She brought a glass of red over to me and sat down across us at the table and began seriously typing. She turned the laptop screen around so that I could see it and pointed to the screen. There was a picture of a guy younger than us, with black framed glasses and a big dopey smile. “See this kid? And he is a kid. He's fresh out of college, ten years younger than me. He does a great job. He can code faster than I could. Faster and cheaper is what a company is always looking for. That software is being recoded, it's because they consider you antiquated. So instead of trying to update their security system tonight, you should start looking for jobs.”
I rolled my eyes at her. As much as I loved Elizabeth and our sisterly bond, sometimes she had a flair for the dramatic. So I shut my computer, but instead of looking for jobs I grabbed my laptop and my wine and headed to my bedroom. Watching a good rom com and drowning my sorrows in a glass of red would be the only thing I accomplished for the evening.
Three
Addison
“Addison! Come in here!”
I grabbed my tablet and my lukewarm cup of coffee and hustled into my boss's office. He was nearly twice as old as I was, and maybe three times the size of me. He sat in his ancient office chair that someone had gifted to him when he graduated college eons ago and flattened his tie over his exceedingly large stomach. The buttons were bulging underneath it.
“Yes. Mr. James? You wanted to see me.”
He smiled at me as he crossed his hands over his protruding belly. “Yes. Sit.”
I sighed. The grand office Mr. James sat in had a way of making people feel like they were small, the guests’ office chairs were uncomfortable to say the least. I felt the scratchy material against my skin, a tank top was apparently not a good choice for this hot summer day. I set the tablet down in my lap but I clutched onto my coffee like a lifeline. Some peoples would say that I was a caffeine addict, I would say that I was a coder. I guess you would think same difference.
“I noticed that you are working on the security protocols. How's that going?”
I took a sip of my coffee before responding. “Quite well. I mean I noticed some discrepancies in the code, but I'm sure that I can iron out the details.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “I can tell you exactly why you saw discrepancies within the coding.”
Here it was, Elizabeth was right. I was being replaced.
“We’ve been hacked.” I nearly drop
ped my coffee all over my shiny tablet. Hacked? That was my job. To make sure we weren’t. Shit.
“I'm sorry?”
“You should be Addison. Since it's your job to make sure the security protocols are developed enough that no one can break in. You know our clients prefer their discretion. We’ve violated that trust, we’ll lose at least two clients over it. You know how I like to work on retainer.”
Did he ever. Mr. James hadn't stepped foot into a courtroom in probably fifteen years He lived off of clients’ previous settlements. Most of the time he never screwed up enough to have to actually work. It was rare that he had to do a settlement nowadays. Losing two clients on retainer was like telling Mr. James that doughnuts had gone extinct. I was in so much trouble.
“I don't understand. I built that all myself, it's ironclad.”
“Apparently it's not strong enough. So I thank you for your time but your services are no longer required here.”
“You're firing me?”
“It appears that way. We can't afford to have issues like this. So while I appreciate your position, and you've been good to this company for the past two years, it's time for you to move on. Maybe somewhere that doesn't need a security system built quite as strongly as we do. Pack your things and leave.”
I sat there for a moment longer unsure of what to do with myself. I had never been fired before, hell I hadn't even quit anything. I was someone who always saw a project through. I could hardly understand where had I had gone wrong.
“Addison, leave. Don't make me call security.”
I nodded just as the tears prickled my eyes. I stood and exited his office as quickly as possible. After walking down the hall and into my shared office I grabbed my things and shoved them in my purse. The only thing I had to carry was my laptop and my coffee. None of the other software techs said anything to me, I doubt they even realized that I'd been fired. We all used to sit there with our headphones in jamming out to music while we wrote code or did research for the lawyers, hacking into companies and finding out things that no one was supposed to know. We weren't really friends, just warm bodies that filled the same room. No one's eyes even met mine as I tearfully walked out the door.
What the hell was I going to do? Where would I go? As I walked out of the building and into the hot summer sun my heels clicked on the concrete and I began walking home. Sure I had usually taken the Metro but I didn't feel like I should just go home. I didn't feel like that was where I belonged. So instead I just kept walking until finally I rounded a corner and saw a pub in front of me with its doors wide open.
Time to drown my sorrows, time to come up with a new plan.
Four
Cole
I sat down at the bar of my favorite pub and ordered a whiskey.