by Krista Lakes
“I’m sorry you’ve been so busy,” he said. “But the tough part is behind you now. Tomorrow we can relax and celebrate. It’s time to have some fun.”
“I hope that by the time you get here tomorrow I’ll have good news from the competition and a reason to celebrate,” I said. “I could either be really happy or really disappointed tomorrow afternoon and it all depends on ZephTech’s decision.”
“I’ve got a good feeling,” he said. “Regardless of what happens, though, tomorrow will be a great day.”
“Yes, I guess whether I win the competition or I lose, we’ll have a reason to get drinks,” I joked.
“That’s the spirit,” he said. “So I’ve got to ask, though. Is Silicon Valley everything that you’d hoped it would be?”
“Yes and no,” I said. “I love the energy here and the amazing technology. It’s one of the only places I’ve been where being a nerd is actually encouraged. I really like that part. The people seem pretty nice too. But I seriously miss home. Silicon Valley doesn’t feel like a place that I could ever call home, you know?”
“Trust me, I understand that completely. There's a reason I don't like going there,” he said. “I called it home for a long time, but it never gave me that feeling of 'home'. I’ve been in here for only a few months and it feels more homey to me than Silicon Valley ever did.”
“I agree. Maybe I'm just tired and homesick, but...” I shrugged. “This isn't home yet.”
“You miss me?” he asked. I could practically here the flirtatious smile on his voice. “Or just home?”
“God yes, I miss you. I miss everyone, including Athena,” I said with a smile. I knew he was just teasing me.
“She’s a cute pup, that’s for sure,” Jacob agreed. “I’m sure she misses you, too.”
“I’d like to give her a snuggle,” I said. “But not as much as I’d like to cuddle up with you.”
“That would be nice right about now,” he said. I heard him move something around on his end of the line. “This place definitely isn’t the same without you around.”
My eyes were getting heavier by the second. It was so nice to hear Jacob’s voice and if I had had more energy, I would have stayed awake all night long talking to him. But the long hours at work had taken its toll and sleep was knocking on my door.
“I hate to cut this short, but I think I need to go to bed,” I said. I couldn't stop the yawn from escaping this time. “I’m beyond exhausted.”
“That’s okay,” he said. “Get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”
“I can’t wait,” I said.
“Me either,” he assured me. I could almost imagine him leaning over and kissing me. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” I whispered.
I hung up and set my phone on the nightstand. The screen filled the room with a soft glow for a few seconds before it went black. When it did, I closed my eyes and drifted into a deep sleep instantly.
I woke up in a panic and ran to my bathroom, flipping up the lid of the toilet quickly as I dropped to my knees in front of it. Then I threw up, not once but three times, one right after the other. My stomach clenched until it was all over. Once the storm had passed, I laid down on the bathroom floor for a minute. I drew in a long breath and tried to relax. The nausea was gone, but my stomach still felt tight from the throwing up.
Sunlight flickered on the bathroom floor and I shut my eyes against it. All I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and die. There was nothing I hated more than throwing up. It was terrible. The nausea, the retching, the smell. I wanted so badly to avoid it. I thought that maybe a sip of water could make the feeling go away, so I took a drink from the glass next to my sink. It only made it worse, though and my stomach turned again. That water was coming back up, whether I liked it or not.
Dammit, I thought. I closed my eyes and willed the water to stay down. It took a moment of me concentrating only on my breathing and sheer will power, but the need to vomit finally passed.
“Must have been something I ate, I guess,” I said to myself, as I slowly stood up and walked back toward my bed.
I had skipped dinner the night before, though, since I had been at work. And for lunch, all I had eaten was a salad. It was hard to imagine that whatever had made me sick was food poisoning.
Oh well. Could just be that the stress of the past six weeks has finally caught up to me, I thought. Either way, I hope that it’s all out of my system now.
I glanced at the alarm clock on my nightstand, and was surprised to find that it was nearly eleven in the morning.
Wow, I must have been even more tired than I realized, I thought. I never sleep in this late.
Jacob would be arriving in a couple of hours, which still gave me plenty of time to get ready. I decided I’d go out to the kitchen and make a cup of coffee before checking my email. When I opened my bedroom door, the smell of fresh-cooked bacon and eggs entered my nose. I nearly ran back to the bathroom to throw up again, but instead just breathed through my mouth. Lauren was standing in front of the stove and she turned to face me with a smile on her face.
“Good morning,” she greeted me, raising up her spatula in a wave. “Sleep well?”
I let out another yawn before responding. “I can’t believe how late it is, though. You’re making breakfast, so I guess I wasn’t the only one to sleep in.”
“You want some?” she asked, motioning to her cooking. “I've definitely made enough for two.”
“No thanks, I'm good,” I said, holding my stomach with my hands and trying very hard not to think about food. “I just need some coffee.”
Lauren spun around and grabbed a mug from the cupboard. Then she poured me a cup of strong black coffee. She handed it over and I took a sip, but something about it tasted off.
I had to admit that it was nice having a roommate again that wasn’t my parents. Especially having a roommate who was as considerate as Lauren. I had found her in the local want ads, where she posted that she was looking for someone to rent out her extra bedroom. It was a perfect situation, because she wasn’t concerned about having me sign a lease as long as I agreed to pay the rent on time.
She worked in Silicon Valley as a programmer, but for a different company. She knew how demanding my internship was and she was always super quiet when I was trying to sleep and understood when I wasn't home until weird hours. I couldn’t have asked for a better last-minute living situation.
“What are you up to today?” she asked, as she pulled food from the frying pan and situated it neatly on her plate. Just looking at it made me queasy, so I focused on my coffee cup.
“Jacob will be coming to visit in a few hours,” I said. I couldn't have stopped the excited smile if I wanted to.
“Oh really?” she asked. “I'll make sure to clear out of the house for a few hours then.”
“Thanks. I’m super excited,” I said. “But that’s not the only thing that’s going on. I also get to find out who won the competition at my internship today.”
“That is not only exciting, but also terrifying,” Lauren said as she took her plate of food and sat at our small dining room table. I followed her over and we took a seat across from each other. “Good luck.”
“Tell me about it,” I said. “I’ve spent the last six weeks here working my butt off and I don't have a lot of other job prospects at the moment.”
“That’s a lot of pressure,” she said. “What time do you think you’ll find out today?”
“I’m going to check my email as soon finish my coffee,” I said. “I’m hoping that the results will be in there. Then I’ll know what direction my life is heading. It all hinges on one email. Kind of crazy, huh?”
Lauren nodded. “Welcome to Silicon Valley.”
I couldn’t help but to laugh. “Yeah, I’m learning that this place will chew you up and spit you out if you’re not careful.”
“Here’s to you winning, then,” Lauren said, holding up her coffee mug. “I don’t do we
ll when people cry. It makes me feel awkward. I never know if I should hug them or just walk away.”
“Well, I hope I don’t cry then,” I said. “And if I do, just hug me and hand me a glass of wine. Then you can walk away.”
“Nah,” she replied shaking her head. “I'll help you at least drink the wine.”
I laughed and tried to sip my coffee, but just smelling it made my stomach queasy again.
“Did you do anything different to the coffee this morning?” I asked, examining my cup. I'd barely been able to take more than a mouthful of it. “It tastes weird.”
“No,” Lauren said, shaking her head. “It's the same stuff as last week. Maybe it's going stale or something? Mine tastes normal.”
“I don't know, but I'll just put it in the sink for now. It's time for the moment of truth,” I announced as I poured out my cup. “I’m going to go check my email.”
“Good luck, Alicia,” she said. She held up her hands and crossed all the fingers she could. “You’ve got this. I know you do.”
I hope she’s right, I thought, as I walked out of the kitchen and back to my bedroom.
My laptop had finished starting up and I went online and straight to my email. A lump rose in my throat. In my inbox was one unread email and it was from Steven Lynchell. The title of the email said, “Intern’s App Development Results”.
I held the pointer over the email, hesitating for a moment. My future depended on what was inside and I was terrified to see. No matter what it read, though, there’d be a lot of things changing in my life. With a nervous sigh, I clicked the email and read it.
Dear Alicia Chambers,
I want to tell you personally that I appreciate your participation in the internship challenge. My team and I have been up all evening, reviewing all of the submissions, trying to decide which one we thought was the best. And it was tough. Every single one of the programs that you intern had created for us was excellent and it became clear that everyone had given it their all.
Unfortunately, we only have one full time position currently available at ZephTech; otherwise we’d hire every single one of you. But the good news for you, Alicia, is that you’re the one we decided on. My colleagues and myself all agreed that your dating app had the elements we wanted to see. It was beautifully crafted, operated flawlessly and served a purpose. These were the three elements we were judging on and your app passed with flying colors.
Congratulations, Alicia. Welcome to the team. I’ll see you Monday to fill out some paperwork. Attached are the conditions of the position. I hope you have an amazing weekend. Looking forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Steve Lynchell
CEO
ZephTech, Inc.
“No way,” I whispered, as I brought my eyes back to the top of the email to re-read it. I figured I must have read it wrong or interpreted it incorrectly.
But the “Congratulations, Alicia” stood out on the page and after looking it over at least five times, I stood up from my chair and let out a squeal.
“I did it!” I called out. “Oh, my God. I did it!”
Lauren busted into my room, her eyes as wide as her smile.
“You won?”
“I won,” I told her, finally feeling it start to sink in. “I won the competition!”
She ran up and pulled me in for a hug, practically lifting me off the ground.
“I knew you were going to win,” she announced, setting me down. “Congrats, Alicia.”
Lauren gave me another hug and said, “We’ll celebrate more soon, okay? Maybe we can get drinks this weekend.”
“Sounds great,” I said. “I'm looking forward to it.”
She grinned and gave me one more hug. “I'm off to run some errands. Congratulations again!”
She left my room and I closed the door behind her. My hands were trembling from the excitement. I couldn’t believe that it was actually happening. Six weeks of hard work had paid off and I had been offered my dream job. I sat on my bed in disbelief. I was beyond excited and proud of myself for what I had accomplished, but I couldn’t deny that my feelings were a mixed bag. My entire life was about to change and my new home would soon be Silicon Valley.
I thought about the conversation I had had with Jacob the night before, about how I didn’t think I could ever call The Valley my home. It was true. My real home was where I grew up.
When I took the job, I wouldn’t get to see my family or Jacob as often. Maybe I’d take a drive down on a weekend once in a while, but I couldn’t imagine that I’d be able to get much time off, at least for the first few months. I would have to look at the job description in the attachment to figure out what I needed to do.
I’ll just have to figure out a way to make it work, I thought. There’s no way I’m turning down the job at this point. That’s not an option.
I’d finally be making money and have a secure position with a great company. I’d be able to climb the corporate ladder and move up in the world, something I had wanted to do since I graduated. For the moment, I wasn't going to worry about what was going to happen next. For right now, I was going to be happy I had succeeded.
I grinned and did a little happy dance. I picked up my phone, ready to call Jacob and tell him the good news, but then I changed my mind. It would be so much more fun to tell him in person.
Chapter 14
Just five minutes after I stepped out of the shower, someone knocked on the apartment door. My hair was still wet and I was wearing only a towel. I hadn’t even had a chance to think about what clothes I wanted to wear for when Jacob got in town later that afternoon.
“Lauren, can you get that?” I called out.
There was no reply, so I walked over to my door and poked my head out into the living room.
“Lauren?”
The apartment was silent and Lauren’s bedroom door was open. She was nowhere to be found. I glanced at the clock. It was two in the afternoon and I assumed that she must have gone to the gym or for a run in the park.
There was another knock on the door, this time a little louder and faster than before.
“Hold on. I’m coming!” I said.
Crap, who’s here right now? I hope it’s not some salesman or something. I’m going to be so pissed if I rushed for that, I thought.
I ran back into my room and dropped my towel, before stepping into some jeans and a t-shirt. My wet hair fell around my face and I did my best to push it away as I walked back to the front door.
Whoever was on the other side continued to knock.
“Geez, give me a second,” I said, clearly becoming irritated.
I pulled the door open and my attitude changed the instant I saw who was standing on the other side.
“Jacob?” I said, my eyes widening with delight.
He stood there with a bouquet of roses and a smile. He was wearing a white dress shirt and gray slacks. His hair was combed perfectly and he looked as happy as could be.
“Hi, beautiful,” he said.
“Oh, my God, Jacob,” I squealed, as I lunged toward him. “I can’t believe you’re here! I thought you weren’t getting in until three.”
I jumped up and wrapped my arms over his neck.
“There was less traffic than I expected,” he said. “Plus, I was driving fast. I wanted to get here as quickly as possible.”
Jacob set the roses on the counter and then cradled me in his arms. He gazed into my eyes as he leaned in for a kiss. Our lips collided. It was deep and passionate, the kind of kiss you give someone when you haven’t seen them in way too long. We made for a while, before I finally pulled away.
“I missed you,” I told him breathlessly.
Jacob set me down on the floor and put his hands on my hips, still holding me close. “I missed you, too. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you in front of me right now.”
He leaned forward and kissed me again. I was so happy that he had shown up early, even though I clearly wasn’t
ready for his arrival. When he pulled back, I reached up and tried to straighten out my hair with my fingers.
“Sorry I look like a total mess,” I said. “I just got out of the shower.”
“You look beautiful,” he said. “As always.”
“Can you give me a few minutes to get ready?” I asked.
“Of course. Take your time,” he replied. “There’s no rush.”
“Okay, make yourself at home. The couch is pretty comfy and we have Wi-Fi here. I won’t be long,” I told him. “I just need to get dressed and put on some makeup.”
“Sounds good,” he said with a grin.
Jacob stepped over to the living room and plopped down on the couch. I was giddy as I went back to my room to get ready. My strange day, which had started off with me throwing up, was now infinitely better since Jacob was there with me.
I didn’t waste much time. I straightened my hair and put on my makeup. Then I got dressed in my best-fitting jeans and silk blue blouse. When I stepped back into the living room, Jacob’s eyes lit up.
“Whoa,” he said.
I stepped over and sat next to him on the couch. His eyes were still locked on my body. I placed my finger underneath his chin and lifted his face until his gaze met mine.
“Hey, mister. I’m up here,” I said, with a playful smile.
“I don’t mean to stare, but you look incredible. A sight for sore eyes, that’s for sure,” he said. “I seriously missed you.”
Snuggling next to him on the couch helped to put me at ease. The ball of anxiety and stress that had built inside of me over the previous six weeks was instantly starting to dissolve. His presence was good medicine for me.
“Thanks for coming all the way up here to see me,” I said. “Did you have a good drive?”