Page 79 of Body Shot

CLAUDIA: Thank you. [three heart emojis]

His thoughtfulness makes me a little teary—again. I’ve been more emotional than usual the last two days. Between leaving both Anders and Hana, getting my period, and dealing with a plethora of emotions about starting my first real job, I feel like I’ve done nothing but cry.

“Ugh. Toughen up, girlfriend—it’s time to adult.” I speak to my reflection firmly, and then laugh at the ridiculousness of giving myself a verbal pep talk.

I fill a travel mug with coffee, grab my mother’s keys, and head out. The drive to the office is relatively short since my parents live in the suburbs and the office is only about fifteen minutes away.

I take a deep breath and then walk into the building.

Welcome to your new life.

And I’m immediately swept up in a plethora of meetings and introductions. There are a million forms to fill out, people to meet, and a routine to get used to. The training class for the company’s software doesn’t start until next week, so the next few days will be all about learning my way around the office, taking care of things like choosing a health insurance plan, and shadowing the owners so the five new hires—of which I’m one—can get a feel for what they do.

At noon, Randy and Glen bring in lunch for us and we sit around a long table in the conference room, talking as we eat.

“…the plan is to grow steadily and quickly,” Randy says. “So if you know anyone in the tech field who’s looking for a job, please let us know.”

“Actually, I do,” I say, looking up. “Someone I went to MIT with.”

“Give me the information,” Randy says immediately, pushing a notepad in my direction.

I write out Hana’s name and email address. “The only issue is that she’s not American,” I say. “She lives in Slovakia. So I’m not sure about the visa situation.”

He nods. “We actually have someone from India starting in two weeks. We can get limited visas fairly easily, usually for two years, since we require very specific skills for what we do. I’ll reach out to her. Thank you.”

That was almost too easy, and I surreptitiously send Hana a text, letting her know that she might be hearing from Randy.

“Let’s get to know each other,” Randy says. “Let’s start with you, Brad. Tell us something about yourself.”

“Oh. Uh…” Brad looks a lot how I feel most of the time—deer in the headlights. He pushes his glasses up on his nose and nods. “I, uh, I went to Cal Polytech and have a master’s in ComputerScience and am working on my Ph.D. in Computational Analysis. I, uh, am also really into chess and go to a lot of competitions. And that’s probably why I’m woefully single.”

Everyone chuckles.

“Dana?” Randy turns to the only other female among the new hires.

She smiles, a little less shy than Brad but not much.

“Well, I have two master’s degrees. One in Computer Science and the other in Applied Science. I did an internship with Meta, but I wanted to come back to the East Coast, so I’m really excited to be here.”

Yikes.

I’m usually the smartest person in the room, but I’m suddenly feeling a bit inept.

“Thank you, Dana. Roger?” Randy turns to a guy who looks a little older than the rest of us, maybe in his mid-thirties.

“Hi, everyone. I’m Roger. I have a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and have worked for a small software company the last five years. I’m married to my wife, Stacy, and we have two little boys, who are three and five. Most of my free time is with my family, but I’m also a big baseball fan and I run a few fantasy leagues. If, uh, anyone is interested in the spring, let me know.”

“Claudia?” Randy turns to me.

I tamp down my nerves and hope I sound more relaxed than I feel. “Hi, I’m Claudia. I just graduated from MIT with my master’s in Computation and Cognition. I’m incredibly honored to be working here and am looking forward to getting to know everyone.”

“And finally, Gene.”

The middle-aged man nods. “I guess I’m the oldest person here. I retired from the air force a few years ago, got divorced, and decided retirement didn’t agree with me. I worked in cyber security, and that’s what I’ll be doing here. So here I am.”

“Great.” Randy grins. “I’m looking forward to working with all of you. Now, let’s enjoy lunch and please—get to know each other.”

Small talk is one of my least favorite things, but it’ll be okay if we can talk shop.

---