“No way,” he said with a laugh. “You’ll have to wrestle me away from here. It’s not the R&D Department, although I’m sure you would give me a run for my money if you ever set your sights on my job.” He folded his hands on his desk. “The department we want you to run doesn’t officially have a name yet. In fact, it’s not officially a department just yet. As of right now, we’re calling it Trendsetters Outreach.”

Samiah repeated the title, unable to mask her confusion. “Can you expound a bit?”

“The work you’ve been doing, like reaching out to schools and women’s shelters and adoption centers, it’s elevated Trendsetters’ profile in the community and the industry.”

“It has also made an impact on the company as a whole,” Barrington said. “Your coworkers see the positive work you’re doing and they want to contribute. Take that middle schooler who shadowed you the other day. What was her name? Tomeka?”

Samiah nodded.

“That made such an impact. I’ve had several employees approach me about bringing in students interested in STEM. Someone even suggested we devote an entire day to it.”

“I like that idea,” Samiah said.

“So do I. Look, I want Trendsetters to be here for a long time,” Barrington said. “The only way the company survives once I’m living out my retirement years on a private island near St. Barts is if we start grooming future computer engineers and software developers early.”

She could totally see the company’s young CEO retiring by age forty and enjoying a life of leisure on an island somewhere in the Caribbean.

“What does this mean for my position in R&D?” she asked. If either said that they would offer it to Keighleigh she would pitch a fit.

“Aparna Bajwa would be promoted into your position,” Justin said. “She deserves it.”

Samiah let out a relieved breath. She could absolutely get behind that.

“And my team in this new Outreach Department?” she asked. “Do you have people in mind?”

“Now, I know we tend to work in teams,” Justin said, reaching over to the Newton’s cradle on his desk. He pulled back one metal ball and sent it careening into its neighbor. “However, because this is a new position that we’re testing—”

“Implementing,” Barrington interrupted as he grabbed the swaying balls, putting a halt to their clacking. “Testing makes it seem as if we won’t go through with it if it doesn’t work the way we’re expecting it to. That’s not going to happen. We’ll try things out, see how they work, and adjust if necessary, but this is here to stay.”