Page 39 of Fun Together
Eli: I hate soup, but it seemed like the right thing to get.
Faye: You hate soup??? It’s the best food.
Eli: No way.
Faye: I could eat nothing but soup for the rest of my life.
Eli: Gross
Eli: p.s. you can’t change the subject. What’s next on the list?
I get up to grab the list from my counter and bring it back over to the couch, smoothing out the wrinkled paper.
Faye: New job is a pretty high priority.
Eli: Good idea. Maybe something with better pay so you can afford a set of sheets.
Faye: GOODNIGHT
Faye: And thank you again.
Eli: You’re welcome. Goodnight.
I finish my soup and curl up in my couch nest, feeling much better.
13
Eli
“I thinkyou’re ready for your first role assignment.”
I’m in my first one-on-one meeting with my manager, Melissa. She’s not much older than me, but she carries herself in a way that makes me a little terrified of her. Sitting here in her office, I feel like a little kid being sent off to spend the day with their scary great aunt who thinks sorting coins is a fun activity.
I sit up in my seat. “Awesome, that sounds great.”
“There’s an opening for a project manager role in the operations department. The last person in this role was let go for insubordination.”
“Wow, what happened?”
She puts her glasses on, like she needs to get a better look at me, and I feel a little uncertain. I’m not someone who hates attention by any means, but the way she’s looking at me feels like I’m under a microscope and she’s searching for something that I will never be able to understand. “Does that matter?”
“I guess not. Just . . .” I shift uncomfortably in my seat and wipe my palms against my pants. “Curious, that’s all.”
She continues, “Looking for someone with a background in tech, preferably. You’ll find details on pay and benefits in the portal.” She pauses, glaring at my hands that I’m way too slow to realize are empty when they should probably be writing this down.
“Sorry, can you give me just a second? Forgot my notepad at my desk.”
“Hurry back,” she says while turning her chair to face her computer screen.
I jog out to my cubicle and grab the neon blue Millionfish branded notebook sitting on my desk. I got it in a welcome package on my first day, along with a water bottle and a sweatshirt with Guppie, the company mascot, on the front.
Melissa is talking on the phone when I step back in her office. “Mm-hmm, yeah, mm-hmm, got it. Okay, mm-hmm, perfect.”
“Everything okay?” I ask after she hangs up.
She sighs. “Look, I’m going to give it to you straight. We are embarking on a rapid growth initiative and need more bodies.”
“More. Bodies.” I nod along and write the words in bold in my notebook.
