Forever Grateful

    Ava walked up to Jonathan and embraced him with everything she had, and he embraced with an intensity she had never felt before.  Ava was headed to a new job, and she worked closely with Jonathan.  The two had always been friendly, but they never worked together on the same portfolio. The opportunity came along, and it was a bit scary for them both. 

      After coming from a long vacation, Melissa walked up to Ava to give her some news. “Ava, you will now be working with Jonathan on the statistics portfolio.”  Ava was surprised and looked at Melissa in disbelief. “Are you serious?” Melissa gave her a stern look and said “Yes.” Ava was prepared to work on the travel portfolio, as she usually did so this came as a shock.  Ava was scared, as learning something new was always a daunting task for her.   Not to mention, she was always afraid of failing.  Jonathan was always nice to everyone and very friendly, and the thought of failing him worried her.  The reason Ava had been asked to work with him on this portfolio was due to the lack of work being done by his previous partner.  Lori would get to work and sit on it.  It would sit for weeks on end, and when Jonathan had to be away from the office, Lori would let the work pile up.  Jonathan was frustrated with her behavior and went straight to Melissa with everything that was going on. This is when Melissa suggested that it may be best if he worked with Ava.  He was hesitant at first. Maybe he thought that she wouldn’t be a good fit for it. The funny thing is, Ava didn’t think she would be a good fit either. They both in their own way doubted one another.  

       Ava sat and trained with Jonathan for a day and came back often with questions.  She was doing her best to understand this new portfolio.  Within weeks she had mastered it, and was completing work fast.  It got to the point that Jonathan wanted Ava to take on more responsibilities.  Lori still had a small portion of the portfolio, but she was still not getting the work done.  The next morning, Ava read an email she received from Jonathan:

“Good Morning Ava,

           As of now, you will now be taking over the human resources statistics portfolio in addition to your other duties. Please let me know if you have any questions.

   Best,

   Jonathan”



Ava was flabbergasted.  She went into different stages of disgust. How is it that Lori is incapable of doing anything?  Ava eventually took a deep breath and proceeded to get the details on how this part of the portfolio worked. Again, she trained and asked questions.  As usual she mastered this part of the portfolio too.  Given that Ava was able to keep things going, Jonathan was able to take some much-needed time off. When he came back, everything in the inbox had been completed. He said, “You don’t know how much it means to be able to come back and see that stuff is getting done.” Ava just smiled. She was happy that she could be of service. Thrilled that she didn’t disappoint him.   She never wanted to disappoint him because she admired him greatly and didn’t want to lose what respect he had for her prior to this working arrangement.  

               Jonathan started to work on some technical projects that would benefit their portfolio. He had the time now that he had a partner, he could trust to get the other work done.  He was able to work with their IT professionals to get their Excel spreadsheet transferred to a fancy database.   Things that took them hours to do only took a few minutes thanks to Jonathan’s hard work.  It was quite amazing for Ava to see his excitement.  It was good to see him happy.   Time and time again, Ava would hear from Melissa.  “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to Jonathan, thank you!”  “You’re welcome!” Ava said.  But I don’t think that Ava realized the magnitude of what Melissa was saying.   She had received more accolades from Melissa, and she was grateful but didn’t think anything of it.  

       As time went by, the office wanted to fill the deputy management position that had been vacant for a long time. Melissa was obviously the next viable choice.  She applied for the position, but the powers that be chose someone else.  It made no sense to her team.  They all thought to themselves, why would they hire someone outside of the office, especially when Melissa had been doing the job for years.   Melissa once again came to April’s office.  “Ava, I am going to be applying for other jobs.  I’m disappointed that I didn’t get the job here, and there is no more room for growth,” she sadly said. “I have been working with my mentor, and I have a few leads. I don’t expect to be here after the new year.”  “Take me with you!” Ava proclaimed this right away.  She didn’t want to be in that office without her.  Ava had a good working relationship with Melissa. Melissa was one of the best supervisors she ever had.  She hated to see her leave.  She just knew that things in the office would get ten times worse if she left.   The new year came around, but Melissa was still there. Ava was so relieved. Then around February, she got her start date.  She was officially leaving in March.  “Don’t be disappointed,” Melissa said.  She could see the sadness in April’s eyes.   Melissa left and then the other team members followed.   Some were leaving due to terrible management, and Ava was leaving due to Melissa’s departure.  Ava’s gut feeling about things getting worse was right.  

               Team members were allowed to be team lead until they advertised Melissa’s old position.  The first person up was Steve.  Steve’s approach was very authoritarian, and it immediately turned off the team members.   Ava felt the same.  She began to apply vigorously for jobs.  She hated the new office environment even though she enjoyed working with Jonathan.  Staff meeting after staff meeting, team members began to announce their departures.  It made Ava quite antsy, but she finally got the call for an interview. The interview was with an office that focused on contracts, and it went well.  About a week later she got the call, and she accepted the position.  She walked to Jonathan’s office to tell him.  He was super excited for her, but what she didn’t know is that he was looking for other jobs too.   No decision had been made on her start date yet, so she just waited.  Then a few weeks later Jonathan knocked on Ava’s door to deliver similar news. “I got the job.” He was smiling from ear to ear when he told Ava the news.  She was so happy for him.  Ava dreaded leaving him alone with the portfolio, so she was happy that he wouldn’t be too far behind her when it was time for him to leave.  He had really come to love working with her. 

             Jonathan wanted to host a farewell for Ava. But Ava didn’t want your typical office goodbye. Ava knew that management and some of her coworkers were not genuine.  She didn’t want a fake farewell. So, when he asked her about a farewell she said, “I don’t want anything.”  He came to her again, and then she said, “Lunch with my favorite colleagues would be okay.”  Some of the colleagues got together and ate lunch almost every day.  Those were the people she wanted to be with when it was time to leave her office of 16 years.  Jonathan had a hard time arranging lunch. The schedules were all over the place at times.  Then another colleague mentioned a barbecue.  They invited Ava to attend. She didn’t know if it would work out, but she was able to make it after all. A close colleague held the event at her house on a Saturday, with all of Ava’s favorite people. This included Melissa, who had already left the office for her new position.  Ava sat at the table enjoying herself.  She was thrilled to be there.  As she was sitting there, Jonathan came behind her.  He extended his arm with this anchor tattoo and handed Ava these beautiful red flowers.  They were as large as sunflowers but bright red.  Ava was so surprised. She went to Shana (the host of the party) to put them in water until she was ready to leave. The party was very lively and fun. Ava watched as her colleagues and their family members ate and had a good time, but Ava is an introvert and was getting a little anxious.  She had all the socializing she could handle. So, she went to Shana to let her know that she was about to leave.  Shana stalled her until the kitchen started filling up with her colleagues and their loved ones.  

          Jonathan showed Ava this fist bump picture, and behind it were all the signatures of her most caring colleagues.   “That is so cool!” Jonathan had given Ava a fist bump when she announced to the office she was leaving. It was significant to her finally moving on to something better. There was a stick attached to that postcard, and Jonathan stuck it in the cake.  He then proceeded to speak.  Ava was taken aback.  Jonathan was so eloquent and cool. He was leaning on the counter, with his hair pulled back into a neat ponytail.  He proceeded to say how he and Ava’s working relationship began, and how he got to know Ava more over time. Then he said, “I don’t want to do this without you.” It was that moment that Ava’s heart stopped. She bit her lip and continued to listen to him finish his speech. They fist bumped at the end, and then our coworkers also took time to celebrate the August birthdays there. Then they all had the delicious cake that Shana baked. Ava was still on some sort of cloud. She was in awe of Jonathan. Yes, she had heard the compliments from him and through Melissa.  But that farewell speech just brought all sorts of feelings rushing through her soul.  Now that it was over, Ava could leave. She walked up to Jonathan to say goodbye, and they hugged like no one was watching. Jonathan’s intensity came from the fear of missing her, and Ava’s came from her grateful heart.  It was knowing that she helped him in ways that she couldn’t imagine, and now he didn’t want her to go.  It just meant everything to her.  The hug seemed like it lasted an eternity.  Each being grateful that they were in each other’s lives.