"Hi Sana, you wanted to see me."
"Yes, come in, Bea," Sana gestured her hand in the chair's direction, "have a seat. I just wanted to do a little catch-up with you."
"Did I do something wrong?" Bea asked.
"No, no, it's just it's been a while. We survived our Christmas peak trading period. The store is quite calm now, and I thought it was a good moment."
Bea nodded as she took a seat.
Sana smiled, "so, how are you feeling?" she asked in her usual cheerful voice.
"Exhausted by Christmas, but good and ready for the Winter sales."
Sana was the type of manager who made one feel at ease. Her words were balanced and never out of order, even when the remarks she made were legit.
"I'm pleased with the work you've done. Stop me if I'm wrong, but I feel you're more comfortable in your position."
"Yes, I am."
Sana's former assistant had left to open a vegan bakery. Bea was a senior sales assistant when Sana became store manager.
They had worked together to help Bea step up from her senior sales role. Finally, Bea endorsed the position of assistant. Sana was happy for her. She had the impression the woman's achievement was also hers.
"I'm happy to hear that," Sana pursued. The frown on Beas's face dissipated, and her shoulders posture laid back. She was ready to receive whatever Sana had to say.
"There might be a store manager opening soon. I wanted to know if being a store manager corresponded to your professional forecast and if it still ranked in your ambitions."
A huge smile sketched on Bea's lips, "of course definitely. The only thing is I can't leave Paris. I mean, if the position is elsewhere."
"Oh, it's here, I mean, here, here," Sana empathized.
Bea looked around the room, "like in the building?"
"Like in the store," Sana added while nodding.
Bea's eyes widened as she suddenly realized, "Sana, no. Where are you going?"
"I have an interview scheduled on Teams tomorrow. If all goes well, I might be gone within a month."
"Wait a minute; you're resigning?"
"No, HQ might transfer me. If it doesn't work out, I'llㅡ," Sana stopped again; she questioned herself before saying, "ㅡI'll resign."
Love.
The sentiment was odd, wonderful, and frightening. Sana was scared; her knees wobbled every time she thought of leaving. Yet without fail, Lees' face popped up like a virtual advisor on a website with its how-can-I-help-you chatbox.
One thing was sure she was willing to risk it all for Lee.
Bea scrutinized Sana's expression. Her manager wasn't an example of temerity. If there were a free ticket for a round trip in eighty days, Sana would probably give it away. Thus Sana's plans intrigued Bea, "what will you do?"
Sana wasn't one to make a secretive state affair of her business. She gave a straightforward answer, "Lee asked me to move in with him, and I want to. I really want to."
"Wow, can't believe you got with a Regional."
"Oh, please don't say it that way. It sounds a little sleazy. Besides, Lee isn't in the company anymore."
Of course, her team wasn't aware of their beer fest beginnings. All they had in mind was a man who came to do an inventory and fell head over heels for their manager wearing her Luigi plumber green overalls.
There Bea understood Sana. No one wishes to be far from the person they loved. Sana tried to schedule her story out of her jobs' way from the beginning of the relationship. Unlike a few, she didn't dump the worst hours on her team so she could skive off to live her best life with Lee. When she couldn't travel, it was he who came to Paris.
How long could they keep up the routine?
Some would say years, but since the move was something they both desired, the moment was then.
"I don't want you to feel pressured or anything, but I wanted to have this discussion first to let you know I'll support your application if you decide to go for it."
"Thank you so much, Sana," Bea's eyes filled with tears. Becoming an assistant manager for the high school dropout was already a wild exploit. Bea saw a flash of all the interviews and rejection emails she received before getting her job in the store. If it wasn't her education that bothered, it was her appearance. Apparently, tattoos and piercings prevented one from being competent if one listened to recruiters.
"Oh, don't thank me, you're the one who showed the motivation and resilience to push through. There will probably be a lot of external applicants, but I hope HR will privilege insiders."
"Thank you, Sana."
In London, Lee sat down for lunch with Micheal at one of his favorite noodle restaurants in the West End.
"I asked Sana to live with me."
"Wow, that's some crazy news."
"What's crazy about it? We're dating; I asked Sana to live with me. What's crazy?"
Lee was always a little on the defensive side when he felt someone had a critical eye on Sana or their relationship.
"Calm down, Lee. It's just you threw beer on her face, and now you can't live without her. It's, how can I say," Micheal paused as he attempted to pick words that wouldn't earn him a visit to an emergency room due to a punch in the nose, "an odd twist of fate."
"Haha, what's crazy is that sentence coming from a twisted man himself."
"Touché," Micheal said and twirled his noodles on the chopsticks.
Micheal still had difficulty soaking in the idea of Lees' and Sanas' relationship, but many things had changed. Micheal solely focused on work without his best buddy and former mistress in the company. Once at home, all his attention went to his wife and kids.
Typical, one would say, but it was easier said and done for the man who was an incorrigible flirt.
Micheal learned his lesson thanks to Lee, who encouraged him to stop his affair and reminded him of the importance of keeping his marriage together.
Lee didn't understand how Micheal could claim to love his wife to death and cheat on her.
Though sour and bitter, back then, despite his misfortune, Lee warned and protected Micheal. The man had to unjustly get fired for Micheal to see his mistress' true colors.
Keela wasn't as sweet as Micheal imagined. The man naively believed he could control the course of the relationship, but Keela wanted more. For Micheal, it was just a fling. Keela was his sexual frustration outlet; the man had no intention of leaving his wife for her.
The rupture was brutal, and Micheal almost lost his friend in the process.
Lee held no grudge; he just made it clear if Micheal acted up again, he would ditch their friendship in the gutter without looking back to see it go down Londons' drains.
"What did she say when you asked her?"
"You know, Sana, she smiled and asked if she could think about it," Lee shrugged, "it's a ordinary reaction, I guess."
Lee replayed the take of their conversations as he slurped his noodles. When shocked or surprised by his words, Sana had the habit of exclaiming his name. The tone variated, and the man could distill the emotion behind them.
Lee didn't like interpreting actions and reactions, but sometimes Sana left him no choice. She wasn't shy, but she always seemed to measure her words. Eager, Lee wished she could just blurt out what she had in mind.
"I hope you know what you're asking for."
Lee turned his head to the side to look at Micheal. He rose an inquisitive brow as he asked, "what do you mean?"
Defensive mode on.
"You know how it is, mate. Sana moves in; then she wants a baby and or marriage."
"Micheal, I'm the one who asked her to move in with me. Don't you think I'm aware of all the eventualities?"
"Being aware of them doesn't mean you want them. I mean, you've been there before see where it led you."
Lee smiled, "it led me to Sana. I'm sorry to say this, but I don't regret my marriage. I don't rue having Dylan or even my divorce. I've got a great woman and my life ahead of me. I'm not going to fuck up my chance for things that are naturally bound to happen."
Lee glowered at Micheal up and down, "I think I've got doctor Simmons card on me. Do you want it?"
"Fuck off, Lee."
"You fuck off. Don't try to shove your hot jacket potato of insecurities on me."
No, the lion wasn't sleeping in the mighty jungle.
The Tokens could take it to the chorus:
Uyimbube, uyimbube, uyimbube, uyimbube,uyimbube, uyimbube, uyimbube...
Oh my,
It's the first chapter I've published in 2022!
I'm so happy Sana wants to make a move to London.
Lee is such a roaring lion when it comes to Sana.
I was supposed to publish a new story today, but I'll post it on Valentine's day as a present, so look out for it.
Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter.
Take care!