by Ali Parker
“Hey, buddy,” he said, looking out the window. “Nice view.”
“Yeah,” I fake chuckled, trying to hide my misery. “Welcome to the company.”
“Thanks,” he said, smiling at me. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Just a case of the Monday blues, that’s all. What’s up?”
“I need to meet with the team,” he said. “This project isn’t slowing down, so I want to get on the same page with everyone. Just call a meeting and introduce me, and I’ll take it from there.”
“All right,” I said, walking over to the computer and sending a message to everyone. “Done. We meet in five minutes.”
“Perfect,” he said. “Meet you over there?”
“Yep.” I smiled. “I’ll be right there.”
I watched him walk out of the room, and I closed my eyes for a moment, knowing I had to go in and meet with the entire team. Luckily, for me, Marcus was going to run the whole thing. I knew there was no way I could stand up there and be focused enough to do anything like that. My mind was still wrapped around that headshake Dalton had given me, and the fact that Amanda really wasn’t coming back. I grabbed a pen and paper and headed over to the conference room, standing in the front and waiting for everyone to quiet down.
“Good Monday morning,” I said, mustering all the enthusiasm I had. “Today’s meeting is going to be a little different. On Friday, we made some big changes in the company, and we’ve brought Marcus on as a co-owner and now one of the leads for the ad projects. You guys will know him better as the anonymous technical graphic artist who saved our asses on the Cartier account. I ask you to give him a good welcome and take him into the fold because with this project due Friday, we’re going to need him. So, without further ado, I will hand the reins of this meeting to him.”
I shook Marcus’s hand and stepped to the side, sitting down in my chair and giving him the floor. He launched right into things, introducing himself and beginning to talk about the project and his ideas for it. He was a better public speaker than he gave himself credit for, and he had already proven himself to the group with his work on the last account. I sat there scribbling down small notes, but eventually, I put my pen down and looked across the room. Every face was focused in on Marcus, and as my eyes scanned over to Amanda’s empty chair, everything else began to drown out. I stared at the empty chair, thinking about the first time we had sat in that room together. I had failed and fumbled my way through a meeting, and it was only because of her that I was able to redeem myself. I felt like she was a ghost, one that was going to haunt me for a really long time.
It was like I was sitting in that room all alone, the rest of the faces disappearing as I sunk down into my own thoughts of Amanda, the way she looked, the way she smelled, and the way the sunlight kissed her face through the windows of the conference room. It wasn’t until Marcus grabbed my attention that I remembered I was in a team meeting.
“Elon,” he said loudly, making me realize he had been calling my name. “You still with us? I know it’s Monday but you gotta come back to the force.”
Everyone laughed, and I looked up, smiling and pulling myself up in the chair. I looked at Marcus, and he lifted his eyebrows, making me realize he had asked me a question, but I hadn’t heard him. My own brain was drowning everything out, and I started to feel lost in my own building.
“I’m sorry, what did you ask?” I smiled, hearing the others giggle.
“I asked when the presentation is going to happen,” he said, looking at me with concern.
“Oh, uh, the presentation is going to be Friday morning,” I said. “I’ll be presenting in his office most likely, but I don’t know for sure.”
“Right,” Marcus said, turning back to the crowd. “So, we have some serious work to get done. I’ll be working right alongside you all day, so if you need me, just come and find me.”
As everyone started to get up and move out of the room, my gaze connected with Dalton’s. He smiled kindly at me and packed his bag back up, slapping me on the shoulder as he passed. Marcus stood around, waiting for everyone to leave before shutting the door and turning back to me.
“Elon,” he said, snapping me to attention.
“Yeah,” I said, clearing my throat.
“What is going on with you? It’s obviously not a case of the Mondays,” he said.
“Nothing,” I said. “I just have a lot on my mind, that’s all.”
“You do know you’re an important part of this, right? You can’t just check out mentally right now. You need to get your head back in the game. Whatever you have going on up there, whatever demon you’re fighting, you have got to either get over it or put it on hold. This team, they need you, especially right now when the stakes are so high,” he said, walking over to me and putting his hand on my shoulder. “I’m relying on you, and so is your company, so get your head out of your ass and put that brain to work.”
“Right,” I said. “I understand.”
“Good,” he sighed. “Can you go over the proofs and get them back to me?”
“Absolutely,” I replied, standing up and walking to the door. “I’ll get them over to you in just a few.”
“Thanks, man,” he said, following me out of the conference room.
I headed back to my office, glancing over at Dalton as we passed by each other. I could tell he felt bad and that he was disappointed in Amanda’s choice too. Unfortunately, it looked like it was going to be something that we had to get used to. I wanted to go home, but I couldn’t, not with the project coming. So instead of burying myself in my bed, I buried myself in work, trying my damnedest to get through the day.
Chapter 56
Amanda
When I was a kid, we lived on the school district line, and when it came time for me to go to middle school, I ended up going to the opposite one as everyone I grew up with. I had to walk into a school with a bunch of people I didn’t know and during the most awkward time of my life. I never thought I would have that feeling again, but then I was standing by my car in front of the Diamond building, and I realized I was walking into a new place where everyone else already knew each other. I was the new kid all over again. I swallowed hard and shook my head, reminding myself that I was an adult this time and didn’t need to freak out like I was. I grabbed my bag and headed inside, finding Evan, my recruiter, waiting for me inside.
“Amanda,” he said, shaking my hand. “So good to see you. I thought I would meet you down here and take you upstairs to your department. The owner, Theo, will be up there and is going to talk to you about your job, your responsibilities, and anything else you’ll need to know.”
“The owner trains the new employees?”
“To an extent.” He laughed as we climbed into the elevator. “Everyone here works as a team, so if you need to learn something, you can ask anyone. There is no specific trainer. We all work together.”
“Wow,” I said, nodding. “That sounds great.”
“Each day, you’ll come to your floor and check in on your computer in the office to let everyone know you’re there and ready,” he said happily. “If you’re having a bad day, you take a moment and shift your mentality. If you’re struggling, you let everyone know by sending an IM to the group saying, ‘Motivation Time.’ Everyone will stop and come to help you.”
“That is definitely interesting.” I smiled.
“This is your office,” he said, opening a clear glass door with my name on the outside. “You won’t be in it too much because everyone is hands-on here, but it’s your space.”
“Whoa,” I said, looking around the expansive room with beautiful furniture and an amazing view.
“Let’s get you introduced to the crew,” he said, pulling me back out to Diamond’s own version of the pit. “Attention, everyone, I’d like you to meet your new ad manager, Amanda. She is getting caught up today, but she’s super motivated and ready to get going.”
“Hi, Amanda,” the group yelled, see
ming very energetic.
“Nice to meet you all,” I said, smiling. “I look forward to working with you.”
Everyone was so nice, and there was no trying to fit into the team like at Truitt. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. We stood there for several moments watching everyone working. It was smooth, almost robotic in nature with none of the craziness that normally happens when a project was in the works.
“How many projects do they have going at once?”
“Anywhere between eight and ten,” he said with a smile, leaving me standing there with my mouth hanging open. “Come on, the owner is waiting for you.”
I shook my head and followed along behind him, making my way to an office at the front of the pit. We walked in through the open door, and a tall, middle-aged man with perfectly groomed hair and an expensive suit stood up and smiled. I smiled back timidly, feeling like I had been taken to the principal’s office.
“You must be Amanda,” he said happily, shaking my hand. “I’m Theo Driver, but just call me Theo. Please, have a seat. How is your tour so far?”
“It’s amazing.” I chuckled. “A bit overwhelming but amazing nonetheless.”
“You’ll catch on in no time.” He laughed, sitting down in his chair. “You’ve been brought in to manage the ads. For you, that means you’ll be a jack of all trades, flittering about through the team, making sure everything gets done on time and with very few problems. You will be responsible for all projects on the docket at any time, and those updates will be sent to your email and as an alert to your phone.”
“Do you get a lot coming in at one time?”
“We try,” he said. “Today, I want you to just jump in, ask anyone anything you need to know. At lunch, you and I will regroup, and we’ll go over what you learned so far. Does that sound good?”
“Yep,” I said, happy to be let loose.
“Great,” he said. “Good luck!”
I shook my head and walked out to the main area, stopping and taking account of all of the different stations they had numbered. Everyone looked so happy, so energetic, that it felt almost fake. Who came to work on that level every day?
“It’s a lot,” a woman said, walking up next to me and smiling. “My name is Alice. Let me show you where to start.”
She led me to one of the workstations set up nearby.
“This is the prop desk,” she said happily. “It’s where we keep all the projects lined up and ready to read in case there’s a question.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Sure thing,” she said, bouncing away.
I went down the line, watching everyone working. They all seemed to be working on ten things at once. It was great for production, but I wasn’t sure how great it would be for creativity. When I reached the final section, I looked over some of the final projects.
“Hi,” I said to the guy standing at the printer.
“Hey, I’m Tim,” he said, shaking my hand.
“I have a question,” I said. “Wouldn’t this look better with an A4 type of text?”
“That’s what I said,” he replied excitedly, starting to lower his voice.
“But that isn’t how we do things,” Alice said with a snide smile as she put her arm around my shoulders and walked me to the side. “I know you came from Truitt, and though we may not land Cartier, we market for thousands of companies a year. We are not the grassroots organization. We put out decent ads in record time.”
“But how does that keep you in business?” I said, shaking my head.
“Quantity,” she replied with a smile.
“Over quality,” I said, watching her smile fade.
I hated it. Everything about Diamond made my skin crawl. From the fake smiles to the process line approach, it just didn’t feel right. Instead of everything looking luxurious like it did at first glance, I started to feel like I was stuck inside of a doll house where the dolls were drinking the Kool-Aid, as Dalton would say. I walked out of the pit and up the stairs to Theo’s office, knocking on the doorframe before entering.
“Amanda,” he said. “How is it going out there?”
“Honestly?” I said, shaking my head. “This is not how I do my work. There’s no creativity. It’s just a product line where you can’t even pick the best font for a project. This isn’t what I thought it would be, sir. I just don’t think I’m the right fit for this position.”
“Sit down,” he said kindly. “I know this is very different from your last place of employment, and I know that can be shocking, but there’s a cost to being able to pay you and the others the way we do. We’re not in the creative business, we’re in the ad creation business.”
“How does that even make sense?” I said. “Wouldn’t your clients be happier long-term if their ads spoke to people, really got their attention?”
“Our clients want ads that go with the times, fit in with the norm, and are fiscally responsible,” he said. “By creating that temp system, where each client rotates through premade templates, all, of course, tweaked for that specific client, we cut out over fifty percent of the costs that a place like Truitt has, and we produce ten times more. I have no problem with you pushing the arts sector to be a bit more creative, but this system works, and we don’t like to mess with what works.”
“Who does it work for? Your company or the client?”
“I wouldn’t be in business if all I worried about was what worked for the client.” He chuckled. “You are a great fit here, Amanda. Your leadership skills could push this team to the next threshold. We hold the mighty dollar prominent here, and the more production, the better your quality of life in and out of work will be.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t think this is for me. I appreciate the opportunity, but I won’t be taking the position.”
“Right,” he sighed. “Well, tell Elon Truitt hello for me then.”
I shook my head and walked out, gathering my stuff from the office. Evan tried to talk to me as I left, but the stench of the bullshit emanating from these people was making me dizzy. I walked out into the parking lot and took in a deep breath, closing my eyes and feeling my heart drop. I just walked away from all that money, but at that moment, all I could hear were Mikey’s words telling me to be happy. I knew what I had to do, and there was no more wasting time to be had.
I jumped in my car and drove away from Diamond, relieved that it hadn’t become my reality. More than just being happy with who you work with, it was vital that you were satisfied with your work. I didn’t want to become obsessed with the numbers. I wanted to always be obsessed with the quality. Diamond would have sucked me in, and I would have been miserable, no matter how big my paycheck was at the end of the day.
When I got to Truitt Marketing, I could see some of my team walking out the front doors. It was the end of their day, and they were all leaving the office. It was a bit early, but I figured Elon had let them go early like he had been doing a lot lately. I took the elevator up and stepped out onto the floor, feeling my nerves begin to churn inside of me. As I passed the lounge, a hand grabbed my arm and Dalton looked at me with a knowing smile on his face.
“What are you doing here?”
“I think you know the answer to that,” I said.
“Yes, girl, get it,” he said excitedly. “Elon is in his office.”
I nodded and smiled, walking past him and standing in front of Elon’s door. The secretary was away from her desk, and I thought about knocking, but for some reason, I didn’t. I just stood there staring at the deep brown wood grain, realizing I had bulled right into the building, not even thinking about what I was going to say when I got there. I knew he had told me there was always a place for me there, but that didn’t actually mean there was. I knew things had changed, and if I was out of a job, it was definitely going to be an interesting rest of my day. Either way, I was there, and all I seemed to want to do was talk to Elon, be around him, and feel his com
fort. I took a deep breath and turned the doorknob, slowly opening the door.
I looked inside at Elon, who was sitting behind his desk. He was bent over with his head in his hands, and he looked absolutely miserable. My heart fluttered in my chest, and I thought about turning around and leaving, but before I could, he looked up at me. Our eyes met and in that moment, I knew I was exactly where I needed to be.
Chapter 57
Elon
I was trying desperately to get through the day, and when Marcus told me they were at a stopping point, I let everyone go home. I didn’t want any questions about where Amanda was or any more pitiful looks from Dalton. I finished the things Marcus needed done, but no more. My head and my heart wouldn’t allow it. I had really thought Amanda would do something, anything, to show me that our talk had meant something, but she didn’t show up or even call. I felt defeated, and I leaned forward, putting my face in my hands. I groaned, feeling the stress of the day weighing down on me. Maybe going home and getting a drink would help me relax. At the same time, alcohol could make it worse, and the last thing I needed to do was call up Amanda when I was wasted on a Monday night.
As I sat there with my eyes closed, trying to muster the energy to get up and go home, I heard the doorknob turning. Normally, I would jump up and straighten myself out, but I didn’t have the energy at that point. I had all but given up on hiding how I was feeling. After a few moments of silence from whoever walked in, I pulled my head up and looked over at the door. Amanda’s beautiful eyes met mine, and I was speechless, helpless to even move. She smiled that dazzling smile, and I sat up, my mouth gaping open with surprise.
“Hi,” she said sweetly, walking in and shutting the door behind her. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
I just shook my head, unsure of what to say. She was real. I wasn’t dreaming it. Amanda was actually standing in my office. She chuckled to herself and looked down at the floor before walking forward and standing behind the chairs.