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I feel like a dope.
Of course it’s him. That long conversation with my mom about opera. Elegant code. Concern about the privacy of my photo database.
Who else could it have been?
“Why didn’t you just say so?” I ask dazedly.
My emotions are all over the place. I have no idea what to think about any of this.
He scrubs a hand over his face. “I wanted the freedom to mentor you without complicating our already-complex relationship. More importantly, it simply didn’t come up.”
Complex relationship.
That’s an understatement of the century.
“How did they find out about the testing?” I sneak a peek at the office floor through the glass walls. “Sandra?”
His jaw muscles tense. “She wouldn’t. I think you revealed it. Inadvertently.”
“Me?” The question is the closest I can get to a growl. “What are you talking about?”
“You don’t take privacy seriously.” The words come out clipped—an accusation if there ever was one. “I guessed the password on your source control repository effortlessly. Chocula2019, right?”
I stagger back. “How?”
“The whimsical variable name you overused, plus the current year. Not rocket science. And I bet you use the same exact password to log into the cloud server where you keep the testing documentation. Tell me I’m wrong.”
He’s not wrong, but he also couldn’t make me feel stupider if he tried.
I start to see red. “You hacked me?”
He gives me one of his Impaler glares. “Someone else hacked you. I cleaned up that counter variable, remember? I was looking out for you.”
What bullshit. “If you knew my password wasn’t secure, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t get a chance. Besides, I didn’t want you to think I was invading your privacy.”
“Right, okay. And now my reputation is in shambles.” A situation made infinitely worse by the fact that it’s all my fault.
I couldn’t feel more embarrassed if I tried.
He sighs and adjusts his glasses. He looks infinitely less angry now. “I’ll have to look into that rumor business. For now, you should change your passwords everywhere you can think of. Better late than never. Instead of using the letters in your favorite word, you can swap them for numbers that correspond to the position of those letters in the alphabet. Or just use—”
“Don’t patronize me!” Rationally, I know I’m not being entirely fair, but I can’t take this anymore. The cauldron of anger and embarrassment in my chest has reached its boiling point. “I aced a class in cryptography in the same school as you.”
His eyebrows snap together. “I wasn’t—”
“I’m leaving.” I circle around him and head for the door.
“What about the lunch?” he calls to my back.
“I lost my appetite.” I sprint for the elevators.
I’m not running away from him so much as this office, with its toxic rumors.
To my relief, no one crosses my path on the way. As soon as an elevator door opens, I jump inside and jab the lobby button.
As the doors are closing, I spot Vlad stalking toward me, his expression night dark.
