19
Vivian
Leadership Role
Vivian managed to make it into the conference room and dropped her enormous folder of gala stuff onto the table in front of Ashley.
Ashley looked up from her phone, her natural curls bouncing in luscious spirals that Vivian envied.
It was so orderly. Vivian was well aware of the amount of effort Ashley put into her hair, including the small sacrifices to the rain gods.
However, Vivian suspected that even if she put in that much effort and sacrificed the UW mascot, she’d still end up with hair that looked like a creature had built a nest in it.
“OK,” said Vivian. “Give me a sec to grab my tea, and then we’ll get down to business.”
“You’re the client,” said Ashley, with a grin. “I am at your disposal. But you know we need to preface any work talk with what is going on with you and Rowan Valkyrie.”
Vivian winced. “Shhhhhhh.” She waved her arms frantically and looked desperately out into the hall to make sure no one was around to hear. Ashley looked at her like she was insane.
“Belinda made a big deal recently about staff not dating clients,” she whispered, gently closing the door. Vivian didn’t want to say exactly when Belinda had brought it up. Hiding in Rowan’s wardrobe was a ridiculous story that she did not plan to share until everyone was already drunk.
“He’s not a client, is he?” Ashley whispered back.
“Not exactly, but a building tenant is probably close enough that Belinda could make a stink about it. And knowing Belinda, she definitely would.”
“That would prevent literally anyone in your company from dating anyone else in the building. That’s ridiculous.”
“Yes, and I’m sure I could fight it, but the point is that I don’t want to have to fight right now. It’s only been a couple of weeks. Not even that.” Twelve days. Twelve glorious days.
“And you’ve spent practically every night over at his place, haven’t you?” demanded Ashley. “Bet you get a drawer in his dresser real soon.”
Vivian hesitated.
“Oh, my God,” Ashley crowed, getting louder again. “You already got one.”
“Yesterday,” said Vivian guiltily. “He said my lingerie needed dedicated space.”
Ashley rocked back in her chair, laughing. “It’s funny because it’s true.”
“Oh, hush,” said Vivian, checking the hallway again through the glass sidelight as Ashley giggled again. Vivian realized there was bottled water on the side table and grabbed one instead of going for tea.
“I can’t wait to meet this guy. He’s coming to the gala, right?”
“Yeah,” said Vivian, dropping tiredly into one of the conference table chairs with the water. She adjusted the height of the chair. She sometimes wondered if midnight elves went around altering the conference room chairs to the oddest measurements.
“Although, he doesn’t really get why we can’t go together,” she added as she sank a few inches closer to the floor.
She also got the feeling that Rowan didn’t understand her role at the Victory Mission, but she was at a loss as to how to explain it to him.
Rowan listened intently when she talked, but he frequently looked perplexed.
Event Committee Chair apparently meant nothing, and the entire nonprofit world appeared to be a mystery to him.
He seemed to exist in a very for-profit space.
“Uh, ‘cause I need your ass to be working,” said Ashley.
“That he gets and supports. He just doesn’t actually get what I’m doing.” Vivian shrugged.
“Well, I expect he’ll get it when he shows up,” said Ashley. “Trying to explain the moving parts of an event to someone is hard until they see it happen. Although, switching to work talk for a moment…”
Ashley paused, and Vivian suddenly felt nervous. Ashley was usually a straight shooter. Hesitation meant she thought it was a sensitive topic.
“So, I guess the search for a new Executive Director at the Victory Mission is not going well? Or at least that’s the impression I got from Father Fred and Kandie?”
Kandace was the Board President, and Father Fred was the current Executive Director. As a founding member of the Victory Mission, he had served well, but she knew he was just plain tired and wanted to retire into his true passion of volunteerism.
“It’s hard to find a candidate who understands the non-profit world and can speak to the military,” said Vivian. “And we’ve found a few we like, but we can’t be as competitive in pay as some bigger nonprofits.”
“Well, that is because you only have ten full-time employees and three part-time staff.”
“And a ton of volunteers and programs to manage,” Vivian pointed out.
“You’re small,” said Ashley.
“We’re efficient, and we could grow with the right leadership.”
“You’re punching above your weight class.”
“You’re goddamn right we are,” said Vivian proudly.
“Yes, but that makes it extra hard to find a qualified director, and none of you want to settle for someone who will do the job but won’t really get the mission.”
“We shouldn’t have to,” said Vivian grumpily.
“Yeah,” said Ashley, nodding. “Which is why I think you’d be perfect for the job.”
Vivian laughed. “What?”
“You have a degree in Communication. You have nearly a decade of experience in fundraising, and you know and understand the military.”
“I’m a paralegal,” said Vivian.
“For the top law firm in the State. You’ve written briefs for the State Supreme Court. You have years of experience in Estate Planning, which is exactly the donor base the Mission needs to talk to, and you’ve brought in half the board.”
“I’ve contributed to briefs,” said Vivian. “Howard had the final say. I don’t have any leadership experience.”
Ashley laughed. “Vivian, you are my girl. Don’t go all imposter syndrome on me. You lead all the damn time.”
There was a soft knock on the door.
“No, I don’t,” said Vivian, confident that she didn’t.
She glanced out the side light and saw Courtney at the door. She waved to the assistant, and Courtney opened the door.
“Vivian,” said Courtney, looking embarrassed. “I can’t find Howard, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Oh, no,” said Vivian, soothingly. “What’s wrong?”
“I just talked to Ms. Branch, and she gave me a whole list of files to pull for a seminar she’s speaking at, and on the list is one of the briefs you just filed on that Supreme Court case.”
“Oh, right,” said Vivian, remembering Ms. Branch had mentioned it the week before.
“But I don’t know if she wants the whole decision or just what you filed, and she wanted me to get a statement from Howard.”
“She’s doing an annual impact report on this year’s rulings and wants to brag on Howard’s work and do a little plug for the firm.
What she really needs is an overview and then probably a quotable from Howard.
I’ll write up the quote for Howard’s approval, and then you can ask Etta to write the overview.
Tell her she’s got about two hundred words. ”
“How is Etta supposed to get the entire case down to two hundred words?” asked Courtney, looking alarmed.
“She won’t, but if I tell her she’s got four hundred, it will come back at six. Tell Ms. Branch I’ll run the quote from Howard under his nose tomorrow, and she should have it by Friday.”
“OK, thanks!” said Courtney, looking relieved.
“No problem.”
Courtney disappeared, shutting the door gently behind her.
“I’m sorry, what were you saying about not leading?” asked Ashley. “I got distracted by you telling someone what to do.”
“That’s not Executive Director leadership. Being a director isn’t just staff. It’s budgets and networking and development and grants.”
“All of which I have watched you handle while working on the gala,” said Ashley. “I think you should at least mention to Father Fred that you’re interested.”
“I can’t tell Chappie that,” said Vivian.
“Why not?” asked Ashley seriously.
“Because he would say what a good idea it was,” said Vivian.
“Yes, because it is.”
“No, because he loves me and thinks I can do anything. He and Howard get along great in that regard.”
Ashley chuckled.
“But he doesn’t have a say in the hiring. The board does that. And I don’t think I’m a serious enough candidate.”
“Well, I won’t argue with you right now,” said Ashley. “I will just say that you should think about it.”
“I appreciate your belief in me,” said Vivian. “But I have to be realistic.”
“Like you’re being realistic about Mr. Hotstuff Security Guy who makes you smile every time you say his name?”
“It’s only been a few weeks,” protested Vivian. “Falling in love right now would be ridiculous.”
“Bitch, please,” said Ashley. “You were in love at the donut shop. Why are you fighting this?”
Vivian sighed. “Because he makes me so, so, so happy, Ashley and that is scary.”
Ashley’s smile was gleefully smug. “I hear that, but at least allow me to cheer you on. I love happy on you. It’s your look.”
The door opened abruptly without a knock, and Vivian looked up.
“Viv,” said Trent Michaels, unconsciously running a hand over his coiffed blonde locks. “Howard’s missing again, and he’s locked down his schedule.”
“I’m in a meeting. And he’s not missing. He’s having lunch with his wife.”
There was a visible eye-roll. “Well, be a sweetie and change his Tuesday with me to two-thirty.”
“I’ll look at the schedule and see what’s available,” said Vivian. “And ask Howard what he wants to do.”
“Nooooo,” said Trent, wagging his finger at Vivian. “We all know you can do it, and Howard will do whatever is on his calendar. So just fix it for me! There’s a good girl.”
He shut the door before Vivian could reply.
“His calendar is locked down because certain people kept getting the secretaries to change it without asking,” said Vivian, turning back to Ashley. “And now they bug me instead.”
“You have to get out of here,” said Ashley. “Seriously. Think about what I said.”
“I’ll think about it,” said Vivian. And she would because it wasn’t like she had come up with any other career ideas. She just didn’t think the Board would take her any more seriously than Trent did.