Jason was excited. More than excited, he was overjoyed.
The past few days had been a blur. Late last week, Jason had heard back about the app development project.
They had watched his video and were interested in moving forward with some of his ideas. Naturally, however, there were a couple caveats.
Firstly, Jason would have to sign a document that, in essence, allowed the employer to use his ideas royalty-free.
'Whatever,'
Jason thought. Such clauses were pretty standard, and it wasn't like he had come up with anything particularly groundbreaking.
Secondly, they wanted him to make the app for Apple before he did an Android version.
That was unfortunate. Jason had messed around with Swift, Apple's currently preferred programming language, but he wasn't exactly proficient.
He had no doubt he could get it done, but his code would be sloppy, and it would take twice as long.
Any other time, Jason still would have accepted. However, his personal plans required him to complete the Android version of the app as soon as possible.
It sounded like the company was ready to sign with him, but they were still working out the details, and this could actually work in Jason's favor.
After signing a non-disclosure agreement, the company had sent Jason the complete project plan.
As is often the case, the people making the job posting and the people in charge of the project were not good at communicating with each other.
As a result, the project's scope was significantly different from what Jason had bid on—doubly so with the addition of his ideas.
Luckily Jason had the entire weekend to go over everything because it gave him time to write up an updated proposal and to do one other significant bit of research.
Jason's detailed proposal, with updated pricing, would be waiting for the folks at Holistic Audio Solutions, LLC, (HAS) when they logged in Monday morning.
HAS was almost certainly a shell corporation designed to obfuscate the identity of a larger, more recognizable company that was actually behind the app.
(It was a common practice that enabled well-known companies to cash in on the unethical and often predatory practices used to make "free" apps profitable without tarnishing their reputation.)
The updated pricing in the proposal was fair and proportional to the increase in the project's scope. So, Jason hoped that the project leads wouldn't balk at the new price tag.
Regardless, the additional monies were necessary for Jason to implement his plan.
He was confident in his ability to write the Android version of the app quickly, and his personal goals required that said version was completed first.
In order to meet the company's requirements of an Apple version first, Jason would use the increased revenue to hire a team of developers somewhere in Asia or Eastern Europe.
That team would translate his Java code into the equivalent Swift code. (Naturally, it wasn't just as simple as changing the syntax of the code. A lot of it would be that simple, but a lot of it would also have to be rewritten entirely.)
If he could pull it off, Jason would have the Android version of the app done quickly while still meeting the contract's requirements.
Unfortunately, this also meant that Jason would be making the same money—possibly even less—but doing three times the work.
It wasn't until Thursday morning, a full week after Jason made his video, that everything was signed, and Jason could officially get to work.
The extra week had actually been excellent for Jason, as it gave him time to get a head start. He was going to need it to meet the ambitious timetable he'd agreed to.
One last problem remained...how was he going to pay the team he'd hired.
Thankfully he was able to get HAS to agree to a deliverable-based pay schedule. When he reached each deliverable milestone, he'd turn over his work, and they'd pay him.
He set up a similar system with his team, so barring any significant delays, everything should work out just fine.
Of course, Jason was no stranger to the ebbs and flows of fate. (After all, Carl Orff was one of his favorite composers.) So, while he happily worked on his project during the afternoon, he fully expected his mother would find some way to wreck his mood by that evening.
He was right.
That evening, after all his chores were done and he was just about to retreat to his bedroom, Janice called him into the kitchen.
Jason found her sitting at the kitchen table. "Sit down," she said, a hint of annoyance in her tone.
Jason sat. They both knew what this conversation was about.
"I know you haven't been going to class, Jason." She stared at Jason, waiting for an answer, but he just stared back at her. He was wearing a practiced expression, one of meekness and subservience.
It made him sick to his stomach to lower himself before this woman, but he'd been here before. He knew that as long as his mother felt like she was in control and that he was already miserable, the punishment wouldn't be quite as bad.
There was no dodging punishment, it was inevitable, but he'd gotten good at deflecting it slightly.
"I checked the trust's statement today. Your college messed up; they never cashed the cheques I sent them." Her blatant lie further infuriated Jason, but he kept his expression neutral.
He knew better than to call her on her lie, but he also knew better than to play dumb.
If he called her out, she would deny it, call him a liar, and punish him twice as hard.
If Jason played it too dumb, she would know that he knew the truth and punish him out of guilt, shame, or, more likely, embarrassment.
"All they told me was that I had a balance due, and I was being removed from my classes. Oh, and that I would forfeit the fees I'd already paid." Everything Jason said was true; at worst, it might be a slight lie of omission.
"Oh, that's terrible," his mother said, touching her heart and affecting a tone of false sympathy. "You worked so hard for that money."
Jason just nodded in response.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, her tone changing to accusation and anger. "And what have you been doing all day if not going to school?"
Jason had anticipated this part of the conversation. He couldn't tell her the truth because she would attempt to sabotage him. He had to redirect her anger toward something innocuous by using a believable lie.
He hesitated in replying as he tensed his body and added a look of panic to his eyes. (This too, was a well-practiced maneuver.)
"Jason," his mother demanded, "tell me right now what you've been wasting your time on!"
"Xbox," Jason answered, looking defeated.
"I knew it!" Janice exclaimed. "I never should have let you keep that ridiculous box."
"It was a gift from Aunt Jenny," Jason pleaded. "I've had it for four years and have almost never been able to play it."
'God damn,'
Jason thought to himself,
'I deserve an Oscar for this performance.'
