generally ended up with an unpleasant lesson in the pressure points in the hand.
“If you'll follow me.”
He turned and started to walk without even looking behind him to see if I was coming. I wondered how much of that was the confidence that came from being the boss or if it was arrogance. I supposed I'd figure it out soon enough.
“I've done my research on you, Ms. Lang,” he said as he pressed the elevator button.
I was a bit surprised. I'd thought someone who insisted on personally meeting every new arrival would want to talk to me one-on-one since we hadn't really had an interview. As we hadn't gone to his private elevator, I assumed he was putting me right to work.
“And I've done mine on you, Mr. Archer,” I replied.
I caught a hint of a smile, but he didn't look at me.
“I insist that all of my employees call me Rylan.”
Ah, one of those kinds of rich guys. I'd met them before. They wanted their employees to think of them as buddies. Thought it gave them some kind of equality, made them more like the “common man”.
“Am I an employee then?” I asked as I followed him onto the elevator.
“For the moment,” he answered and pushed the button for the top floor.
I frowned. Most central computer systems were kept on ground floors, sometimes higher up if a company didn't have the whole building. I'd never heard of a computer room on the top floor.
“You'll be accessing the server from my office,” Rylan said. “I don't allow anyone but myself in the main server room.”
“No private elevator?” The question popped out and I mentally scolded myself. That wasn't any of my business.
Rylan ignored my question and went back to his previous train of thought. “You have quite an impressive history.” He glanced at me. “Would you prefer I call you Ms. Lang, or is Jenna okay?”
I knew how it worked. If I said Ms. Lang, I was being stand-offish. If I said Jenna, he might take it as license to get too personal. In previous situations, I'd found the best way to handle it was to not make the decision. “However you address the rest of your employees would be appropriate.”
Again, a twitch of lips that said my answer somehow amused him. “All right, Jenna. As I was saying, when looking for a tech company, I was very thorough. I have to say, I was surprised when I reached you.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Of course he was surprised. Everyone was surprised to find out I ran a legitimate business and had the degrees to back it up. Not that I could blame them. I looked more like the freak the suits kept in the basement and never let out.
“You're young to have a masters in computer science,” he said.
Not the first thing I'd expected. I figured he was either building up to comment on my appearance or would let it go completely.
“Then again, you graduated at sixteen, went straight into summer classes and didn't take any time off. Considering all that, getting a masters along with a minor in business by twenty isn't really odd.” Rylan's voice was even, matter-of-fact.
I wasn't sure if I should be impressed or freaked out that he knew so much about me. Most employers dug, but not that deeply. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Rylan motioned for me to step out first and then followed. We were on the top floor, which wasn't surprising, but what surprised the hell out of me was that there wasn't a hallway. It opened straight into his office. At least I assumed it was his office since that's where he'd said we were going.
It didn't look like any CEO's office I'd ever seen before. For one thing, it was one giant open space with three glass walls. Behind us, where the room would've gone out over the lobby, was a solid wall with a door on either side of the elevator door. One, I assumed, would lead to a private bathroom. The other, I wasn't sure, but wasn't too curious about. Not my business. What would be my business was the set up three fourths of the way into the room.
When we first walked in, there were two long conference tables on either side of the elevator door. All of the chairs faced an elaborate extension of about three or four desks had been placed together to create a long island that could