My boss' name was Herman, and he kind of reminded me of Chow Yun Fat, but with graying hair, a fatherly gut, and a less lethal kick. Since he discovered my skill at planning travel, though, I saw nothing but appreciation from him.
Still, getting promoted was a shock.
"What? Why?" I couldn't help but say.
Herman laughed. "Now is not the time to be questioning my decisions, Eleanor."
"Um, yes sir. I mean, thank you."
My boss proceeded to explain to me just what happened – I was now assistant manager (same rank as Don, my brain reminded me), and it included a modest increase. This all meant more work too, but when I looked at the printout of the new job description, he seemed to have added just more travel coordination. Nothing I couldn't handle.
It wasn't like I thought I didn't deserve it, by the way. I just didn't realize that I'd hear the happy news so soon.
***
The office announced the news, along with the other promotions for the year, in an email to all employees. I forgot how memo-happy my office was. They didn't just mention the company-wide merit increase, but there was also a roll call of promotions, complete with a short "message" from the Comm department for each of us.
Eleanor Manuel, promoted to Assistant Manager – Client Services Coordination, mere weeks after her first anniversary with the team. Congratulations, and watch out for this up-and-comer.
Whoa, those Comm department people should be careful who they called an "up-and-comer." The people around me might expect ambition or something.
It didn't matter though, because within minutes my inbox was filled with congratulations. A little after ten AM, an email from the ex came in.
I knew you could do it. -Don
It figured that the first time he would deliberately talk to me was about something I didn't even plan to do. I didn't reply to him, and instead went back to work. And I felt great.
===
I tried not to talk so much about what Ellie did for work, because that was one of the first comments I got from my editor. (Do we need to know so much about the work?) That's right. Sometimes overloading with details on a topic that is not about the main plot just makes me sound like I'm showing off.