by Doxer, Debra
I nod and keep my thoughts to myself.
When my cell phone rings later that afternoon, I check the caller ID and see that it’s David. Since I’m still undecided on him, I let it go to voicemail. Laura calls, too, while Katie is over. I am pretty sure she wants to do a postmortem on my date so I let that call go to voicemail, as well. I’ll deal with it all later.
That night I’m working up the nerve to call David back, when I decide to procrastinate by checking my email. There it is, finally. A message from Karthik sent late Friday night is sitting unopened in my Inbox. I take a breath and open it.
A ripple of excitement runs through me when I realize the gist of it. He does not mention BTS or Napa once. Rather, he writes that a marketing position is opening in his group at Cronus, and he thinks that I should apply for it. As far as he’s concerned, if I’m interested, he’ll highly recommend me and do his best to make sure the position is mine. It would be working in the Cronus Maps group and Cronus, according Karthik’s email, is far more generous and more fun to work for than BTS. I don’t have to think hard at all to know I’m interested.
I immediately reply, attaching my updated resumé to the email. The possibilities are exciting, although I need to keep things in perspective. Karthik has just gotten there himself. How much influence can he have?
When my cell phone rings again later, I grab it without checking the caller ID, figuring it’s Laura again. But it’s David.
“Hi there. Did you get my message?” he asks.
“I did. I was just about to call you back, actually.”
“Oh, good timing then, huh?”
“It’s like you read my mind,” I reply cheerily. My good mood is coloring my words with enthusiasm.
He chuckles. “I wanted to tell you what a nice time I had and to see how the rest of your weekend went.”
“Thanks David. I had a nice time, too. And the rest of my weekend was good. You? How did the game go?”
“Really well. We had around 40 people.”
“Is that a good turnout?”
“That’s a really good turnout.”
“Great.”
“I also wanted to let you know that I don’t think the Red Sox game is going to work out on Friday.”
“Oh?”
“I have a closing in Worcester, and because of the train schedule I won’t be back in time. But we could still do something later.”
I want to ask why he can’t just drive to the closing, and my teetering indecisiveness begins to sway back in the negative direction. “That’s fine,” I answer, because it’s easier than telling me him otherwise. I wonder if he’ll offer to pick me up that night. I suppose I could be more sympathetic to his transportation issue and offer to be the designated driver.
We chat some more and end the conversation with David promising to call during the week to finalize plans for Friday. I have between now and then to decide what to do, assuming he actually calls.
I’ve barely hung up the phone when Laura calls. No one is waiting for me to call them back today.
“How did it go?” she asks, offering no greeting.
I sigh and rehash it all for her.
“LARP?” she chirps. “He never mentioned that to me.”
“I guess I’m special.”
“That’s weird, huh?”
“Yes. Yes, it is.”
“So, I’m guessing he’s out of the running.”
“I haven’t completely closed the door yet, but it’s not looking good.” I hear someone talking in the background. It sounds like Mom. “Where are you?” I ask.
“I’m at some crazy hippy lady’s house looking at wedding invitations with Mom,” she explains, her voice low.
“I didn’t know you guys were doing that tonight.”
“Neither did I. Mom heard about this woman that everyone is using, called her up, and found out that she’s pretty booked already. That, of course, developed into a wedding invitation emergency.”
“Oh no. Does she have anything you like?”
“That’s irrelevant. You know that by now.”
I roll my eyes, but Tiger is my only witness. “Okay, then. Does she have anything Mom likes?”
“That may actually be irrelevant, too. This lady is wearing a sundress and she obviously doesn’t own a razor or any deodorant. I’m estimating that we’ll be out of here in less than ten minutes.”
“Ewww.”
“Tell me about it. I’m trying to keep my distance while still pretending that I can actually see her invitation portfolio. Mom is sitting right next to her. She keeps throwing these pained looks at me.”
I chuckle. “I’ve got some news.” Then I proceed to tell her about Karthik and the Cronus opportunity.
She sounds very excited for me. “Can I tell Mom?”
“Yes, you can.”
Half an hour later the telephone rings again. Predictably, it’s Mom. After the initial niceties, she gets to the point. “But you just got promoted. Are you sure you want to leave now?”
“I didn’t really get promoted. Besides, so far this faux promotion is resembling my last management experience a little too closely.”
“But you’ve only been there for three years. You were at your last job an even shorter time. Are you going to keep jumping from company to company?”
“Three years is actually a fairly long time with companies going out of business and getting gobbled up by other companies all the time.” I understand my mother’s perspective. My father was at his company for over thirty years, which is really unheard of.
“Well, I’m sure you know what you’re doing,” she says, using a tone that tells me she doesn’t think I know what I’m doing at all. It’s amazing how often her tone says all the important stuff. The words themselves are inconsequential and often misleading on their own.
“It’s worth seeing what this opportunity is about,” I explain to her reasonably.
“Oh yes. Of course, Andrea.”
I hang up, wondering what exactly she meant by that.
After I reply to Karthik, things move quickly. Another email from him arrives on Monday. He has already arranged for me to interview with two of his colleagues this coming Wednesday. The interviews are planned around lunchtime. I could easily walk the block to the Cronus offices and be back at my desk without arranging for time off or making some excuse about a doctor’s appointment.
When Wednesday arrives, I go out to my car at lunch time and grab the black pants and matching blazer I brought with me for the interview. Hoping no one from the office spots me, I change in the bathroom located in the lobby of the building. Then I grab my bag, into which I’ve stuffed more copies of my resumé and some writing samples, and head over to Cronus.
My initial welcome there feels less like an interview and more like a social occasion. Both Karthik and Steve, who I know a little from BTS, come down to reception and greet me in the sleek glass and metal lobby. Rather than jumping right into the interview, they take me to a nearby café and buy me lunch. It feels the way it did when I first started at BTS, and product groups would go out to lunch together or out for drinks after work.
After we eat, they walk me back to the office and give me a tour, introducing me to lots of people whose names I will never remember. The tour ends at a large conference room with a wall of windows that overlook the Charles River and the red brick brownstones of the Back Bay. Now the real interview begins. Karthik and Steve introduce me to the VP of marketing and then leave me with him in the sunny conference room.
He appears to be in his early forties, with a slim build and a friendly expression. He seems laid back and even somewhat sedate as he sits down across from me in jeans and sneakers, with my resumé flat on the table in front of him. Then he begins with the typical interview questions, inquiring about the positions listed on my resumé. This goes on for some time. I try to covertly peek at my watch by the time I begin the second interview with the director of marketing. I had no idea that
I’d be spending the entire afternoon here. Surely, I’m starting to be missed back at the office.
Both the VP and director of marketing ask me what my aspirations are and why I want to work at Cronus. I’m prepared for these questions, and I provide them with the answers I’ve practiced and used in many interviews before this. I tell them that I want to continue to be challenged and to work to meet those challenges in a dynamic environment where I can keep learning while I make a real contribution… blah, blah, blah. I could spout this stuff in my sleep.
By the time I leave Cronus, I’m exhausted. My throat is sore from talking and my jaw aches from smiling. I was there for just over four hours. Once again, I wonder how much pull Karthik really has. The position itself is very similar to what I’m doing at BTS, but the team at Cronus is much larger, much younger, and far more invested in their endeavors. I liked what I saw and what I heard there. I only hope that I have impressed them. I know that I appeared enthusiastic and that I provided decent answers to their questions, but I am far from the dynamic, eccentric types I saw walking the halls there.
I’d purposely said nothing negative about BTS and why I wanted to leave. It never looks good to bad-mouth your current employer. I can’t help but envy the people I met today, and the way they seemed to enjoy the work they’re doing. I used to feel that way, too. I didn’t really think I was unhappy at BTS until I went to Cronus today.
I needn’t have worried about the office missing me. Rob is out of town again. Nate has already left for home when I get back, and other than a dozen or so emails that require responses, it appears that no one has even noticed I was gone. Ken, Anand, and Christopher have each sent more emails today about various issues they’re having. I want to send one reply back to all of them that reads “Suck it up!” But, of course, I don’t. I do realize that I haven’t heard a peep from Tracy, the other Napa addition to the team. This unsettles me, but not enough to stay late and try to check up on her. That can wait until tomorrow, and I’m completed exhausted. My couch and my television are calling me.
twenty-three
“Beautiful day,” Joan announces when I walk past her desk with a large coffee in hand. I have a couple of irons in the fire today. I need to check in with my team to see how their work is progressing. I’m already missing the days when my own work was all I had to worry about. I doubt I would be hearing anything so soon, but I begin watching my personal email account for news from Karthik and Cronus.
I barely drop my bags on my cubicle floor when Rob appears, startling me so I nearly spill my coffee. “Hey,” he says brightly.
“Hey,” I reply much less enthusiastically.
“So, how are things?”
“Fine, I think. I have a question for you though.”
He eyes me expectantly. It’s too early for Nate to be here, but I wonder if Ken and Anand are at their desks. “Can we talk in your office?” I ask.
“Sure.” He nods, appearing curious now.
I take my coffee and follow him. In his office, I sit in my usual seat across from his desk, which he now settles himself behind.
“When you give people assignments,” I begin, “do they just do them or do they try to weasel out of them or complain about the work you’ve given them?”
A smile blooms on his face. “Welcome to my world.”
My exasperation is immediate. “So, this is typical?”
“Part of the job,” he says. Then he leans forward and rests his arms on the desk. “When you get to hire your own people, you generally have better luck. When you inherit them, it’s a lot tougher.”
“The way you inherited all of us?” I ask.
He nods.
“You could have warned me.”
“You’ll be fine,” he says, unconcerned. Then his expression brightens. “Hey, did you catch The Bachelor finale last night?”
His ambivalence about my predicament is hardly encouraging. “Yeah, I saw it.” I cringed during the entire two hour finale, anticipating the ending.
“Well, I think I’m done with that show. It’s a complete farce.”
I nearly gape at him. The Bachelor is his life.
“He chose the blonde gymnast over the down-to-earth redhead. I think it was the splits that did it,” he says thoughtfully. “As soon as he saw her in that position, his mind was made up. But that’s not much of a foundation on which to build a relationship. You know?”
“I guess not,” I laugh.
His answering smile and the twinkle in his eye cause me to laugh harder. Maybe there’s more to Rob than I thought.
Nate turns up over an hour later, looking especially haggard today. He’s wearing a wrinkled purple T-shirt that reads Sarcasm is just one of the services I provide.
“Bad night?” I ask.
He grunts at me and drops heavily onto his desk chair. “Emma has an ear infection. We took her to the doctor this morning. She screamed the whole night.”
“Ear infections hurt,” I say.
“Yeah, I got that.” He turns toward his desk and begins hitting buttons harder than necessary, powering up his computer and monitor.
I wisely decide to turn away and mind my own business. Next week Nate begins his traveling. I could remind him of this to cheer him up, but now that he’ll be leaving his wife with a sick baby, he hardly deserves cheering.
I really need to think about my own travel plans. I’ll have to be in Portland for at least a few days either this month or next. But if the Cronus job comes through, I won’t be here to make that trip. I could probably put off booking it for a few more days, but that’s all.
When I open my email and see that I have more messages from my wholly inadequate team, I decide to procrastinate by calling Katie again. I left her a message yesterday, but she hasn’t called back. I get her voicemail at work and leave a message there. Then I try her at home, where I leave another message.
About a half hour later, I have my head in my hands when my phone rings. The entire team, including the formerly silent Tracy, is having issues. I’m ready to march into Rob’s office and cry “uncle.”
“Hello,” I say curtly in the receiver.
“Geez, that wasn’t very friendly.” It’s Laura.
“Hi. What’s up?” I ask softly, self-conscious as always, as my whisper seems to echo in the quiet of the office.
“You sound moody,” Laura comments.
“I am.”
“Why?”
“I can’t talk Laura,” I reply, hunching over the phone.
“Oh, right. All those computer nerds are so interested in what you have to say.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Okay, okay. I just wanted to know if you’ve heard from Cronus yet.”
“Nope.”
“What about David?”
“Nope.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure he’s calling you tonight. I ran into him this morning at the courthouse. I think he’s really into you.”
“Did he take the T there?”
“I don’t know,” she laughs. “Probably.”
“Any luck with the wedding invitations?”
“Well, we know what we don’t want, but apparently we have to visit at least ten more places to find what we do want. Do you want to come? We’re going to a few this weekend.”
“I’d love to, but I think I have to wash my hair.”
“Very funny. You know you can’t avoid dress shopping for much longer. I was thinking that you’d look good in puce. All the other bridesmaids like it, too.
“Puce. Isn’t that red?”
“Yeah, a dark red.”
“Why can’t they just call it dark red.”
“Because they call it puce.”
“Whatever,” I sigh.
“Well, when the invitations are settled, the dresses are next. So be prepared. I know you’d love to chat for hours and hours, but I’ve got to run.”
As I replace the receiver, I hear a loud snorting sound coming from Nate�
�s cubicle. I turn to see his head down on the desk, his mouth hanging open, and the noise which I now know to be snoring, sounds again. I really wish I had someone with which to share this Kodak moment, but I don’t want to get Nate in trouble. Instead, I take a picture with my cell phone to lord over him later, before I heartlessly shake him back into consciousness.
I leave the office early and pick up a salad for dinner on the way home. It’s time to start eating a bit healthier, especially if I have to go dress shopping soon. Tiger attacks the brown paper takeout bag when I drop it onto the kitchen table. All kinds of interesting smells are emanating from it. But when I withdraw the container and opened the lid, Tiger takes one more sniff and jumps off the table. A salad is hardly the chicken or tuna meal he was hoping for. It isn’t all that appealing to me either.
I make quick work of the salad, and I’m just cleaning up when my phone rings. I’m hoping it’s Katie finally, but it isn’t. It’s David Rose.
“I’ve got a surprise,” he tells me after I say hello.
“Oh? What is it?”
“Do you like live music?” he asks, sounding excited.
“Sure.”
“Well, I got tickets to see Steely Dan at The Pavilion on Friday night. How does that sound?”
Steely Dan? I’m not a fan. Which is not surprising since their average fans are probably somewhere in their forties and fifties. “That sounds nice,” I reply, trying to inject some enthusiasm into my voice. Shouldn’t he have checked with me first? Although, I suppose he could ask someone else if I wasn’t interested. And I have to give him high marks for effort when it comes to date planning.
“Do you like them?” he asks, seeming to sense something.
“Umm, I don’t really know their music that well. But it’s always fun to see a concert, especially outside at The Pavilion.” The Pavilion is a huge outdoor tent set up in downtown Boston right on the waterfront.
“I know. I think it will be really fun.”
“Definitely,” I agree. I really don’t believe I have any romantic interest in David, but I don’t have the heart to say so. He’s so eager and enthusiastic.