I invite her to follow me to her new desk. Upon walking into Soi, the front desk rests in front of a backlit cream-colored divider with our peach Soi logo branded on it. We walk beyond the front desk area to find Joy’s new home away from home. Her white desk is situated amongst several other desks in a large room just behind the divider.
Soi is composed of just two floors; our financial, legal, and executive teams occupy the upper floor. The ground floor is for the creatives—the marketing, social media, and event planning teams. About forty people work on the creative side of the company. My events team is composed of ten stellar souls, including myself—we’re known as the “upbeat” department of the company, which I take pride in, considering I haven’t used that word to describe myself in years. Not that anyone I work with needs to know that.
“You’re welcome to decorate your desk however you’d like.” I hand her a stack of paperwork. “And this is your onboarding documentation. After you get through this stack, we will have you watch some brief training videos about event planning etiquette here at Soi, then you and I can meet to discuss any questions you have about the job. Following that, we will do some fun introductions.”
“Perfect, sounds great!” She beams and peers around at her surroundings. “Where is your office?”
“I’m right over there.” I look over her head and to the right, nodding toward my office, less than twenty feet away, lined up amongst the other directors’ offices. “Also, before you have to dive into this ridiculous amount of paperwork, I want to share an update. I pitched your Aged Emporium fundraiser idea to the team and they were obsessed, so I met with Mr. Alcott on Friday to discuss the opportunity. I haven’t heard back yet, but I will let you know as soon as I do.”
She holds back a squeal, obviously trying to reign in her excitement. “I just know he will say yes! This is going to be the best, I can’t thank you enough for taking a chance on this. I won’t let you down.”
I’m only just beginning to get to know Joy, but I feel like I can trust her. My mother taught me that trust must be earned, not given freely. Much to her dismay, I often find myself too trusting. Giving people the benefit of the doubt comes naturally to me—it always has.
“I’ll be in my office if you need anything, Joy.” I stroll into my office when my phone pings. My heart skips a beat.Finally.
And it’s a text from Callie. Not an email.
Callie
What are you wearing to the halloween party? Wanna match?
Callie may have caught me at a bad time this weekend, leading me to commit to accompanying her to a Halloween party. The high school is hosting a late-night party for adults after the student party this Saturday. I should’ve known I’d regret that choice, but at the moment, I felt guilty for rejecting so many of her invites to go out and she promised it’d be fun.
Iris
I have no idea, what are you thinking you’ll dress up as?
Callie
I’m leaning toward dressing up as a devil this year! I think it’d be so fun for us to match, what do you think??
Iris
Cute! I will let you know what I find.
I can't wait to see your costume. :)
I settle back into my office and unlock my computer. I haven’t dressed up for Halloween since college. I loved socializing during my university days. Halloween was actually my favorite holiday. While growing up, Kai and I dressed up together often. One year, he was Dash and I was Violet fromTheIncredibles, which cracked everyone up considering how much taller and older he was than me. Another year, I dressed up as Toadette with him being Toad at my side. We coordinated costumes on and off for years, but when I turned 15, I decided I was too old for that and wanted to impress some guy at school I liked, choosing to dress up independently as a witch. Kai felt bummed, but he understood. He gave me a hard time, though, like he always did.
“Irie, this boy won’t remember what you wore for Halloween this year forever, but guess who will? Me.” He furrowed his brows. Then, when Halloween came, I walked downstairs to see Kai dressed up as a warlock, still finding a way to collaborate with me even without my consent. I let myself envision his radiant smile while wearing a blue mystical wizard’s hat for a few seconds longer before abruptly stopping myself.
No, not today. I will not go there today.
I receive another message, and to my surprise, it’snotfrom Callie. An unknown number texts me.
Unknown
I’m in, Ms. Greene.
Mr. Alcotttextedme? And he’sin?I bite my lip while fighting an embarrassing grin. Now,Ican’t contain my excitement, although I don’t fully understand why. I tread outside my office to capture the attention of the events team.
“I have great news, everyone. Aged Emporium is a go! I will meet with Mr. Alcott ASAP to solidify the contract details, then we can get to work. Let’s make this our best fundraiser yet!” I exclaim, clapping.
Everyone in the room claps excitedly, then Joy rushes to my side before I exit. “I am so excited Jasper said yes, I knew he would!”
Jasper?I find it surprising they are on a first-name basis, but try to ignore the ping of emotion I feel. It doesn’t matter. Hell, the closer they are, the better this event will go. My cohorts poke fun at how formal I am with clients, but I couldn’t care less. Blurred lines between business and personal life lead to mistakes. After settling back into my office, I reply to his message.
Iris
