Chapter Twenty-Nine
The last hints of daylight filtered through the bedroom window. Outside, a gust of wind blew, making Mei snuggle closer to Alexandre, even though they were already cocooned in his soft jersey sheets.
“What are you thinking?” He stroked her hair.
“About how happy I am.”
The last twenty-four hours had flown by.
After dinner at the brewery, they’d gone back to Alexandre’s place.
They both attempted polite small talk for about five minutes before Mei grabbed his hand and led him to his bedroom.
In the morning, he’d cooked ham and Gruyère omelets for breakfast, then they’d hiked to a frozen waterfall in a nearby park.
After lunch, with their time together drawing to a close, they’d ended up back in Alexandre’s bed.
“How about if I drive down next weekend?” Alexandre asked. “That is, if you want me to. I don’t want to be presumptuous and assume we’re definitely meeting up—”
Mei laughed. “Is this about me asking if we could take it slow?”
“Yes.”
She planted a kiss on his nose. “I’d love to see you next weekend.” In Hawai‘i, she’d been skittish about dating again. But being with Alexandre didn’t feel risky. It felt just right.
Mei rubbed her foot against his. He pulled her in for a long kiss.
Finally, Mei drew back reluctantly. “I should get going.”
At the train station, Alexandre waited with her on the platform. Leaving him had her feeling down, and the Sunday Scaries grew even stronger when Mei pictured her Livin inbox. Then she realized something.
“I didn’t work this entire weekend. I barely even thought about Livin.”
“Good! We’re doing it. Petit à petit.”
The platform vibrated beneath their feet. A Grand Central–bound train approached. Mei stood on tiptoe and tilted her face up to kiss Alexandre. “Thanks for helping me remember what’s important in life.”
· · ·
The next morning, Mei floated into Livin. She ordered a large latte from the barista, chose a sunny spot at a communal table, and worked until her ten a.m. meeting with her senior reports.
“Did you all have a good weekend?” Mei asked once everyone was seated in the Rio conference room.
Kaden snorted. “Not really. I just worked.”
“Same,” Tamiko said.
“I stopped working on the weekends so my wife isn’t working full-time, raising our son, and doing everything around the house by herself. My rankings have been trash ever since,” Bryce said. “It was nice working with all of you.”
“We’ll chat in our one-on-one,” Mei said.
Bryce had been in the bottom 10 percent for the last three months.
Mei had received the automated notice that she’d have to fire him at the end of January unless he turned around his performance by “demonstrating unprecedented impact in extraordinary and quantifiable ways.” Mei bit her lip, thinking about how, every few weeks, Bryce updated his laptop background with a new photo of his son.
Of course he should be able to spend time with his family!
Mei gulped down the dregs of her coffee. Her weekend glow was officially gone.
“Can we talk about our goals?” Tamiko asked. “Because they’re killing me. They’re not good for the business, either.”
“I miss when Diana was here and we could focus on results, not just quantity,” Bryce added.
“I feel the same way,” Mei said. “I couldn’t change James’s mind. When I met with Erika on Friday and told her why our goals are problematic, she wouldn’t budge, either.”
“What’s she like?” Kaden asked.
Mei had anticipated the question. “She sees the value of our programs, including the brand refresh. I think Erika will be a strong advocate for evangelizing our work to the execs.”
“Think she’ll shake things up?” Tamiko asked. “Or will it be the same as it’s been under James?”
Mei hesitated. “I don’t see anything changing right away. Erika said we could revisit our goals, but not until we have six months of data.”
Kaden rubbed their eyes. “I can’t do this much longer.”
Mei’s heart broke as she took in her dejected teammates. Kaden had dark circles under their eyes. Tamiko’s skin looked sallow. Bryce gnawed on his cuticles. Mei’s mind flashed back to kissing Alexandre goodbye at the train station. Thanks for helping me remember what’s important in life.
“So don’t,” she said.
Her teammates stared at her in surprise.
Mei flushed. She hadn’t planned to speak so bluntly. “I just mean that we still have our ridiculous, unsustainable workload for the foreseeable future. If it makes sense for you to pursue other opportunities, either on another Livin team or elsewhere, I’ll understand and support you.”
Her colleagues nodded gravely.
“What about you?” Bryce asked.
Mei was quiet for a moment. Then she gave each of her teammates a meaningful look. “I’m thinking about what makes sense for me in the long term. And you should, too.”
· · ·
Late on Friday afternoon, Mei wearily checked her goals tracker. She still had heaps of content in her queue. Could she review a few more event scripts before calling it a week? It was only five thirty.
Her phone buzzed. Alexandre had texted a photo of a coffee mug next to his laptop.
Finishing my second latte and next week’s lesson plans. Ready to start the weekend.
He was already in the city. He’d driven down after his last class and was working from a nearby café. Mei wasn’t planning to meet him until seven, but she could barely concentrate knowing he was mere blocks away.
She opened a draft of Julian’s South by Southwest keynote address. The words swam before her eyes. Usually scripts got Mei hyped for the actual event, but this was not what she wanted to be doing.
A half hour later, she finished commenting on the doc. Mei had just opened the latest campaign video cuts when her phone buzzed again. She clicked on a photo of a glass of red wine next to a worn paperback.
Got to the restaurant a little early. No rush. I’m having a good time reading at the bar.
Mei stared at the photo. She could practically smell Alexandre’s piney scent mingling with the spicy red wine. She glanced at her teammates, who were all typing around her. Then she snapped her laptop shut. “That’s it. I’m done for the week.”
“Packing it in early?” Bryce’s eyebrows shot up.
Ayanna gave her a once-over. “Got plans tonight?”
Mei touched her hair, which she’d actually blown out this morning. Ayanna probably also noticed she was wearing a new navy blouse with a delicate lace trim, rather than her usual T-shirt and blazer. Mei smiled. “I do.”
“Good!” Kaden slammed their laptop shut. “I’m going to get out of here, too. I’m seeing a show tonight and would love to stop at home first.”
“We should leave at six every Friday,” Mei said.
“You don’t have to convince me,” Bryce said. “My wife will be thrilled.”
They all rode the elevator to the ground floor, laughing and chatting. When they reached the street, the winter sky glowed dusky pink above the building tops.
Mei waved goodbye to her teammates and skipped down Park Avenue South. A few minutes later, she reached her destination, a cozy townhouse tavern. Her heart thrummed as she scanned the bar area.
Then she spotted him. Alexandre sat on a stool at the far end, his wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose while he read his book.
He glanced up. Mei gave a little wave. A smile crept across Alexandre’s face as he made his way over.
When he reached her, he lifted her off the ground, making her laugh.
“You’re early.”
Mei grinned up at him. “I couldn’t wait another minute.”
· · ·
On Sunday morning, Mei settled against her couch, her legs resting on Alexandre’s. As she sipped her coffee, she surveyed her studio.
“I still don’t love this place, but it feels much nicer with you in it.”
Alexandre squeezed her foot. “This place is great. From the way you talked about it, I was expecting it to be old and decrepit.”
“I’ve fixed it up a bit.” Knowing Alexandre would be spending the weekend, Mei had deep cleaned her entire apartment, arranged framed photos on her nightstand, and picked up a few succulents from the grocery store.
There was nothing she could do about the water-stained ceiling or slanting floor, but her place did feel more like home.
“You know that in academia, lots of people live in student-type apartments for most of their lives? You would’ve been horrified at my Eugene apartment. I like it here. And I like my place better when you’re there, too.” Alexandre leaned over to meet her lips. “So what do you feel like doing today?”
“This.” Mei leaned on his shoulder, then sighed. “I should look for jobs.”
“Want to do that now?” He reached for his phone. “I can help.”
Mei laughed. “Because you know so much about marketing?”
“No, but I’ll search for New York marketing jobs at cool companies, and you can see if they’re a fit.” He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you doubt my knowledge of cool companies.”
“You are so uncool! That’s one of the reasons I like you so much.”
“At least I have enough self-awareness not to be offended.”
They were quiet as they scrolled on their phones. Mei flagged job listings for VP of marketing positions at Pure, a sustainable cleaning startup, and Sea Salt, a hip kitchen brand.
“Tempo, that running shoe company, is hiring a marketing manager,” Alexandre said.
“I like the brand, but the job isn’t the right level. I’m looking for VP titles.”
“VP? As in vice president?” His eyes widened.
Mei couldn’t hide her pleased smile. She nodded.
“Wow.” He let out a dry laugh. “That sure sounds more impressive than an associate professor who’s only teaching.”
Mei caught the bitterness in Alexandre’s voice. “Hey. You’re not ‘just’ an associate professor who’s ‘only’ teaching. You’re a brilliant research scientist who’s passing on your knowledge to lots of lucky kids. You’ve come so far. Plus”—she wrapped him in a hug—“you wouldn’t have me in Oregon.”
Alexandre buried his face in her neck. “No, I wouldn’t.”
She kissed his ear. “We’ll stay strong together.”