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 lookedout 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 appto 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.
