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“You’re exactly right. I’ll go. You can even take me if you will.”
He wasn’t suggesting, he was begging. “Of course, I’ll take you. Let me call Pearce and let him know I’ll be late.”
“Thanks, Lexi, I owe you. Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
“What do I do about Terri?”
“That’s not for me to decide. But if you stay with her, you need to be honest with her. And I’m not the one who’s going to tell her.”
His face crumpled as I answered him.
* * *
Two weeks later I was at work, formulating another proposal for the Carolinas Healthcare System in North Carolina, which was a huge network of hospitals and physicians offices, when my manager called me in to his office.
He sat me down and told me how pleased the company was with my progress thus far and that they had decided to give me a promotion as Associate Director of Marketing.
“Huh?” I was dumbfounded.
He just smiled. “Lexi, your performance has been nothing short of exceptional. We’ve been toying with this idea for well over a year, but never had good reason to actually make it happen until you came on board. What you’ve done for this division is astounding. We’ve gotten more business because of you and our numbers will hit an unprecedented level this year. If I had it my way, I’d give you your own division. Your protocol for attaining new business is the model for all our divisions now, and we think it’s only fair that you receive the appropriate compensation. You are also getting a substantial pay increase and your own office. Come with me.”
I followed him in a daze. This was so unexpected that I questioned if it was really happening. We stopped in front of an office that had my name and new title on it and I just laughed.
“Is this for real?” I asked.
“Yeah, but don’t think you’re getting off easy. Your workload has probably tripled, which means now you need to hire an assistant.”
He laughed at, I’m sure, the look on my face. My eyes widened. “I don’t know the first thing about hiring people.”
“Don’t worry. That’s why we have Human Resources.”
“Right,” I said nodding.
“Why don’t you take a break? I think there are some folks in the break room who would like to talk to you.”
This was amazing. I followed him down the hall to the break room like he’d asked. Thinking there would be a handful of people in there, I was mortified to see the whole office crammed inside, with a big cake and balloons and party stuff all over.
I looked around the room, still not figuring this all out.
“It’s a celebration party,” Don, my manager, said.
“Huh?” It still wasn’t sinking in.
“Lexi, we’re celebrating your promotion.”
“Oh my God! I don’t know what to say.” My face instantly heated up and I felt the flush run from my head to my toes.
“Here’s to Lexi and her promotion. May her golden touch extend to her new position as Associate Director of Marketing.”
Everyone clapped and my face burned even hotter. Then I was surrounded by my coworkers as they congratulated me and patted me on the back. The cake was cut, and pieces were passed around. Jokes started flying and everyone was having a grand time.
After a while, I excused myself and headed to the restroom. On my way back to the party, I passed by a cubicle and overheard two guys talking.
“Yeah, well, anything is possible when you’re marrying into the owner’s family.”
“No kidding, right.”
