I Kept It Hidden for Three Years

At two in the morning, I found a line of code in the company system that shouldn't have been there. From that day on, I kept quiet for three years. By day, I'm an ordinary programmer who squeezes onto the subway, eats in the cafeteria, and gets nagged by my mom to get married. By night, I follow the directions on a piece of paper folded into quarters and call a number I don't dare save on my phone. Then the assessment team moved into our office, and the woman sitting next to me began asking: Do you live far away? Have you ever mentored an intern? I thought I'd hidden everything well. The moment the call connected, the voice on the other end said just one thing: We've been waiting three months for this call from you.