“Junie. What’s going on there?” I ask. “You’re looking like you want one of those for yourself.”
“A baby? Hell no.” She laughs, though tears well in her eyes. “I don’t know what happened to me. It’s like the minute I got the promotion and figured out how to go public with Sean, I wantmore. With him. Do I want to get married and have a big, fancy wedding? Do I want to be someone’s little wife and shit?”
“I don’t know. Do you?”
She looks at me, a happy tear slipping from her eye. “Maybe?”
My ultra-independent friend has changed her mind. Unexpected from her, but I suppose that’s how love works. You find your person and your world doubles, everything looks brand new, and plans change.
“I’m happy for you,” I say.
“Are you really?”
AmI happy to watch all my loved ones leave me behind in one way or another? I’m sitting on a couch, visiting my successful friends, the same way I’ve done for years, watching life passing by rather than living it. No matter what they want to do, where life takes them, I will always be happy if they are.
“I am.”
She hugs me tight.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. Thinking it might be a call from Liem, I pull it out quickly. Instead, the number that graces my screen is from San Francisco.
“Be right back.” I step away into the hall, my heart in my throat when I answer. “Hi, this is Bri.”
“Hi, Bri. This is Lisa from STUDIO. Sorry to get back to you so late. A Christmas installation pulled half of our team away. You know how the holidays can be.”Yes, full of anxiety while waiting for your call. “Anyway, I’m calling because we’d like to offer you the job!”
The earth stops turning for a moment. I’m in my own world, wondering if what I’m hearing is real or if I’ve finally cracked. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. If you’re still interested, of course. We’ll be out of the office until after the New Year but wanted to send you the offer so you could start with us in January.”
I’m going to fucking cry. “I can’t believe this. Yes, I’m still interested.”
“Great. We can’t wait to have you, truly. I’ll send the paperwork to your email shortly. If you can let us know as soon as possible, that would be perfect.”
Like I’m not about to send that shit right over?“Absolutely.”
“We’re looking forward to having you on the team. Talk to you soon.”
I end the call and stare at my phone, watching the number fadeto my picture of Liem in the park, then his picture fade to black.Did that just happen? Am I moving to San Francisco? Is my dream coming true?
As I walk back into the room, neither Keisha nor Junie notices me at first. “Hey, guys?”
Keisha doesn’t look at me when she says, “What’s up, babe?”
I’m going to need them to pay attention. “I think I just got my dream job.”
Now they look my way. “What?”
My phone pings when the email comes through. “Will you look at this and tell me if it’s real?”
Junie looks over Keisha’s shoulder as she scrolls through the document. “Yeah, girl. This is real.” She hands my phone back to me. “You might want to look at the offer page.”
My hands shake when I take my phone back to look. It’s everything they bragged about in the interview: salary, unlimited PTO, suggested working hours, implying a flexible schedule and remote work. But they never mentioned the bottom line.Compensation.
The nearly six-figure salary stares back at me. I can’t decide whether to scream or burst into tears. So, I do both.
Thirty-seven
Liem
