“I’ll go offer her the job.” Vince draws out the words as if I’m a bit slow.
“She has to start tomorrow.”
“She’ll say yes.” Vince stands confidently. “Please, enjoy the fire. I’ll be back soon.” He’s already heading to his room before I can fight him on it.Shouldn’t I be the one to go offer her the job? And why does he have to go in person?Perhaps it’s because this is so last minute. I think he’s far more charming than I, so surely she’ll say yes to him. If I were to go, she might think I have ill intentions simply because my nerves usually cause me to talk people’s ears off. Well, that and passion. If I’m passionate, it’s like a motor on steroids; I can’t stop running until I get it all out. No, it’s better if Vince goes.
After Vince walks back out of his room, suit and tie, black coat, and slicked hair, he gives me a wave.
“This will be easy,” he assures me as he disappears down the hall. I sink into the couch a bit more and stare at the fire for a while. The heat on my skin makes me feel tired, and soon enough, my eyes begin to close. I don’t realize I’ve dozed off until I wake up at 3:45 a.m. The fire has died down, and the room is nearly pitch black. I sit up with a yawn, stretching my body as I stand. It’d be smart to go back to my room and sleep a little before my first day, but I can’t calm my mind as I exit Vince’s wing of the house.
I decide that my anticipation is just too strong to go back to sleep, so I quickly get ready, throwing on whatever I can find. My brothers all have an eye for fashion, especially Romeo, but I can’t usually be bothered. I check the time when I’m done to see I only took about ten minutes. Great, I’ll be roughly three hours early.Might as well get started on something while I’m at it.I grab my laptop and iPad, a duffle bag filled with starts for different projects, and my briefcase full of finished products that I know work.
I trot down the stairs to see Van waiting by the car, my driver for today.
“Are you guarding tonight?”
“No, I was instructed to wait for you.”
“By whom?”
“Vince. He told me last night when he arrived here that I should be here for you three hours ahead of schedule.” I let out a quiet laugh because Vince knows me too well.
Will Scout be there?I hope, as I slide into the car, that Vince was able to convince her to join the team. I have a gut feeling that she’s the piece that matters, that having her with us could be the difference between success and failure.
I climb into the front seat next to Van, who glances curiously at me.
“I get carsick in the back.” I shrug, and he raises an eyebrow as he starts the car.
“I’m not complaining, just shocked. You San Giovanni boys usually like the chauffeur experience.” He chuckles as we pull out of the driveway.
My excitement builds as we grow closer, and I can’t wait to see the space Vince got for us. It’s disguised by an old car wash headquarters, abandoned, I think. That's all Vince has said about it, but I don’t care what it looks like as long as it’s mine. This is the first time my family has really recognized my passion as a strong career choice, something to aid my family, not hinder it. I just want it to be good.It has to be good.
“Here we are.” Van parks in the center of a small dirt lot, lit up by one streetlamp at the corner of the building. I unbuckle my belt as Van says something about a perimeter run and grab my bags before hopping out of the car.
“You can scan your finger for the code,” Van calls just as I notice there’s a keypad next to the front doors. I nod, and he disappears behind the building. As I approach the keypad, it seems to glow intensely, and I reach for it, pressing my finger to the small screen in hopes that’s where I’m meant to be. It doesn’t work. So, after a few rounds of guessing, I end up finding the actual scanner underneath the keypad. I’m glad no one saw this because I’m supposed to be a tech guy, and I definitely just struggled to use a basic piece of security equipment.First-day jitters.
I open the door and walk down a long, dark hall leading to a double door that I kick open with my foot. The moment I step through the threshold, the lights power on.
“Welcome, Tito San Giovanni.” A robotic voice says, and I feel as though I’m in Star Trek or something. I shouldn’t act too surprised when I requested a smart house for the work location. Still, I’m pretty floored about it. Everything glows with newness and possibility.
I can barely take it in because as soon as I spot a work desk, I think of an idea I had last night, just before falling asleep. I have just enough time to set up a mainframe on a motherboard and a surplus of tools to do it. As I approach the desk, I drop my bag at the desk and get right to work. Time passes faster than I thought it could, and it only feels like a few moments have passed when I hear the sound of someone else walking in.
I don’t look back at them, just check my watch to see an hour has passed without me knowing.
“Welcome, Scout Summers.” The robotic voice echoes through the room, and I freeze.
She’s here,is my first thought, coupled withshit; Vince updated that quickly. Or someone did. Whoever is in charge of it.
I’m still frozen in place as I hear her footsteps coming closer. As I weld another wire to follow the path for movement action of the device, I feel her stop next to me.
“What are you working on?” Her voice is soft and smooth, almost hesitant, and it rattles something in me. I feel something in my gut, a sensation I’m not used to, and I grit my teeth as I refocus on the project in front of me. Scout’s presence here is about making our mission successful, not my own attraction.
“It’s supposed to be a tracking device.”
“Don’t they already have those?” Her tone doesn’t seem to suggest she’s insulting me, only that she’s curious. If I were to answer her bluntly, and I could, I would tell her how superior and unique this tracking device is compared to all the rest. But I don’t want to talk her ear off within seconds of meeting her, so instead of going with my first impulse, I hold back, continuing to focus on my work and offering a simple “no” as my answer.
After taking a few breaths and welding a few more wires to the motherboard, I still feel her eyes on me. I realize I haven't looked at this woman since she arrived. I’m being rude and don’t want her to leave, so I stand up and turn to face her, holding out my hand. But my introduction dies on my lips.
She’s even more gorgeous in person, which I wouldn’t have thought possible. What this woman was doing moldering away in an indie game tester’s basement, I’ll never know because she could be one of Romeo’s model friends. Everything about her, the soft skin, dark curls tied up on her head, wide liquid eyes, and high cheekbones in her delicate face, all come together to create a vision of such absolute radiance that I’m speechless. Tongue-tied. And she seems to realize it because a small smile plays on her lips.