WHEN YOU LOVE

007

Was it an impression, or was Sana absent every month?

If it weren't the Isle of Wight, it was the convention. The man forgot how it was to work for someone. The independent didn't see why Sana had to attend the conference now she was no longer in retail.

Lee thought of how drunk people got and what happened in some bedrooms. He cringed at the idea that Sana would spend three days with the Swedish fetishist.

He knew the guy would take another shot, for it was what he would have done if he were in his shoes. It took him some time to see it, but Sana was gold.

Three days, the workshops were intensive. One barely had time for themselves, but there were moments, tiny sparks that lit and highlighted the sequence. Lee thought of the instant that changed his existence.

The newly divorce didn't know what to do with himself. Lee followed his psychologist's instructions. He worked out but smoked his lungs out just after. He read and switched on Netflix to watch an action movie as soon as some love story began in a chapter.

Anger exhausted the man, and the faux semblant at work finished him. Back then, Lee wished to hang himself when he found out he'd have to spend half a week with his colleagues and the misfits in retail. It was in those moments one discovered how ambitious and self-indulged some were.

Everyone attempted to shine in front of someone from the head office. Those who wished to join a department stalked the heads. Regionals tried to rig compliments before the Emea bosses by discussing their results and progress. Every level had its suckers. Lee was tired of the mascarade. Especially the one that had women showing their fake sympathy stance. It was one thing living the gig at work, but three and a half days were something to push a guy like him to set fire to the hotel.

The man thought of calling in sick, but Micheal threatened to sell him out to their boss. Lee had no choice.

The workshops were a bore. Lee was tired of going over the same things, accountability, leading by example, coaching, all this, and more in a package called Back to Basics.

How many times did one have to go back to basic?

Lee felt they stagnated at the same station. Alright, the turnover was huge. Most managers were new. The company loved to say it was because they were growing, but Lee saw other explanations. Perhaps people didn't feel needed. He felt they failed to recognize efforts.

It was always the same stores that got the attention and awards—the company privileged progression instead of giving equal praise to consistency.

In Lee's eyes, stores that sat flat on targets and results quarter after quarter merited as much reward as those with a zero point zero two progression on figures.

He longer understood why some managers were paid more. The job was the same, no matter the surface. The workload didn't heighten when one had more staff. On the contrary, the workload lessened. Coordinating was the essence of the job. Lee didn't see why some considered managers of bigger stores as gods when criteria such as store location, product grading, and exclusivity dispatch went into play.

He found it challenging to motivate and inspire managers in smaller branches who realized some heads still needed to retain their names after the fifth encounter, without forgetting that the company's exacting demand for excellence kept growing while the salary remained stuck in time somewhere in 2019.

Lee should have noticed the cracks in the matrix back then. He didn't feel in place, and his thoughts no longer aligned with the company's new strategy gears.

He didn't acknowledge his desire to be elsewhere doing something else then. The only thing Lee noted was his lassitude and boredom until-.

"Lee, can you wait here a minute?"