The Good News

The knot in my stomach instantly loosened. I knew I wasn’t going to get fired but I thought for sure Todd was going to ask me why I hadn’t been as alert at work. With everything on my mind lately, I pretty much think about everything but work while at work.

“Yeah?” I anxiously asked. Now that I knew this was good news, I was simply curious.

Todd walked over to his chair. “Listen, I didn’t know how much longer I was going to have you, but now that you’re in this master’s program I have you for another two years, right?” I slowly nodded. “So, I wanted to fill you in on something that’s been in the works for a while. You know how Mr. Harding is retiring next door?” he asked while pointing his finger behind me in the direction of the card store next to us in the shopping center. I continued nodding. “Well, I’ve been working with him the last few months to take over the store.”

“So,” I began as I squinted my eyes at him. “You’ll own the card store?”

“Exactly,” he proudly exclaimed. “Now, this is going to be a big adjustment. Mr. Harding always managed it and by owning both stores, I risk accidently neglecting one in the process.” He held up both of his hands and alternated between lowering his left and his right to represent a balancing scale. I didn’t say a word. I wanted Todd to get to the point before I jumped to too many conclusions in my head.

“So,” he went on while smiling, “I was wondering if you’d be interested in moving next door. You’d work the same hours, unless you want more, but you’d also obviously get a raise and more responsibilities. I don’t want you to loss sleep over any of this. I know you have enough on your plate as it is with school so if you think it’s too much, I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this.”

He grew silent and I didn’t say anything for a few seconds. I looked down and pressed my lips together. I knew my answer but I wanted Todd to know that I was not taking this lightly.

“I want to do it,” I finally said with a smile. Todd has been such a great boss to me over the years and I couldn’t imagine rejecting a promotion from him, not to mention a raise. This job was not going to become my career and Todd always knew that, but gaining more management experience in a whole new store felt exciting. I was becoming bored with work and even though I didn’t want to take on too much, I knew I could handle this. I had to at least try.

Todd rubbed his hands together and smiled. “I’m very pleased, Caroline. I need someone I can really trust in there and someone I know will do a good job. We’ll discuss it more in the upcoming weeks but we should be in there by May.”

“Perfect,” I exclaimed before standing up. I walked out of the office in a much better mood than when I walked in. As much as it killed me to admit to myself, the first person I thought to text with the news was Mike.

I already had a text message from Jessica on my phone. Her and Kyle were through. Apparently, he fell asleep or something Sunday afternoon when they were supposed to go to the mall. Sometimes, Jessica could be really unforgiving. To me, though, this was good. I didn't want to worry about running into Evan. If I did, I'd feel embarrassed that I thought he was flirting with me. Still though, I wish that worked out.

I quickly texted Mike, as well as my mom, with the exciting news. My mom responded first with a one word text. “Great.” While I’m trying to break her into the texting world, she still has the notion that text messages are only for simple, quick responses. She was actually excited about it, but her one word answer would give any millennial a cold feeling.

Mike wrote back about twenty minutes later. “So, are you committing to two years of managing the store?”

Thanks, Mike. Would a congratulation text be too much for you? I admit it was a fair question for him to ask, but I obviously wouldn’t sacrifice my future for the chance to manage a card store. The grocery store, more specifically Todd, had always guaranteed me some sense of financial security. Todd was a successful businessman and a caring guy. I knew that I’d always have a job if I stuck by him. For now, that is what I need. I also need something extremely flexible so that I would always be able to put my education first.

“No and don’t worry, I didn’t promise my first-born child either,” I wrote back.

“Haha, I’m just saying you’re going to have to start getting jobs in your field pretty soon.”

This infuriated me. Mike and I had very different views on employment. It might stem from the fact that his parents could always financially support him, so if he felt that a job was beneath him he would just quit. I didn’t really have that luxury and even if I did, not working would drive me crazy. Wasn’t it better to have something than nothing?

Before I had a chance to respond Mike sent another text. “Let’s talk about it and catch up more this weekend. Coffee?” I agreed and we set up a time and place. I hadn’t seen Mike since Valentine’s Day but we did our fair share of texting. I still had no idea what I wanted. Well, I knew what I wanted. I wanted to be with him. I have never felt as amazing as I do when I am with him. The real question was what should I do?