Chapter 1
Monday came and Nico found herself standing outside Encom. She wore a suit and flats, and her dark hair was pulled back as she bit her lip nervously.
This is it. First day at Encom. The stuff of dreams.
She had spent years working towards this day and now that she was here...was it all for nothing?
What if she didn't make past the first day? What if she made a fool of herself? What if...
Stop thinking like that. She told herself. Mom and Dad didn't sacrifice for you to give up now.
Her own consciousness had a point: her parents had put in the extra hours at work so she could have enough money to get her books upon books on programming. They helped her with the extra work to get into college and recommended her to her first small programming jobs. To give up now would be shaming all their work.
With a sigh, she straightened and entered through the glass doors.
The lobby was bustling with people, traveling to different parts of the building for meetings and work. She turned and walked to the secretary. There, she got her work badge and directions to the office.
She nodded and stepped into the nearest elevator with an older man, who looked familiar. Once the door closed, she sighed.
So far so good.
She set her binder and pinned on her work badge.
"First day?"
She jumped and turned to the man. She let out a nervous smile, "Yeah."
"Ah. Well welcome."
"Thanks." She picked back up her binder and looked down. She's never lost for words.
"First days are always hard. I can remember mine very well."
"When was that?"
"October 8, 1979."
She let out a low whistle before she could stop herself. She covered her mouth as her cheeks turned bright red.
The man, however, let out a small chuckle and shook his head.
"I've worked here a long time, I know."
The elevator opened after a moment.
"Well, this must be your stop. You're a programmer?"
She nodded, "Nice talking with you."
Only as the door closed did she realize where she knew that face.
"Smooth Nico." She muttered while running a hand through her hair, "you whistled at the chairman of the board. Great start. Just...brilliant."