Two Seconds Notice

As I walk up to the New York City high rise for the last time I look up towards the top. I remember my first day here when I was so out of my comfort zone being in the big city. I was surrounded by hundreds of strangers and huge buildings. I had never seen anything like this. My small town didn’t exactly have skyscrapers. I remember gazing upwards to see how tall my building was, and I couldn’t even see the top. All there was to see was blue skies and the blinding sunlight just beginning to peek in through the cracks in the skyline. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to be moving to San Francisco. It’s just going to be hard to let this place go. 

I get a little choked up as I go through the revolving doors but then take a deep breath, reminding myself I have to keep it together on my last day. I step into the elevator with everyone else and press the button for floor 34. My boss is the only one I’ve told that I’m leaving today. The new job offer was so sudden that I had to give him my two week’s notice straight away. And if I’m being honest, I wasn’t ready to let the rest of the team go, and I thought not telling them until the very last minute would make it easier. Now that the very last minute is here, I can confirm it’s not going to be any easier. It’s going to crush me no matter what. 

The final ding of the elevator announces my arrival to the receptionist Erin. She gives me her enigmatic smile, and I remember it’s the last time I’m going to get to have one of our morning chats. I might as well get this over with fast. “Hi Erin,” I say a bit solemnly. 

“Hey Kathy! You do anything fun last night?”

I smile. “Well I finally caught up on The Bachelor.” I can’t help it. I want one more great, friend conversation with Erin before I tell her I’m leaving. 

“Oh. My. God. Finally! Can you believe it?! Why did he kick off Leslie?! She was totally the one,” she says with confidence. I’ve been here five years, and Erin has not made one correct guess in The Bachelor universe. Then again, very few of the couples stay together, so maybe she is on to something. 

“Yeah, I liked Leslie. I don’t know if she was the one, but he totally should’ve gotten rid of Rachel instead. She just wants her fifteen minutes of fame!”

Erin scoffs. “Ugh, I know. I cannot stand Rachel.”

Here it goes. “Hey Erin?” 

“Kathy!” And, there’s my boss. I turn just in time to hold my arms out for the giant stack of papers he hands me with one hand while he’s frantically typing on his phone with the other. I’m shocked he was carrying these with one hand; they’re really heavy. “My office. Now.”

“Okay.” I quickly follow him with an apologetic glance back at Erin. She gives me a wave and mouths, We’ll talk later. 

“Have you finished the last of those reports?” As he talks I pull them out of my bag, trying not to trip in my heels while he inexplicably speed walks to his office that’s only a few feet away from the front desk.

“Yes, here they are. I finished them last night. I thought the property in Santa Monica was the obvious right choice to open the next store, but the rent is high. It would be worth it, though. The other properties just didn’t stand out to me.” He grabs them out of my hands. 

“Very good, Kathy. You know, I’m really going to miss you around here. You’ve been a phenomenal worker.”

“Thanks, Randy. That means a lot, coming from you.” 

“Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to write you that letter of recommendation,” he says with a laugh. “Alright, let me look these over, and I’ll let you know if I have any more questions before the meetings start.” 

“Okay, sounds good.” I smile at him on my way out of his office and back to Erin’s desk.

She’s on the phone when I get there, so I wait in front of her desk and absentmindedly grab a candy out of the bowl next to the “Reception” sign. I’m on my third one by the time she gets off the phone. “Sorry, Kathy. There was some type of shipping disaster at the warehouse, and there it goes again. Geez! Hang on one minute.” I nod at her while she answers the phone and talks 90 miles per hour with someone from the warehouse. I grab another candy, not caring that I’m obviously stress-eating right now because I can’t figure out how best to tell Erin that I’m leaving. 

“Okay, Kathy. What were you, oh my GOD! Sorry, I have to take this.” She gestures towards the phone.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to you about it at lunch.” She nods at me as she picks up the phone again.” 

I walk over to my desk.This is the one thing I won’t miss: cubicles. I finally get to have my own office in San Francisco. I gather up all of my papers I need for the million meetings I have to go to today, since Randy still hasn’t been able to find a replacement for me. I keep trying to tell him to promote Erin, so maybe today will be the day he’ll finally cave to me. 

***

Three meetings down, and it’s time to go to lunch. I walk out of the conference room and down the hall to Erin’s desk when the fire alarm goes off. The world is officially conspiring against me today. I heave an aggressive sigh just as Randy walks up. “What’s up with you?” 

“Nothing, I’ve just been trying to talk to Erin all morning, and now the fire alarm is going off.” 

“She’ll probably be right outside,” he says as we walk down the emergency exit stairs. 34 flights is a long way down using the stairs instead of the elevator. 

“Speaking of Erin,” I start off hesitantly. “Have you thought anymore about promoting her to my position?” 

“That’s not the best idea is it? First I’m out an assistant, then I’ll just be out a receptionist instead.” He shrugs. 

“Yeah, but she’s been here even longer than me, and she helped me out a lot when I first started. I just think she’d be a really good fit. Plus, wouldn’t you rather have to look for a receptionist as opposed to a new assistant?” 

He looks at me with an amused expression as we reach the bottom floor and go out the emergency exit. “You make a good point. Tell you what, I’ll interview her tomorrow. You can let her know when you talk to her today.”

“Okay, great. I’m-”

“Let’s take this time to prep for the next set of meetings, shall we?” 

I suppress a groan and just say, “Sure,” all the while looking around us to see if I can spot Erin in the crowd. 

***

I thought I would be able to talk to Erin after the second afternoon meeting, but it went late, so now I’m in my last meeting of the day that was supposed to end at 2:45. It’s 2:53, and Erin leaves work everyday at 3. I’m biting my fingernails, something I haven’t done since I was in high school, and staring at the clock, totally ignoring Sally’s presentation on the Santa Monica location. 

I tune out Randy as he no doubt regurgitates whatever I wrote in my report to his boss. Another benefit of me leaving, I’ll actually get credit for the work I do. Hopefully it’ll make sitting through these horrible meetings a little more bearable. 

As Sally asks if anyone has any questions, I hold my breath to wait for someone to ask a question that will require a 10-minute answer. And sure enough, Harry, Randy’s boss, asks, “Can you go over the budget plan just one more time? I’m still a little confused about the charity aspect of it.”

“Sure Harry. Ron, can you go back to slide 17 I think it was?” 

I glance back up at the close, 2:56. I click the tip of my pen on repeat as I will Sally to please stop talking. When she finally says, “Any other questions?” at 3:02 and everyone shakes their heads, I practically bolt out of the room, briefly mouthing to Randy that I’ll meet him in his office in a few minutes.

I turn out of the conference room and head to the hall, but the front desk is already empty. “Shit!” 

“Woah, Kathy! What’s up?” 

“Hey Maggie, sorry. Do you know when Erin left?” 

Maggie judgmentally looks me up and down before slowly saying, “She just got on the elevator.” 

“Thanks, Maggie,” I yell back without meaning as I push the elevator button. Amazingly, it opens straight away. I tap my heel against the carpted ground until the elevator lands on the ground floor. I push through the revolving doors and turn right to head towards the subway station Erin always uses to get home. 

I race down the stairs to the subway when I realize I didn’t grab my wallet. I have no way of getting through the gates. Hopefully she hasn’t left yet. 

As I run through the station I hear, “Kathy!” I turn around to see Erin standing at the ticket booth. “Hey! My card didn’t work AGAIN! So annoying. What are you doing running down here like a crazy person?” She laughs, and I laugh with her, but my face soon turns to a grimace. 

“I have to tell you something.”

“Are you no longer team Leslie?”

I laugh, but I’m also about to cry. “No, don’t be crazy. I have to tell you, that I’m leaving. I got a job in San Francisco.” 

I wait for her to respond for what feels like forever, when she finally says, “Is it another assistant position?”  

“Um, no. It’s the head developer position at our branch in San Francisco.” 

I expect her to be upset or yell at me for not telling her sooner, but instead, she throws her arms around me. “KATHY, OH MY GOD I’M SO PROUD OF YOU! I knew you’d get it! I mean, don’t get me wrong I’m going to miss you, but we can FaceTime, and I’ll visit you all the time. I’ve always wanted to see California, you know I’ve never been.”

I stand back to look at her, “I know. And, there’s one other thing.” 

“What?” 

“Randy said he’s going to interview you for my position tomorrow. And you know if you get that job, you’ll have to go on business trips with him, many of which are in California.”

“Especially if he picks the Santa Monica location you suggested, but did you tell him to interview me?” I don’t respond, I just smile at her. “Kathy, you didn’t have to do that!”

“I know, but you deserve it more than anyone else in the office. He can find another receptionist. Besides, you’ll be an amazing assistant. Promise me you’ll take the interview?”

She hugs me again. “I promise. Do you have to leave today?” 

“My flight is tomorrow morning at 6. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” 

“It’s okay. If I get the job, I think there’s a California trip planned in a month.” I pull back again to look at her and smile through my tears.

“Thanks for telling me to apply there. I couldn’t have done it without you.” 

“What are friends for? See you in a month?” she asks. 

“See you in a month!”