Your support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)He didn’t want to be here right now. It wasn’t the only thought in his head as he absently drove the car into the empty cobblestone driveway of the nice home he’d be heading in toshortly. There were a lot of memories here; mostly good, not all of them, but enough that under normal circumstances simply walking up to the front door would give him a pleasant feeling. But Thomas Olsen was nothing if not deliberate in his thought process, and the only thing that kept on repeating in his head was that he shouldn’t have to be doing this.
And yet, it was doing these types of tasks that had gotten him to this point, feeling like a glorified chauffeur and babysitter for the daughter of one of the company founders. Or, more precisely, the other founder of CeeSence, now mostly shortened to CS among industry insiders. A clever play on words of ‘See sense’ or ‘Common Sense’, depending on which one of them you asked.
Well over twenty years ago now, Thomas and his friend, Andrew, had come up with the idea to form a software company based on the simple concept of not making things harder than they had to be after their frustrations dealing with IBM and Apple to work with them on a software engineering idea. Like many freshly graduated college students, the two of them figured they’d be better off doing it themselves. Unlike many of those same students, the two of them had not only succeeded, but thrived, and now CS had grown to well over two hundred and fifty employees in four (soon to be five!) different markets.
While they were both talented engineers in their own right, they would both readily admit that Andrew was the better talker, and Thomas the better engineer, even as they’d been known to flip roles on more than one occasion; Thomas had charmed more than a few rooms full of employees and customers alike, while Andrew knew his way around a server room and had come up with a few ingenious solutions that Thomas and his 24 hour trouble-shooting marathons had been unable to find himself. So they were a team, and somehow had managed to avoid the tensions and breakups that plagued many tech companies of the past few years.
And yet, their relationship was not without peril; Andrew had become something of a micromanager recently, while Thomas had tried to take some time away in a futile attempt to save his marriage. It had failed rather spectacularly, and it had only been over the past few weeks that Thomas had felt normalcy returning to his life, or at least getting used to the new routine of living alone and finding out what to do without a wife; his children were grown and in university now anyways, often finding excuses to miss his phone calls or not respond to his texts.
It was that tension which was part of the source of his irritation now, at the periphery of his mind as he made his way to the front door and knocked on it. Thomas had put on his normal work outfit; a perfectly fitted suit (dark blue today), with a light blue shirt and dark gray tie. His perfectly polished black shoes clicked against the surface as he looked around, biting back his frustration and attempting to keep a neutral expression on his face, at least until the door opened and he could see her.
It wasn’t that she irritated him. If anything, Thomas didn’t know Andrew’s daughter, Laila, particularly well; they’d had a few conversations and she seemed intelligent and respectful. But the fact that he was here, at his partner’s former home (presumably one he’d either gifted her or was letting her use, since Andrew had clearly told him that this was Laila’s house now), now playing taxi for a young woman who was getting far more than she deserved, well…
…it made Thomas just want to get this over with so he could get on his day, even as he knew Andrew expected him to take Laila under his wing to prepare her to step into his shoes one day. Thomas respected the sentiment, of course; but if Andrew wanted Laila to inherit the company so much, maybe he should just train her himself.
Not that he’d ever say that to him; after all, Andrew did have quite the temper…Thomas idly rubbed his chin, not realizing he’d only been at the door a few seconds before he saw signs of movement in front of him; presumably the young woman opening the door to let him in.
And yet, it was doing these types of tasks that had gotten him to this point, feeling like a glorified chauffeur and babysitter for the daughter of one of the company founders. Or, more precisely, the other founder of CeeSence, now mostly shortened to CS among industry insiders. A clever play on words of ‘See sense’ or ‘Common Sense’, depending on which one of them you asked.
Well over twenty years ago now, Thomas and his friend, Andrew, had come up with the idea to form a software company based on the simple concept of not making things harder than they had to be after their frustrations dealing with IBM and Apple to work with them on a software engineering idea. Like many freshly graduated college students, the two of them figured they’d be better off doing it themselves. Unlike many of those same students, the two of them had not only succeeded, but thrived, and now CS had grown to well over two hundred and fifty employees in four (soon to be five!) different markets.
While they were both talented engineers in their own right, they would both readily admit that Andrew was the better talker, and Thomas the better engineer, even as they’d been known to flip roles on more than one occasion; Thomas had charmed more than a few rooms full of employees and customers alike, while Andrew knew his way around a server room and had come up with a few ingenious solutions that Thomas and his 24 hour trouble-shooting marathons had been unable to find himself. So they were a team, and somehow had managed to avoid the tensions and breakups that plagued many tech companies of the past few years.
And yet, their relationship was not without peril; Andrew had become something of a micromanager recently, while Thomas had tried to take some time away in a futile attempt to save his marriage. It had failed rather spectacularly, and it had only been over the past few weeks that Thomas had felt normalcy returning to his life, or at least getting used to the new routine of living alone and finding out what to do without a wife; his children were grown and in university now anyways, often finding excuses to miss his phone calls or not respond to his texts.
It was that tension which was part of the source of his irritation now, at the periphery of his mind as he made his way to the front door and knocked on it. Thomas had put on his normal work outfit; a perfectly fitted suit (dark blue today), with a light blue shirt and dark gray tie. His perfectly polished black shoes clicked against the surface as he looked around, biting back his frustration and attempting to keep a neutral expression on his face, at least until the door opened and he could see her.
It wasn’t that she irritated him. If anything, Thomas didn’t know Andrew’s daughter, Laila, particularly well; they’d had a few conversations and she seemed intelligent and respectful. But the fact that he was here, at his partner’s former home (presumably one he’d either gifted her or was letting her use, since Andrew had clearly told him that this was Laila’s house now), now playing taxi for a young woman who was getting far more than she deserved, well…
…it made Thomas just want to get this over with so he could get on his day, even as he knew Andrew expected him to take Laila under his wing to prepare her to step into his shoes one day. Thomas respected the sentiment, of course; but if Andrew wanted Laila to inherit the company so much, maybe he should just train her himself.
Not that he’d ever say that to him; after all, Andrew did have quite the temper…Thomas idly rubbed his chin, not realizing he’d only been at the door a few seconds before he saw signs of movement in front of him; presumably the young woman opening the door to let him in.