Page 24 of The Damaged Billionaire's Obsession
“What the hell, Ethan?” Jordan whirls on me.
“What?”
“Even I don’t know jackshit about those other code languages, and I own this company.”
“Yeah, you and me both,” Mike growls.
Jordan knows because we wrote at least one of them together, but I get that he's annoyed right now. Sajid is definitely aware.
“Sajid?”
“It’s true, Ethan you may have a point.” I don't have a point, but Sajid is too nice to say that. Besides as senior partner and the head of I.T. he should have been asking the questions, not fawning over a fresh, new VCS and I think he's realized that.
“Still, it looks like a great program. And what a presentation, guys!” Sajid announces and Jordan and Mike agree. They launch into a discussion about the things they love most about it.
I already know where this is headed; towards hiring her.
Alarm bells start ringing wildly in my head. Bonnie is brilliant. But she's also nosy-inquisitive, I amend, and she's bold.
She only needs to work with me for a short time before she'll start to wonder, and inevitably look for answers.
Why my system is on a very separate, very secure network.
Why even for the most mundane online activity, I'm either anonymous or using an alias.
Why my phone lines and emails have added layers of encryption.
Essentially, why security around me is impregnable while Jordan who actually heads systems and security has a regular set-up.
Jordan suspects why. I know he does, but it's not something he could ever come out and ask me despite us being as close as brothers. Mike doesn't care, he chalks my behavior down to me being a paranoid nutjob and feels I need it to survive.
I actually do need it to survive.
“She's fucking brilliant, that woman, Ethan just wanted to poke holes in her interview,” Mike interrupts my thoughts, thumping the table for emphasis.
“Ms. Russo could do with some humility.”I say, wishing they’d all calm down.
“Humility!” Mike roars. “She should be fucking proud of what she's done here today.”
“And”, Sajid adds, “she wrote a prototype program specifically to solve this problem and was offering it free of charge. Think of what she could do for this company. I think Ms. Russo is head and shoulders above the others.”
I'm only too aware of that fact “So, is that why an interview suddenly turned into a celebrity meet and greet?”
Jordan, who had been silently observing the exchange up until now, says, “Celebrity or candidate, none of it matters now. One thing we can all agree on is that we’re hiring Bonnie.”
“We still have two other candidates to interview,” I protest.
Jordan throws his head back in laughter. “For what? She’s cracked and permanently repaired the code! The interview is over!"
“There are other ways to assess them.”
“Knock yourself out, Ethan.” He stands and waves his hand dismissively. “I’m out. Now, I don’t give a fuck which othercandidate you pick, but if I don’t see Bonnie Russo’s name on the shortlist, I’m cutting down another third of my hours, since I’ll assume you all have too much time to delegate to capable hands.”
I know he’s bluffing, but Mike and Sajid don’t, so there’s a subtle air of panic.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” I warn.
“A feeling? I see. Do you want to share the details of those feelings with the rest of the class?” Jordan's tone is mocking.