Page 15 of Accidentally Amy

I’d seen her a few times over the past couple of weeks, but we’d both done our best to avoid each other.

When she was stepping into the elevator last Friday, I hung back and waited for the next one. When we both ended up in the break room at the same time yesterday, I ditched my desire for coffee and hightailed it back to my office.

“Our rep assured us they can customize the content, so perhaps we can create separate videos for the front office,” she said. “Videos that speak to their specific roles.”

Jeff, the director of safety, looked at her and said, “What, like, how to avoid paper cuts?”

That immediately made me think of Darryl’s “Nerf life” bitfromThe Office, but I cleared my throat and inquired, “What exactly are you picturing?”

“How to avoid repetitive motion injuries,” Pam interjected, nodding enthusiastically. “The importance of ergonomics, parking lot safety—”

Nerf life, I thought, and I could tell she was losing Brad with this take. The program had way too big a price tag to justify carpal tunnel warnings. Its primary benefit was prioritizing safety culture within the organization, but this wasn’tthat.

“Forgive me for being presumptuous,” Scooter’s Amy said, looking directly at Brad. Her eyes were bright, like she knew she had a good hand, when she added, “But we can also customize the videos to cover more than just physical safety. We can use them for cybersecurity, to train employees on how better to spot phishing attacks. Or for recruiting—how to refer a friend for a job opportunity. It’s even a great way to spread wellness updates and innovations.”

Brad tilted his head and got the look on his face that meant he was interested. Eyebrows down, mouth puckered, fingers stroking chin.

But something about it bugged the shit out of me.

Maybe it was the knowing expression onherface, the way she looked victorious. It rubbed me the wrong way, especially when Scooter’s Amy was probably lying about the system’s capabilities just to get the approval to cross the finish line.

“It can do that?” he asked.

“Oh, absolutely,” she said, nodding and smiling. “We could even roll out the ethics touchpoints via this platform if we wanted to.”

Brad had been all hot and bothered for a while now about launching an ethics module, where the training team would create entertaining videos that served to remind employees of the company’s core values.

“Ethics touchpoints,” I said, looking directly at her.Time to make you squirm, Amy.“Now I’m intrigued. Tell me about ethics,Isabella.”

Izzy

I opened my mouth but had no idea what to say.

“Um.” I cleared my throat and did my best not to glare at him, but it was difficult. I felt all eyes on me as my cheeks burned. “I mean—”

“I know you’re new, so let me give you an example of the concept, and you can tell me if the platform can handle it,” he said, and I really hated the smugness in his tone. There was a ghost of a smirk on his lips. “Let’s say we wanted to create a video on workplace integrity. The training team might come up with some sort of anecdote showing an employee as they decide whether or not to take something that isn’t theirs, or perhaps make a choice whether or not to tell a lie.”

“Okay…?” I said, looking at Pam, who didn’t appear to be aware of what he was doing. I felt like I was getting stabbed in front of an entire conference room full of people who had no idea it was happening as Blake looked at me like he was enjoying himself.

Why won’t he let this go? Does he seriously equate my latte pilferage with employee theft?

“Obviously the point of the video would be to show that integrity means doing the right thing, even when no one is watching,” he said, and his annoyingly chiseled jaw did that clench-unclench thing again. “Do you think a ninety-second piece could achieve that?”

“I, um, I think it’d actually be perfect,” I said, trying to focus on the question and not his accusing undertones. My face was burning and my forehead felt hot, but I managed to answer, “A quick hit could be far more impactful than something longer.”

“Go on,” Brad said, and I appreciated the fact that he didn’t look like he wanted to squash me.Heactually looked interested, which immediately gave me the spark I needed.

I met Blake’s judgmental stare and felt my own almost smirk forming when I said, “Well, Brad, the video Blake described could come off assanctimoniousor perhaps a littleoverblownin a longer format.”

This time I felt supremely satisfied when I saw the telltale jaw flex, like I’d achieved a goal I hadn’t known I’d been striving for. I tilted my head, kept my eyes on Blake’s, and said, “But I really think the brevity of this delivery system can soften the judgmental preachiness of what Blake described and produce something relatable.”

“Absolutely,” Pam said, giving me a grin as she nodded. “We have complete control over the content, so the sky’s the limit.”

I smiled back at her, feeling great about my contribution to what was basically a sales pitch. We needed Blake and Brad to okay the expenditure, so even though we weren’t salespeople, we were working our asses off to sell it to them in order to use the package for safety support.

By the time the meeting wrapped up, Pam was laughing with Brad, and we had the green light to move forward. I was absolutely energized as I trailed behind them, feeling so engaged already in this new job that I wanted to skip down the hallway.

“Isabella,” I heard from behind me, and I gritted my teeth. “Can you hang back for a sec?”

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