The week is ca-rawl-ing by, and I am hoping to pass it further by writing this at the office. For once, I am excited to go home. I haven’t been to Michigan in October since ‘03, when I was working at Somerset Collection. What a strange year that was, when I stayed in Royal Oak for a few months before I moved to NYC. I am so glad I no longer have to justify my every move to my mother. Clearly, in our relationship, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Hi Sweetheart, glad to hear you’re coming home. Dad and I have a horse show. We won’t be around much, but we’ll see you Saturday morning. I guess that will have to do. Love, MOM
Ask and ye shall receive. 😉
[My line rings]
“Charli speaking.”
“Hey, come over to my desk, will you? I need something from you over the weekend.” Ugh. Cash. What does that turncoat want now? And what could he possibly want from me over the weekend?
I rise and make a u-turn to enter Cash’s row. Because he is too creative and unique to sit in the Executive Area, his seating status-indicator is the fact that he sits between the window and an empty desk and has two overhead cabinets.
“Have a seat, Charls.”
I feel frustration quivering just beneath my eye sockets and in my hands.
“So you’re going home this weekend, right?”
“Yes,” I hiss. I don’t mean to hiss, but it comes out a hiss.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. What do you need me to work on?”
“Are you upset?”
“No.”
“Let’s go in the Executive Lunch Room, shall we?”
We file out of the row and turn right towards the kitchen where Kwan prepares the Executive Lunch everyday. She is putting away the day’s spread. She and Cash nod to each other, and we enter the Executive Lunch Room, closing the door behind us. We have the room to ourselves and cross the Oriental rug and take seats in opposing high back toile wing chairs, a round walnut Chippendale tea table separating us.
Cash is giving me a strange look and I am doing my best to seem okay, trying to appear blank and patient, yet avoiding eye contact with him.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing, what do you need me to do this weekend? I guess I can cancel my trip if you need me to,” I tremble, fighting myself.
“I don’t need you to do anything this weekend! I was going to make a joke and say I needed you to spend some time with this!” Cash sets a small white rectangular box on the table. “You don’t have an iPod, do you?”
“No….”
“Use this on the plane!”
“What…? Why—”
“You’ve been doing a great job. I got this for you. To say thank you. Enjoy it this weekend! It makes all traveling one thousand times better! But, Charli, what the hell is wrong?”
“Thank you, Cash, that’s really awesome,” I rush through the sentence and a few tears force their way out. “I’m sorry. I just …. Thought you were going to make me cancel my trip and do work!”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because it’s happened before. Ranch Junior made me come in on a Saturday with no notice. And I already work four Saturdays a year here, doing inventory, which you all don’t have to do.”
“Ohhhhh…. I see.”
“I hate Ranch Junior, and you used to hate him too, but now you are just like him.” I couldn’t help it.
“Ok. Point taken. Charli, you do a great job and you are the backbone of my team. I need your help. I have to play the game with them, and I need someone good behind the scenes to make sure that what needs to happen is happening. You’re great at that.”
“Well, thanks, but I just feel like everyone is just always telling me what to do and they don’t know how many other things I am doing and I am just always cleaning up everybody’s messes. And they’re jerks too!”
“Ok, try to take a step back a bit. You’re working with me in merchandising. We are at the forefront. It’s a lot of back work and leg work, but you get to be on the inside track of the creative on everything. You’re the right person for this, Charli. You are a with-it person. You just have to learn how to deal with the Ranches to advance in this side of the business.”
“Well, I don’t know if this is for me.”
“What do you mean? You’re amazing at this job, and this is a great opportunity.”
“I went to school for fashion, and I all do is enter numbers into a system all day and do whatever you all ask me to do. I am too broke to afford to buy any cool clothes and too busy to make them. And this jewelry that I work on all day is for men! I can’t even wear it. And! I can’t afford it if I wanted to. And it’s not even real gold…”
“I see…. You know, Charli, merchandisers are like movie producers. We accomplish the big picture. This is a great chance for you to learn how that works, and then you can apply it to other things…. So…. Let’s try to get you more involved in other projects…. So you can start to learn how to do your own things.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. So what? I think it’s what we need to do. And how about my back work and leg work pun a moment ago?” Cash gives me a wry look. “So what? Oh, and uh, will you check out your iPod?”
“Sure, thank you so much.” I open the box, sliding out a metallic green matte finish iPod Nano, pristine in its sleek plastic tray. I take it out and turn it around in my hands, and feel the smooth green aluminum. I turn it over in the palm of my hand.
To my surprise I found the back engraved with a message for me.
deux mille six 