have to tell them you’re my PA—no one knows yet. Join me in an advisory capacity. One who knows the product backward and forward.”
“Okay.”
I hang up and look at my father. “I can see this could be challenging.” I hadn’t considered Samantha’s role here in the past. Her tenured internship allowed her to work on highly sought-after projects.
Appearing now as my PA could be considered a step down and be seen as preferential treatment, seeing as she’s engaged to the VP of Product and Technology.
It’s a fine line we will have to maneuver, not only now, but in the future when she comes to work for MCI permanently.
Dad stands, buttoning his suit jacket, reminding me of how similar he and Fin are in their mannerisms. “I’m sure you’re up for it.” With a swift pat on the back, he follows me out.
Samantha
I settle in at the conference table, next to Joseph. He insisted. I’d rather disappear in the back in one of the chairs lining the walls. You know, for observing, and not so much participating.
Clasping my fidgeting hands, I force myself to breathe deeply and relax.
You know these people. You’ve worked with them for months. So what that you said goodbye to them last week, and—surprise—here you are sitting next to the VP of their department.
Ugh, these people are gonna hate me. Think I’m the teacher’s pet.
And I thought I was doing a good thing by helping Joseph out.
Under the table, Joseph squeezes my leg and says, without looking at me, “It’ll be fine. No worries.” He squeezes again, leaving his hand in place. He turns and leans in as if to kiss me, then freezes, catching himself.
Shit. That was close.
He whispers in my ear. “It’ll be fine. We’ll find our way.” His dimpled smile has me relaxing instantly.
I can do this. He’s here, and he won’t let anything bad happen.
He’s in charge. This is his meeting. I’m only here to observe…
and probably take notes since I am his PA, after all.
I focus on my laptop and begin taking notes as the presentation begins.
There are no introductions; everyone here knows each other.
I get a few quick glances, but for the most part, all eyes are on Joseph and Alex, who’s the project manager.
Halfway through the demo of the mock-up application, it freezes up.
As Alex works to reboot the system, I flip over to the server where the coding is stored.
Thankfully, I still have access. I jump to the section I’m more than familiar with and spot what I’m looking for, unfortunately.
I glance up at Todd, the head programmer on the project and not my favorite person.
He’s glaring at me with daggers in his eyes, daring me to say something.
Joseph leans over to look at my laptop. “What is it? Do you know what’s wrong?”
“I’d rather not do this in front of all these people,” I whisper and send a silent plea, hoping he can read my expression.
His eyes search mine. I know he wants to talk about it now. He wants it solved. With a small nod, he turns his attention to Alex. “Let’s give it another minute. Then if it’s not up, we’ll reschedule.”
That minute turns into five minutes with little-to-no progress. I’m embarrassed for them and frustrated at the same time. This could have been avoided.
Joseph stands. “Alex, let’s reschedule. Fix the problem then contact me to see where I can squeeze you in.” He doesn’t wait for Alex’s reply. Joseph looks at me expectantly.
I hop up, close my laptop, and head out the door with him hot on my trail. As we near his office, his hand presses to my lower back. “My office, please.”
He closes the door and paces to me.
“I’m sorry,” I blurt and fall into a chair at his conference table.
His brow furrows. “What do you have to be sorry for?”
“I knew there was a problem. I told them how to fix it, but I guess they decided against my recommendation.”
He sits beside me. “Show me.”
We spend the next half hour reviewing the code on the version Alex demoed, comparing it to the fixed version on my laptop, and then run the program from my code. The app works perfectly—as I knew it would.
“When did you discover the problem?”
“A few weeks ago. The app kept failing. I kinda went around Todd and took a look at the code myself.”
He sits back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Did you report it?”
“Of course.”
His pensive look has me concerned. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. “Who did you tell? And do you have a record of that communication?”
Oh god, they’re all going to hate me for sure. I slump in my chair. “Yes.”
“Show me.”
“I’m starting to hate those two words,” I grumble.
He kisses my cheek. “Don’t. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Then why do I feel like I did?”
“Because you’re about to show me how my employees dropped the ball and weren’t smart enough—man enough—to take direction from someone younger and smarter than they are.”
My head drops to his shoulder. “They’re going to hate me.”
“Shh. Stop. I’ll handle it. I just need to have all the facts first.”
I show him my email communication, my notes on the app, when I found the problem, and that I reported it immediately, starting with Todd, the lead programmer.
Then followed up a few days later when I saw it still wasn’t fixed.
I followed up again asking if he could help me understand why he felt the outdated coding was better.
I’d even appealed to his ego, saying he’s more experienced, and perhaps there were details I didn’t understand.
“Do you really think there are valid reasons for keeping the old coding?” Joseph asks after reading my last email to Todd.
“No, not really. But he’s more experienced. I was trying to be open to the idea as well as not offend him outright. He dislikes me enough as it is.”
He chuckles. “I think the mere fact you exist offends Todd. I saw the glare he was giving you in the conference room. He was not happy to see you when he walked in and even less so when the app crashed. I didn’t really understand what his attitude was about.
Honestly, I wanted to reach over and smack him for even looking at you with such disdain. ”
“Oh, god.” My head falls forward.
“Hey. Don’t do that.” He tugs my arm. “Come ’ere.” He pulls me into his lap.
“This is not proper boss/employee behavior,” I chastise.
He pulls me closer. “No. This is boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife behavior.” His lips press to my forehead. “I’ll fix it. I promise.” He pulls my laptop in front of him. “Now, show me the rest.”
Secure on his lap, I click the remaining emails.
The final communication is to both Todd and Alex, where I again stress the importance of considering the new updated code statements.
This will make the program run 50% faster, making it that much more efficient on system resources, increasing reliability, and reducing cost.
“Those assholes. I can’t believe they completely ignored your insightful recommendations. Did they even respond to you?”
“Todd basically told me to mind my own business. Of course, not in writing. Alex never replied. I don’t even know if he saw my emails.”
He pats my butt. “Get up a sec.”
I slip off his lap and take a quick glance at his calendar on my laptop. “You’re going to be late to a meeting with Fin if you don’t hurry.”
Joseph punches a button on his desk phone. A second later it dials on speaker.
“Hi, Joe,” Angela, Fin’s PA answers.
“Can you reschedule my eleven o’clock with Fin? Something’s come up.”
“Sure. Oh…uh, hold a moment, please.”
There’s a click, and Fin’s voice comes on the line. “It had better not be your dick that’s come up.”
“Fin, you’re on speaker phone, and Samantha’s in my office,” Joseph says flatly.
“Shit. I’m sorry, Sam.”
I stifle a laugh. “It’s okay. Really.”
“Fin, can you hold on a sec?”
“Sure.”
Joseph puts him on hold and hands me a pin drive. “Can you call Michael and ask him to come up? Then copy your files to that drive.”
“No problem.”
He looks chagrined. “I hate to ask, but would you mind getting me some lunch? I’m starving.”
I smile and walk around his desk. “Joseph, it’s my job to get you lunch or whatever else you need during the workday.”