"How many times, Adam?"

"Four."

"Come on, mate. You're embarra.s.sing yourself."

"It's none of your business," Adam said. "Go back to your girls."

"No more calls tonight, Adam. You'll regret it. Mark my words." Adam motioned for Henry to leave the room. As he shut the door, he dialed Lisa's number.

He heard a sleepy voice pick up on the other end. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Lisa! Lisa, Lisa. Where are you?"

"I'm in bed, Adam. It's almost four in the morning."

"Do you want to come over?"

"Now? I have cla.s.s at nine."

"Oh, okay. Well, sweet dreams then."

"Goodnight, Adam."

"I love you," he said, but she had already hung up.

Chapter 21.

No Simple Highway Amelia sat across from Tom at Juniper Cafe, a fancy Greek restaurant in Menlo Park, nibbling at the hummus plate he'd ordered as an appetizer. When she'd googled the restaurant and seen the prices on the menu, she'd realized she probably needed to dress up. She'd stopped by the Gap on the way home from the incubator and bought a simple, navy linen dress with spaghetti straps and a pair of gold braided sandals. She paid seventy dollars for the outfit-more than she could remember ever having spent on clothes-but the girl in the dressing room had told her she had to get it because it fit her perfectly. Still, she felt like an imposter wearing something other than her normal jean shorts and plaid shirt.

That morning, they had made the decision to bring Amit, a shy soph.o.m.ore from Bangalore, and Marcus, a precocious redheaded junior from Chicago, onto the engineering team. Amit had worked as a programmer in India throughout high school and was a machine at developing and replicating code; Marcus was an expert on iPhone application software and had interned at Cisco the summer before, giving him exposure to a range of products relevant to Doreye.

They were quirky in their own ways, but Amelia liked them both very much. They would each work fifteen hours a week on tasks that Amelia would a.s.sign every Monday.

Tom had brought her to dinner to celebrate the first hires. The restaurant was small and intimate, with only a dozen or so tables covered in white tablecloths. The dining room was dimly lit by candles and stained-gla.s.s lanterns mounted on the dark wooden walls.

"Can I tempt you with a gla.s.s of champagne?" Tom asked.

"Sure," she said. Since playing ZOSTRA at the Lair last Wednesday, she had been more open to alcohol. She had never had champagne before; what was the harm in trying?

"Excellent," he said, motioning over the waiter.

They toasted. "To expanding your team," Tom said as he clinked her gla.s.s. Amelia winced at the sour flavor of the champagne, and Tom noticed.

"It's an acquired taste. Talk to me in five years and you'll love it." Over lamb moussaka and grilled halibut, they chatted about Doreye, the team, their progress and next steps. After the waiter had cleared their plates, Tom leaned forward and placed his hands on the table.

"So, Amelia, I wanted to bring you to dinner tonight in part to celebrate, and in part to make a suggestion." She took a sip of her champagne. She was on her second gla.s.s and was feeling open to ideas, but this still came as a surprise.

"It was a big summer, and you made a lot of decisions. You turned down a lot of money, which showed how committed you are to this product. And now you've hired two new team members, which is going to significantly increase your time commitment. Plus, you've got TechCrunch following Doreye's progress, which means pressure to get a product out sooner rather than later."

She nodded, waiting for the punch line.

"And so, I think you're at the point now where you need to start thinking hard about your priorities. And whether you can really do what you want to do at Doreye while remaining a full-time student. If you want it to succeed in a big way, Doreye needs to be the only road you travel." Amelia sat up a little straighter in her chair. She adjusted her gla.s.ses on her face. "Are you telling me to drop out of school?" Tom smiled. "I would never tell you what to do, Amelia. It's your decision. But people do take breaks from school. You can always go back later and finish your degree."

"Drop out?" she said softly to herself, looking down at the table. The thought of leaving school had never crossed her mind. That was something people like Steve Jobs did, and, as much press as Doreye was getting, she didn't consider herself Steve Jobs.

Then again, the incubator provided everything she'd ever hoped for: she could code all day long and work on whatever she wanted, just like at the Gates building, but without having the distraction of English cla.s.ses and other University requirements. She could move into an apartment and not have to deal with being an RCC or eating dining hall food.

But something in her gut didn't like the idea. As idyllic as it sounded, she . . . what was it? What was holding her back?

She looked up at Tom. "I'm not sure," she said.

He put up his hands. "Absolutely no pressure to decide tonight. I just think you should give it some thought." The waiter brought out two small plates of baklava.

Amelia cut a piece with her fork, still searching for what it was about leaving Stanford that bothered her so much. It's not like she had to have the degree in order to do what she wanted. The incubator was what she wanted.

As she chewed on the flaky, honey-soaked pastry, the memory of last Wednesday flashed in her mind.

ZOSTRA. That's why she didn't want to leave. She had finally found a group of people with whom she felt comfortable, and she wasn't sure she was ready to give that up. But how could she tell Tom she wouldn't commit to Doreye full time because she wanted to play video games with a bunch of computer science nerds?

"Well, look who it is," Tom said, waving at the door behind Amelia.

Amelia turned around to see who had just entered the restaurant.

Her heart sank.

Sundeep was walking toward their table, his hand around the waist of a gorgeous, perfectly dressed and coiffed blond girl. Amelia felt her cheeks burning with envy. Of course that was the kind of girl he went for. Why had she ever, ever thought he'd like her?

She forced a smile as the couple approached their table. Tom stood to shake Sundeep's hand.

"What a coincidence," Tom said. "We were just celebrating Doreye's most recent expansion. We hired two engineers this morning."

"That's great! Congratulations," Sundeep said, smiling.

Amelia felt the pride of her accomplishment wash away, replaced by embarra.s.sment.

"We're celebrating, too. It's our six month anniversary." Sundeep squeezed the blond girl's waist and looked affectionately at her. "Tom, Amelia, this is my girlfriend, Lisa Bristol."

Author Biography.

Sadie Hayes holds several degrees from Stanford University. She has spent years working in the tech industry, both as an entrepreneur and as an investor. The Anti-Social Network is the second episode in her new series: The Start-Up. If you work in Silicon Valley, you might not know Sadie Hayes. But she knows you.

Follow Sadie: www.twitter.com/DigitalSadie www.Doreye.com.

Want more of The Start-Up?

For a sneak preview of Episode 3: Beautiful Code Just go to: www.facebook.com/doreye.