Page 55 of Empowered

The only seat available was at the other end of the conference table. I pulled out the chair and sat down.

“Thank you for coming in today, Ms. Becker. My name is Brian Howard.” He was the CEO. I remembered his name from my research of the company.

He went around the table and introduced me to the rest of the panel. There were three women present, which I found impressive for a tech company.

They grilled me for forty-five minutes on everything from my team-building skills to my past work experience. I tried hard to focus on their questions and not let my mind stray when they asked about my time at Sethi Tech. Flashes of Shyam’s face played in my mind before I pushed them out of view and resumed answering questions. I tried to keep my answers technical and void of emotion.

The interview finally ended. “Well, Ms. Becker. It looks like we’ve covered all the ground that we needed to. We usually take around two to three days to contact interviewees with our decision, but—”

Mr. Howard looked around the table at his colleagues, who were all smiling eagerly. “We’d like to offer you the position of Vice President of Product Development.”

I must have heard incorrectly. Vice President, as in an “executive member”?I sat frozen in my seat, unsure of how to navigate this mix-up. “I’m sorry, but there’s been a mistake. I thought this interview was for the Senior Developer position?” I glanced nervously from smiling face to smiling face around the table. No one mirrored my confusion.

“We’re still in need of a candidate for that position, but we feel with your qualifications and skills, you’d be a better fit for the role of Vice President.”

“Forgive me, but I wasn’t expecting to be considered for that position. When I researched your company, I saw that you currently have a VP of Development.”

One of the women at the table, with short gray hair and crystal blue eyes, raised her hand. “That’d be me, Ms. Becker. Unfortunately, I will be retiring in a couple of months and we haven’t found anyone qualified enough to take over my position—untilyouapplied. You would, of course, train under me until I formally leave so I can answer any questions you might have.”

I was floored. This would mean that I would be running the entire developmental side of the company. I was about to vomit. Why the fuck did I eat all those Cheetos this morning?

I didn’t know what to say. “Um—thank you.”

The woman studied my face. “Are you unhappy with our offer? Of course, we would have to send you an official offer letter with your benefits and stock options outlined, but we thought you’d be happy to hear of our decision beforehand.”

“No. That’s not it. I’m just in disbelief. It’s not every day a twenty-something programmer is asked to be Vice President of a company.”

The room erupted in chuckles. “I suppose not,” Mr. Howard said. “However, we were thoroughly impressed with your resumé and background. Both of your past employers had only positive things to say about you when I spoke to them over the phone.”

My brows furrowed. I hadn’t submitted the letter of recommendation that Shyam wrote for me. It felt wrong using it after things ended the way they had.But, shit!He had spoken with Shyam? About me? I needed details. Now!Focus, Becker. Act professional.

“Oh,” I replied, trying to act nonchalant.

“Mr. Sethi was very complimentary of your abilities. He was able to send over some drafts of your code that you wrote while working for him, of course removing confidential information owned by Sethi Tech. We reviewed everything to get an idea of your skill level and we were impressed. Programmers as young as you don’t put out code as technically advanced as yours. You should be proud of yourself.”

My jaw couldn’t move to speak. Shyam had done that for me? Tech companies never shared code like that, especially for employees who’d left the company. But it was the best way for a new employer to see how a person solved programming problems. These technical exams were just filled with riddles that anyone who studied hard enough could solve. However, actual code from actual projects was valuable. Jai had to have been involved too to be able to remove any trace of the shady things I had implemented for them in my code.

I had so many questions, but none of them mattered right now. “Thank you. I accept.”

•••

After an evening of celebratory cake and champagne with Mom and some friends, I decided to call it a night and head to bed.

I turned off the lights and tucked myself under my oversized comforter with constellations and planets on it. It wasn’t very fitting for the new VP of a company, and I should probably invest in something more mature.Nah.Star Trek, forever!

Today was the first day in a long time that I had smiled. I was happy, but something kept nagging at me. It was the part of me that wanted to relive the past, even if just for a minute.

I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my messages. My New York friends had texted me their congratulations. I had called Nat as soon as I left the interview and screamed into the phone while she did the same.

I scrolled through my contacts, my fingers moving on their own, making my way to the S section.

His name was the first one listed. I pressed it with out thinking, bringing up his contact information. I hesitated for a split second before pressing the phone icon.

It was too late now to change my mind, so I pressed the phone to my ear. The first ring twisted my stomach into knots, while also giving me relief that my call hadn’t been answered yet. The contradicting feelings soon ended before the second ring never sounded.

He answered. I could hear his breathing on the other line. The pounding of my heart stilled to better hear the familiar rhythm of his inhales and exhales.

“Jaan.”I closed my eyes to shut off my sense of sight so my brain could focus on the sound that reverberated through phone.His voice still carried the same rich smoothness I remembered.

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