Page 7 of The Photograph

I take a deep breath. “This Samsung contract happened fast. After their call, we were out in Korea in two days. We’ve put in a lot of hard work and late nights to catch up. We’re still trying to catch up, if I’m honest. You guys are here to help with that. Dahlia is in the process of moving all this”—I wave at the spreadsheet on the screen—“into proper planning software. “Now I want to run through the areas that each of you …”

“Unprofessional,” Mr. Hairy mumbles under his breath, and Mr. Nerdy on his other side nods.

“The office is very small,” a girl with long dark hair pipes up, peering out at the dozen or so desks now crammed into the space.

“We’re negotiating on new office space as we speak,” I say, and the back of my neck starts to get hot.

“Are we movinglocation? Man, that’s going to fuck with my commute,” another guy groans.

Jesus Christ.“It’s an extra floor in this building,” I say.

An Asian guy sitting near me on my right examines the screen. “Surely we need some sort of induction into the company’s systems before we start on the …”

Leaning forward, I slam my hand on the table. “Listen up! We don’t have time for all this …” I wave my hand around “… side-tracking.”

The man who asked the question’s eyes go wide. Another guy clears his throat in the silence and shifts in his seat. His smart pants and his shiny shoes remind me of … Nope. Not going there. Why is he so dressed up? Developersneverwear those clothes.

I take a deep breath. “I need you to spend some time listening and absorbing on your first day here. Make a note of anything you’re concerned about, and we can deal with individual questions one at a time afterward.”

Two hours later I’m through the briefing and the whole team are in the kitchen getting drinks. James sticks his head around the meeting room door.

“How’s it going?”

I squint at him and grit my teeth. How aboutlosing my mind? “Fine. We’ve got a lot to wade through.”

He grins. “Did Cath and I do a decent job with recruitment?”

We employed Cath right after we landed the Samsung contract as a general project manager. She’s excellent but young. What do I say to this? I’m going to have a problem with at least two of them. Is it me? Am I the obstacle here? Four people left from the last group we took on, and we can’t afford to lose anymore. Samsung is 80 percent of our business right now, and I don’t want to think about what could happen if I don’t deliver.

“The Italian guy, Rodrigo, is a bit …”

“Male?” James laughs. “Cath and I have a sweepstake running on how quickly you’ll get pissed with him.”

About five minutes is the answer to that one.

“I’m sorry, Des. He had too much phone system expertise for us to turn him down.”

I wave a hand. “Yeah. Yeah. I get it. It’s not like software people are easy to find.”

The afternoon session, which Artie leads and I sit in on, doesn’t go any better than the morning one. Lots of questions, endless poking of holes into everything we’re doing. What’s wrong with these people? I like to be challenged, but about every little thing? This meeting was scheduled to take three hours, not all day, and I’ve already had to put off a couple of Zoom meetings. But I’m not a quitter, and making this team gel is my job, so when it reaches 5 p.m., I say:

“It’s been a long day. How about we all decamp to the bar around the corner for a drink?” I pull myself up out of my chair, and everyone glances at each other like they’re waiting for someone to argue with me.Jesus Christ.Rodrigo stands and says he’s got to get home to his family, and then another guy gets up behind him and says he also has to head out. People begin to shuffle their feet and look at their phones.

“Does anyone else need to go immediately?” I say.

The girl who complained about the size of the office, who I think is called Amy, skewers me with a look. “There was nothing in the contract about having to stay late, and most technology companies are flexible with the times people start and finish. I was wondering if I could come in later because I have to take my child to preschool.”

“That’s no problem. I’m aware that people have other responsibilities. Tonight is a social drink, which is entirely discretionary. I thought it would be a fun idea since you all started today.” I sweep my hand around the group. “The company will pay for the drinks. But if you need to go, I fully understand. We can talk about individual start and finish times one-on-one tomorrow.”

Another guy, Michael, who’s been pretty quiet, and I’d marked him down as one of the okay guys based on the fact he took loads of notes, pipes up, “In my previous job, I worked flexible hours, too. I don’t see why people with children should be the only ones to work the hours that suit them.”

Amy folds her arms on her chest. “You do know it’s not time to ‘suit us,’ don’t you?” she says, making air quotes around the words. “You can’t leave a three-year-old standing on the street because you didn’t turn up at 3 p.m.”

Michael shakes his head. “I was just saying that all employees ought to have equal rights. No need to get uppity. Geesh.”

“Asshole,” Amy mutters under her breath.

I raise my hands. “Guys, please. Let’s be supportive of other people’s needs. Amy. Michael. We’ll talk about what we can to do accommodate both of your requirements tomorrow.”

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