I stared at the man standing by the door, my brain malfunctioning so hard I couldn't even think of closing my half-opened mouth.
That was him. The elevator guy! He was right there, still dashing, and tall, and sexy. He didn't notice me right away, as I was standing to the side, and I used this opportunity to admire his features, having the proper distance to do so now.
His face must have been carved by the gods themselves, because there was no way two humans had conceived this level of perfection. He had a sharp jaw, covered with a three-day old stubble. His short dark hair was a little messy, as if he'd only taken the time to run his fingers through it this morning. The thick lines of his eyebrows were resting under a flat forehead, and underneath them, two narrow eyes. Between those, a straight, perfectly balanced nose, and a pair of lavish lips, a shade darker than his skin, with a touch of pink.
He had a pair of reading glasses tucked into the collar of his shirt now, and I somehow craved to see him with those on. The man already had something very smart about him, but with those on, he must have looked like a nerdy genius.
His sharp gaze quickly scanned the room, and it eventually reached me. I nearly averted mine, embarrassed to have been caught staring. Thank God I wasn't drooling, but it had been a close call. My presence disturbed him for a second, his brows frowned over his inquisitive eyes. He apparently dismissed whatever questions he might have and returned his attention to the guys.
"Oliver, you told me Andy has arrived?"
Oh, wow. Oh, shit. This was the boss. He was the boss. The guy I'd been lusting after for several minutes in the elevator was my new boss. What a fucking way to start a new job: create fantasies of your superior as soon as you meet him. With my luck, though, it figured.
Dakota smiled, visibly entertained by this whole gender confusion. "Yes, she has," she answered the man with playfulness.
He frowned, processing her words, and something lit up in his eyes as he finally understood. His piercing gaze met mine when he looked back in my direction. Oh boy...
He examined my face and outfit, seeing me in an entirely new light. Under his authoritative stare, I regretted hiding my gender from them. I now realized I might actually piss off some people with this.
Coding was a man's world. The whole world was actually, but app and software development was even more so. When I'd first seen the opportunity for this job, I'd wanted the odds to ever be in my favor, letting this whole gender question be undefined.
Kelex had decided to choose their new employee with a series of online tests, the tasks so arduous it had been nearly impossible to complete. They were very demanding, which they could be, given their position.
Now that they had seen me, they couldn't fire me for the sole reason that half of me wasn't Y chromosomes. Not without risking the motherload of all lawsuits.
When he was done examining me, his eyes met mine. I waved, timidly, with a faint "Hi."
"You're not an Andrew."
I bit my lip at his icy tone, suppressing my urge to give him a lesson in manners. "No, I'm an Andrea."
He clenched his jaw slightly, and after an instant, turned to the oldest of the guys. "You owe me ten bucks. She doesn't have a beard."
"Actually-"
When I understood what he was about to say, I panicked and let out a loud, forced laugh, determined not to let him repeat my stupid joke. Not a third time, and especially not in front of that man. "Haha! Yeah, no! No beards here!"
The others looked at me with mild amusement in their eyes, while the elevator guy slash new boss stared at me as if I were stupid. We all stayed in this awkward silence, not knowing how to break it.
Today was not my day. I couldn't catch a break.
"Well, as entertaining as this is, I have to leave you nerds, because I have a shit ton of work to do," Dakota explained, freeing us from the unbearable tension. "But before I go, Andy, this is Alexander Coleman, head of development, co-owner of the company, killer of joy. Lex, this is Andrea Walker, your newest full-stack developer, vagina-bearer, and slayer of scripts. Now that I've done my part, I'm out," she declared before stepping out of the room.
Oh, wow, so he wasn't just in a high position, he co-owned the whole thing. I truly wouldn't have pegged him as the type of person who'd start such a selfless firm.
On the surface, Kelex appeared to be your typical app and software development company, but there was much more to it. While they did create a few mainstream apps, they also specialized in the integration of the disabled in our society. They worked on ways to simplify their lives through specialized apps, operating systems, and other various software. Their goal was to allow everyone to experience the same things equally. And that meant everyone – blind, deaf, mute, paralyzed, mentally disabled... Kelex was trying to include as many people as possible.
Once the door was closed behind Dakota, the broody hunk told me to choose one of the free desks. When I reached for one just in front of me, he stopped me with a harsh command.
"This one's mine. Pick another one." I nodded, clenching my teeth so I wouldn't say something about his abrasive manners. The desk was clearly unused since the screens weren't even plugged in, and I wondered if this "boss" ever actually worked. Dismissing my question, I turned to another spot and settled my bag on the seat. When I spun back to the boss, he was looking at me with an intense, disapproving stare.
He seemed very confused by my appearance, and it was starting to be offensive. Soon enough, his gaze unfocused, and I understood he wasn't staring at me anymore, but lost in his thoughts. I cleared my throat, and his eyes met mine again.
"I didn't expect you to be so..." he stopped, looking for the right word.
"Womanly?" I tried.
"Young," he corrected. "From your results, I expected someone with at least a decade in the field. How old are you exactly?"
"Twenty-six." I was used to being asked this question. Even now, I had to take out my ID every single time I wanted to buy alcohol. This looking younger thing wasn't working out for me. "I have, however, been coding for a little over sixteen years now, so you see, I do have a decade of experience after all."
His eyes darkened, apparently displeased to be patronized like this. "Having fun setting up a website for you and your friends is nothing like what we do here."
A twinge of anger rose in me. What the hell! I narrowed my eyes, displeased by the knowledge that I would have to work under this man's supervision. To think I'd been all over him not even ten minutes ago in the elevator was making me even angrier.
"I can assure you I am well aware of that," I said with my best diplomatic voice. "As you may have seen with the tests—the ones I aced to get here—I am quite competent."
One of his eyebrows moved up, giving him a very arrogant expression. "Are you sure no one helped you with those? Like a friend or your older brother?"
Oh, now he was asking to be put back in his place. I violently quenched my urge to react to his provocation and tried to keep an amiable facade. I wasn't into letting people walk all over me, but I really wanted this job, and I couldn't possibly get into an argument with my boss on the first day. Accidentally seeing a nude he'd received was enough complications. We would see about the second day, though.
"I most definitely took the tests alone, as my older brother couldn't differentiate C# from PHP." A few of the guys chuckled behind me, proving they weren't actually focused on their work. Ignoring them, I continued. "If you have doubts, by all means, test me again. I'm certain I can manage whatever you may throw at me," I offered with assurance. I wasn't usually this bold, but his attitude had bruised my ego, and I knew I was good at what I did.
He stared at me for a few more seconds and turned to one of the guys. "Brian, what's the script you've been stuck on for the last iOS update?"
The guys lifted their heads, their eyes wide, and my assurance wavered. I was about to face a challenge harder than I imagined. Damned be my mouth, always speaking before thinking. "Are you sure you want to give her this one?" argued an African American guy who was wearing a bold red jacket. He was very alluring. I liked the warm tone of his brown skin, and he seemed to be more easy-going than the others.
"Well, you heard the lady, she can manage anything. And since you five have been stuck on this for two weeks, we might as well let her take care of it."
They nodded and looked at each other, then at me, seemingly sorry for what was about to happen.
Somebody kill me with a headshot, please.
Summoning some confidence, I walked to my chosen desk between the blond guy and the red jacket guy. "Hi, I'm Mason," the latter greeted me, before pointing at my neighbor from the other side, "and this is Joseph."
"Hi, I'm Andy," I greeted back with a smile, signing the words with my hands for Joseph, who smiled back.
Waiting no longer, I pushed the power button to turn on the computer. I was quickly greeted by the Linux booting screen, and as it started, I put my backpack down at the foot of my desk. I took out my headphones as I sat down, ready to get this shit done.
"We have a shared server, and all our work is backed up daily," Mason explained. "You can use the script on the server. If you mess it up, we can always get it from the backups."
"Thanks, but I won't mess it up."
"That's the spirit," he chuckled.
The computer was on, and Mason told me where I could find the file. As I opened it, a movement on my right caught my attention. The boss had found a chair and was rolling it next to mine, a little behind me, before sitting down on it.
"What are you doing?" I asked, not minding if I sounded aggressive.
"I am curious to see you in action."
What kind of fresh hell was this? I turned to Joseph, who gave me a compassionate look with a shrug. I turned back to Mr. Coleman and his challenging glare.
Not minding my reticence, he reached for his glasses, tucked in his collar. "Is there a problem?"
"I'd prefer to work without you hovering."
"Tough luck."
I was about to send him an acerbic remark, but he put his glasses on, and my brain forgot how to compute. Oh, fuck me... With those glasses, he had gone from Kal-El to Clark Kent real fast, and I couldn't decide which version I preferred. The sporty, confident stud, or the nerdy, more accessible one?
Quite certainly, my body couldn't care less about the fact that he was an ass since I felt the urge to clench my thighs, to suppress the need that was slowly growing between them. What the hell is wrong with me?! He was so close to me I could smell the fresh scent of his soap, the spicy aroma of his deodorant, and even feel the heat emanating from his large body.
How on earth was I supposed to focus on my task?
I'd been cocky, and now had to pay the price by proving I not only had a quick mouth but also the quick brain to go with it. Luckily, I did, and I was going to give this man a lesson he most certainly needed.
There were no words to describe how much I hated this. First of all, I hated having someone scrutinizing what I was doing. It was distracting, and I felt analyzed. Secondly, I was very aware of his presence, and I couldn't imagine my mind not drifting back to it every second. I turned to him, disconcerted, and met his eyes.
Gray. They were gray. His irises were a light shade of colorless ice, surrounded by a darker ring.
His brow moved up, giving him this arrogant look he apparently sported often, and he pointed at the screen. "What are you staring at? Get on with it. You have ninety minutes, starting..." He looked down at his watch and waited a few seconds. "Starting now."
Clenching my jaw, I turned back to my screen and grabbed my headphones to turn them on. I took out my phone from my back pocket and, ignoring the cracked screen, I quickly paired the Bluetooth so I could listen to some music. Opening Spotify, I moved down my playlists, trying to think of what I was in the mood for. It was taking longer than I'd thought.
"You're wasting time, Andrea," the boss noted next to me. "Eighty-seven minutes."
"Don't worry. I only need sixty."
The jab wasn't meant to be heard, more of a grumble to myself, but his answer came anyway. "Let's go for sixty minutes then."
At that moment, I swore to myself I would cut my tongue out of my mouth if I survived today.