Great. If the office intern could already see through his fake engagement, he didn’t have any hope of convincing his mother.
“No, it’s really wonderful,” Karthik said. “I’m very happy.”
“Uh-huh,” Paul responded, clearly unconvinced. He set the drink carrier on the floor and plopped into one of the chairs in front of Karthik’s desk.
“May I?” he asked.
Karthik nodded, a bit bemused.
“This happened to a buddy of mine,” Paul said. “He was obsessed with this girl in our Advanced Calculus class. He asked her for help with homework, made up excuses to study with her, went to office hours just because she did. Finally, on the last day of class, he just went for it and asked her out. She immediately said yes, and a few days later, he realized he wasn’t even that into her. Said it felt like buying the latest DLC and realizing it didn’t live up to the hype.”
“DLC?”
“You know, downloadable content.”
Karthik frowned.
“Like inCall of Duty,” Paul explained. “You know how you can download extension packs that get you extra items or characters…”
Paul continued, going into details that Karthik could barely follow, but from what he understood, he didn’t care for the comparison. “She’s my fiancée,” he said, cutting Paul off. “Not a…a…video game.”
Paul lifted his hands in surrender. “Hey, man, I agree with you. That’s just the way he put it.”
“Well, I don’t feel that way. I’m glad she said yes. Actually, Ineededher to say yes.”
Paul cocked his head to the side. “That’s pretty romantic, actually.”
Karthik resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His “proposal” had been far from romantic. But it wasn’t supposed to be. This was a logical, mutually beneficial agreement between two adults. Nothing more.
“I mean, I’d want to feel that way if I was asking someone to marry me,” Paul continued. “I definitely don’t feel like that now. If my girlfriend said she wanted to get married, I don’t know how I’d respond.” He swallowed, unease settling across his features. “I’d probably throw up.”
“You’re young,” Karthik said. “It’ll feel different when you’re older.” Unless Paul was anything like him, in which case the idea of marriage would always result in nausea.
“Maybe,” Paul said, picking the tray of coffee back up. “Anyway, good for you, dude. Glad it was good news. I thought someone had died or something.” He left to drop off the rest of the coffees, and Karthik slouched down in his chair.
He’d always had a reliable poker face, but it seemed like selling “happy” and “in love” required a different skill set. Luckily, his morning provided multiple opportunities to practice the role of enthusedfiancé, as co-workers stopped in to congratulate him, having heard the news from their talkative intern.
The word must have spread all the way to his boss because Marianne showed up at his office that afternoon.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” Marianne said, regarding him warmly. She shook Karthik’s hand firmly and took a seat. “Actually, I had been planning to stop by anyway. I was hoping to congratulate you on something else, but it looks like there are a few more hurdles before that one’s final.”
“Oh?” he asked, doing his best to sound casual.
“I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that I’ve been thinking about retirement. And I’ve been considering who might replace me.”
He sat up straighter.
“I don’t have final say on decisions like that,” she said. “But I can make a recommendation. The C-suite folks seem determined to bring in an outside candidate, but I want to recommend you.”
“Me?” Not much surprised him, but he was stunned. Yes, he’d considered applying for the position, but he’d always thought it would be a long shot. He’d been moving up the ranks slowly, steadily, but he didn’t have the decades of experience a job like this would require. He couldn’t believe that she was actually considering him.
“I think you can do the job, Karthik. I’ve seen how much you’ve grown, how much you’ve matured in this role.”
Pride swelled in his chest. Marianne had really taken a chance on him when he’d first started here straight out of college, and her mentorship over the years had meant the world to him.
“My only concern for the longest time was your lack of commitment,” she said.
His heart sank.
