Sometime Soon

twenty



I am still fuming from the telephone call I received this morning when I email Bryn. I ask her if she wants to meet at Starbucks. The reply comes quickly. She does.

Katie called while I was on my way into work. She’d spoken to Mike on Sunday. He called to tell her that he was staying at the apartment of a friend with whom he played squash. He inquired about her health and the baby, and then he ended the conversation. Katie spent the rest of the day in tears. She hadn’t brought up their relationship or their future because his perfunctory call hadn’t invited it. “He was really cold,” she told me. I was so angry when I heard this, I was beyond reason. I called him every four letter word I could think of, and Katie did not defend him at all.

Before leaving to meet Bryn, in my new role as project lead, I have a dozen or more emails to sort through regarding project work and assignments. In addition to Nate and me, the new and improved wireless marketing communications team includes Ken and Anand, who sit together in the next row over and communicate with us only through email despite being located less than ten feet away, and two people from Napa in California whom I’ve never met.

Last night Rob emailed me a list of current and newer customers to dole out between us. We are to talk to them individually about their current level of satisfaction with their product and what features they would like to see added. This is generally the first step in defining what will be in the next release. Although, according to the rumor mill, all future product work is still on hold, so I’m not sure what the purpose of this exercise is. Additionally, several paragraphs of text, some fairly technical, have to be written up in typical user-friendly fashion to be used in various sales collateral. Basically, it’s my job to take something that’s highly technical and likely far too complicated for the customer to actually understand and make it seem as easy as tying your shoe.

I put together some warm and fuzzy emails to introduce myself to the team, tack on assignment information, and hit the Send button before heading out for a quick break. Job assignments seem fairly obvious to me. Most of us have our customers that we communicate with on a regular basis. I assigned new customers to the Napa folks. There is usually some travel involved in this part of a project, depending on how much a customer pays us and how much hand-holding they require. Generally, I end up in Portland for a week or so, and Nate goes to Austin. One of the new customers is located in San Diego. It makes sense for one of the Napa people to take that one. This will work out nicely, I think.



I beat Bryn to Starbucks and debate my beverage choice. Since my icy frappuccinos are likely numbered for the season, I decided to order what will probably be my last one until next summer. When it’s ready, I take it to our usual table outside.

A large umbrella shields me from the bright sun, and I watch the people passing, but I don’t really see them. Instead, I’m preoccupied with how this encounter will go. I’m not nervous exactly, but I’m not calm either. Condensation forms on the plastic cup and I put it on the table, drying my hand on my shorts. Those days are numbered, too. Shorts will soon be exchanged for jeans.

“Hey.”

I glance up to see Bryn standing beside the other chair. “Hey,” I reply.

Bryn looks the same as she always does with her shiny bob hanging forward over her full face and her black Life is good t-shirt. She offers me a hesitant smile as she pulls out the chair and sits down, her own frappuccino in her hand. “How are you?” she asks.

“I’m fine. You?”

She shrugs. “You know. SOS at work. I updated my resumé and I even called a recruiter. I may actually get my butt in gear and look for a job.”

“That’s great.”

“It will probably come to nothing. But it’s a start, I guess. You? Everything okay at work?”

“I got a promotion, actually, I think. Well, maybe.”

Bryn’s expression is puzzled. “Okay. What does that mean?”

“I’m a project lead for a probationary period, and if all goes well it could be permanent, which, I think, would then be an actual promotion.”

She laughs. “That’s great. Congratulations.”

“We’ll see.” I take a sip of my drink. Bryn does the same. An awkward pause is filled by slurping noises.

“Look, Andy, I just want you to you know,” she finally says, putting her drink down, “That I’m fine with everything.”

I feel my brow furrowing. Huh?

When I don’t say anything, she continues. “I mean, I know you told Katie and she must have confronted Mike, and that’s fine. I figured it would probably end that way. Not that it ever really started.”

“He’s not calling you anymore?” I guess.

Bryn has her head bent so that her hair is partially covering her eyes. Despite her claims of being fine, red stains appear high on her cheeks. “No,” she presents me with a weak smile. “I haven’t heard from him since Labor Day weekend.”

“Oh,” I reply, backtracking in my head. That’s the weekend Katie told him about the baby. That’s interesting. I debate what, if anything, to tell Bryn. I don’t want to tell her that Mike left Katie. Saying that feels like too much of a betrayal. Although, now I know that he didn’t leave her for Bryn. Maybe I can reveal some news that might help Bryn to feel better about being summarily dropped even though I haven’t been given the go ahead to spread Katie’s news. Seeing Bryn’s distress now, I wonder what harm there could be in it.

“Katie’s pregnant,” I say.

Her eyes nearly pop out of her head. “What? She’s pregnant?”

I nod.

“Oh my god. I can’t believe it. That must be why he….,” she trails off quietly. “You did tell her what I told you, about Mike and me?”

“I did.”

“And she isn’t angry at him?”

I’m on some thin ice now. “She wants to work things out,” I say. That isn’t a lie.

Bryn appears to take this in. “Well, they should work things out, right? There’s a baby involved now. What about the wedding?”

“Wedding plans are postponed for the time being.”

She digests this information, too. “Do you think I should call Katie? To congratulate her?”

My jaw nearly drops. “Are you kidding?”

“I guess not,” she answers quickly seeming to realize how inappropriate that would be. “Well, I’m glad Mike got his priorities straight, with Katie, I mean. That’s unbelievable.”

I watch the emotions passing across her face. They include a certain amount of sadness, and I can’t help the sympathy I feel. “Mike really is totally self-centered. You didn’t deserve to be treated that way by him.”

She seems surprised and grateful for a moment, before she waves a hand in the air dismissively. “Nothing was ever going to happen with me and him. I knew that.” She says those words, but deep down, I don’t know if she believes them.

“Andrea?”

I turn in my chair and tilt my head up to find Karthik standing over me. At the welcome site of him, I can feel my smile grow. “Hi there.”

He comes around to our table. His black cloth laptop bag hangs down at an angle across his chest. “Working hard,” he jokes. He appears more relaxed than I’ve seen him in months.

“Always,” I laugh. “This is Bryn,” I say motioning toward her. “Bryn, this is Karthik. We worked together at BTS.” They greet each other pleasantly.

“So, I hear you’re at Cronus,” I say

“That’s right. Our offices are just up the street.” He points to a spot behind him.

“And how are things at BTS? Have you been assimilated into the Napa corporate culture yet?”

“I wouldn’t say that. They haven’t exactly taken over yet. But Rob made me project lead for wireless.”

“Hey,” he smiles, appearing genuinely pleased for me. Then he furrows his brow. “What does project lead mean?”

I chuckle. “I think Rob made it up. This way, he gets to dump some of his work on me, and I actually have to thank him for it.”

Karthik nods knowingly, understanding Rob’s modus operandi. “Any word of layoffs?” he asks.

“No, not that I’ve heard.”

He seems somewhat surprised, and I wonder if I should probe this topic further. Does he know something I don’t?

“Andrea, have you got a personal email account?” he asks, changing the subject while reaching into his bag.

“Yes.”

“Would you mind if I emailed you there?”

“No. Not at all,” I reply, puzzled.

When he places a pen and notebook in front of me, I write down my personal email address, wondering why he wants to contact me. If he knows something about layoffs, why doesn’t he just tell me?

“Thanks,” he says, taking back the notebook. “I’d better get back. It was good to see you. I’ll be in touch. Okay?”

I tell him okay and wave as he walks away.

“What was that about? Do you think he likes you?” Bryn asks.

I sputter, nearly coughing up the sip of frappuccino I’ve barely swallowed. “No, he’s married. With a couple of kids, too, I think.”

“Then why did he want your email address?”

“He specifically wanted my personal email address. So, whatever he plans to contact me about, he doesn’t want to do it over work email.” I glance at my watch and finish off my drink. Now I’ll be worrying about what Karthik wants to tell me until I receive that email from him.

“Do you have to get back?” Bryn asks.

“I’d better.” Not appearing to slack off seems more important now than it did a few minutes ago.

“Are we okay?” Bryn is eyeing me expectantly.

I can’t be mad at her. “I hope so. What do you think?”

She smiles and nods “Do you want to do something on Saturday night?”

Katie has basically said that my continuing to be friends with Bryn is not necessarily okay with her. But I prefer not to let Mike cause the end of our friendship. For now though, with everything so raw, I don’t want to do anything to antagonize Katie. “I can’t this weekend. I’ve got a family thing,” I hedge. Which is worse I wonder, betraying Katie or lying to Bryn?

“Oh,” Bryn replies, looking dejected.

“Maybe the weekend after?” I suggest.

“Sure.” Her expression brightens.

This could get complicated.



It would never occur to me that work assignments are optional. When I’m given tasks, I do them. I don’t think I could actually say no. That’s why when I get back to my desk and see an email from Christopher, the new Napa member of the wireless team, informing me that he cannot do the assignment I’ve given him because he’s currently working on something else, I blink at it, not sure I’ve read it right. Then I reread it and realize I have. We are all working on other things. That doesn’t exempt us from receiving more work. Who does this guy think he is?

I fume for a while, unsure of what to do. Then I compose a terse reply, read it over and decide not to send it. Next, I look up his telephone number and call him. He picks up after the second ring, unaware that his new project leader is on the other end. I know that our caller ID only reads BTS Systems, not the name of the person calling.

“Hi Christopher. This is Andrea Whitman,” I say in a cheerful manner.

“Oh, hi.” He seems surprised to be hearing from me.

“How are you today?”

“Um, fine. Thanks.”

“I wanted to call you and introduce myself. It’s kind of difficult working with new people that you’ve never met or spoken to, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“I just got your email.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I think there’s been some misunderstanding.”

Silence from his end.

“You see, we all have multiple assignments. It would be great to be able to work in a linear way. I would love it if I could finish one project before I started on the next one, but that’s just not practical. There’s too much work to do. So, we all have to make the best of it and do the work we’re assigned. You can understand that, right?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Thanks. That’s great. If the deadline approaches and you’re behind on the work I sent you, let me know in plenty of time. And feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Okay?”

“Uh, okay.”

“Nice talking to you Christopher. Good-bye.”

“Bye.”

I hang up the telephone and turn to see Nate eyeing me. “What was that about?”

“Nothing,” I reply, shaking my head. Christopher’s voice had a dull monotone quality to it. I’m picturing a turtle now, and I know I will every time I think of Christopher. Now that we’ve had a brief conversation, will he quietly work on his assignment from me like a good employee? Somehow, I doubt it.

Just as I’m turning back to my laptop, Ken comes down the hall and stops outside my cube. “Hi Andrea.”

Even though he sits one aisle over, I hardly ever see Ken. He’s originally from somewhere in the south. He talks very slowly and with a slight accent.

“You know I don’t travel,” he states.

“You don’t travel?”

He shakes his head. “Rob never assigns me customers that require on-site visits.”

I eye him incredulously. “You’re completely exempt from all travel?”

“That’s right. You can ask Rob if you like.”

He’s refusing his assignment, too? I already do not like this new position.

“Fine,” I reply, knowing I sound annoyed and not caring. I can feel the tension building in my shoulders. “I’ll rethink your customer list.”

“Thanks,” he says and then quickly disappears.

If this is how other people operate around here, why aren’t I the president of the company by now? I look over Ken’s customer list and realize that in order to reorganize his assignments I’ll have to move other people’s assignments around, too.

I turn to Nate, easily getting his attention. “Would you mind…”

“I’ll do it.” He volunteers immediately.

“You don’t even know what I’m asking you yet.”

“Yes, I do. You want me to exchange some customers with Ken and do his traveling for him.”

“Well, actually, yes. Not necessarily all of that though. That wouldn’t be fair.”

“It’s completely fine. I’ve got to get out of the house. The baby never sleeps. She cries all night long. I can’t take it anymore.”

I find myself laughing at him.

“It’s not funny. You try not sleeping for weeks and see how funny you think it is.”

“I’m sorry Nate,” I reply, laughing harder now.

“Where are his customers anyway?”

“Colorado and Arizona.”

“Sounds good to me.”

I shake my head at him. “You’re fine with leaving your wife all alone to deal with the baby?”

“Hey, I have to feed my family. If earning my paycheck means there’s some business travel involved, so be it.”

“Fine. I don’t like being a party to this, but you could be out of town for nearly a month if you plan it right.”

“Great. Thanks.” He rubs his hands together in evil scientist style and turns back to his work, humming a cheerful tune.