My heart goes a little faster, knowing that everybody is watching me and judging me by my response. Even so, I kind of get how May is excited about being on this team. It feels good to have people counting on me, people who are really dedicated and hardworking.
I take a deep breath and give him my response. “Well, if I were to have the perfect situation in front of me, and if we had all the time in the world to figure things out, I would say going on-site maybe after hours and getting into their computers would be the best way to go. As long as I have their passwords, and I don’t need to try to crack into anything, we could get in there pretty quickly and take a look around.” I pause, imagining myself in the dead of night searching through a stranger’s files. I’m definitely going to need to build some sort of algorithm to search and compile data quicker than I could do on my own, but I could do that part at home after the systems are cloned. “How many employees are we talking about? Because that might change my answer.”
Lucky answers without looking at his file. “There are eight employees in the main office, and another twenty to thirty employees at various stores.”
I chew my lip as I think that through. “Hmmm . . . that could take a while working on-site. It might be better if we made clones of the individual computers, so I could work out of sight during the day. If we have to go in after hours, it’s going to be very difficult for me.” I cringe at that truth. “I’m sorry, but I have three kids, so my time isn’t exactly all my own, if you know what I mean.”
Thibault holds his hands up. “Hey, we’re here to work with you, however it’s good for you. If it’s easier for you to make clones and work from home or work at the warehouse during the day, we’ll do it that way. We want to accommodate you as much as possible.”
Thibault has no idea that he’s just put a crack in my heart. It’s one of those happy cracks that appears when you realize that all your life you’ve been working for the wrong people and you really should have looked harder to find a job like this one in the first place.
I clear my throat so I can talk without that lump that just appeared messing me up. “I appreciate that. And trust me, my kids appreciate it. I think it would be better if I could work from home. I could come to the warehouse if you need me to, but any time I spend on the road is time I could be on the computer. This could get really tricky.” I look at Ozzie, willing him not to be offended at my next statement. “Do you know how many hours you were expecting me to work?” It’s going to take me at least ten hours to do this thing they’ve just described, but probably a lot more than that, and all I’ve been offered is five hundred bucks. It could easily turn out to be a less-than-minimum-wage situation, which I’d love to avoid, but I don’t want to come right out and say that in front of all these people.
Luckily, Ozzie picks up on my meaning right away. “The fee we offered you was just for a consultation from you, to do what you’re doing right now. You’ve already earned it. If you actually decide to do the work, we’ll just pay you your hourly rate, whatever it is.”
“Okay.” My face is burning red again. Should I admit the truth? That I don’t have any idea what my hourly rate is? When I look around at the people at the table and then hear my son giggling in the other room, I make my decision very quickly; the truth is always the best way to go, regardless of where you end up.
“I’ve actually never freelanced before, so I don’t exactly have an hourly rate.”
“You know what you’re doing though, don’t you?” This question comes from Toni, and there’s a hint of a challenge to it. But this is her house, and I’m in no position to come back with attitude of my own, so I answer with as much humility as I can muster.
I nod. “Yes, I’m fully qualified as both a computer engineer and software engineer. But if you’d like to see my diplomas and some samples of my work, I’d be happy to provide them.”
Ozzie sounds a little perturbed as he shoots Toni a hard look. “You don’t need to do that. You’ve already been fully vetted by Thibault.”
Fully vetted? What’s that mean? I decide to hold my tongue on that for now.
It’s possible there’s a little spark of rebellion in Toni’s eye, but then she looks away, and I can’t see how she feels about the situation anymore. She just got put in her place, so she can’t be very happy. May once described her as a little prickly, and now I know why. She’s like a little Bahia hairy dwarf porcupine sitting over there, ready to challenge anybody about anything, stick a few well-placed quills in their faces.