I thought the path to a good life for us is so narrow
That there are only a few ways to get there, and this job is the surest one
And marrying well can’t hurt
A fresh pang of guilt roils through me.
sampaguita72:
So what are you saying now? You want to quit your job? Break up with this man?
Go ahead! It’s your life
I sigh, hands hovering over the keyboard. I’m exhausted, but right now there’s a task at hand.
ruby.ocampo:
It’s a bit more complicated than that, Mom
And I’ll need your help.
I explain about the union, and the looming layoffs. I add that Al is involved, playing on her sympathies. But I can’t bear to tell her the whole truth, up to a certain point—that I’m willingly continuing to date a man I suspect of some kind of corporate fraud. I’m still editing the way I used to, but it’s the best I can do for now. Gritting my teeth, I tell her that I have some doubts about what Mark Winterson’s been up to lately, and I really like him, so I’m just trying to rule out his involvement in this scheme.
sampaguita72:
All right then. Was it so hard to tell me?
She has no idea.
But her green light goes off, and several minutes pass before it comes on again. In the haunted DM, a list of every private Slack channel that I don’t have access to appears.
sampaguita72:
Do any of these look like the one?
It’s a long list—TKCORP is a huge company, after all, with tens of thousands of people in our Slack—but my eyes finally settle on a channel called #future-managers.
And Mark Winterson’s voice reverberates in my head:Some of our most ambitious employees. Promised them promotions if they participate.
God, he can be so cringe sometimes. That has to be it.
ruby.ocampo:
Can you see who’s in this one?
sampaguita72:
I’ll take a peek inside
Several minutes later, Mom resurfaces:
sampaguita72:
Oh! Oh!
She sends a few clapping emojis.
sampaguita72:
