The Broken Function - Paused

【01】Not an Andrew

[WARNING: THESE FEW CHAPTERS WERE WRITTEN A LONG TIME AGO AND DO NOT FOLLOW THE CANON TIMELINE ANYMORE, AS THE ORIGINAL BEGINNING OF LEX AND ANDY HAS CHANGED.]

Because I couldn't help myself, I opened the file one more time. At this point, I knew its content by heart, but I still felt the need to check it.

The now-familiar name popped up in bold letters: Andy Walker. Underneath, the results of the tests I had prepared for the occasion. My team of developers was my pride, and I was very regardant as to who got to be a part of it. I had designed a particularly hard test that wasn't meant to be aced, but was instead supposed to show the applicant's determination to join the team. Half of the people who'd taken it had abandoned halfway.

This Andy, though, Andrew, had managed to get incredible results.

I scrolled down to the applicant's cover letter and quickly reread it. He had an older brother, who was born deaf, and who was using some of our apps. That was how Andrew knew about us, and it was his main motivation to join Kelex. He wanted to help us make the world a better place for people with handicaps.

I was rather impatient to meet the man. Apart from his competences, I had next to zero information about him. I was expecting someone who was from my generation or older, with at least ten years in the field. I had a bet going on with Steven, one of my senior developers, regarding the new addition's facial hair. We had ten dollars on Andrew having a beard or not.

Regardless of his physical appearance, which honestly didn't matter in the slightest, I was convinced that Andrew would be an excellent asset for us and was going to help bring the company into the future. I checked my watch for the tenth time in so many minutes, noting that he would arrive anytime now.

I closed the window, deciding that work would help pass the time faster. I barely had the time to get into it, as someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" I ordered.

A few seconds passed, and I knew that it was of our three deaf employees, Tamika, Joseph, or John. They usually knocked, counted to five or more, and opened. The handle turned, and sure enough, Tamika entered the room.

"Hi," she signed as I signed it back. "I was asked to tell you that Andy has arrived. They are in the dev office."

I thanked her before she left and quickly saved my work before getting up.

With a fast pace, I got down to the lower floor, and then made my way to the dev team area. Without knocking, I opened the door and quickly looked at the people in the room. The guys were there, as well as Dakota, who was part of the graphics team, and I noticed a woman I'd never seen before, standing by her.

I was going to look away, my mind still focussed on meeting Andrew, when I noticed that the young woman was somewhat appealing. She was short and slightly plump, which was usually not my style, but it gave her some character that was undeniably charming. Her face was pretty, with delicate features, doe eyes, full lips, and a straight nose dusted with the tiniest freckles. Her most unique feature was her curly hair, cut in a short bob with bangs. It could have seemed outdated, but it gave her something different, in a good way.

The green drawing on her shirt attracted my eyes, and I glimpsed at her Hulk themed top, before doing a quick check of the rest of her, noting her narrow waist and wide hips. She seemed to be straight out of the eighties when she was clearly born way after that period. I met her gaze, and she stared at me with widened brown eyes.

For a second, I forgot about Andrew and quickly tried to figure out why she was here. She could have been friends with one of the employees or a girlfriend. She seemed too young for Steven, Mason was playing for the other team, and Dakota was happily engaged if I remembered correctly. It left Brian, who devoted his life to League of Legend and had probably no time for a relationship, Joseph, who was too professional and shy to bring his girl to work, and Oliver. Yes, she must have been here with Oliver.