didn’t look like he was a day over 25.
“Um, hello, that’s me. I was just getting settled in, it’s nice to meet you.” Amanda stammered through her introduction and tried not to look surprised.
“Let’s head into my office and get to know each other a bit, shall we?” He beamed a huge smile at her and touched her shoulder, guiding her down the aisle between desks toward his personal office. The girl across from her made eye contact with Amanda, in almost a knowing kind of way. It was confusing but Amanda felt that they shared a brief moment of understanding. She’d have to make sure to chat with her later.
Jason beckoned her to sit on a loveseat in his office and he closed the door behind him. I looked around the office and saw his degree framed on the wall. He was a Cornell graduate, but she couldn’t quite make out the year. He grabbed his Odwalla juice from his desk and sat down next to her on the couch.
“So, how was your first day? Sorry I couldn’t make it, I was traveling back from New York.” He stretched and leaned back on the couch. He was wearing a nice button up shirt with a business suit jacket and tie over the top, but had on jeans and loafers. It was an interesting style, and Amanda liked it.
“It was just fine, thanks. I’m all set up with my logins and I’m ready for some work to get started on. I just want to make sure I’m working on the right things.” Amanda clasped her hands in her lap and fumbled with a ring on her finger nervously. This man was probably the most powerful person she’d shared a couch with. He was also gorgeous.
“Awesome. Well, the Growth Hacker role is a new one for our organization. You’re not going to have a concise ‘task list’ necessarily, so you’ll have to be prepared to get your thinking cap on and come up with creative solutions for our company. We’re looking to scale swiftly, but intelligently. Your background in data analysis looks great and I really loved the product sense you seem to have.” He raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his juice. Amanda felt a tingle in her body as she watched his lips connect with the juice container. There was something about her new manager that drove her wild.
He was casual, but so put together. She saw that he had a basketball hoop in his office, and there were photos lining the wall of him doing all sorts of exciting outdoor activities — ziplining, skydiving, hiking, sailing. He clearly had a gusto for life. Amanda wondered how much money he made, and then realized it was a shallow thought.
“Yeah, I work really well in that kind of environment. I’m a self-starter, I just need to get a real feel for the product and get my hands dirty in the code. Get in the mindset, you know? I have some ideas already but I don’t feel quite ready to dive in and implement them.” Amanda sounded more confident when she realized that her job security depended on her seeming like she was prepared to hit the ground running. Nothing moves slowly in San Francisco.
The couch started to feel a lot smaller. His knee brushed hers, his jeans rubbing against her bare skin. She became aware of her skirt riding up and she pulled it down to cover up more of her legs. Jason looked down and Amanda could tell that he noticed. He allowed his leg to linger against hers for a few more precious seconds, and then he stood up.
“Well, I suppose we have a lot of work to do, then?” He seemed sad about that fact, but it could have just been Amanda projecting her desires onto him. What the heck was wrong with her? It was her second day on the job and already she was hot-for-boss? That was one quick way to make her work days uncomfortable.
She reluctantly left his office and went back to her desk, catching up on emails. One in particular sounded intriguing. A local startup incubator and co-working space was having some kind of mixer that night with an open bar, a decent local DJ, and a couple of tech speakers. It sounded like a good
Brian Keene, J.F. Gonzalez