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“I’ve only been hereonemonth!”Melinda said with a laugh. “The two founders started small. Getting the bones of the business into place. But we expect to grow quickly. In fact,” she added in a lower voice, “we’re close to securing Series A funding.”
I blinked and tried to contain my smile. Most tech start-ups in this city never got beyond the seed stage of financing. Good ideas were a dime a dozen, and they often petered out before bearing any fruit.
But Series A funding meant a huge injection of cash from outside investors. It meant that this company was able to show consistent revenue and growth—or had such a huge amount of potential that it didn’t matter.
And I was getting in on the ground floor.
That was the dream in this town. Start working for a tech company, getting paid in both dollars and stock options. Working eighty-hour weeks without a break. Then, if the company became a success, your stock options ballooned in value.
Don’t get ahead of yourself,I told myself.I need to nail the interview first.
I tried to keep my voice level as I replied, “Series A funding. Cool.”
Melinda led me into a conference room that was set against one of the outer walls. That wall held a grid of enormous touch-screen computer monitors that currently showed the ACS logo. The other three walls were glass, giving a view of the rest of the open-air office.
“Let’s go over your experience first…”
Melinda spent ten minutes reviewing everything on my résumé. My BS in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. The year I spent working for Symantec down in Mountain View. The various other coding projects I had completed, both for fun and as a freelance coder.
My opinion of Melinda changed during the interview. She wasn’t just a receptionist. She knew her stuff. She asked pointed follow-up questions that tested my knowledge and cut to the heart of my experience.
And I had good answers.Interestinganswers, too, like the month I spent developing my own proof-of-work blockchain before completely dismantling it. Melinda’s body language was warm and open and pleased with my answers. I was totally nailing this interview!
“I think that’s all I have for you. Let’s get Mr. Cauthon in here.” Melinda pressed a button on the conference room phone. “We’re ready for you.”
“Be right there,” came the tinny-sounding voice.
“He’s the Chief Technology Officer,” Melinda explained. “He’ll be able toreallydrill down into your knowledge. No pressure, of course! Based on what I’ve seen, I’m sure he will be just as pleased with your experience as I am.”
I smiled back at her. The interview was going better than any I had ever been on before. At this point, meeting the CTO felt like a formality.
And thenhewalked in.
5
Amber
His face was exactly how I remembered it, the lone bright memory from the craziness of last night. Freckled cheeks and a lean body. A small, thoughtful mouth. Crystal-blue eyes behind thin spectacles.
A flood of emotions rushed into me at the sight of him. Joy and giddiness and excitement. The perfect not-first-date wasn’t ending there, because here Jude was, in the flesh, gazing at me with as much surprise and disbelief as I felt.
And then I realizedwhyhe was here. He was the CTO of this company. The man who was about to interview me for this position.
My brain rebooted then. No, that’s not accurate. It blue-screened,thenrebooted. If my mind was made of clockwork, then it felt like someone had shoved a computer monitor into the gears.
“This is Mr. Cauthon,” Melinda introduced. “Our CTO.”
His brain must have been rebooting too because he seemed frozen for a long breath, then abruptly leaned forward to extend a hand. “Please, call me Jude. Nice to meet you… Amber, is it?”
“Amber Moltisanti,” I said while shaking his hand. I didn’t want to let go. Because as long as our fingers were interlaced, the world was paused. It wouldn’t move on to thenextpart. The humiliating part where I mentioned that I had flirted with him last night.
Also, I didn’t want to let go because the skin of his palm was warm and soft against mine.
“Thank you for coming down here,” Jude said, pulling his hand away. His eyes flashed to the left for a split second, bringing my attention to Melinda. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Ahh. So that’s how we were going to play it: pretend like we didn’t meet last night. That was probably for the best.
Thank goodness we didn’t hook up.That would have made this approximately a billion times worse.
