The Boss’s Secret Twins

Chapter 1

GRACE

Grace Boden stared up at the imposing skyscraper. Her heart raced in her chest, and she clasped her hands in front of her to stop herself from twiddling her fingers.

Ever since Grace had become a developer, she’d dreamed of working at a company like MatchupNow.

Until now, her jobs had mainly consisted of bug fixes and grunt work for small companies, where she never really felt like she was making a difference.

Today, though, she was beginning a developer role here, at one of the best dating apps in the country.

It was the kind of role in which she could actually improve the product.

In doing so, she could also help the tens of thousands of people who used MatchupNow to find their significant others—and she could prove to herself that she could contribute.

Grace took a deep breath, smoothed her slacks, and stepped inside.

The air conditioning was refreshing after the warm June morning.

In the lobby, a woman was waiting. She wore a blue dress and high heels, and looked to be about thirty, the same age as Grace.

Grace recognized her as Autumn Kepler, her future boss and one of the people who’d interviewed her.

“Hi there.” Autumn strode over and held out a hand, which Grace took.

“Hi, Autumn. Nice to see you again.”

“Likewise!” Autumn smiled as she shook Grace’s hand, then released it. “Come on up, and I’ll give you a tour. As well as being the head of the dev-ops team, I’ll be your buddy this first week as you get settled in.”

“Great.” Grace followed Autumn to the elevators, and they began the ride up to the fifteenth floor. Grace remembered the building from the last of her five interviews. She’d been nervous then, too, but at least now she actually had the job.

“As I’m sure you’re aware,” Autumn said, “we’re launching an update to the algorithm in a few weeks, so it’s all hands on deck.”

“Excellent.” Grace grinned. She liked the thought of finally being able to really flex her coding muscles and show off her skills. “I’ve heard about the update, but I don’t know the details. What’s the focus?”

“Improving long-term compatibility of our matches,” Autumn explained. “We have lots of people who meet on the app hitting it off right away, because they share similar interests and are a good match on paper, but struggling in the long term over deeper compatibility issues.”

“I see,” Grace said. “That sounds like a tricky problem to fix. I was expecting something like improving load times or updating the graphics.”

“We’ll do that, too.” Autumn winked. “Don’t worry; the dev-ops team gets our hands on all of the interesting code sooner or later.”

“I can’t wait to get started.”

“I bet.” Autumn grinned. The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out into a wide hallway with plenty of natural light. Autumn paused and turned to Grace. “Do you use MatchupNow yourself?”

This felt like a personal question to Grace, but she supposed it wasn’t so different from any company asking if its employees used their product.

“No,” she admitted. “I just don’t have time to date, unfortunately.

But if I did, I’d definitely use the app.

I really admire how different it is from other apps—instead of trying to make people swipe on more and more matches, I like how it encourages deep connection through long-form questionnaires and conversation prompts. ”

“Great answer,” Autumn said. She nudged Grace’s shoulder. “But you’ve got the job, so you can be honest.”

“I am being honest.” Grace smiled. “And, honestly, I’m also excited to see how I can improve the app.”

“Good. We’re happy to have you on board.”

Grace laughed. “Thank goodness.” She tucked a strand of her chin-length brown hair behind her ear and smiled at Autumn. “So, how long have you been working here?”

“A few years.” Autumn led the way down the hall, past a series of open-plan offices.

“At MatchupNow, we make sure everyone can work in the environment where they’re most comfortable,” Autumn explained.

“We have desks, tables, even beanbag chairs. Plus, we have a cafeteria with complimentary food and drinks, nap pods, and a game room for when you need to blow off some steam.”

Grace looked around with wide eyes. This was a completely different world from the companies she’d worked for before—though she couldn’t imagine herself taking advantage of the nap pods. The complimentary food and drinks, on the other hand, sounded great.

“What a nice office,” she said.

“It is. Our founder and CEO, Alex Medson, prioritizes employee satisfaction. And security. That’s the other thing I should mention.

Alex is a real stickler for security, so all the new updates are stored on a single laptop with a clear chain of custody so that no competitors can get their hands on it. ”

Grace raised her eyebrows. “A single laptop?”

“I know.” Autumn rolled her eyes conspiratorially.

“It makes our work more difficult, but we make do. Everyone works on small components of code on their own computers, which we then compile on that one laptop. That’s the only place you can see the whole codebase together.

If you ever need to work on it, you can check the laptop out for a few hours to fix bugs or look through past work. ”

“And who keeps that one laptop?” Grace asked.

“Alex does.” Autumn smiled. “He checks every line of code himself before it goes anywhere. And he does most of the bug fixes himself.”

Grace whistled. “That’s a lot of code to oversee.”

“It sure is. If I’m being honest, I don’t think that man sleeps. Anyway, let’s keep going. I’ll introduce you to the rest of your coworkers. This is our dev-ops team.”

They entered an open-plan office where three people were already working. One sat at a desk, one stood at a table, and the third worked from some kind of pod—only their legs stuck out of the bottom to show that someone was there.

“Everyone, this is Grace Boden,” Autumn said. They all turned to look at her, and Grace immediately felt that she was on the spot. “Grace, please introduce yourself.”

“Hi, everyone.” Grace managed a smile, though she felt a little nervous.

“I’m Grace. It’s a real pleasure to meet all of you.

Um, I’ve lived in San Valentino my whole life, except for college in LA.

I went to school for computer science a little later than most, in my early twenties, but I’ve worked hard and I’m excited to be here. ”

One by one, the others introduced themselves.

Lukas Chen was an older man with salt-and-pepper hair and a wide smile.

Dennis Rojas was a man in his forties with warm brown eyes and a strong handshake.

Tori Lousin was a woman in her early twenties with a purple streak in her hair who had been working in the pod.

They were all friendly and welcoming, and Grace felt immediately comfortable with them.

“Have a seat wherever you’d like,” Autumn said. “I’ll grab your new work computer, and we can get you set up.”

Everyone slowly went back to work, after saying another round of hellos to Grace, and Grace found a seat at the long table where she waited for Autumn to come back with the laptop.

As she waited, she scanned the office. The large windows looked out over the San Valentino skyline and, in the distance, the turquoise blue of the ocean.

Although Grace had lived in San Valentino her whole life, she’d never lived or worked in a place with a view as good as this.

She heard the door open and turned, expecting to see Autumn returning with her laptop.

Instead, a tall man in a pair of slacks and a collared shirt stood in the doorway.

He had short brown hair, dark-framed glasses, and eyes the same blue as the San Valentino sea.

He was extremely handsome, with broad shoulders and the kind of presence that spoke of competence and authority.

“You must be Grace Boden,” he said, crossing the room to her and holding out his hand. Grace stood automatically. She knew this man, somehow, though she wasn’t sure how.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, taking his hand. His grip was firm, yet not crushingly so.

“Nice to meet you, too. I’m Alex Medson,” he said. He smiled as he released her hand.

“Mr. Medson,” Grace said, suddenly flustered. Her heart was racing again. Was it common for CEOs to come and meet new employees? Did he have some reason for checking up on her?

“Please, call me Alex,” he said. “I expect we’ll get to know each other better over the coming weeks, but I wanted to stop by to personally welcome you to MatchupNow.”

“Thank you,” Grace managed. Alex nodded once, turned on his heel, and left.

Grace sat back down, still flustered from the short interaction.

Mr. Medson, Alex, was quite intimidating, perhaps because Grace knew a little of his story.

He’d founded MatchupNow in his college dorm and steered it from a test app to one of the most well-known companies in California.

He was known for being fastidious and focused, as Autumn had told her.

As Grace’s heart rate was finally beginning to slow, Autumn returned carrying a box.

“All right,” she said, setting the box down beside Grace. “Shall we get you set up?”

“Absolutely.” Grace paused. “Just one question first. The CEO was just in here, greeting me.”

“Alex greets all the new hires personally,” Autumn told her. “He’s very hands-on that way.”

“Makes sense,” Grace said, though she wasn’t sure it did. A part of her was disappointed; she’d almost hoped that the handsome CEO had wanted to meet her specifically. Probably all the new hires felt that way. He had that kind of presence.

The next few hours were spent getting everything set up.

Autumn showed Grace through some of the code, explained what they were working on, and talked her through the code review process and agile policies.

By lunchtime, Grace’s head was so stuffed with information that she was worried it was going to leak out her ears.

Lunch provided a welcome break. Grace’s new coworkers took her down to the cafeteria, where she had a salad and got to know them all better.

Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, and the cafeteria food was surprisingly good.

Autumn was particularly friendly, asking all about Grace’s life, career, and hopes for the future.

By the time they’d finished eating, Grace had given her almost her whole biography—at least the bits she shared with people—and Autumn had done the same.

“After lunch, we have a scrum,” Autumn explained as they headed back up to the office. “We have a quick scrum every day, as well as longer meetings on Friday afternoons.”

“Great,” Grace said. She followed Autumn to the meeting room, which was just down the hall from the dev-ops office, and settled into a chair.

The meeting was attended by members of several other teams, who introduced themselves to Grace in a blur of names and faces.

To her surprise, at the last minute, Alex himself entered.

“He comes to these?” Grace asked.

Autumn nodded.

“Every day?”

Autumn nodded again.

Grace was impressed. It was rare for CEOs to be this involved in the day-to-day workings of their companies.

She grew more impressed as the meeting progressed.

Alex asked questions, listened closely to the answers, and noticed things that other CEOs might have missed.

A few times, he even jotted down notes that he handed to people, pointing out things they could work on.

At the end of the meeting, everyone uploaded their completed work onto Alex’s laptop and deleted what they’d worked on from their personal laptops, right there in the room.

It was a strange policy.

Back in the office, Grace worked for a few more hours. She was just starting to understand the section of code she was working on when five o’clock rolled around, and her colleagues began to trickle out.

“Don’t stay too late,” Autumn said as she packed up her things. “We have a unique codebase here at MatchupNow, and it takes new hires a while to understand. You won’t get it all in one evening.”

“I’ll just do fifteen more minutes, then I’ll head out,” Grace said.

In truth, she was eager to prove herself right out of the gate by figuring out the code—and adding to it—as quickly as she could.

Starting in the tech field a little later than most meant that she often felt behind or like she wasn’t quite good enough.

She wanted her team here to know that she was pulling her weight.

Grace read the code several more times, consulted the documents Autumn had shown her, and was able to add a few lines to streamline loading times of new profiles.

Grinning, she stretched, elation filling her—until she glanced at the clock.

It was almost nine p.m. She’d been at the office for twelve hours.

Standing, she stretched her stiff muscles, packed up, and headed to the elevators. A few people were still working, but most offices were dark and empty. Grace pushed the button and leaned against the wall, stifling a yawn.

“Grace, right?” a masculine voice asked. Grace turned, quickly ending her yawn, to see none other than Alex Medson again.

“Yes, that’s me.” She straightened up.

“Burning the midnight oil already?” Alex asked. Grace wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard a hint of appreciation in his tone.

“Just trying to figure everything out,” Grace said.

“And how’s it going? New hires tend to find our codebase difficult to understand.” He looked down at her with an inscrutable expression.

“I think I’m getting it,” Grace admitted. She didn’t want to sound cocky, but she wanted to prove her worth.

“Good for you.” The elevator arrived, and they both stepped in.

“Are you always here this late?” Grace asked.

Alex chuckled. “Later, usually. I’m not going home yet, just going to grab some food. The cafeteria closes at eight.”

“When do you sleep?”

“Almost never,” Alex admitted. “Four hours a night usually sees me through, though.”

That sounded difficult, but Grace wasn’t about to say so to her new boss. Still, she felt a little bad for him—as well as intimidated by his dedication.

The elevator reached the ground floor, and they stepped off.

“Good night, Grace,” Alex said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how you do here. I have my eye on you.”

“Good night,” Grace replied. As she got in her car and drove home down the sleepy late-evening streets, she couldn’t help wondering if Alex meant that in a good or a bad way.