Chapter 12
Siberia is Nice This Time of Year
When I get into the office on Monday morning, I can hear muffled voices coming from behind Anders’s door. I’m curious because he didn’t have anything booked in on Friday. I don’t have long to wait. Almost before my computer has finished its updates, the door opens and Steve comes out.
Except they don’t at all resemble their normal, self-assured self. Their eyes are wide and they’re looking paler than usual. And sweatier. There’s a slight tremble to their hands.
They pull the door to behind them and then stand there.
“Do you need a drink?” I ask, concerned. “I’ve got some water here.”
There’s a shake of their head, lick of hair flopping. “I’m … I’m being sent to Malaysia,” they stutter.
“Malaysia?” Are they sure? Perhaps they misheard. We don’t have anything at all in Asia. Why on earth would Steve be going to Malaysia?
“Malaysia,” they confirm.
“Do you need any help with flights?” I offer. “Accommodation? When do you go and how long for?”
“As soon as possible. And indefinite. Six months, maybe a year. Maybe longer.”
“Six months!” I echo, almost unable to believe what they’re saying.
“At … at least six months.” Steve is still having trouble getting their words out.
“And you agreed to this?”
Steve looks down at their hands, which are both shaking as they wrap around the cup of water I press into them. “Yes.” But they say the word as if they’ve only just begun to understand it.
Then they put the water undrunk on my desk.
“I’ve got to go. I have to tell Ahmed and my team.”
I watch Steve walk away, a little like a zombie. How could this happen?
Anders. I know him too well.
Without knocking, I barge into his office. He’s on the floor doing push-ups, his biceps flexing as he moves smoothly downwards. Then he gives one massive heave, the fingers of his broad hands spreading as he springs to his feet to face me.
I tamp down any admiration of his upper body strength and pull myself up to my full height. I’m still a whole head and a bit shorter than him but I tilt my chin and let him see how angry I am. “Why are you sending Steve to Siberia?” I demand.
“Well, I hear it’s nice this time of year.” Anders smirks, but that just makes me even angrier.
“Is it because I went on a date with them?” I challenge.
“So, you did go on a date?” Anders looks as innocent as the day he was born but I’m not fooled. “And how did it go?”
“None of your business.”
“That good, eh?” He gives a broad grin, his lopsided dimple making its appearance. He looks especially pleased with himself.
“Funny. I go on a date with Steve and suddenly you’re sending them to the other side of the world. No coincidence there.”
“It’s Kuala Lumpur,” he corrects my earlier claim. “Not Novosibirsk. I think you’ll find it’s a great deal more pleasant and far warmer.”
“This is extreme, even for you. They came out of here shellshocked. You plainly steamrollered them into something they weren’t totally onboard with.”
Anders's eyebrows rise at my accusation, but I don’t care. If he wants to marry me, he should appreciate everything he’s asking for. Including my plain-speaking.
“I offered them a promotion. They took it. That simple.”
“What promotion? We don’t have anything in Kuala Lumpur.”
“We don’t have anything in Kuala Lumpur yet. Steve is going to set it up. But you are correct on one point. It is all your fault.”
“What?” I can’t believe he’s just agreed with me.
“You identified we wouldn’t finish testing in time for release.
Our development cycle is just too long to be able to hit a summer release deadline, and I don’t need to tell you how much we need to hit that deadline.
I’ve been puzzling it over and the only way we can reach our target is to work a twenty-four-hour cycle.
“But no-one here is going to want to do nights, and I can’t force them to do so, even if I wanted to.
Still, we need more testing time. And that’s where Steve comes in.
The best way to do it is to have a team in a different time zone.
I talked it over with Ahmed and he agrees.
Steve was the first choice for both of us.
They’re single, with no dependents, competent and, above all, trustworthy.
This is a massive opportunity for them. They’d be head of Cerium Malaysia.
And I can see us having a big team there in the future. ”
Suddenly I’m less sure of myself. Everything Anders is saying is true.
I know most of the senior staff and Steve is the best fit to set up a new team from scratch in a foreign country where we have no contacts.
I actually can’t think of anyone better except Anders himself and that’s out of the question as we canter to the launch date.
But I need to check. “And there were no other considerations?”
Anders lifts his azure eyes to mine. “If you’re asking me if I would prefer you didn’t go out with them, then you already know my answer.
But let’s just say that’s a happy coincidence.
You should know, though, if you want to go out on dates, I will happily take you whenever, wherever you want.
And I will guarantee that you will have a great time.
I thought that was understood. But in case you missed it last time, I will say it again.
I will always be there for you. Every time, everywhere. ”
“No, thank you.” I muster what self-possession I’m left with and head for the door.
The lunchtime chat is all abuzz with the news.
Most people assume this has been in planning for ages.
And I don’t disabuse them of the idea. Better they think that is true than Anders making major decisions on the fly in a fit of jealousy.
Of course, he would say rapid action is a feature of a tech CEO.
You don’t last long in a fast-changing world if you dilly-dally.
“Do you think they’ll be looking for some support staff to go out there too?” Ginny asks. “I’d volunteer in a heartbeat. Sunny weather and no Piotr.”
Working with Piotr must be hard but I dread to think how our fair-skinned, red-headed friend would survive in Malaysia.
But then again, I’ve spent the morning investigating what Cerium will need – offices, tech staff, support staff, local legal requirements – and Kuala Lumpur is not some backwater.
It’s a modern, thriving city with air-conditioning.
Ginny would be fine. Still, it’s a drastic step to mend a broken heart.
My parents have lived all over the world, anywhere there is oil. By the time I left boarding school, I’d already racked up ten countries. Sumatra, Nigeria, Sudan, and more. I have absolutely no wanderlust left in me. But maybe others don’t see the world the same way.
When Steve enters the break room, there’s a minor stampede.
Guys are coming up to them, slapping them on the back, giving them fist bumps and high fives.
They’re rocking a big grin and seem to be projecting as much enthusiasm for the relocation as is being shown to them. A big change from the morning.
Steve glances toward us and then takes a seat with a group of programmers. A shaft of guilt travels through me. They’d have normally wandered over if I’d never gone on a date with them. Now I’ve deprived them of their friends. The move is not lost on the others.
“What did you do?” Ginny leans forward to make her accusation, her tone low but far from friendly.
“We met for coffee, as Nur suggested.” I’m not above throwing the older woman under a bush to deflect some of Ginny’s ire. Her shoulders are broad. She can take it.
“And?” Ginny is not to be deflected. “Why are they blanking us? Not even a smile, and Steve always smiles.”
“There was no spark,” I say. “We had a perfectly nice time but agreed to remain friends.”
“You had a perfectly nice time. They got their hopes up and had them dashed to bits!”
Nur and Chloe feign intense interest in their food. I am on my own, defending against Ginny’s onslaught. But is there any defence? Every word she says is true.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
But Ginny puts down her drink and gets up from the table. I watch her walk over to Steve. The programmers with them are open-mouthed at the prospect of a beautiful woman like Ginny gracing their group and make space for her immediately.
The rest of us finish our food in silence.
Then Nur says, “Come on, Chloe. Those expenses won’t check themselves.” The two of them leave and I quickly pack away my waste. Before I return to my desk, I look in on Anders. I may be annoyed with him over his machinations but I’m also his assistant.
I tap on his door and walk in. He’s kicked back in his seat, feet up on his desk and keyboard in his lap. A headset nestles in his thick hair. He’s still on the same video call he was on when I left for lunch. He’s not currently talking so I wave an arm and he looks up. I mouth, “Have you eaten?”
He shakes his head, and I withdraw.
I order a sandwich and a coffee from the deli nearby and get it delivered. When it arrives, I take the items out of the bag and shoulder my way into his office.
As soon as he sees what I’m carrying, he turns his camera off, mutes himself, and motions for me to come in.
He reaches for the coffee and takes a sip. I watch the hard knob of his Adam’s apple rise and fall. It’s doing weird things to me. Things that absolutely should not be happening. A fluttering in my belly, a warmth in my chest, a sudden giddiness.
He swallows again. How have I never noticed that firm knot before? Never realised how it pulsates. How it screams: look how manly I am?
“Cora, are you alright?” Anders’s words shock me from my daze. I shake myself.
“Er, yes,” I reassure him, even as I worry about my sanity. Think about the consequences. “I just realised I forgot something.” Then it dawns on me I don’t want him to think I’m professionally incompetent, so I add, “At home.”
“That’s not like you. I swear, you’re the most organised person I know.”
It’s not like me and it’s all his fault. If Anders had never proposed, he’d still be safely in the friend-zone, and I wouldn’t be having odd glitches in my brain. I dare not stay to watch him eat his sandwich. I’d probably expire on the spot.
I retreat to the safety of my desk. What is wrong with me? I go on a date with Steve, who on paper is everything I’m looking for, and there is nothing, not a scintilla. I give Anders, who is the most unsuitable person I could date, a coffee and I’m practically overcome with longing.
I can’t avoid it anymore. The evidence is overwhelming. As much as I don’t want to, as much as he can irritate me, the truth is: I have a full-blown crush on my boss.