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“Allow me to do that now,” I said. “Barry, get thefuckout of our building.”
He teetered on his chair’s two legs. “Huh?”
“You heard me,” I repeated. “I wouldn’t want someone like you on my team if we were the only two coders on a deserted island.”
His jaw hung open. “Why not?”
I got up and rounded the desk. “Because you’re an asshole. And we already met our quota for hired assholes this week.”
I grabbed his phone off the desk and tossed it out into the open office space. That startled him, and he lost his balance. His chair fell backward and he landed hard on the ground, rolling sideways off the chair onto the floor. He scrambled to his feet and gawked at me.
“But… like… I’mgood,” he said.
“Chocolate is good,” Melinda said. “Youare more trouble than you’re worth. Let me show you out.”
I gathered my laptop and grabbed a snack from the kitchen. Melinda met me on the way out.
“Dodged a bullet there,” I said.
“Yes, we did.” She smiled, but not in the way I expected. “You went a little hard on him.”
“He was an asshole. And like I said, I’m already filling that position.” I gave a little bow.
“There are lots of assholes in this town,” Melinda said patiently. “Some of whom happen to be very useful when you put them in a dark room and make them code all day.”
“I didn’t like the way he demeaned you,” I said.
“Perhaps,” she replied. “But you had a look in your eyes the moment he walked in. I think you were looking for an excuse. Next time, let’s try to deescalate the situation instead.” She grabbed a bag of chips from the cabinet and left.
15
Amber
As I walked back upstairs, I thought about what Melinda had said. Was I looking for an excuse to go off on Barry?
He reminded me of Owen. Deep down, I knew that was what had set me off. Owen had turned things around on me last night, insisting that I was trying to get myself fired. And since I couldn’t berate him without proving him right, I was taking it out on the next guy I saw that reminded me of him.
Before I knew what I was doing, my feet carried me over to his corner office. I didn’t know what I was going to say, but it didn’t matter because I found the office empty and the lights turned out. He had left for the day.
“Fine,” I muttered. “Sneak out before I have a chance to tell you you’re wrong.”
Jude was still in his office, fingers machine-gunning on his keyboard. I knocked on the door frame and said, “Owen’s out of here by two, huh? Guess he doesn’t want to put in the work the rest of us do.”
Jude removed his headphones. “Well itisSunday.”
“Oh. Right.” I chuckled and shook my head. “Since yesterday was my first day, it kind of feels like Tuesday.”
“The days have a way of blending together. The only reason I know it’s Sunday is because I tried to order Four Sisters Vietnamese for lunch, but they’re closed on Sundays.” He gestured at me. “You should get out of here. You’ll be working plenty of long days in the coming months.”
“You’re still here,” I pointed out.
“I’m leaving in ten.”
“Hot date?” I teased.
“No, but I know I need to go home to avoid getting burned out. I’m rereading the Wheel of Time book series. It’s keeping me relaxed.”
The smile he gave me was warm and inviting. It reminded me of the smile he gave me at the bar the other night. Like I was a welcome intrusion on what he was doing. It made me tingle with excitement.
