Page 70 of Written By a Woman

“It’s just fancy terminology for the first round of funding from investors,” Zaid explained, resting one hand on the wheel. I held my breath as he flipped the car into reverse, anticipating the classic “let me rest my hand behind your seat so I can look over my shoulder as I pull out of the parking spot” move, but that didn’t happen.

Because we were in his fancy space car, which had several cameras to help him back out seamlessly without having to turn in his seat.

My chest deflated at the realization.

Because I was just embarrassing at this point.

“So, wait,” I blinked as we turned onto Irvine Boulevard, heading towards the I-5 freeway, “Did Sun Steer not have an HR department before you had investors?”

Zaid and Mary both chuckled before responding, “No.”

“Is that legal?” I pressed, “Can companies just…not have a human resources department?”

“That’s not how startups work, Signe,” Mary leaned forward when we finally started heading north on the freeway, the car’s cameras making it easier for Zaid to merge into traffic, “When I first started a couple of years ago, there were probably only about twenty employees at Sun Steer.”

“Whoa,” I widened my eyes, “That’s so small.”

“When I first started,” Zaid spoke with a small smirk on his lips, glancing in his rearview mirror before merging lanes again, “It was just me and two other guys.”

“Okay,” Mary scoffed, “That’s not special. That’s what happens when you start a company in your dorm room.”

“Wait,” I held my hand up, as if I was going to stop them both from moving forward even though we were all trapped in the car together, “YoustartedSun Steer?”

“Well,” Zaid lifted a shoulder, his dark eyes flicking over to me behind his glasses before turning back to the road, “Brandon, me, and a guy named Rodney.”

“Whoa,” I sighed, “You’re an OG employee.”

“I’m employee number three, actually,” He kept one of his large hands on the steering wheel before reaching into his jeans pocket and pulling out his company ID badge, showing me the “003” numbers at the bottom of it.

“Damn,” I reached forward and grabbed the badge from his hands, “Nice picture.”

You could immediately tell that he wasn’t excited about having his picture taken. His smile was barely there, mouth closed, his head tipped back just enough to expose his solid neck and clavicle. It was genuinely a flattering picture of him, even if he didn’t look happy about it. He didn’t acknowledge the compliment at all.

“So,” I handed it back to Zaid, and when his fingers brushed against mine since he was keeping his eyes on the road, I tried not to internally squeal from simple, accidental contact, “Jacqueline is a fairly new addition to the company. Like me.”

“Yes,” Zaid nodded.

“So, you’ve always been CTO?” I added after a second of silence. There was no way in hell I was sitting in this car with the two of them without chatting. I couldn’t handle it.

“No, that is also a newer development,” Zaid’s brows scrunched a little, “I was in a position like Nikhil’s until recently.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“But we all know how much you love your position now,” Mary added. You could hear the smile on her face laced with heavy sarcasm.

“I’m over it,” Zaid didn’t even bother playing along, “I’m ready for a change, that’s for sure.”

“I’d love to have you as my manager.” Mary sighed, “I love having Nikhil as a manager, too. Alice has been nice so far, but I don’t get to work with her much because she’s on another team.” I glanced over my shoulder to see Mary man-spreading in the back seat, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared out the window, “If you do step down as CTO, who would they hire to replace you? Nikhil?”

Zaid sighed, “If they wanted to hire from within, sure. Though Nikhil has made it clear that he doesn’t envy my position in any way. Do you want it?” Zaid lifted his gaze to look at Mary in the backseat before she started gagging.

“Pass,” She waved her hand, “Just give me my next promotion and give me raises from there. CTO sounds awful.”

“Why?” I was full of questions today, “Doesn’t CTO make bank?”

Zaid gave me a surprised look before settling more comfortably in the driver’s seat, “The pay is a big perk, but it’s really a position that is nothing but meetings and meetings and more meetings that can just be emails.”

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