Meeting With the Bosses

I sit, as I may or may not have mentioned (and am too lazy to go back and look), in a different part of our floor than the rest of the team that I work with. This has its advantages (a much bigger cubicle, close to the kitchen) and its disadvantages (Ethel and Myrtle). There is another temp assigned to my team who sits with me, and we get along very well. Carrie got engaged around the same time as I did, and she's studying for the CPA exam, so we've got a bit in common. Every so often, the woman who's training her comes and sits in our cube. Ginny has been working there longer than almost everyone else on our team, and she's just one of the nicest people you'll meet. But you'd be well advised not to take advantage of her niceness, because she. will. destroy. you. Nicely.

Today, being the first day back after the holiday for all three of us, was one of those days where you just can't seem to settle to your work. I'd been reading and re-reading the same document, feeling that strange disconnect where you understand each individual word, but still can't comprehend what it's saying, and I guess Ginny and Carrie were feeling the same, because we started talking about soemthing or other, and soon we were merrily gossiping away about the goings on in the office, and especially about the new jobs that had been posted that morning.

Suddenly, my boss's boss and another of the managers popped their heads around the cubicle wall. We were totally busted, and we knew it. Angela and Wendy asked me if they could see me for a moment. And immediately, I thought to myself, "Oh, God, what did I do to get in trouble." Then I thought, "Nothing. I've done nothing that could get me into trouble. I just had a meeting with my boss this morning, and she specifically said I was doing a good job." And then we were standing in front of one of the conference rooms. There are two kinds of conference rooms here: the open ones and the closed ones. The open ones are used for most stuff. There is a conscious effort to keep people in the loop and foster an open atmosphere in the office, which I think is really great. I've worked places where they doled out information on a need-to-know basis, and it made people paranoid. The closed conference rooms are used only for things that are... more delicate matters. And they were taking me into a private conference room.

"Oh my God. They're going to let me go."

Angela shut the door and asked me, "Do you think you'd like to stay at The Company a little longer?"

Well, yes. As a matter of fact, I would!

As it happens, one of the account managers is about to go on maternity leave. And I've been asked to fill in for her while she's gone. That means that I will learn quite a lot about the finance side of our contracts, which should be interesting. Or at least a change of pace. I'm also feeling good because Angela told me that she thought of me right away because Chris (my immediate boss) had spoken so highly of my work and my positive attitude and sense of humor. She told me that they wanted to see what kind of work I could do, "just in case" I decide that I'd like to apply for a permanent job at Our Company.

I went back to my desk and Carrie and Ginny looked at me all big-eyed and asked "Are you OK?" I laughed and told them that I'd been asked to backfill for June while she's out on maternity leave-- one of the many subjects we'd been discussing before Angela and Wendy showed up. Ginny laughed and Carrie moaned, "Oh, no! Does that mean you're leaving me? I don't want to lose my neighbor!"

Shortly after that, I wandered over to the Ladies' and as I was washing my hands after, Chris came in. "I guess you've talked to Angela?" I told her I had. We talked about the arrangement for a minute, and then she looked at me out of the corner of her eye and slyly asked whether I thought I might apply for one of the jobs that were posted that morning. Long story short, she thinks I should apply for her job. Or to be more precise, she wants me to apply for the new Contracts Compliance Manager position that was posted this morning-- the exact posistion that she holds, but presumably that manager will handle a different set of accounts or something.

I guess they are pretty pleased with my work. It feels great to be wanted. I know that nothing's settled or certain or anything, but I think it's a positive sign, and it would be good to have something permanent-- something with benefits! A good start to the new year, at any rate.