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“There you go!” Michelle said happily. “You can go work for them. Or workwiththem, as an equal. Wouldn’t that be great?”
“Yes, and no,” I said. I had already thought all of this out. “Google will make them sign a non-compete clause. They won’t be able to do any work related to the cryptocurrency industry for two years. Maybe even three, depending on the terms of the sale.”
“Then they’ll do something else. They’re smart. There’s lots of areas in the tech world where they can carve out a new niche.”
I shrugged, but deep down I didn’t want that. I was an expert at cryptocurrency code. Not only was I good at it, but I waspassionateabout it. I didn’t want to suddenly change specializations and go work on something else, even if it meant staying close to my two tech boyfriends.
I want to keep doing what I’m doing, I thought.I just want things to stay the same. Maybe not forever, but at least for a little while.
My phone rang. It was Furio. I didn’t want to hear his voice right now, so I let it go to voicemail. A moment later, he texted me instead.
Furio: Amber, please do not be upset. Not at the situation, and not at me. I promise you everything will turn out for the best. For all of us.
Me: Selling out to big corporate overlords isn’t the dream. Unless all you care about is money.
Furio: I care very much about money. Everyone does. To pretend otherwise is to stick your head in the grass.
You mean head in the sand. I didn’t bother correcting his idiom, even though I wanted to because it would reinforce my belief that he didn’t knoweverything.
Me: Maybe I’m not like everyone else. And if you can’t see that, then we aren’t right for each other.
Furio: I am sad to hear you say this. When the sale is completed, I hope you will reconsider.
I didn’t know what to do with myself. I was used to being at work on a weekday, and it was disconcerting being home instead. I fired up my work laptop and logged into the VPN. I had ten emails from various employees asking about the Larry Page visit, and what it meant. Before I could reply to any of them, Will Crawley messaged me to ask why I left early, and if it has to do with the rumors floating around. Dave messaged me moments later and flat out asked if we were getting acquired. Everyone was looking to me for answers.
I signed off and closed my laptop. What was the point in replying to the other employees if it was all going to end? They would find out soon enough without me saying a word.
The realization made me feel useless. Like even if I quit after the sale, the inner workings and operations of the company would continue without me.
With nothing else to do, I turned to my old crutch: videogames. Diablo was there to comfort me. The game was twenty years old and it was still as much fun to play as it was when I was a little girl.
Unlike everything else, at least it hasn’t changed.
64
Amber
I didn’t hear the doorbell, and I didn’t hear the footsteps coming upstairs. There was a knock at the door, the vibrations of which I felt more than heard, and then Owen and Jude were standing there with worried expressions on their faces.
The sight of them made my heart sing. Two of the men who were pillars of my current life. But then I remembered that what we had was ending soon, and I fell back into my previous melancholy.
“What’s up?” I asked, turning back to my game. “I’m kind of busy right now.”
“Can we talk?” Owen asked. “What’s wrong?”
“My sister doesn’t want you to sell the company to Google,” Michelle said. “If you can’t figure that out, then you really are clueless.”
Owen rounded on her so quickly she took a step back. “That information isconfidential. The SEC will hang you by your toenails for even whispering about a merger and acquisition before it happens. You understand me?”
As someone graduating with a finance degree next year, that got through to her. My sister curtly said, “You three keep it rated PG in here,” before leaving us alone. Jude’s cheeks reddened when he realized she knew what we had done last night.
“We received the official offer,” Owen said, closing the door so Michelle couldn’t hear. “Including all of the details. They will indeed be giving us massive severance packages in exchange for leaving the company.”
“You already told me that,” I said. “Got any real news, or did you come to remind me that everything we’ve worked for is getting snatched away from us?”
“You misunderstand him,” Jude said slowly. “When he saidus, he did not merely mean me and him. It includes all senior engineers. You, and Nancy, and Dave, and probably Melinda too.”
“Why? Why would they do that?” I asked.
