help but
say.
Herman laughed. "Now is not the time
to be questioning my decisions, Eleanor."
"Um, yes sir. I mean, thank
you."
My boss proceeded to
explain to me just what happened – I was now assistant manager
( same rank as Don, my brain reminded me), and it included a modest increase. This
all meant more work too, but when I looked at the printout of the
new job description, he seemed to have added just more travel
coordination. Nothing I couldn't handle.
It wasn't like I thought I didn't
deserve it, by the way. I just didn't realize that I'd hear the
happy news so soon.
***
The office announced the news, along
with the other promotions for the year, in an email to all
employees. I forgot how memo-happy my office was. They didn't just
mention the company-wide merit increase, but there was also a roll
call of promotions, complete with a short "message" from the Comm
department for each of us.
Eleanor Manuel, promoted
to Assistant Manager – Client Services Coordination, mere weeks
after her first anniversary with the team. Congratulations, and
watch out for this up-and-comer.
Whoa, those Comm department
people should be careful who they called an "up-and-comer." The
people around me might expect ambition or something.
It didn't matter though, because
within minutes my inbox was filled with congratulations. A little
after ten AM, an email from the ex came in.
I knew you could do it.
-Don
It figured that the first
time he would deliberately talk to me was about something I didn't
even plan to do. I didn't reply to him, and instead went back to
work. And I felt great.
***
One indication that work had
started not feeling like work was when I would look at the time and not
even realize that hours had gone by. Today was one of those days.
Our office had a yearly Regional Executive Committee Meeting coming
up, and certain department heads were required to attend. My boss
Herman was definitely going, as well as three other people from our
team, so he asked me to coordinate travel arrangements for
everyone.
This meeting was a big deal. If you
were there, you would meet the big shots of the firm not just from
Manila but the other Asian offices, and only people of a certain
rank were invited. Herman told me that he had a shortlist in mind
from our team already, and that I should coordinate with the
conference's secretariat about hotel and flight arrangements for
two men and two women for four days and three nights. Plus, it was
going to be hosted in Bangkok so I went over the program and the
social event schedule like I was looking through a Lonely Planet
book. It didn't feel like work at all.
When I last checked the time, it was
just after one PM. And then I heard Lucas knock on my desk, and
suddenly it was three forty-five.
"Huh?" I said, disoriented for about a
second.
It was a Friday, casual
day, and on his shirt was a robot with a sumbrero on its head. His tattoo was
a bit more visible, and for the first time I noticed that it looked
like a Chinese character, but not quite.
"You feel like celebrating?" Lucas
said, leaning against the wall of my cubicle, which went up to his
waist. "Have dinner with me tonight?"
Celebrating? I assumed he meant the
promotion. Last time I checked my email I waded through half a
dozen invites for dinner and drinks to celebrate, but didn't reply
to any of them. So technically, I had no plans tonight.
"Sure," I said. "Where?"
"My friend's birthday at this bar in
Greenbelt. I think he'll pay for the first two drinks."
"Is there a dress code?" I said,
pointing to his shirt. "I'm sorry but I didn't wear a cute robot
shirt today."
"I'm sure they'll let you in," he
grinned.
"Okay then," I said. I may
have become friendly with Rock Star but that didn't diminish the
cool factor of Rock Star asking me out to
dinner.
Five minutes later, my
worlds collided. Three-fifty PM was when Don used to drop by and
invite me to coffee. I looked forward to that
say.
Herman laughed. "Now is not the time
to be questioning my decisions, Eleanor."
"Um, yes sir. I mean, thank
you."
My boss proceeded to
explain to me just what happened – I was now assistant manager
( same rank as Don, my brain reminded me), and it included a modest increase. This
all meant more work too, but when I looked at the printout of the
new job description, he seemed to have added just more travel
coordination. Nothing I couldn't handle.
It wasn't like I thought I didn't
deserve it, by the way. I just didn't realize that I'd hear the
happy news so soon.
***
The office announced the news, along
with the other promotions for the year, in an email to all
employees. I forgot how memo-happy my office was. They didn't just
mention the company-wide merit increase, but there was also a roll
call of promotions, complete with a short "message" from the Comm
department for each of us.
Eleanor Manuel, promoted
to Assistant Manager – Client Services Coordination, mere weeks
after her first anniversary with the team. Congratulations, and
watch out for this up-and-comer.
Whoa, those Comm department
people should be careful who they called an "up-and-comer." The
people around me might expect ambition or something.
It didn't matter though, because
within minutes my inbox was filled with congratulations. A little
after ten AM, an email from the ex came in.
I knew you could do it.
-Don
It figured that the first
time he would deliberately talk to me was about something I didn't
even plan to do. I didn't reply to him, and instead went back to
work. And I felt great.
***
One indication that work had
started not feeling like work was when I would look at the time and not
even realize that hours had gone by. Today was one of those days.
Our office had a yearly Regional Executive Committee Meeting coming
up, and certain department heads were required to attend. My boss
Herman was definitely going, as well as three other people from our
team, so he asked me to coordinate travel arrangements for
everyone.
This meeting was a big deal. If you
were there, you would meet the big shots of the firm not just from
Manila but the other Asian offices, and only people of a certain
rank were invited. Herman told me that he had a shortlist in mind
from our team already, and that I should coordinate with the
conference's secretariat about hotel and flight arrangements for
two men and two women for four days and three nights. Plus, it was
going to be hosted in Bangkok so I went over the program and the
social event schedule like I was looking through a Lonely Planet
book. It didn't feel like work at all.
When I last checked the time, it was
just after one PM. And then I heard Lucas knock on my desk, and
suddenly it was three forty-five.
"Huh?" I said, disoriented for about a
second.
It was a Friday, casual
day, and on his shirt was a robot with a sumbrero on its head. His tattoo was
a bit more visible, and for the first time I noticed that it looked
like a Chinese character, but not quite.
"You feel like celebrating?" Lucas
said, leaning against the wall of my cubicle, which went up to his
waist. "Have dinner with me tonight?"
Celebrating? I assumed he meant the
promotion. Last time I checked my email I waded through half a
dozen invites for dinner and drinks to celebrate, but didn't reply
to any of them. So technically, I had no plans tonight.
"Sure," I said. "Where?"
"My friend's birthday at this bar in
Greenbelt. I think he'll pay for the first two drinks."
"Is there a dress code?" I said,
pointing to his shirt. "I'm sorry but I didn't wear a cute robot
shirt today."
"I'm sure they'll let you in," he
grinned.
"Okay then," I said. I may
have become friendly with Rock Star but that didn't diminish the
cool factor of Rock Star asking me out to
dinner.
Five minutes later, my
worlds collided. Three-fifty PM was when Don used to drop by and
invite me to coffee. I looked forward to that
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