Page 2 of Code Block
Tristan handed him two lamps for his end tables and Noah carried them in, stunned into silence. Talk about Psychology 101. He'd never thought about why he defaulted to light flirting when he felt awkward, but there it was. Leave it to his all-knowing baby brother to point it out.
Two days later, Noah sipped his pint at the pub and studied the storage unit he'd told Tristan about. The background music and murmured conversations drifted away as Noah took in the details and reimagined the scale to fit into his foyer.
"Here ya go, love." The brunette who'd taken his order set the appetizer sampler platter in front of him, snapping his attention out of his mental calculations. "Anything else I can get you?" she asked as she arranged the extra plates and flatware next to him.
"Thanks. The rest of my crew will be here shortly."
"Great. I'll keep an eye out for them." Her gaze lingered, signaling an invitation. He returned her look with a polite smile and let his gaze wander back to the wall. She was attractive, and on a different day, he might've been tempted. But right now, his thoughts were too heavy.
This company project he'd pinned his career hopes on was in trouble.
"Why so glum, Raines?"
Larry, the IT team lead for the project, sat down and waited for his answer, while Del, one of the senior developers on the project, doffed his coat.
"Just waiting for you lot to show up. Appetizers just came out. She should be back for your drink orders shortly."
"Good man!" Del quipped as he grabbed a plate and helped himself. Srini, the junior developer on the team and Jenny, the business analyst, both grabbed a seat around the table.
"Where's Rick?" Noah asked after the last member of the core team. He and Larry were the subject matter experts from Caprock, while Del, Srini, Jenny, and Rick were developers hired through Vickerman Information Group—VIG for short. The six of them were responsible for the coding changes required for the proposed customizations.
He and Rick, the lead developer from VIG, had clicked instantly after Noah joined the project last year. They had become fast friends, despite Rick working for a third-party vendor.
"He got a phone call as we were leaving. He'll be here shortly," Larry said before giving his drink order to the server making her way around the table.
Noah ordered a pint for Rick while Jenny and Srini perused the menu. He studied their faces. The tension from the last few weeks was showing. They'd all been on edge since the disaster in August and were walking on eggshells, waiting for the fallout.
Last month, Wesley—a VIG employee—was caught red-handed trying to steal from Caprock. VIG fired him on the spot, but the strain between the two companies was palpable. Ever since "Weaselgate," the team had been holding their breath, waiting to see how Caprock would respond. The contractors feared that Caprock would demand replacements or worse, sever ties altogether with VIG. Either way, they'd be out of a job.
Their stress had bled over to Noah. The conversation with Tristan on Sunday had brought his growing dissatisfaction to the forefront of his mind. This project felt like his last chance to find a better fit before admitting he needed to look for employment elsewhere. He really needed the MADS update effort to succeed. If it fell apart, he didn't think he could go back to his day job and be happy.
By the time their missing teammate strode in, they all had their drinks and were discussing this week's progress. Rick's brisk pace caught Noah's attention. Something was up.
Rick sat with a thud and reached for the glass resting before him. The man gulped half the contents, then slammed the glass down on the table. Startled by his uncharacteristic actions, the others quieted and watched him expectantly.
"Everything okay?" Noah asked.
Rick sighed and surveyed the group. His gaze rested on Noah. "Caprock hired an in-house developer."
Silence reigned as the IT team stared back at him. Then the questions came hard and fast.
"Is VIG fired?"
"Are they replacing us?"
"To insert into the project?"
Rick raised his hands and waited for everyone to settle. "Look, we knew this was coming. VIG screwed up and Caprock had to take some kind of action. This is what they did. But hey, they didn't fire us."
Noah looked at Larry, the only other Caprock employee at the table. "Did you know we were doing this? Hiring a developer?" It seemed reasonable to assume the IT team lead would know more than the others.
Larry shook his head and shrugged. "First I've heard of it. I knew the top dogs were pissed, but wasn't sure how they'd react. I figured we'd heard the last of it since VIG fired him immediately and we caught it before any damage was done."
Noah nodded in agreement. However, a few blokes in upper management held reputations for making quick, impulsive decisions. Luckily, others on the leadership team, like Jackie Turner, their unflappable IT director, were level-headed enough to keep the volatile ones in check.
"I imagine Jackie did some quick tap dancing to keep them from going off half-cocked," he said. He knew Mitch bumped heads occasionally with executives who relished feeling in control and could imagine them demanding retribution.
"Do we know anything about him? The new guy?" Jenny asked. Noah's stomach protested at the amount of ketchup she was pouring over her chips.
