Three

MR. THOMAS,

Good afternoon. My name is Eric Stancel, and I am the Senior Development Lead for Voyager Technologies here in Chicago. We at Voyager are very impressed with the clean interface and streamlined design of your web software Spaaron and would like to discuss various opportunities we can offer you.

At your earliest convenience, please give me a call at the number below and we can talk about your future with Voyager Tech.

Thank you,

Eric Stancel

Senior Development Lead

Voyager Technologies

Ahead of the curve, one technology at a time.

Spencer’s heart slammed in his chest. Opportunities? What did that mean? A job offer? Buying them out? He had only graduated college with his associate’s the month before. He and Aaron had decided not to take summer classes and work on Spaaron instead. Spencer was glad they had; now they had an offer of… something. Had to be a job offer, just the way he’d worded it. He wanted to talk about Spencer’s future with Voyager Tech. He’d planned to continue with his bachelor’s degree, but maybe he could work during the day and finish his degree at night. God, he had to tell his dad. He had to tell Aaron. Had Aaron gotten the same e-mail? It would be so cool to work with Aaron. They could get a place together in the city.

Spencer stood up, ready to grab the car keys and head to Aaron’s to talk to him about it.

Before he reached his bedroom door, the image of Aaron’s tortured face flashed across his mind. He could still remember every detail about the day Dr. Mayer asked Aaron to TA for him. Aaron’s terrified expression as he fled, the collision with the other student, Aaron going down, and of course the haunted look in his eyes when he said all he could see was the blood. A full-body shiver raced through Spencer as he remembered the cold emptiness in Aaron’s eyes. He would never take a job, much less one that took him away from his home, his parents, and his security. Spencer’s heart stopped its excited slamming against the inside of his chest and sank right down to his feet as he analyzed the implications of the e-mail. If he took the job, depending where the office was, he might have to move. He didn’t think he could commute two or three hours a day, work, and finish school. ITM had Internet-based courses; he could live downtown and still finish his degree.

The decision came down to staying with Aaron or starting his life.

With two weary steps, he was back at his bed, sinking down onto the pillow-top mattress. He couldn’t stop the next thought from forming, the one that said slowly and clearly that his life had been in a holding pattern for the last three years. He’d gotten his first degree, yes, but Spencer couldn’t remember the last time he’d just gone out and let loose. His twenty-first birthday had been just weeks before, and he hadn’t even gone to a bar to celebrate. All of his old friends from high school had moved on. He’d isolated himself, insulating him and Aaron from the rest of the world without even realizing it.

Spencer hadn’t exactly been a party animal in school, but he had gone out. He and his friends, especially the guys in the deaf program, would do something a couple times a week. Since he met Aaron, he’d turned into kind of a hermit. They either stayed at Aaron’s house or at Spencer’s. They never went to the movies or the mall or played paintball, any of the things he used to do with his other friends. Three years had changed a lot of things about Spencer, not all of them for the better.

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught Spencer’s attention, and he looked up to see his father framed in the doorway of his bedroom. His father wore a button-down shirt and jeans, causing Spencer to wonder if they had plans.

“Were we supposed to be going somewhere?” Spencer asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the calendar. With it being summer and him being a hermit, there wasn’t much on his agenda. Going out to dinner or to his dad’s AA meeting with him would have rung a bell.

“No, I am going out. I wanted to see if Aaron was staying over. I did not want to startle him if I came in late.” His father shifted his weight from one foot to the other. It was a nervous gesture, something uncharacteristic of his normally unshakable father.

“Hot date?” Spencer laughed at his own joke, but then his father flushed. The coloring was subtle. Had he not been watching his father, Spencer wouldn’t have noticed. “Oh my God, you do have a date! Where did you meet her?” He hadn’t dated anyone since Spencer’s mother died, over twenty years before. Spencer didn’t know if his father was afraid of a bad reaction from him or maybe from Aunt Nell. He’d never asked.

“You know we are putting together a conference here in Chicago on extreme sexual trauma. The one I’m taking Aaron to. The conference was her idea. I was not looking to meet someone. It just happened.” His father still looked distinctly uncomfortable.

“That is great, Dad. It is about time you started seeing someone. Nell and I thought you had taken a vow of chastity.” Spencer snorted.

“You think Nell will be okay with it?”

“Yeah, she understands. You cannot mourn Mom forever. I want you to be happy, and so does Nell.” Spencer crawled off the bed, and in two long strides, he stood at the door giving his father a one-armed straight-guy hug. When he backed up, his father touched his fingers to his chin.

“I. Wish. We. Had. Talked. About. It. Sooner… I. Did. Not. Know. You. Were. Worried. I. Would. Be. Upset… I. Am. Not.” Spencer gave his father another hug. Briefly, Spencer considered telling him about the e-mail from Voyager Tech, but decided to see what the company offered before discussing it with his father. He didn’t want to talk in hypotheticals and abstracts.

“So, is Aaron staying here tonight?” his father asked as he straightened his shirt from the hug. Spencer watched him push his glasses up his nose and check the mirror reflection. Holding back the dozens of ribbing comments that flashed through his head proved to be almost painful for Spencer, but he didn’t want to discourage his father’s first real date in twenty years.

“No. We do not have plans until the weekend.”

“You are going to be home alone?” His father frowned, and while Spencer was pretty sure an invitation danced on the tip of his tongue, Spencer saved him.

“Yeah, but I will be working on the software. I will not even notice you are gone.”

“Okay, I’ll be in that conference in St. Louis this weekend. I’m glad he’ll be here to keep you company.”

“We will be fine.”

“I know,” his father said as he turned back toward the hall. Spencer grinned even as the words came out of his mouth.

“Do. Not. Forget. The. Condoms… I. Do. Not. Need. A. Little. Brother.” A horrified expression crossed his father’s face before he fled down the hall. Spencer guessed his laugh resonated through his bedroom, though no one remained to hear it. Picking up his laptop, he decided to return Mr. Stancel’s e-mail.

Mr. Stancel,

Thank you for your e-mail. I am interested to find out what kind of opportunities you are talking about. I am deaf, so e-mail or chat would be my preferred methods of communication. Please feel free to add me to chat here or Skype with this e-mail address. I’m not sure if you also contacted my partner, Aaron, but I can relay any information to him as well.

I look forward to speaking with you,

Spencer Thomas

SPENCER DIDN’T expect to hear from Voyager right away, but the next morning when he rolled over in his bed, alone again, he found a response waiting in his inbox. Stancel, or Eric, as he’d signed this new e-mail, wanted to chat over Skype—video, like a first interview, but typing instead of speaking. As long as he didn’t have to talk or try to decipher what his potential boss said by trying to read his lips on a video delay, he’d be okay. He didn’t want to appear incompetent or anything. He had a shot at a real programming job with an associate’s when the market had started demanding a bachelor’s and a few years’ experience.

Eric wanted to talk around nine. A quick glance at the top of his phone showed it to be only seven thirty, which gave him lots of time to shower and find a shirt that made him look kind of respectable. The next e-mail in the list was from Nell, a link to a YouTube video, probably something stupid. She had the same slapstick kind of sense of humor he did. It was one of the reasons they got along so well. Without clicking on the link to play the video, he responded to her e-mail, telling her about Eric’s offer and his video meeting later that morning. He promised he’d let her know what happened. Nothing from Aaron, but that wasn’t unusual. Aaron wasn’t much of a talker. Spencer generally got e-mails from Aaron when he was coding and wrote a cool function or had trouble debugging something. Aaron had sent a few articles to new and emerging technologies in the .Net framework, but this morning, nothing.

A pain shot up his neck and into the back of his skull when he rolled to the side of the bed. Damn it. He did not need a headache today, not when he had a job interview—for a job he hadn’t even applied for. Which meant he already had an advantage; they’d come to him. The pain subsided to a dull ache, and he headed into the bathroom for a shower. He’d grab something to eat and then check and see if Aaron had made any more code changes to their new web interface for Spaaron.

The kitchen was deserted when he went down to make something to eat. His father had either not come home from his date yet—go Dad—or was still asleep upstairs. Looking through the inventory of the refrigerator and freezer, Spencer decided on pizza rolls. They were quick, and he had them at least a couple days a week. At some point, he realized, he would have to grow up and learn how to cook, but he didn’t need to make it a priority right then. While the oven heated, he checked his Facebook and Twitter accounts from the phone. Nothing of real importance, but he did like the activity on the Spaaron Twitter account. It had been tagged about twenty times the day before. That meant people were talking about it.

The oven temperature flashed, indicating it had come up to temperature, so he popped the cookie sheet containing his breakfast onto the rack and closed the door. Noting the time, he added ten minutes and went back to scrolling through his social media. Nell had posted the same video on her Facebook page that she’d e-mailed him. He felt too on edge to watch it right then but promised himself he would once the interview ended. Unable to stay still while he waited for the pizza rolls to heat, he switched back to his e-mail and saw a return e-mail from his aunt. She’d sent him a list of things to keep in mind while he interviewed, which he appreciated.

While his pizza rolls sat for a minute, he went to the refrigerator and snatched a diet soda from the rack on the bottom. Cold carbonation and hot melted cheese, what on earth could be better than that? Well, except heating them in his own apartment with Aaron by his side, maybe.

With a sigh, he used a spatula to scrape them onto a paper plate, grabbed a paper towel from the roll, and headed back upstairs to his room. As he sat at his desk, enjoying his teenage delicacy, he tried to decide what to wear for the Skype session. Would he look like a dork if he wore a suit? After all, they’d come to him, not the other way around. He didn’t want to wear a T-shirt either, because he did want to make a good impression. Instead, he decided on a hunter green polo and jeans, which Eric wouldn’t see. He still had about forty-five minutes before he had to log on, so he continued popping the pizza rolls into his mouth and spun in his chair to Google the company who had approached him so he’d be ready.

At precisely 8:55 a.m., he logged on to Skype and accepted Eric Stancel’s request to add him to his contact list. A quick check of his LinkedIn page had confirmed that the guy was thirty-two and had worked for Voyager Tech his entire career, which, if he started just out of college, would be about ten years. Within seconds, a box popped up notifying him that he had an incoming video call. He took a deep breath and pressed the green button to answer.

Showtime.

It took several seconds for the call to connect, but then Spencer sat, virtually face to face with Eric Stancel. He was more handsome than his LinkedIn profile picture, with short brown hair combed back off a high forehead and black square-framed glasses, a short, well-kept goatee, and a dark gray T-shirt. Spencer could see nothing of his office except a plain cream-colored wall and the top of a high-backed ergonomic chair, but what he really liked was the earring in Eric’s left ear and his quirky smile. Nervous as he was, he could definitely use a laid-back kind of guy who seemed quick to smile. Eric looked away from the camera for a moment, and a message popped up on Spencer’s screen.

[Eric] Hi, Spencer, it’s nice to meet you.

And they were off.

[Spencer] Hello. It is nice to “meet” you too. I am sorry about not being able to talk on the phone.

[Eric] That isn’t a problem at all. You and your partner show real creativity in your design. We will be able to work around whatever you need.

[Spencer] I do not think you are going to get Aaron to work for you. He wants to finish his degree.

[Eric] You don’t have to be a packaged set. What do you want, Spencer?

[Spencer] I had planned to finish my BS before looking for a job, but I am intrigued by your e-mail.

[Eric] We have a tuition reimbursement program. After working here for a year, we reimburse work-related courses like programming, business, technical writing, etc.

[Spencer] That sounds great. What exactly are you looking for?

[Eric] We had been looking for a comprehensive social media solution for a client, and I ran across Spaaron. While I licensed it for their purpose, I wanted to talk to you about it because I think, with a little expansion, we can leverage its simplicity and power for other clients.

[Spencer] What does that entail?

[Eric] Well, ideally, we’d like to buy the software from you and your partner and bring you in to get the team up to speed with your design and work so far. You and/or Aaron would be the technical leads on the project as we tailored it to bring it to market.

[Spencer] I will be honest. I do not know what kind of management skills I would have to be able to lead a project like that.

[Eric] I get that. You’re 21 and still in college. That’s why you would work directly with me and just be responsible for coding modules and reviewing code other programmers write to integrate with yours. As you grow in the position, you will get other responsibilities. We see it as a long-term project, and you’ll get great experience from it.

[Spencer] Just a ballpark, what are we talking in terms of numbers?

[Eric] I know Gary Parks, head of Voyager, is talking mid six figures for the software. Entry-level programmers are generally coming into the company at $55k, but since you’ll be a technical lead, I’d guess it at more like $70k.

Stunned, Spencer could only sit and look at Eric for a long moment. They wanted to pay mid six figures for Spaaron. Mid. That meant like half a million, right? Split evenly between him and Aaron. Jesus. Plus they wanted to pay him seventy thousand dollars a year to be a technical lead on his own software as they fit it for client use? He would get unbelievable experience for his resume and enough money to move out of his father’s house and be on his own. God, there had to be a catch.

[Spencer] I am definitely interested. Where do we go from here?

[Eric] We can Skype with Gary in a few days, after he has the contracts drawn up. Talk to your partner and see if he is interested, both in selling the software and in the job. I would also start looking for an apartment. I can’t wait to have you on board!

A pain sliced across Spencer’s chest as he imagined the look on Aaron’s face when he told him he’d have to move.

[Spencer] Why an apartment? I was thinking about commuting.

[Eric] We work some long hours sometimes, and you’re about an hour and a half from here if you drove. That’s not something you’re going to want to do every day. Trust me on this. I used to make that kind of commute. It’s one of the reasons I’m now divorced.

[Spencer] Oh.

[Eric] I have a 10:00, so go ahead and shoot me an e-mail this afternoon if you want to move forward and set up that meeting with Gary.

[Spencer] Okay, I’ll e-mail you this afternoon.

[Eric] Great chat. I look forward to working with you.

[Spencer] Thanks, me too.

Spencer disconnected the chat, making sure to quit Skype before putting his head in his hands. He’d found the catch. Taking the job meant leaving Aaron. He had no idea if he could.