“No, thanks.” This second vodka soda was already going straight to my head. I doubted I’d be able to finish it. “Why was your day so bad?”
He let out an exasperated groan. “A deployment went totally bonkers. I had to code a last-minute bug fix, but then that introduced another bug.” The bartender delivered his whiskey and Alex paused to take an urgent gulp. “I finally got it all sorted out, but by then everyone was pissed.”
“That sucks.”
“No kidding.” He ran a hand through his thick, dark curls. “And it didn’t help that Greg dumped a giant cup of coffee all over his brand-new laptop.”
“Yeah. That thing was toast.”
The coffee incident had taken up most of my morning, actually. Greg had strolled into my cubicle, slack-jawed, holding his four-thousand-dollar laptop by the corner of its cracked screen. “Uh... I spilled,” he said, as if it wasn’t obvious from the liquid oozing out from under the keys and dripping onto the carpet.
“What’s up with the broken screen?” I asked, gently taking the computer from his hands and placing it on my desk.
“Uh... I dropped it.”
For a man who was supposed to be the brains behind a burgeoning business, Greg didn’t seem particularly bright. Or motivated, for that matter.
“Give me a few hours,” I’d said. “I can try to salvage the hard drive and set you up with a new machine.”
“Uh-huh.” He was already engrossed in his phone, scrolling through something that looked like a Reddit thread. “Just text me when it’s done. I’ll be...out.” And he tripped over my cubicle wall as he walked away.
The whole thing was laughable, honestly. That a man like Greg could secure hundreds of thousands of investor dollars without knowing much of anything or doing any work. But when I saw the anguish on Alex’s face, I swallowed my snicker. Of course it wasn’t funny to him.
See, even though Alex and I worked in the same office, we had wildly different jobs. I worked for Hatch, a start-up incubator that provided seed funding and temporary office space for app developers with big ideas, also known as Hatchlings. I supported the Hatchlings in their day-to-day activities, and as a full-time employee, I enjoyed a regular salary, two weeks of paid vacation, and a phenomenal dental plan.
Alex, on the other hand, was one of those app developers with the big ideas and Greg was his partner. They were a few weeks into their three-month incubation period, which meant they had only a short amount of time left to perfect their app. At the end of their stint, they’d show off their final project to big-time investors from venture capital firms all over the country. If their demo was a failure, that’d be the end of it. They’d be shooed out of Hatch and would have to start over somewhere else, doing something new. But I’d still be there, collecting my paycheck, replacing busted laptops for a whole new cohort of wannabe start-up founders.
“How are things going with your project?” I asked. “What’s the name of your app again? Sorry, I should probably know this.”
He waved away my apology. “There are like two dozen start-ups at Hatch right now. I don’t blame you for not keeping track. We’re Fizz.”
“Fizz. And...what does it do?”
“It’s a ride-sharing app.”
“That’s cool.” Even if not totally original.
“It’s all right.” He shrugged and took a long sip of bourbon. “To be honest, it’s not going so well.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Even if we fail, being at Hatch is still a foot in the door. A way to make contacts in the start-up community. I’m only twenty-six—there’ll be plenty of other opportunities.” He frowned slightly, like he was having a hard time convincing himself that failure was an option. “I mean, that’s probably why you’re working the help desk, right? As a stepping-stone.”
“Right.” Except not really. I was working at Hatch because they were the first company to offer me a job after graduation, and I didn’t want to look a paycheck horse in the mouth. Not when I was drowning in student loans. Plus, rent in New York City wasn’t exactly affordable. I wasn’t worried about planning my career path; I was worried about how to pay my bills.
Of course, I’d started at Hatch four years ago. Now, I was the same age as Alex, in the same position as when I first left college, with no goals or dreams beyond my current dead-end job.
Sometimes I thought it’d be nice to be the person with the vision, as opposed to the person who fixed the broken laptops of the visionaries. But it’s not like I had any brilliant ideas worth pursuing. So working the help desk was where I had to be.
“So,” he said, “where’s this someone you’re maybe meeting?”
I glanced at my phone, tapping the screen as if I expected to see something there. “I’m not sure.”
“Well, I’m glad I ran into you.”
My mouth curled into an involuntary smile. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He returned the grin. “You know, we only spoke that once and it was so quick. I kept meaning to stop by your desk and say hi, but I could never find a good excuse. Maybe we can grab lunch next week? If you’re free.”
“Of course.” I had to fight to keep myself from squealing. Alex Hernandez was flirting with me. I mean, that’s what was happening, right? After a vodka soda and a half, it was hard to tell. The booze might’ve been playing tricks on my ego. I could be blowing our banter out of proportion.
Still, he didn’t break my gaze, even as he brought the bourbon to his lips and took a long-drawn-out drink. He swallowed, licked his lips. My eyes dropped to the movement of his tongue. He was flirting with me, no doubt about it.
Perhaps getting stood up was a blessing in disguise. In fact, I was glad Brandon from Brooklyn never showed his face. Because Alex was here, in the flesh. That was way better than a virtual Fluttr match.
Just as I started fantasizing about how the rest of our evening would unfold—a candlelit dinner, a romantic stroll by the waterfront, a sexually charged taxi ride back to his place—a nasal voice called his name from across the bar. Instantly, he straightened. I turned and spotted a leggy brunette stalking toward us. Or, rather, toward Alex.
“Hi!” She planted a kiss in the corner of his mouth, leaving behind a smear of berry lipstick.
“Hi.” Alex looked sheepish. Of course he did. He was flirting with his coworker behind his girlfriend’s back. Asshole.
He wiped the lipstick away with his fingertips. “Jenny, this is Melanie. We work together. Melanie, this is Jenny.”