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“Hey, everyone,” I said slowly, cautiously.
One of my very talented, and very forward, vice presidents waved.
“Hey, Jack,” she said, glancing back down at the glass of water she was holding. “We were just wondering if we could meet your girlfriend sometime. You should bring her around. We’ll be nice, I swear.” She held up the fingers of the Girl Scouts and I couldn’t stop the bark of a laugh that escaped my lips.
“Oh, yes, Denise. I’m sure you’d be nice. That’s what you’re known for around here.”
She winked, in on the joke. Denise was a lot of things. She was an amazingly talented programmer and businessperson, a very good friend, and had been with the company since its first days. But she was famously known around this building for being judgmental and, quite frankly, sometimes a bit of a bitch. Something she’d say about herself in a heartbeat.
But then I remembered how happy Maya had made me, and I felt a surge of confidence. She could match up to Denise, no problem.
"But, sure," I said, grinning. "I'll bring her by sometime."
Denise pumped her fist like she’d won a battle and I shook my head, laughing, amazed at just how much my life had changed in a couple of weeks.
Maya
I yawned as I stepped off the elevator at MHM. The previous night, I had been spent tossing and turning. My smartwatch had been all too quick to admonish me for the stormy night's sleep.
Clutching my coffee cup, I rolled my eyes as I saw Brielle waiting for me at the reception desk. She was on-brand this morning dressed like a Skittle in an orange turtleneck sweater and dark gray pants.
She immediately pulled me into a hug, threatening the contents of my travel mug.
“Maya. Emily was looking for you a few minutes ago and wants to see you in her office. I told her I’d be happy to let you know. She seemed happy.”
Brielle pulled my arm and dragged me toward Emily’s office. I guess I wasn’t even going to get to take my coat off this morning before the race started.
“Ithasto be good news,” Brielle continued. “I’ve never seen Emily this happy. She washummingthis morning. Humming, Maya.”
“Oh wow, humming, huh? Stop the presses.” I rolled my eyes, but it was lost on Brielle as she was deep in her excitement.
Brielle turned to me, beaming, and placed both hands on my shoulders.
"I know, right? Anyway, I'll leave you here now. Do not mess this up, babe." She looked stern yet comical in the way she stared down at me. She was a kind and lovely person, but her height was a little amazonian.
I gave her a halfhearted salute with a smile. Satisfied, Brielle walked away, and I was suddenly alone.
And very, very nervous.
I took a deep breath and tried to ready myself, but nothing worked. I couldn't help but feel nervous as I stood before Emily's closed office door. She was my editor, and I always wanted to impress her. If I couldn't even satisfy her, how would I satisfy the public?
I mustered up my courage and knocked. When I entered her office at the sound of her voice, Emily looked up from her computer screen and beamed at me.
"Maya, I'm so glad you're here. Have a seat."
"Thank you." I sat in the leather chair in front of her desk. "I came over as soon as I could. Is there something wrong with my article?"
"Oh, no.” Emily quickly shook her head. "Quite the opposite. I just finished reading your draft, and it's flawless. You're a natural at this, Maya." She stared at me in a way that had me squirming in my chair.
I felt a surge of pride and relief wash over me. I had worked hard on that story, even with everything between Jack and me, and it was amazing to hear that it had paid off.
"Thank you so much, Emily. I'm really happy to hear that.” I tried to hide the trembling in my voice.
“There’s just one more thing before this goes to print. We need to schedule the photoshoot. It completely slipped my mind. We were going to schedule Jack with the rest of the features, but apparently, he was missed in that process. Unfortunately, it has to be tomorrow to meet the deadline. The photo team is on standby to make whatever time Jack is available to work.”
My heart sank at the thought of organizing a photo shoot on such short notice. I knew I could do it, but I knew for a guy as busy as Jack, it would seem disrespectful of his time.
"Okay, I'll get started on it right away.” I tried my hardest to sound confident, but the effort failed in my ears.
