Two Months Ago
Garrett’s fingers dance rapidly across his keyboard as he types out a missive to one of his direct reports. He hates having people report to him because it means he has to care about things like the dress code and punctuality. He doesn’t care for babysitting in any context, but especially when it involves other adults in the workplace.
The items on his desk shake to the beat of Garrett’s typing, including the framed photo of his family from last Christmas. The frame used to hold a picture of a former girlfriend, but he replaced that photo after she dumped him for someone else. It teeters toward the edge of the desk. Another paragraph or two will do it.
The sound of knocking alerts Garrett to the presence of someone in his doorway. He doesn’t know how long Janine has been standing there; she has that effect on people.
“Am I interrupting? You seem to be in the middle of something.”
He lets out a breath. “No, come in. I was just emailing Colin about his Birkenstocks and trying not to go insane in the process.”
Janine slides into one of the guest chairs in front of his desk, wearing the same black suit she’s worn every day. It’s a little more subtle than Elizabeth Holmes’s black turtleneck, but Garrett had noticed it early on. He has never seen her wear anything else in all the years they have been working together. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, in a way.”
Garrett crosses his arms. “Okay. What’s going on?”
“You aren’t happy here.”
“Excuse me?”
“Here in this office, I mean. We’ve worked together for a long time. I’ve noticed.”
Garrett’s mouth opens before he has formed a sentence to go with the gesture. “Have I done something wrong?”
“No, not at all.” She joins her hands and places them on his desk. He has seen this move many times before. “I think it’s time for a new experience for you. To get you out of this office. Away from Colin’s Birkenstocks, if you will.”
“What kind of new experience?”
“The kind that comes with a pay raise.”
He nods. “I’m listening.”
“Alabama.”
“What about it?”
“Have you ever been?”
“No.”
“There’s a regional director position opening up. It will be more fieldwork in the beginning. The team is full of new hires, and they need to be trained.”
“You don’t think I’m getting too old for fieldwork?”
“I think you can handle it. You might enjoy a break from the normal nine-to-five. Besides, I need someone I can trust to train the team.”
“And you trained me.”
She smiles. “Exactly.”
Garrett rotates back and forth in his chair. He thinks of all the other times Janine had given him opportunities like this. He had never hesitated. But it was getting exhausting. Was he really planning to move every two years for the rest of his life? Shouldn’t he settle down at some point? “It has to be Alabama?”
“It won’t be as bad as you think. Nothing ever is. But I would appreciate you ‘taking one for the team,’ as they say. It will give you some leverage to move wherever you want in a couple of years.”
“You’re saying, if I take this job in Alabama for two years, you’ll let me choose where to go next?”
She nods. “Don’t forget, we’re an international company.”
He considers the offer. It’s a promotion. More money. But he would have to move to Alabama, of all places. A job with more fieldwork will mean more traveling. He hasn’t spent any time in Alabama, but he has a lot of experience with hotels in small towns where the only food options were from a drive-thru or a vending machine. Of course, he hadn’t been thrilled to move to Pittsburgh when he took this position, and now he’s thinking about how much he will miss his apartment downtown.
“What about moving expenses?”
She sits up straighter, ready to negotiate. “Of course.”
This job would mean a lot of travel. A lot of living in his car. He decides to push his luck.
“Would you throw in a car?”
“A car of your choice. Done.”
He leans back in his chair. “I think we have a deal.”