Chapter 3 - Adam
I stared at the glass door—and through to the office behind it.
My office.
I’d never had an office before, though very few TechSpeed employees did. The executive team believed in collaborative and open workspaces for the most part. So to have an office at all meant I’d made a big leap.
Even more significant, it was one of the four large offices. The only one bigger was reserved for my friend and new manager, Dylan.
My name had even been applied to the door with white vinyl lettering.
Adam Collins, Software as a Service Lead
I snorted and wondered why they bothered to spell out software as a service when everybody in the building would know what SaaS meant.
Still, it was my name on the door.
The elevator dinged, and footsteps sounded as somebody emerged.
“Hey, you ok?” Taal asked as he strode up behind me.
I chuckled. “Yeah… It’s just… It’s my office.”
He strode over and flung an arm across my shoulders. “Congrats.”
I smiled. “You haven’t even seen yours yet.”
“It can wait. I’ll celebrate with you.”
I leaned against him. “It’s hard to believe. You, me, and Dylan, all out here at the new branch.” I paused. “And Dylan’s new mate.”
He chuckled. “That sure was a surprise. Like… he’d told us, but he’d left Valle Granja single and was happy to introduce us to his bonded mate when we arrived yesterday.”
I nodded. “Yeah… but it gives me hope too. Maybe I’ll find an alpha out here. Start a family…”
“Just as long as I’m not waiting too long to find my omega.”
I chuckled. “Do you want to find your office?”
“Naw. Let’s check out yours first. Then we’ll go to mine. We can pretend to be productive while trying to figure out which bartender is the billionaire before Dylan does.”
“He does have a head start, and Flynn wouldn’t confirm whether he was working last night or not.”
“Wanna head over to Mitchell’s for lunch? Check out the daytime staff?”
I grinned. “That sounds like a plan.”
“Go on,” he urged after several seconds. “Open your office.”
I nodded, reached out, and wrapped my fingers around the handle. Then I opened the door.
Cool air poured into the hall, carrying the lingering scent of cleaning products.
My footsteps were nearly silent on the thick carpet—which still showed distinct vacuum lines.
A heavy desk that was far nicer than I needed or deserved stood near a large arched window.
Even from across the room, I recognized the signature lines of an office chair that cost several thousand dollars.
Solid wood shelves flanked the desk, taking up about a third of the wall on either side. But the rest was exposed brick, with spotlights pointed at where I could only assume art once hung.
“Hoooooollllyyyyyy ssshhhiiiiiiiiit,” Taal said.
“Yeah…” I breathed.
“Dylan said the offices were nice, but…”
I chuckled. “This is almost as nice as the executive offices back home. Just smaller.”
Taal looked between the bookshelves. “What are you going to put on your shelves?”
I chuckled. “I have no idea. What about you?”
“Maybe my vintage tech collection.”
“That clock made from an eight-inch floppy would look both ridiculous and awesome against these brick walls.”
“Can you imagine one of those lights shining on that?”
I snickered. “Maybe make it a statement wall. Get a few more clocks… a five-inch… a microwaved CD, a motherboard…”
“That’s actually not a bad idea. It would look cool and intentional.”
I shook my head. “And here I was trying to give you shit.”
He laughed. “But if my office is anything like yours, then it’s the perfect spot for something like that.”
I smiled. “Mind if I try out the chair that costs as much as a used car?”
“As long as you let me try one of the guest chairs that could cover a month’s rent.”
“Deal, then we’ll swap in your office.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
We strode across, and I rounded the modern but clearly expensive wooden desk. I ran my hands over the soft leather of my new chair.
I couldn’t hold back the soft moan as I sat and the expensive foam cradled me. It had been broken in by somebody else, but I could already feel that it would mold to me nicely.
“Good?” Taal teased.
“Sit your ass down and find out for yourself.”
He sat, and though he tried, he couldn’t hold back a sound of satisfaction.
“And that’s the guest chair,” I stated.
He chuckled. “I’ll admit I’d browse their website once in a while. Everybody says they’re worth the price. But I could never justify that much on an office chair.”
“Same,” I agreed. “But I’m starting to think I deprived myself. Cause… holy shit.”
“Ok!” he declared, standing. “My turn! Let’s find my office.”
I laughed and stood. We left my office and tried the one next to mine first, but that door read ‘Josh Andrews, Account Management Lead.’
We decided to continue down the line of smaller offices: empty, human resources, intern experience, marketing and public relations.
We reached the three spanning the far wall from Dylan’s: incubator liaison, a shared office for the account management interns, a flex office.
Then we were coming back up the other side.
It had two empties, one for the facilities manager, one for finance, then we reached one labeled ‘Perry Stone, Legacy and Business Software Lead.’
Finally, right next to Dylan’s office and directly across the executive reception area from mine was Taal’s office.
“Taal Marin, hardware and infrastructure lead,” he read.
“Your turn to have that surreal feeling,” I chuckled.
“Fuck that,” he replied with a laugh. “Let’s check out my new digs.”
He opened the door and scurried toward his desk. “My turn to test out the fancy chair!”
I laughed as I followed behind him and settled into one of the exquisitely comfortable guest chairs.
“I don’t know what fate was doing dropping both Flynn and this building on Dylan all in one day. But I hope she saved enough of that energy for the rest of us,” Taal said.
“The building alone is a fucking miracle,” I agreed.
“Fiber already piped in would have been a find. But to have not only the server room… but that other climate-controlled room for the hardware lab? I honestly expected pretty shitty working conditions for at least the first year while we waited for permits and construction to put in everything we needed. But this? Holy shit.”
“Like I said. I hope fate’s saving some of that energy for the rest of us.”
“I think…” I paused. “Do you have the feeling that everything is just… right?”
“Hmm?”
I smiled. “Like… maybe you’re not far off. Maybe I’m still just giddy about being here. But ever since we arrived yesterday… I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
“I think the big promotion and moving to a beachside city might help with that feeling,” he replied with a laugh.
“Yeah… But it feels deeper than that.”
He shrugged. “Hey… it happened to Dylan. Maybe you’ll meet your mate, too.”
“I hope so,” I replied with a hopeful hum.
“And I sure wouldn’t mind having a man to go home to every night,” he said.
I chuckled. “Wouldn’t that be something? Single for years back home, only to come out here and find mates?”
He laughed. “Yeah… but hey… fate can be funny. Maybe you’re right, and we’re supposed to be here.”
“I hope so.”
There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. “We should talk to Dylan and Flynn. Figure out a day to go to the beach together before the interns start arriving.”
“You just wanna check out hot omegas in swimsuits.”
“Hey, two birds, one stone. Relaxing day beside the water, and taking in the local sights.”
I grinned. “It does sound nice. Let’s do it. Even if they want to enjoy their freshly-mated bliss, we can go, just you and me.”
“Ok! We’ll see if they want to come, and if they don’t, we’ll go ourselves.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Sweet,” he chirped. “Now… who do you think is the billionaire bartender? And maybe we should think of things to look for.”