Page 16 of Tailored for Them

It was something I was shocked to see when I first stepped into my position as CFO here. A blonde-haired, straight cis white man not making grabby hands at any and all profits his company made?

Unheard of.

Upper management got paid well. I was able to live on my own in an elevated part of Orange County, just a few minutes from the Irvine offices. My HOA had multiple pools, hot tubs, a pickleball court, a yoga studio, and other amenities I hadn’t even explored yet. I still lived in a relatively small one-bedroom apartment, but the fact that I could earn a livable wage on my own, and maintain a savings account in this economy, wasn’t something to blink at.

During one of the first meetings I had with Brandon, regarding overall budgets for things like new hires, I noticed what the lowest-paid employee was making at Sun Steer.

It was over six figures.

When I casually brought this up with him, trying to compliment him without seeming like I was sucking up, he just shrugged and said, “If the lowest-level full-time employee at Sun Steer isn’t making enough money and needs to get a second job, Sun Steer doesn’t deserve to be in business. People don’t go towork because they love to work, they go to work because they need to get paid to live. As a company, we’ve seemed to deal with less turnover by simply paying our employees enough to live close to the office.”

After going over the numbers, I also learned that Brandon also made sure that upper management never made more than 4x the amount of the lowest-paid employee in the company.

I never wanted to work anywhere else.

“Yeah, I’ll be here,” Jacqueline replied as she popped her earbuds in, bringing me back to the present, “I’m interviewing a couple of candidates for Signe’s replacement.”

Signe’s career as a romance author was taking off, and she was finally able to give notice that she would be quitting within a couple of months.

At my old job, if I knew someone was leaving soon, I wouldn’t expect to see much of them again after they quit. However, I noticed a warm, happy feeling in my stomach when I realized that I would still hang out with Signe regularly. We had a friendship outside of work, that wouldn’t end just because we didn’t clock in at the same time in the same place anymore.

Signe wasmyfriend. Not Colleen’s. Not Sun Steer’s. Mine.

A connection I made all on my own, without the help of whoever I was dating.

“Great, I wanted to meet with you both regarding catering options for the end-of-summer company party.” Brandon nodded as he walked with us toward the elevators, pressing the button to call them up.

“Oh, we should cater dinner and dessert,” I nodded. Ilovedessert.

“I’d like that,” Jacqueline widened her eyes, before asking Brandon, “I can’t remember, is this party for employees only, or are family and friends invited?”

“Family and friends are invited,” Brandon nodded as he thumbed away on his phone.

“Cool,” Jacqueline turned to me then, “You should invite Taylor.”

I stiffened before the elevator doors opened, “What?”

Jacqueline stepped through as Brandon gestured for me to follow behind her.

“You should invite Taylor,” Jacqueline repeated. She spoke a little more clearly as if my question was because I didn’t hear her the first time.

I nodded, “Oh. Why?”

Jacqueline looked at me, before glancing at my phone in my hands, “Because—wait, didn’t they text you?”

I widened my eyes, “Were they going to text me?”

Jacqueline frowned before her eyes widened and her lips parted, “Oh. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to say anything.” Ever since Jacqueline got her autism diagnosis, she has been less worried about masking around everyone and more comfortable explaining herself with words that made the most sense to her. A couple of weeks after confessing her love to Leo at his rugby practice, she decided to “pull the trigger” and get formally tested. I remembered being with Jacqueline at a girls’ night with all of us, including Mary and Jamie (who also worked at Sun Steer), while her phone rang with the incoming call.

When Jacqueline’s autism diagnosis was confirmed, she cried.

Then we all started crying with her, hugging her and congratulating her on finally having the answers she’d been wondering about her whole life.

“No, actually,” I lifted a finger, “I think you should say something. More things. Did they tell you they were going to call me?”

Jacqueline pressed her lips together, glancing at Brandon, who seemed mildly amused with the conversation as the elevator started its descent.

“They just asked me for your number,” Jacqueline said, staying perfectly still as she replied.

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