Well, I can’t sugarcoat this. He’s terrible.
“Wait, what happened at his code review?” I ask with my heart hammering against my chest, still in the bargaining phase.
This isn’t happening.
“Who reviewed it?”
My breath quickens, my heart going staccato against my ribs. We have systems in place for this. Everyone, no matter their seniority level, gets their code reviewed by someone else on the team before pushing their changes to the live version.
So Oliver isn’t the only who royally fucked up.
“Does it matter?”
“I’m at the airport,” I say, my voice coming out steadier than I feel. “I’m literally about to board a flight for Christmas vacation with my family.”
“I understand that, but this is an emergency. I’m calling both you and Bianca in. The entire app is unusable for our entire customer base.”
I press my fingers against my temple, a headache building. “Can’t someone else handle it?”
Bianca is a solid developer. Surely, she can figure it out if she’s paired with someone who’s at least mediocre.
“You know as well as I do that you’re the best on the team, Karan.” He pauses. “Look, the company will cover your rebooking fees. Just get here as soon as you can.”
The line goes dead before I can respond. I stand motionless for a moment, phone still pressed to my ear.
The ambient sound of the airport rings in my ears as I try to figure out how to tell Rachel.
“Karan?” Her voice is soft. Worried.
I turn to find her standing right behind me.
“What's wrong?”
“Shit went down at work.” The words taste like ash in my mouth. “The whole app is down. I need to go back and fix it.”
Rachel’s face goes through a series of emotions—concern, understanding, and then, finally, anger.
“No,” she says firmly. “No way.”
“Rachel—”
“We’re about to board a plane. Then the ferry.” Her voice rises slightly, and she glances at the boys before lowering it again. “They can’t seriously expect you t—”
“They’ll cover my rebooking fees.”
“Yourrebooking fees?” She takes a step back, her eyes widening. “What about us? What about the boys?”
I swallow hard. “They’ll only cover mine.”
“Of course they will.” The bitterness in her voice cuts deep. “So what? I’m supposed to handle the boys alone on a ferry crossing? While your parents hover and question every parenting decision I make?”
The mixture of rage and despair in her voice sends me stumbling back.
“Rachel…” I try to catch her hand, but she pulls away. “I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place here. Trust me, I don’twantto go.”
She lowers her voice again. “You’re seriously going to leave me alone?”
“My parents will be here to help—”
