“I’ll have it up and running in an hour,” Noah barked out in a rush, opening his arms in a placating gesture and not giving her the chance to chew him out more.
“We are doing a test run in the afternoon and two more tomorrow. Everyone, make sure you’re set,” she instructed the team at large, her voice unnecessarily loud. “We are triple-checking this and leaving no room for mistakes.”
Noah wondered yet again how exactly Rosetta had gotten this job position when she was so clueless.Scratch that. It was actually a dumb question with an even more obviously dumb answer—it was due to seniority. The older generations who ran, the Empire just refused to adapt to the modern times like the rest of the world.
Yet another reason why Noah couldn’t fucking wait to leave this country.
“Triple-checking,” Noah echoed back to Bernard as the man swiveled in his chair and sighed. “More like wasting three times as much resources because we don’t really understand how automation works.”
Bernard huffed in subtle agreement as Noah raked a hand through his hair and adjusted his long bangs. “I literally explained to her four times that there were no changes from the last build and she still won’t listen. On top of giving her a walkthrough of the penetration testing we have in place.”
“At least she didn’t send you to double-check the Security approvals.” Noah snorted and then shuddered at a flashback of yesterday.
“No, man. That one’s reserved exclusively foryou.”
“I’m more than happy to let you handle it.”
“Nuh-uh.” Bernard grinned, leaning in. “Wouldn’t want to get between Teresa and her favorite,” he deadpanned, forming a circle with his index finger and thumb and poking his other index finger through it in quick successions.
It was funny, but it also wasn’t funny at all, Noah’s roiling stomach reminded him. He withheld a groan. Fortunately, he didn’t get to enjoy Teresa’s attentions today despite the day dragging, though he did get a nasty headache from Rosetta’s shouting and the step-by-step report of the entire process he had to put together so it could be filed to Administration for good measure. It was part of how things were done around here, even if Noah knew no one was going to look at it. On the bright side, Rosetta let them go after they handed in the documentation and Noah headed straight home, looking forward to finishing his latest portrait of the red-skinned demon man.
3
The last day before the long-awaited holiday was more of the same. Despite Rosetta not letting off even if everything was exactly as it should, Noah’s mood didn’t tank. Maybe it was the excitement of not having to come into work for an extra three days, or maybe it was the feeling of accomplishment from finishing that portrait last night, but whatever the case, Noah’s day was so good he even agreed to join the team for drinks. The company paying all expenses helped to convince him too, he supposed; regardless, he didn’t intend to stay out all night.
After Noah ate his food, he stuck around so he could chat a bit more with his colleagues. He didn’t drink alcohol himself, but watching others get wasted tended to be amusing. Unfortunately, his fun didn’t last as Teresa appeared from somewhere and decided to ruin his night.
“Noah, dear, what luck to run into you here! I didn’t realize your team was coming to the Brejoul restaurant as well?”
Teresa was lying, but it wasn’t worth calling her out on it. The less he challenged her about anything pertaining to him, the fewer opportunities she got of dragging him into uncomfortable conversations.
“Yeah, it was a last-minute change, I think. Overbooking,” he replied, plastering on a fake smile.
“Ah, I see. Well, I suppose I am not complaining.” She placed her fingers across her mouth and giggled, the sound and the action itself not quite befitting a woman of her age. “Also, great job on the deployment tests. I heard the results were perfect,” she added, placing both hands on Noah’s chair’s backrest as she positioned herself behind him.
Of course the results were good. Noah had automated the entire server and network configuration workflow. There was no more manual work like how things used to be when he’d first joined the company. Although, most people were probably unaware of the simple AI he’d put together and trained to handle the process, and still believed it was all done by hand.
Noah angled himself slightly so he could catch her gaze. “Indeed. We are all set up for tomorrow.” Not that they even needed all those back-ups, but whatever.
Teresa lifted her hand, her long nails grazing the skin along his left cheek. “Lovely. Have you decided what activities you will be joining?”
Why, of course, Teresa. None of them, because I’m not planning to go.In reality, Noah said, “I heard the dances this year will be more diverse, so I intend to check those out. Then, in the afternoon, a few friends and I are going for drinks and then stopping by the matchmaking parlor.”
“Oh, you are? Perfect. I’ll be overseeing that, so I’ll make sure to pick you a cute girl. Which sessions are you interested in?”
Why wouldn’t she just leave already and go back to her table? And her hand on his cheek…
“We haven’t decided yet, but I’llmake sureto say hi when I seeyou.”
“I recommend an evening one. A few of my students will be up for grabs, as they say, and they are all very lovely and eager to snatch a husband. I guarantee you’ll find at least one to your liking.” She leaned in closer, her overly sweet perfume assaulting Noah’s nostrils. “There will be an extra session afterwards as well, courtesy of His Holiness’ delegate who will also be present. I am positive it will be extremely useful to someone like you, Noah.” This she said in a hushed voice, slipping something into his jacket’s pocket and placing her hand on his thigh. The touch made him bristle. “Just show them the card.”
This card had to be what she’d tucked in his pocket, but Noah’s brain couldn’t even care about it right now, or about turning her down, not when his stomach was upside down and he was fighting to push down the urge to vomit. He felt so… dirty suddenly, and it took him all the effort he had to maintain his smile and not to flinch away from the contact with her.
Teresa was… important. Unmarried too, despite being in her late forties. And she seemed to want him, she’d made no secret about that, bothering him since the moment he’d joined the company.
It wasn’t unheard of for older women of certain standing to go for younger husbands and many of them. Even if these women couldn’t bear children anymore due to their age. They had dedicated their best years to the Church and growing its influence, spreading its teachings, recruiting followers for its wars, and it warranted certain privileges now, placing them in charge of supervising the population and ensuring everyone followed the ‘right path’.
Among these women, Teresa stood right at the top, one of the wealthiest, most influential Church ministers that answered directly to His Holiness.
