“Because you were right, Mina. It’s not what I want to do with my life. I want to be a teacher. I’m going to try to be a teacher.”
My mouth is still hanging open. “But why now? I mean, did you do this before or after the Status pitch?”
“Oh, I did it after. We’ve got the campaign by the way.” He adds, like it’s just an afterthought.
I blink at him. “Really? You nailed the pitch? And you don’t even want the lead?”
“It was never mine to have. You did all the groundwork, Mina. You worked harder on it than I did and I daresay for every single campaign you’ve ever worked on, you’ve had to work harder than most. You deserve the lead a thousand times over, and it’s yours, if you want it.”
“If I’ve still got a job,” I mumble. I really should call someone and explain what happened today.
“I spoke to HR. They called me a couple hours after they got my email, while you were sleeping. And well, I sort of lied and mentioned that your sister had texted me saying you were really unwell and couldn’t use your phone. They were more worried than anything, but they did say that you should call as soon as you possibly could.”
“Charlie, you lied for me?” I say, the disbelief thickening.
“I’m not proud, to be honest. But I didn’t want you getting in trouble, and fuck it, I’m leaving, you know.”
“You haven’t even spoken to Garrett yet?”
“Nope. I got a missed call from him but I didn’t want to speak to him while you were sleeping. I told him everything I wanted to say in an email.”
I shake my head. “I can’t believe you resigned.”
He looks panic stricken for a moment. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”
“I know you are!”
“You could do it too? You could chase your dreams as well?”
My instinct is to shoot him down. To tell him all about how expensive my rent is and how little trainee tattoo artists earn. To tell him that being a teacher is a much more respectable career change than leaving a well-paying job for one that will put me in debt. But I don’t.
“Maybe I’ll look into doing an internship somewhere on weekends,” I say as the idea pops into my head.
“Yes!” He claps his hands together. “I’ll help you find somewhere.”
“But wait, it’s late November. Don’t teacher training courses start in September?”
“Yeah, I only realised that after I’d sent the email. I guess I got a bit excited. But I had a look earlier while you were sleeping and I can do some initial training over the summer before starting in September. And before that I can freelance. Maybe HNO will even hire me on a six-month contract. Of course, this is all assuming I will get accepted to do the teacher training.”
“Fuck off, Charlie, you’ll get accepted.”
“And you can fuck off and find a tattoo studio for an internship because anywhere would be lucky to have you.”
I bite back my smile. I shouldn’t like it when he kicks back, but I do. If I wasn’t still feeling like my body is made of lead and my brain could still melt if I used it a bit too much, I would demand Charlie crawl under the table, yank my pyjamas down and eat me. As pleasant as that idea is, it only serves to remind me that I still need to suck up the courage for a cold shower.
“You should call Garrett back,” I say. “I will call HR too, and then I will have the world’s coldest shower and maybe we can nap together again?”
Charlie doesn’t look as taken with the idea as I hope. “No way, Mina.”
“No napping together?” I ask, and I am only partially alarmed by how disappointed I sound.
“No cold showers. Not today.” He stands and collects our bowls.
“It’s just to get clean—” I begin.
He shakes his head as he runs the water to wash up the dishes. “You’ll come back to my place.”
“Charlie, I can’t get on the Tube in this state.”
