Love Hacks: Chasing it All

3: New Meetings

3: New Meetings

By the end of the workday, Phoebe's eyes were strained from staring at computer screens, and she wanted to let the muscle of her mind finally unclench. She packed up her work laptop because if she didn't, the guys would probably steal it and hide it somewhere in the office and make her do a "scavenger hunt" to find it the next day. And she made sure to get her lunch tote out of the fridge because they were inclined to plunder its contents, too, especially the egg quiches she made in cupcake tins. She rushed towards the front lobby elevators, eager to be back home in the East Village. But Ethan ran into her in the hallway leading from the break room to the lobby.

"What's happening here isn't right," he said. He looked off to the side, as if debating whether or not he should continue. Phoebe's worries came crashing down upon her. He was her scrum master; was he unhappy with the work she was doing? Earlier that day, she'd completely ignored her "gorgeous hair flow animations" story. Instead, she'd put all her time into completing one of her long-term, self-assigned work projects: a computer program that tested other computer programs for correctness and revised them automatically if they weren't. She humorously named it 'Unit Taskmaster of Doom.' Now, half of her team was disgusted with her, and the other half pretended she no longer existed.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Was it Unit Taskmaster of Doom? I know it changed a lot of our code base. But that was just in a test environment!"

"It did ruffle a lot of feathers."

"It's not like we have to accept the changes it suggests. Given the Turing Halting Problem, there's no way that..."

"Just come with me," he sighed. "You know what we need to do."

Phoebe felt a flush rise to her chest. She conjured up an image of being taken to the company CEO, William, a greasy, grandiose man who was constantly impressed with himself. William would shake his fat, accusing finger in her direction. He would fire her over the Unit Taskmaster of Doom and ask Ethan to go over, in detail, the brilliance of his decision. Phoebe's name could become tarnished in tech circles, and when the ratio of male to female engineers was almost 10 to 1, a bad reputation travelled fast. She might have to move to another city to get a job, which would break her heart because the feeling that New York City gave her—as if she were both in purgatory and yet at the center of the universe—was something she never wanted to give up.

Ethan led her back into the office, where her coworkers turned their faces away from her and towards William's quarters. They passed several stacks of Nerf guns and the company inflatable pool, where two grown men were actually swimming and hitting each other with foam pool noodles. One made rude gestures with his pool noodle and shook his beer belly with great abandon and glee. Just as Phoebe thought about the kind of rent she could afford in Silicon Valley and what her resulting commute time would be, Ethan took a hard right at William's oaken door. Then they went to a little-used elevator in a back corner that led directly to the street.

"I didn't want anyone to see us making a dramatic exit, especially with what I know is about to happen," Ethan said. "Besides, the Uber is waiting for us on this side of the building."
Phoebe was thoroughly confused now.

"Ethan, have I done something wrong?" she asked.

He looked taken aback. "I hate that you think that," he said and rushed them into the elevator.

Soon, they were in the Uber and tearing through rush hour traffic. Phoebe stayed silent. Ethan looked like he was wrestling with his emotions. His face was lined with worry, and he kept clenching his fists. He wouldn't make eye contact with her. He just kept looking out of the window. Phoebe wanted to take one of his hands and hold it in both of her own, but she was also growing more than a little afraid.

"Ethan..." Phoebe began.

"Some would say that what I'm doing is wrong," he said. "But they wouldn't understand...they haven't seen what I've seen..."

Phoebe had found herself in situations like these before. She'd feel like she was on the edge of some precipice, and she'd feel the molten fear rising within her...and then, she'd become serene. Not passive—that would be an incorrect term. She'd be full of the potential to act. But she wouldn't. Instead, she would wait with an incredible readiness coiled inside her.

To her surprise, the Uber dropped them off in front of a towering building that overlooked Central Park from the west side. Ethan led her through a gold-gilt revolving glass door, and their footsteps echoed on marble floor. A massive column of empty air rose up for dozens of stories above them, and it was ringed with offices. Such a disregard for prime Manhattan space spoke of opulence. A doorman in a creamy blouse invited them to sign a visitor's form and took their pictures with a webcam, and then they were allowed through a turnstile to an elevator made of glass.

It rose so quickly that Phoebe's ears popped. She watched Central Park stretch out before her, and the people in it became increasingly toylike and small as the elevator shot up into the sky. Ethan texted on his phone. Phoebe wasn't certain, but it seemed that he was trying to hide the screen from her. The doors opened, and the most beautiful office she'd ever seen greeted her eyes.

There was a huge open-floor plan surrounded by massive bay windows. The people working there—obviously software engineers—could electronically control their walnut desks to wheel about the floor and recombine them into team desks. It was like watching people assemble the pieces of an elegant puzzle. Instead of closed-away offices where leadership seemed distant from the workers, there were glassed-in areas where anyone could go and build a new electronics project or other fascinating device. And there were no ridiculous toddler toys, Nerf guns, kickballs, kiddie pools, or playtime slides anywhere in sight. A logo built into a wall announced the firm's name: Irenicus Enterprises.

But what truly gave this company its beauty was something Phoebe had never seen in her industry before: a roughly equal number of men and women in the office. And not a trace of creepiness anywhere.

"Mr. Black quickly partnered with those that the rest of the industry failed to recognize," Ethan said, as if he sensed her thoughts. "He built Irenicus Enterprises from the ground up, with overlooked talent from all corners. And now, this company is poised to become the next big thing."

"Ethan, why are we here?" Phoebe asked.

"Because I won't stand by anymore and watch fools have a say in your career," he said. "Mr. Black has a reputation for being aggressive and sometimes even frightening, but everyone says that he's both honest and fair."

"Wait, am I here for a job interview? My God, I really am about to get fired from Virtual Soulutions, aren't I?"

"No. You're just here for a chat with Mr. Black," Ethan said. "I've already told him all about you. He's seen your code portfolio."

"Ethan, this is all going really fast. It's probably breaking some non-disclosure agreements. What are you saying?"

Ethan continued as if she hadn't raised any objection. "And if Mr. Black expresses interest, the compensation here is...well, it makes any other company you can think of look like a joke. Including ours."

Phoebe stopped in the middle of the most beautiful office she'd ever seen and took Ethan's hands in hers. She thought she sensed an electric current flowing between them.

"But what if I don't want to leave where I'm at now?" she said.

"I couldn't bear to lose you," he said as he looked into her eyes. "But I won't stand by and see anyone stand in the way of your potential. Not even me...I mean, us...at Virtual Soulutions."

"Ethan, I like being beside you. Working together."

She looked for a reciprocation of the things she felt in his eyes. He was beholding her again, but he took a deep breath and said, "Maybe we can keep things that way...maybe if you bring our boss William a counter offer from here, at least you'll be appreciated more at Virtual Soulutions."

Phoebe was relieved. It wasn't that Ethan wanted her out. It's just that he wanted to make sure she was treated fairly where she already was. Yet his eyes looked full of despair.