1. Noah #2
"Where's Rick?" Noah asked after the last member of the core team.
He and Larry were the subject matter experts from Caprock, while Del, Srini, Jenny, and Rick were developers hired through Vickerman Information Group—VIG for short.
The six of them were responsible for the coding changes required for the proposed customizations.
He and Rick, the lead developer from VIG, had clicked instantly after Noah joined the project last year. They had become fast friends, despite Rick working for a third-party vendor.
"He got a phone call as we were leaving. He'll be here shortly," Larry said before giving his drink order to the server making her way around the table.
Noah ordered a pint for Rick while Jenny and Srini perused the menu. He studied their faces. The tension from the last few weeks was showing. They'd all been on edge since the disaster in August and were walking on eggshells, waiting for the fallout.
Last month, Wesley—a VIG employee—was caught red-handed trying to steal from Caprock.
VIG fired him on the spot, but the strain between the two companies was palpable.
Ever since "Weaselgate," the team had been holding their breath, waiting to see how Caprock would respond.
The contractors feared that Caprock would demand replacements or worse, sever ties altogether with VIG. Either way, they'd be out of a job.
Their stress had bled over to Noah. The conversation with Tristan on Sunday had brought his growing dissatisfaction to the forefront of his mind.
This project felt like his last chance to find a better fit before admitting he needed to look for employment elsewhere.
He really needed the MADS update effort to succeed.
If it fell apart, he didn't think he could go back to his day job and be happy.
By the time their missing teammate strode in, they all had their drinks and were discussing this week's progress. Rick's brisk pace caught Noah's attention. Something was up.
Rick sat with a thud and reached for the glass resting before him. The man gulped half the contents, then slammed the glass down on the table. Startled by his uncharacteristic actions, the others quieted and watched him expectantly.
"Everything okay?" Noah asked.
Rick sighed and surveyed the group. His gaze rested on Noah. "Caprock hired an in-house developer."
Silence reigned as the IT team stared back at him. Then the questions came hard and fast.
"Is VIG fired?"
"Are they replacing us?"
"To insert into the project?"
Rick raised his hands and waited for everyone to settle. "Look, we knew this was coming. VIG screwed up and Caprock had to take some kind of action. This is what they did. But hey, they didn't fire us."
Noah looked at Larry, the only other Caprock employee at the table. "Did you know we were doing this? Hiring a developer?" It seemed reasonable to assume the IT team lead would know more than the others.
Larry shook his head and shrugged. "First I've heard of it. I knew the top dogs were pissed, but wasn't sure how they'd react. I figured we'd heard the last of it since VIG fired him immediately and we caught it before any damage was done."
Noah nodded in agreement. However, a few blokes in upper management held reputations for making quick, impulsive decisions. Luckily, others on the leadership team, like Jackie Turner, their unflappable IT director, were level-headed enough to keep the volatile ones in check.
"I imagine Jackie did some quick tap dancing to keep them from going off half-cocked," he said. He knew Mitch bumped heads occasionally with executives who relished feeling in control and could imagine them demanding retribution.
"Do we know anything about him? The new guy?" Jenny asked. Noah's stomach protested at the amount of ketchup she was pouring over her chips.
"Her," Rick corrected. "She previously worked at a big tech company in California, and they're moving her to Houston. Fairly quickly too. She starts in two weeks. Which means we need to update our documentation, because she'll be reviewing it to get up to speed."
Objections arose around the table as the developers complained about having to do extra work to bring on someone new. Noah half-listened and absentmindedly spun his fork while his teammates and friends worried about their jobs. Seemed like everyone had something riding on this project.
Rick's raised voice reined in the team again and brought Noah back from his turbulent thoughts.
"Look, they didn't fire VIG when they justifiably could have.
And we have to perform a documentation review, anyway.
We're just doing it now rather than later.
Treat it like any other project issue. Assess and determine a course of action.
" He pulled off his wire-framed glasses and cleaned them with his shirttail. "That's all I know for now. New topic?"
The group settled down, and conversation returned to the week's progress, interspersed with the lighthearted teasing of long-established relationships. The rest of the meal passed pleasantly, and eventually everyone but Rick and Noah headed back to the hotel.
"Now that it's just us, how bad is it that we've hired our own developer?" Noah asked.
"Could be worse." Rick shrugged.
Noah cocked his head and raised his eyebrows.
"C'mon now. This is me you're talking to.
You don't have to wear the leadership hat anymore," Noah chided.
Their friendship had deepened over the last year, to the point he'd even spent a few weekends in Canada with Rick and his expectant wife.
"Peggy would say you're keeping your stress bottled up. You need to talk about it."
Rick snorted. "Because you're so good at the talking stuff?"
Noah grinned and lifted his pint in acknowledgment of the burn. "Like the meme. 'Introverts unite. Separately. In our own homes.'"
Rick's mouth twitched before he raised his eyes to the ceiling.
He stretched his neck left, then right. "There will be a transition period.
Introducing a new developer after we've already completed requirements gathering—especially with a team as cohesive as this one?
Yeah, there's going to be some pain points.
What I'm really concerned about is her role.
Is she supposed to integrate in as one of the dev team?
Or is she just there to spy on us and report back? "
Noah blinked. "Spy? What do you mean?" But even as he asked, the idea took root.
He'd seen it before. Managers pushing to get their people embedded in other teams in order to get the inside scoop on how things were going.
Spy, lackey, gossipmonger—whatever you called them, they were always in the loop.
Hell, even he had a few sources at the other plants who kept him apprised of new directions Caprock was considering.
Rick winced and glanced at Noah. "Geez, I sound paranoid. I don't really mean it. It's leftover nerves from…" He sighed. "When this went down, I was worried about losing my job since I'm the lead for VIG. I still wake up worrying about it."
Noah nodded. Peggy's pregnancy was high risk, and they'd already experienced complications. Noah figured if he were traveling non-stop with a pregnant wife back home, he'd probably freak out over any bumps in the road, too. And he understood how even small hiccups might put Rick on high alert.
"Surely Vickerman never considered firing you.
You're like his second in command," he said.
The betrayal of Weaselgate had blindsided Rick, and he'd spent weeks beating himself up for not seeing it coming.
Rick and his boss had scrutinized both Wesley's and the team's actions, searching for any red flags they might've missed.
Their relationship was solid, and to Noah, the VIG boss man seemed like a pragmatic fellow—someone who wouldn't eliminate his strongest asset on a customer's whim.
Rick shrugged. "This contract is a significant job for VIG. If we lose a bunch of money, someone has to pay."
Noah clasped his friend on the shoulder. "You're too valuable for them to can you. And they already gave Wesley the Weasel the axe. C'mon, mate. Cheer up."
"You gents doing okay? Anything you need?" Noah looked up and blinked as their server's gaze lingered on him. Rick waved his hand over his half-empty glass.
"Er, no, I think we're good for now."
"Great. Just let me know if you want anything else." She winked at him and moved away slowly, as if giving him an opportunity to change his mind.
"Looks like you have company for the night, if you want it." Rick smirked, echoing the woman's words.
Noah snorted. "Don't you start too. Larry does enough assuming already.
" The guys at work often teased Noah for charming all the ladies at work.
Dammit, Tristan. And while Larry considered himself a ladies' man, Noah often thought he'd do better if he abandoned the cheesy one-liners and just treated them with respect.
Besides, despite the rumor mill, there was no way Noah would dally with a coworker. Not after last time.
Determined to cheer up his friend, Noah pushed aside his concerns about the project and how it would impact his future career. "You mentioned Peggy's plans for the nursery earlier today. What are you guys thinking?" Noah asked.
"Look, all I'm saying is, I'm not sure how we squeeze someone new into the routine we've already established.
I'll take two, please." Del discarded two cards while Larry dealt him new ones.
"And also, what is her skill set? I mean, how do we even know if she's a real coder?
No offense to Noah or Larry, but your IT managers aren't developers.
They're hardware and network people. What do they know about hiring coders? " He grunted as he arranged his cards.
Noah narrowed his eyes, unsure if Del's displeasure was for the conversation or because he didn't like his new hand.
Their weekly poker game was the first chance they'd had to discuss the new hire announced two days ago.
Tonight was their last time together before everyone flew back to their respective homes.
They'd chosen Larry's hotel room because it was more spacious and came with a built-in kitchenette.
Poker had become a favorite pastime for the core project team.
At first, it was a way to relieve the boredom of being on the road without constantly eating or drinking in their downtime.
Noah was certainly grateful they'd found a healthier outlet after gaining an extra ten pounds during that initial leg of requirements gathering.
It didn't hurt that he was actually good at the game and won his fair share.
"I think she's a spy." Jenny peeked at her hand. "I'm good."
Her declaration, so similar to Rick's assessment earlier this week, startled Noah. He glanced at Rick and raised an eyebrow. Did he say something to her? That would be out of character for him. Rick shook his head slightly, answering Noah's unspoken inquiry.
"Seriously?" Larry asked. "You're taking no cards?" His eyebrows knitted together. "I don't understand your strategy."
Jenny stuck her tongue out at Larry, who scoffed and continued around the table, dealing new cards as needed.
"So how do you know where she fits in the hierarchy?
" Larry asked. "Is there, like, some certification level for programmers?
I mean, the server guys all have different Cisco certs telling us what they know and what their seniority level is.
Is there something similar that tells you how much she knows? "
Good question. While Larry had systems admin experience, he wasn't a developer. And Noah certainly wasn't. He was more of an expert user, although his systems knowledge had grown considerably this past year. So what was her role going to be? Where would she fit on the team?
Everyone looked at Rick, who focused on arranging his cards. "Not really. We'll be able to get a feel for her when we talk to her?—"
"And look at her code," Del interrupted.
"And look at her code," Rick finished. He glanced at Noah and Larry. "You can tell someone's skill level pretty quickly from a code review. Also, Jackie sent her résumé to us, which helps." Rick pushed his glasses back into place from where they'd slid down his nose. "Whose turn is it?"
"Jenny, pay attention. Are you in or out?"
"Fold."
Larry gave her a stupefied look and lifted one hand in question. "Why didn't you draw new cards? Do you even know how to play this game?"
Jenny flipped him off and pushed her remaining chips in Noah's direction. "Here. I'm bored. I come here to relax, and all you guys want to do is talk work. Larry, I'm turning on your TV and watching a movie."
"Don't order any on-demand ones. You guys got me in trouble when we were in Singapore."
The group snickered at the memory. Their unspoken rule was if you drank too much and fell asleep, mischief would occur.
Noah wondered if the team was still concerned about their jobs or if they were worried how a new person would disrupt their team dynamics. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to work out a stubborn knot.
Del picked the conversation back up. "If she doesn't have coding chops, then I'm with Jenny. She's a spy for the management team and VIG is on the hook. I already updated my résumé over the weekend."
Well, shoot , Noah thought. I guess that answers that.
Rick sighed. Noah studied him, trying to decipher if his frustration was from the topic or the game. Rick, much like himself, wasn't much of a talker. He usually listened to everything before offering his input.
"She starts next week. We'll know soon enough. Until we see otherwise, we'll assume she's our newest coder. Whose bid?"
Larry scoffed. "I don't care if she can code. I want to know if she's hot."
Noah groaned. "Of course you would think that way." One of these days, Larry's mouth was going to get him in trouble.
Larry eyeballed him. "Like you wouldn't chase a pretty little thing."
Noah shook his head. Larry had been with the company longer than Noah, and remembered every transgression from Noah's early years, including the one that almost broke him.
He wished Larry would mind his own business instead of watching everyone else's.
Noah learned his lesson from his one and only office romance years before and would not be chasing anything.
He was more concerned with how the new girl was going to affect the project's success and if it would impede his quest for advancement.
"Call," Noah said. His three aces won the hand, and he pulled in the pot.