“Not this one,” she said as she watched Keighleigh scuttle away from her office.
Having adequately disposed of her nemesis, she returned to her desk and the profusion of projects cluttering her day planner. The minute she sat, Justin Vail’s face popped up on her interoffice messaging app.Samiah, do you mind coming into my office? We need to talk to you.
Well, hell. Keighleigh must have run to HR.
No problem, she replied.
Minutes later, Samiah approached her supervisor’s office, prepared to defend herself. At the same time, she understood that Keighleigh could have taken her words as a physical threat and reported it that way. With Trendsetters’ zero-tolerance policy when it came to office violence and harassment, Samiah may have put her job in jeopardy.
Justin’s office walls had been switched from clear to opaque, something he rarely did. She couldn’t stanch the instant panic that began to spread to her extremities. She entered the office and the panic escalated to mass internal hysteria.
Justin sat behind his desk. Barrington Jacobs, Trendsetters’ CEO, perched against the front of the desk, his arms folded over his chest and feet crossed at the ankles.
She was being fired.
But why would the company’s owner be in on her firing? That was a job for Human Resources.
Samiah cleared her throat. “You wanted to see me?” she asked, trying not to jump to the worst-case scenario.
“We do. Please, sit.” Justin motioned to the empty chairs in front of his desk. She sat, and Barrington took the seat opposite hers.
“We won’t keep you long,” her supervisor started. “I know you’re swamped with finishing up the Leyland Group and Swiss Burger projects—although Grant told me about Keighleigh’s great idea for that one.”
She bit the inside of her cheek.
Deep breaths.
“We have a proposal for you,” Barrington started. “How would you like to head up your own department?”
Samiah’s head snapped back. She blinked several times. If someone was recording her right now, no doubt she’d be a meme on Twitter by the end of the day.
Oh, wait! Thanks to that viral video she was already a meme on Twitter.
Pay attention.
“I would like that very much,” Samiah answered. She looked to Justin. “Are you leaving?”
“No way,” he said with a laugh. “You’ll have to wrestle me away from here. It’s not the R&D Department, although I’m sure you would give me a run for my money if you ever set your sights on my job.” He folded his hands on his desk. “The department we want you to run doesn’t officially have a name yet. In fact, it’s not officially a department just yet. As of right now, we’re calling it Trendsetters Outreach.”
Samiah repeated the title, unable to mask her confusion. “Can you expound a bit?”
“The work you’ve been doing, like reaching out to schools and women’s shelters and adoption centers, it’s elevated Trendsetters’ profile in the community and the industry.”
“It has also made an impact on the company as a whole,” Barrington said. “Your coworkers see the positive work you’re doing and they want to contribute. Take that middle schooler who shadowed you the other day. What was her name? Tomeka?”
Samiah nodded.
“That made such an impact. I’ve had several employees approach me about bringing in students interested in STEM. Someone even suggested we devote an entire day to it.”
“I like that idea,” Samiah said.
“So do I. Look, I want Trendsetters to be here for a long time,” Barrington said. “The only way the company survives once I’m living out my retirement years on a private island near St. Barts is if we start grooming future computer engineers and software developers early.”
She could totally see the company’s young CEO retiring by age forty and enjoying a life of leisure on an island somewhere in the Caribbean.
“What does this mean for my position in R&D?” she asked. If either said that they would offer it to Keighleigh she would pitch a fit.
“Aparna Bajwa would be promoted into your position,” Justin said. “She deserves it.”
