Three blue squares and a man asking for a decision by end of day.
“I’m leaving,” I said.
Martin looked at the clock.
“We’re scheduled until eleven-thirty.”
“No. I mean Johnson & Calder.”
The room went silent.
Nora looked at me.
The client looked at Martin.
Martin removed his glasses.
“You’re resigning?”
“Yes.”
“Right now?”
“Yes.”
“During a client presentation?”
I considered it.
“It does feel slightly unprofessional.”
Nora covered a cough with one hand.
Martin stood.
“Ellie, perhaps we should discuss this privately.”
“I’ve discussed enough things privately.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. It sounded good.”
The insurance executive raised one hand.
“For what it’s worth, I also prefer Ocean Confidence.”
“Congratulations,” I told him. “I hope it changes lives.”
Then I left.
I did not walk directly into a new and meaningful existence.
That would have been efficient.
Instead, I spent three weeks in my apartment eating cereal, ignoring recruiters, and discovering that daytime television contained an alarming number of people renovating barns they had no business owning.
My parents wanted me to come home.
