AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can apologize at any time.”
“I’m sorry?” I asked in confusion.
He snapped his fingers at me. “Kind of weak, but good enough. Apology accepted.”
“Excuse me? What the hell doIhave to apologize for?”
“For calling me a cunt-nozzle. At my restaurant. And then again during the interview.”
“I believe she called you a cunt-waffle,” Melinda pointed out. “And thencuntmaster supreme.”
I also told him to lick my asshole.I hoped nobody else pointed that out.
“Whichever cunt-suffix I was called.” Owen waved a dismissive hand. “Doesn’t matter. Apology accepted.”
“No!” I blurted out. “I didn’t apologize!”
Owen grinned in victory. “You totally did, though. I heard you. And you can never take it back. I appreciate you swallowing your pride in order to work for this company.”
Jude put a soft hand on my shoulder from behind, but I shook it off and stepped closer to the cocky tech-bro. My hands were in fists at my side. I could hear my therapist whispering in my head, telling me that I was afraid of failure and even more terrified of success, which was why I always pushed these opportunities away, but I couldn’t stop myself from speaking.
“Youshould be apologizing tomefor kicking us off the rooftop deck!”
Owen rolled his green eyes dramatically. “Rooftop deck, rooftop deck. You sound like Jan Brady. Okay, so you had to move your party somewhere else and lost out on the teeny tiny deposit. Big deal.”
“Teeny tiny? It cost two grand to rent!”
Owen shrugged like he didn’t understand the point I was making.
“That’s a lot of money to me,” I said bitterly, thinking about the red account balance on my online statement. “You owe me a refund.”
“Your compensation here will more than make up for it. We’re arguing over pennies when there aredollarsto be made.” He glanced at his watch, which looked extremely expensive. “I’ve got another call with the lawyers I have to jump on. Any other grievances you want to raise, Ms. Montessori?”
“Moltisanti,” I shot back. “AmberMoltisanti.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said. Welcome to the team.” Somehow, he managed to make the platitude sound like a taunt.
I started to think of something biting to say, but he was already punching in a number into his conference bridge. Jude put a guiding hand on my back, and this time I allowed him to lead me out of the room.
11
Amber
The three of us left Owen’s office and walked toward the opposite corner. “Jude, you want to take it from here?” Melinda asked.
Jude nodded, and led me into his office. It was a mirror image of Owen’s, but the desk held a grid of at least ten different monitors, some horizontal, some vertical. The way a coder’s deskshouldlook.
“Don’t let him get under your skin,” Jude said while sitting down. “He can be quite abrasive at times.”
“How can you work with him?” I asked.
“He’s usually not this bad. The stuff with the investor has him on edge.”
“He seemed like it was all fine.”
“Owen’s a duck,” Jude replied with a small smile. “Everything above the water looks calm and composed. But underneath the surface is a flurry of activity. Want to see what we’re working with, here?”
I bit back another comment about Owen as Jude swiveled one of his monitors around so I could see. Excitement flooded into my body as he opened the source code for their crypto exchange. Programs and functions and loops, all color-coded in AT0M, the open-source editing program.
