PART SEVEN
The following week I was sitting in my office finishing up a project. I had finished most of my work lately, I was wondering what was coming next? I’d also seen my doctor as Nicole had suggested, triumphantly passing her a whole slew of negative results. That girl just had to keep me on my toes sometimes.
I sat and stared at the monitor of my computer for a few minutes, wondering what to do first for the day when there was a light tap on my office door.
“Hey Jess, coffee?” asked Maggie, poking her head in my office.
“Sure,” I smiled, getting up and grabbing my mug.
“How was the wedding?” asked Maggie as we waited for the coffee to brew. Nicole had gotten married over the weekend, had been a gorgeous time.
“Really good yeah,” I smiled. “She looked lovely in her dress and the reception was good fun!”
“Excellent! So you the next one to head down the aisle then?” she winked at me.
“Umm…” I said. How do you tell your office friend that you kind of already have been down the aisle recently, but on accident? “Not yet,” I smiled, trying to hide the lie.
“Ah yes, the boyfriend still trying to find work?”
“Yup,” I sighed.
We chatted for a bit about random things, making small talk as we got our coffee and put milk in it.
“Oh Jess, did you hear about the BBC project?” asked Maggie just as I was about to go into my office.
“No… what is it?” I replied, curious, the BBC was huge!
“They just signed on for a multi-million dollar ad campaign with the company. To redo their whole image and that! Boss is going to send a couple of us over to London for a bit to work on the project. Oh man, would be a dream client.”
“Yeah, wow,” I sighed before going in my office and shutting the door.
It would be a dream client, but there was no way I was getting it. I was a new employee that hadn’t done much of anything fancy yet, I’m sure they’d save that one for the older staff. Plus, did I really want to go to London for a while to work on it? Yeah it would nice to be near home for a bit, but what about Tyler?
After lunch and there was another tap on my door, “Jess can you come down to the conference room please?” asked my bosses assistant.
“Sure, give me two seconds,” I said, saving off my work and logging out of my computer. I grabbed a pen and pad of paper and headed down to the conference room where a group of six other people was sitting around the table, including Maggie.
“So I’m sure you’ve all heard the rumors swirling around this place,” started my boss as soon as he came in the room. “Yes, we did just sign with the BBC. It’s a three-month project and advertising redesign, focusing mostly on their websites but also some print. If this project goes well we might be able to pick up other British clients, so I need to put my best team on it,” he said, looking at us one by one in a proud way.
Everyone in the room was slowly buzzing, picking up on what he was hinting at.
“Us?” I stuttered after a minute.
“Yes Jessica, the seven of you span across all of our companies specialties and I feel that you’d be the best fit for the project.”
I sat there with my mouth open. What the hell was going on with my life these days? It was like crazy highs and really low lows, what happened to the days of normalcy? I just wanted them back...
I listened as my boss gave all of the details of the project. It would be a three-month timeline in which we would all move to London and work directly out of one of the BBC offices. They’d sort out our housing and travel, and we were all getting a pay bonus as well. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
And then I felt a massive pang of guilt. What about Tyler? I couldn’t just leave him for three months. I loved him! He was definitely THE ONE. And he was so busy interviewing for jobs and working that I didn’t think he’d be able to just pack up and come with me. I couldn't ask him to do that, and I couldn't leave him behind either.
I was torn as to what to do. Take the project or pass?
As everyone left the conference room with a packet of information about the project, including dates and details about housing, I sat and waited, ready to pounce on my boss and talk through my predicament.
"Yes Jessica?" he asked expectantly as I maintained my seat at the table.
“I don’t think I can go away for that long,” I started. “Only my boyfriend…”
But I was cut off by my boss who put his hand in the air to stop me, “It’s just three months Jessica, not the rest of your life. If you want to be a part of this industry you’re going to have to make a few sacrifices here and there, I’m sure your boyfriend will understand. I’m not letting you get off this project that easy…”
“But…”
“Jessica, think about the project for a second. The BBC.”
“Yeah,” I said, confused.
“This is the experience of a lifetime. You are young and talented and have a massive future in this industry. Taking off my boss hat and being a mentor for a minute, it would be the stupidest decision of your life to turn this down for a boy,” he said, a stern look on his face.
I stood up and stared at him before nodding my head in agreement, “You’re right… I guess it’s just gonna be hard to tell Tyler.”
“Well, if this boy actually cares about you he’ll be here waiting for you when you’re done with the project. And you know what… just because I really think you need to do this, I’ll sort out plane tickets for him to come and visit at some point ok?” he said, giving me a soft pat on the shoulder.
I smiled at this and thanked my boss profusely. He really was a great guy, more of a father figure than a boss. He looked out for his employees, knowing what was best for them and where their strengths resided. That’s why the BBC job was such an honor. He saw something in me that was worthy of that sort of recognition and responsibility.
After our conversation I slipped over to Maggie’s office.
“Jess!!! OMG LONDON!!” she squealed at me as she shut her office door and wrapped her arms around me tightly, jumping up and down. “We have to be roommates ok? Party timee!!!”
“Yeah sure,” I smiled, “I can’t believe this is happening…”
“How is Tyler going to feel about it?” asked Maggie as she calmed down a little bit and saw my frown.
“I don’t know,” I sighed, “I’m actually dreading telling him although boss said he would sort some tickets for him to come visit.”
“Well that’s nice, I’m sure Tyler will be happy for you, this is the biggest opportunity ever.”
I just smiled faintly back, I couldn’t get myself as excited as Maggie was. To be honest I didn’t really want to go to London. I wanted to stay in my little bubble with Tyler.
As I sat down at my desk and tried to get back to work I couldn’t help but be distracted. I flicked through the portfolio that I’d been passed, reading the details of the project. But all I could think was that it was like some higher power was playing a sick joke on me. Somehow my whole need to get to London ASAP had been sorted out effortlessly without any intervention on my part. Free flight. Free place to stay. Plenty of time to get everything sorted with the divorce from Aston. It was like boom boom pow, the fates were doing something weird that I couldn't understand. It freaked me out. But I guess I had to follow along with the little game they were playing on me and see how it would all pan out.
Now all I had to do was tell the boyfriend I was going to be gone for three whole months…
