Chapter 28

TWENTY-EIGHT

Claudia

I’m up early on Monday morning, anxious to be starting my first job as an adult. I’d worked a little in college, and over the summer, but this is different. This is my career. I’m making six figures, with the potential to get stock in the company, depending on what happens in the next two years. There’s a lot riding on this working out, so it’s no surprise I barely slept.

Anders and I had talked until almost two in the morning, when he told me I needed to rest. I dozed until five thirty, but now I’m up and ready to get in the shower.

Standing in front of the mirror, I stare at my naked body curiously. Almost as if I’ve never really looked at it before. I have, of course, but there’s something different about it now.

Now that a man has had his hands, mouth, and other body parts all over me.

Now that Anders had shown me that it’s more than just a vessel that carries around my brain.

And the hickeys covering my breasts remind me of all the things we’d spent the last few days doing.

Anders had worked hard on those hickeys, determined to leave me physical reminders of what we’d shared.

Like I could forget.

I reach up and cup my breasts, squeezing lightly. I’ve always thought they’re kind of saggy and boring. They’re full C cups that sometimes get heavy when I wear push-up bras, and I’d convinced myself they were ugly. Staring at them now—and remembering how much Anders loves touching, kissing, and sucking on them—I feel differently. With Anders’ help, they bring me so much pleasure, and all I can think about is buying more lingerie to surprise him with.

I shower, dry my hair, and carefully apply my makeup. I bought a new pantsuit for today, even though I’d been told to dress business casual. I want to make a good impression, especially the first week. Once I settle in, I’ll figure out what to wear, but for now, this feels right.

Navy pinstripes, a cream-colored blouse, and low-heeled navy pumps.

The epitome of professionalism.

At least, I hope so.

My phone buzzes and I see a text from Anders.

ANDERS: I bet you’re already up and ready to go.

CLAUDIA: How do you know me so well?

ANDERS: Did you sleep at all?

CLAUDIA: Maybe three or four hours.

That’s an exaggeration but it’ll make him feel better.

ANDERS: Liar. You were scrolling social media hours ago.

CLAUDIA: Okay, stop stalking me! LOL

ANDERS: No. You need to rest.

CLAUDIA: I’m sure I’ll crash hard tonight, once I get past the first-day jitters. What about you? Ready for training camp?

ANDERS: It’s mostly about the rookies this week. We just have to go in and do some paperwork, meet with Coach Petrov, get our lockers ready to go. A group of us is going to lunch and then golfing. VERY hard at work.

CLAUDIA: LOL Have fun. I’ll call you tonight when I get home.

ANDERS: Have a great first day, babe.

CLAUDIA: Thank you. [three heart emojis]

His thoughtfulness makes me a little teary—again. I’ve been more emotional than usual the last two days. Between leaving both Anders and Hana, getting my period, and dealing with a plethora of emotions about starting my first real job, I feel like I’ve done nothing but cry.

“Ugh. Toughen up, girlfriend—it’s time to adult.” I speak to my reflection firmly, and then laugh at the ridiculousness of giving myself a verbal pep talk.

I fill a travel mug with coffee, grab my mother’s keys, and head out. The drive to the office is relatively short since my parents live in the suburbs and the office is only about fifteen minutes away.

I take a deep breath and then walk into the building.

Welcome to your new life.

And I’m immediately swept up in a plethora of meetings and introductions. There are a million forms to fill out, people to meet, and a routine to get used to. The training class for the company’s software doesn’t start until next week, so the next few days will be all about learning my way around the office, taking care of things like choosing a health insurance plan, and shadowing the owners so the five new hires—of which I’m one—can get a feel for what they do.

At noon, Randy and Glen bring in lunch for us and we sit around a long table in the conference room, talking as we eat.

“…the plan is to grow steadily and quickly,” Randy says. “So if you know anyone in the tech field who’s looking for a job, please let us know.”

“Actually, I do,” I say, looking up. “Someone I went to MIT with.”

“Give me the information,” Randy says immediately, pushing a notepad in my direction.

I write out Hana’s name and email address. “The only issue is that she’s not American,” I say. “She lives in Slovakia. So I’m not sure about the visa situation.”

He nods. “We actually have someone from India starting in two weeks. We can get limited visas fairly easily, usually for two years, since we require very specific skills for what we do. I’ll reach out to her. Thank you.”

That was almost too easy, and I surreptitiously send Hana a text, letting her know that she might be hearing from Randy.

“Let’s get to know each other,” Randy says. “Let’s start with you, Brad. Tell us something about yourself.”

“Oh. Uh…” Brad looks a lot how I feel most of the time—deer in the headlights. He pushes his glasses up on his nose and nods. “I, uh, I went to Cal Polytech and have a master’s in Computer Science and am working on my Ph.D. in Computational Analysis. I, uh, am also really into chess and go to a lot of competitions. And that’s probably why I’m woefully single.”

Everyone chuckles.

“Dana?” Randy turns to the only other female among the new hires.

She smiles, a little less shy than Brad but not much.

“Well, I have two master’s degrees. One in Computer Science and the other in Applied Science. I did an internship with Meta, but I wanted to come back to the East Coast, so I’m really excited to be here.”

Yikes.

I’m usually the smartest person in the room, but I’m suddenly feeling a bit inept.

“Thank you, Dana. Roger?” Randy turns to a guy who looks a little older than the rest of us, maybe in his mid-thirties.

“Hi, everyone. I’m Roger. I have a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and have worked for a small software company the last five years. I’m married to my wife, Stacy, and we have two little boys, who are three and five. Most of my free time is with my family, but I’m also a big baseball fan and I run a few fantasy leagues. If, uh, anyone is interested in the spring, let me know.”

“Claudia?” Randy turns to me.

I tamp down my nerves and hope I sound more relaxed than I feel. “Hi, I’m Claudia. I just graduated from MIT with my master’s in Computation and Cognition. I’m incredibly honored to be working here and am looking forward to getting to know everyone.”

“And finally, Gene.”

The middle-aged man nods. “I guess I’m the oldest person here. I retired from the air force a few years ago, got divorced, and decided retirement didn’t agree with me. I worked in cyber security, and that’s what I’ll be doing here. So here I am.”

“Great.” Randy grins. “I’m looking forward to working with all of you. Now, let’s enjoy lunch and please—get to know each other.”

Small talk is one of my least favorite things, but it’ll be okay if we can talk shop.

“It looks like we’re the only two women right now,” Dana says to me, looking around.

“Not true,” Randy interjects. “But the others are working from home. Pam and Rhonda are in tech support. Pam is actually on maternity leave for the next two months, so Rhonda’s been handling everything. That’s one of the things we’re going to have you guys do—take a shift a week to give Rhonda a break. But not until you’ve learned the software. So don’t panic.”

“I hate tech support,” Dana murmurs under her breath.

“It’s just part of the training. It’ll be fine.” At least, I hope so. Tech support isn’t my forte either, but it’s actually a pretty brilliant way to get us up to speed.

“So, you went to MIT.” Dana cocks her head. “That’s pretty impressive.”

“It was a lot of work,” I say, “but worth it.”

“I hear they’re interviewing someone else from MIT. And if they hire your friend, that’ll be three of you. You’re going to make the rest of us look bad.”

I chuckle. “The guy with the Ph.D. is the one who’ll make us look bad.”

“True. I considered it, but decided I needed to find a job. I’m tired of being broke.”

“Same.”

We look at each other and grin.

Day one in the real world is going pretty well.

I can’t wait to get home and tell Anders all about it.