Chapter Thirty-Seven
Mei lay on her couch, staring at the ceiling. She couldn’t stop seeing the hurt in Alexandre’s eyes, or hearing his angry words. Why had Erika, of all people, been the one to tell him she was staying at Livin? Mei buried her face in a pillow and screamed.
Still, no matter how many times she parsed through the ugly scene, Mei couldn’t think of anything she would have done differently.
She eyed her phone. Alexandre hadn’t called or texted. Even though she was still angry, she longed for him to reach out. I’m sorry, he’d say. I understand why you’re staying at Livin. I’ll support you and your decision.
Mei reached for her laptop. Enough self-pity. Her to-do list was longer than ever. She had to turn down Pure’s job offer and prepare for the layoffs. Mei tamped down the guilt starting to rise in her chest. I won’t make anyone work this week. I’ll take on their work as my own.
At least she’d let her teammates go with dignity.
· · ·
On Monday morning, Mei arrived at Livin a few minutes before eight. She grabbed an everything bagel with tofu cream cheese and found a spot at a long communal table. As she worked, colleagues trickled in. By nine, the room was packed.
A strange energy filled the space, until Mei could no longer concentrate. Even by Livin’s standards, the vibe felt unusually fevered.
“I can’t believe it,” one of the designers said to an art director as they walked by. “I thought Livin was different.”
The art director snorted. “All these fucking companies just look out for themselves.”
“Happy layoff week,” a guy from the sales team quipped as he approached two of his teammates.
“I’m gonna save all my clients’ info this morning before I lose access,” one of the teammates replied.
So people knew about the layoffs. How? Mei glanced to her left, where three account managers were huddled together.
“…in Bloomberg first, then The New York Times,” one of them said.
Mei typed “Livin” into her browser. A stream of headlines appeared. “LIVIN TO LAY OFF 3,000 EMPLOYEES.” “LIVIN WILL CUT THOUSANDS OF JOBS.” “A LIVIN NIGHTMARE: HOT STARTUP ANNOUNCES MASS LAYOFFS.”
She perused the stories. They didn’t contain much besides Livin’s plan to downsize. The head of Livin’s public affairs team confirmed the layoffs with generic remarks about “rightsizing the company and relentlessly focusing on cutting-edge technology to continue our unprecedented growth.”
All around her, people chattered about the layoffs.
· · ·
In Mei’s meeting with Kaden, Bryce, and Tamiko, they just wanted to talk about the layoffs.
“I’ve had it with this place.” Kaden rolled their eyes at their surroundings. They were in the Munich room, which had an Oktoberfest theme, complete with working taps, giant beer steins, and a mini food cart with oversized pretzels.
“Is this a safe space?” Tamiko asked Mei.
“Always. Nothing anyone says leaves this room.”
“Good.” Tamiko’s eyes flashed. “I hope they lay me off! I’ve been interviewing and I might have a job offer soon. If I get canned, I’ll get my severance and my new salary.”
“I’m hoping for that, too!” Kaden exclaimed. “I think I might also get an offer.”
“From where?” Bryce asked.
“We’re the First. It’s this amazing nonprofit that helps first-generation college students. I’d be their head of marketing and communications.” Kaden grinned. “It would be so nice to work somewhere that aligns with my values. I can’t keep looking the other way here.”
Mei swallowed her shock. Had she made a mistake by turning down that job? No, the salary didn’t work.
“I hope you get it,” Mei said truthfully. “We’re the First would be lucky to have you.”
“Where are you interviewing?” Kaden asked Tamiko.
“A few places in the ed tech space.”
“Maybe we can do a partnership!”
“Can I get in on this, too?” Bryce asked.
Mei watched her teammates talk excitedly. An unsettling feeling welled up inside her.
“I’ve been thinking about what I want in a job,” Bryce was saying. “Yeah, it’s exciting to work at a hot company. But not when I have to give up everything else. I’m never letting a job come between me and my family again.”
“Hear, hear!” Tamiko high-fived Kaden and Bryce. “We’ve been working ourselves to death for a company that treats us like shit.”
“We all deserve better,” Bryce said.
“You do,” Mei agreed.
All eyes turned to her.
“You do, too,” Bryce said. “You’re the best manager.”
“You really are! I hope you go somewhere that appreciates you,” Tamiko chimed in.
“Yeah, you’re not planning to stay here, are you?” Kaden asked.
“Well, I, um,” Mei stammered. Tamiko’s eyes turned pitying. Kaden’s mouth twisted. Bryce smiled sympathetically.
“You probably know more than you can share,” Tamiko said.
“We won’t put you on the spot,” Bryce added.
Mei lowered her head. She didn’t deserve her team’s grace. “I can’t wait to see where you all go from here.”
She adjourned the meeting. In the hallway, she ran into Ayanna.
“Got a minute to chat?” Mei asked.
“I was just coming to find you.”
They ducked into the New Orleans room.
Mei flopped down in a Café Du Monde–style chair. “Can you believe this?”
“The layoffs? Replacing everyone with AI? Sure can!”
“At least we’ll have each other.” Mei had taken solace in knowing that Livin was also keeping Ayanna.
“For the next few days. Then I’m out, too. I just gave my notice.”
“Stop. Where are you going? Or are you just quitting?”
“I’ll be running brand strategy for a new product line at Trillion.
” The global tech behemoth was known for its sleek devices, edgy branding, and soaring stock prices.
“My new manager is one of the few Black women at such a senior level—obviously they have some work to do in that area, too. She’s a visionary with big ideas, while knowing how to set up teams for success. Unlike some people.”
“I know. James is the worst.”
“And Erika. Don’t get me started. She’s a snake.”
“Is she?”
“Don’t tell me she’s fooled you. She’ll be charming to your face, then undercut you when you’re not around.”
“Yikes.” Would Erika do that to her?
“Are you staying?”
“I was planning to,” Mei said weakly. “I just turned down a job at Pure. VP of marketing.”
“What?” Ayanna stared at her. “Pure’s hot. Their CEO, Whitney Allen, is a total boss. I’ve seen her speak at conferences.”
Mei winced, recalling Whitney’s reply to her email. She’d been disappointed but gracious about Mei not taking the job.
“Why would you choose Livin over Pure?”
“The IPO. The career opportunity.”
“Who knows if the IPO will ever happen! Some companies talk about it for years and never go public. And what, specifically, is here for you, careerwise?”
“Erika said she’ll promote me to VP.” Mei didn’t even sound convincing to herself.
Ayanna shook her head sorrowfully. “Do you really believe that? Also, I’ve got news for you: You could already be a VP. At Pure!”
Mei let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m also presenting at Livin Forum.”
“Livin Forum is an internal event! You’ll just be presenting to Livin employees. You should be in the spotlight at external events, where your industry peers can soak in your brilliance and recruit you for better jobs!”
Mei paused. She hadn’t even thought of that.
Ayanna fixed Mei with a steely look. “You’re not helping yourself by staying. Your career and mental health will just suffer. Leave as soon as you can.”
· · ·
Tuesday passed in a fog. Tamiko received a job offer and gave her notice—whether or not she was getting laid off, tomorrow would be her last day. Mei couldn’t blame her. She congratulated Tamiko, then went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. Now I’ll have NO teammates in New York.
On Wednesday morning, Mei arrived at Livin. The place was eerily quiet. Only a few employees were scattered at the communal tables. Even the sound system, which always thumped with upbeat dance tracks, was playing soft jazz.
The layoff emails had gone out at six a.m. Everyone must have stayed home.
Mei opened her laptop. The digital Livin world was just as subdued. No Slack messages popped up. No emails came in. Hopefully, Julian would address the company, and James would reach out to the marketing team.
Mei texted Bryce, Kaden, Tamiko, and her other reports to let them know she was available if they wanted to talk. Then she got down to work.
As the hours passed, her Slack and inbox stayed silent. The office remained a ghost town. Mei’s phone buzzed with texts from Ali, Luc, Kathy, her mom, and Henry; they’d all seen the news. Mei reassured them she was fine.
Late in the day, after she’d scrounged a few vegan granola bars from the kitchen and given up on Julian and James addressing the remaining employees, Mei noticed an unread text on her phone.
Alexandre: Hi Mei. Just wanted to let you know that I’m thinking of you and hoping you’re doing okay.
Mei stared at her phone. Why didn’t Alexandre call her? Or offer to chat? She could ring him now. But what would she say? You were right. Livin is a shitshow. I shouldn’t have stayed. Oh, and happy Valentine’s Day.
Even before their blowup, they hadn’t made any plans. Mei hadn’t minded; their relationship was so new, and she’d always considered Valentine’s Day an artificial holiday. But Alexandre had casually mentioned he would cook her chocolate and raspberry crêpes the next time they were together.
So much for that.
Mei clicked on her goals tracker, duly noting how all her teammates’ responsibilities had already been reassigned to her.
The ironic bright spot in this truly terrible day was that she’d been able to work uninterrupted, making today surprisingly productive.
Mei heaved a sigh and opened a new video script.
There was nothing left to do but keep chipping away at her content queue.
· · ·