Jamie handed the file to Michelle with the reverence of a soldier presenting a folded flag to the widow of a deceased veteran. She lowered herself into the leather-back chair facing Michelle’s desk, sitting on the front edge of the seat with her legs crossed and hands clasped over one knee. When Michelle looked up from her computer screen, her ginger-blonde hair framed the tight contours of her face and cascaded down over her shoulders.

“How’d it go?”

“Good, I think.”

As Michelle scanned through the file, Jamie studied the row of professional awards that lined the back wall of her supervisor’s office. SunDock Technology Vice President Michelle Andrews had achieved accolades from seemingly every sales and marketing organization in New England.

She paused on one page of the contract, her full lips pursed in thought. Jamie began to bounce her knee, then stopped herself, uncrossing her legs and sliding further back into the chair.

I must have read that contract ten times. Did I miss something?

She inhaled and exhaled slowly, then diverted her gaze to the framed desktop photo of Michelle with her husband and their two teenage sons at the Grand Canyon. In the picture, she was casually attired in khaki shorts, sandals, and a red T-shirt that contrasted with the stylish dark pantsuits, white silk blouses, and four-inch heels that she wore in the office.

As Michelle closed the folder, Jamie coughed twice, trying to soothe the bothersome itch that suddenly irritated the back of her throat. Her mouth felt dry as sandpaper.

 Michelle glanced up at Jamie and raised an eyebrow in concern. "You okay?"

Jamie nodded quickly, clearing her throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a little tickle."

“Do you need some water?”

Before Jamie could answer, Michelle rolled her chair to the side of the desk and fetched a bottle from her mini-fridge. Jamie nodded appreciatively before gulping down two mouthfuls of cold water. She started to screw the cap back on the container but her wet fingers felt as slick as oil. The plastic top fell to the floor and rolled underneath Michelle’s desk.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Jamie sprang to her feet then lowered herself to one knee to search for the runaway bottle cap.

“Don’t be sorry,” said Michelle as she picked up the plastic top from the floor and handed it back to Jamie. “You just made your first sale.”

Jamie exhaled sharply. “Does the contract look OK?” 

“Everything looks fine.” Michelle reached across the desk with her hand extended. “Congratulations.”

Jamie beamed as she shook Michelle's hand. "Thank you! I couldn't have done it without your guidance and support."

Michelle’s angular eyebrows dashed upward over pale green eyes heavily made up with mascara and dark eye liner. She smiled warmly then picked up the folder and presented it to Jamie with two hands. “The first sale’s always the best sale… until you make your next sale.”

Jamie's eyes widened as she tucked the file under her arm and again thanked her boss. She strolled back to her office and deposited the file folder on her desk. Her shiny silver nameplate was the only personalized item that adorned the sterile glass-top desk.

She hadn’t wanted to get too comfortable in her new workspace until she actually made a sale. Now she wanted to hang colorful pictures on those barren beige walls and add some other personal touches to her spartan office. After three months in her new job as Sun Dock Technology’s associate director of sales and marketing, Jamie wanted nothing more than to prove to Michelle that she’d made the right decision by hiring her.

******

"How's the Vegas proposal coming along?"

Jamie looked up from her computer screen to see the elegant figure of her boss standing in the doorway. Her brunette hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and she wore a sharp black suit that emphasized her curves.

"I'll have the first draft ready for you this afternoon." SunDock was one of three companies vying for the exclusive rights to power a new professional baseball stadium in Las Vegas with solar energy. And Michelle was scheduled to fly out to Vegas to meet with the client next week.

"I'll need the final version," Michelle responded. "The client's bumped the meeting up to the end of this week."

Jamie felt a knot form in her stomach as she realized her deadline had just shrunk from days to hours.

"And you're coming with me."

Jamie's eyes widened in surprise. When she'd received the call from the SunDock recruiter a few months ago, she had been working in sales and marketing at a pharmaceutical company. Her work there had grown mundane and she wanted a new challenge. And that's what Michelle had just handed her. A new challenge.

"Wow uh, great... I'll have everything ready."

Michelle nodded, then exited Jamie's office, her heels clacking on the tile floor as she walked down the hall.

******

Forty-eight hours later, she walked into Michelle's office with a cup of coffee in one hand and the client proposal in the other. She'd slept about six hours during the past two nights while she worked on the proposal. Her eyes felt as dry as sandpaper and her hands trembled when she set the client folder on Michelle’s desk.

Normally, her boss would immediately begin reviewing the paperwork and peppering Jamie with questions. This morning, however, she left the folder unopened and said nothing. Jamie fidgeted in her chair, suddenly wanting to reach for the folder and confirm that all the documents were there. Michelle’s silence unnerved her. Did she miss something?

“Do you want me to walk you through the contract revisions that Legal required?”

Michelle sighed. “I have some news to share with you.“ She paused. "It’s been a good run here, but it’s time to move on. I’m leaving SunDock. My last day is Friday.”

Jamie felt her world turn upside down. Michelle had just hired her four months ago and had been mentoring her as she learned the ropes at the company. “What are you talking about? We're pitching a client in Vegas this week. Where are you going?”

“I don’t have anything lined up quite yet, but I’m going to take a break and spend some time with my family. I just wanted to give you a heads-up before the companywide email goes out.”

******

SunDock CEO Raji Sundaram, a slender middle-aged man of Indian descent, was dressed in his standard tan khakis and yellow SunDock Technology golf shirt, when he entered the crowded conference room. He was accompanied by another man who was several inches taller than the diminutive Raji and possessed the husky frame of a hockey goalie. Attired in a gray pinstriped suit and a crisp white dress shirt accented with a yellow patterned tie, the smartly dressed man provided a stark contrast to the casually attired Raji. 

“Thank you for joining me this afternoon on such short notice,” said Raji as he took a seat at the head of the table. He leaned forward and clasped his hands together on the top of the table. "I know that everyone in this room worked with Michelle Andrews, and we all appreciate the great work that she did for SunDock, especially in the past year when she led the marketing and sales department."

Raji sounded like he was reading a script, speaking in an even-toned, almost monotonous cadence as he talked about one of the longest-serving employees at SunDock abruptly leaving the company.

"But as I think everyone knows, Michelle decided to leave SunDock to spend more time with her family.”

As murmurs rumbled through the crowd, Jamie glanced at Michelle's executive assistant. She looked like she was going to cry.

“Today, I’m pleased to welcome back to SunDock a person that many of you know, Marty Sweeney." There was a smattering of brief applause, mostly from the sales guys near the front of the table.

"For those of you who are new to the company, Marty was the head of our Sales Department until he had to take a medical leave last year. I'm happy to report that he has recovered from his back surgery and that he has agreed to return to SunDock as Vice President of Sales and Marketing."

When Marty stood up, he paused for a moment and waited for everyone’s focus to shift from Raji to him. He projected the easy confidence of a man accustomed to attention.

“Thank you Raji. It’s a pleasure to be back here and to work for such an incredible company. I'm happy to see so many familiar faces as well as some new folks who joined the SunDock team while I was out on injured reserve.” 

Compared to the soft-spoken CEO, Marty spoke loud and fast. While Raji glanced down at the table as he talked, Marty scanned the faces around the room, looking at each individual as if he was speaking directly to them. When his gaze turned to Jamie and his lips curled into a half-smile, she felt a jolt of instant disdain for the man. He was too smooth, too confident.

“SunDocks are the most cutting-edge technology in the entire solar industry. And they were invented by our very own Raji Sundaram,” said Marty, as he placed his hand on Raji’s shoulder, provoking an awkward grimace from the usually reserved CEO. 

“Now it’s our job to show the world what an incredible product SunDock is.” He lifted his hand from Raji’s shoulder and gestured toward the large window that provided a panoramic view of the wooded landscape that sprawled behind the company’s suburban headquarters.

“To borrow a phrase from the Cheers theme song, we want everyone to know our name.” He paused for the requisite laughter in response to his campy reference to a 1980s sitcom famously set in a Boston bar. Then the smile disappeared from Marty’s face and his expression turned serious. The room quieted as everyone expectantly awaited his next words. Even Raji stared unblinking at him. 

“Because when they do know our name, they will buy our product,” Marty boomed. “SunDock is going to be the number one company in the entire solar industry. And we’re gonna be listed on the Nasdaq 100.” 

As the sales guys nodded in agreement, obediently listening to the alpha dog at the front of the room, Jamie felt an uneasy sense of deja vu. She'd grown disenchanted with her previous job because of leadership’s increasingly aggressive pursuit of profits above all else. During her twelve years with the pharmaceutical company, it had grown into a national conglomerate that had stopped caring about the people who used its products. It was always about the bottom line. Jamie began to feel dejected until she heard Marty utter the words that snapped her attention back.

“I believe that SunDock Technology is going to change the world for the better. It's the reason I've come back." In that moment, Jamie felt he was speaking directly to her. This was the reason she had joined SunDock. Suddenly, the room burst into thunderous applause punctuated by high-pitched whistles.

Jamie felt the pulsing energy in the room as everyone started talking at once. She’d never heard a pep rally speech like that at her old company. People were getting up from their seats around the conference table, but they weren’t leaving the room. A group of sales guys jockeyed for position near Marty like boys trying to get the autograph of their favorite athlete. Marty was shaking hands with the newer staff and giving bear hugs to other employees who he called by name.

Jamie waited until the initial commotion subsided before approaching Marty. She extended her hand and introduced herself.

“I'm Jamie Porterhouse. Joined SunDock just a few months ago." 

"Pleasure to meet you," responded Marty as he shook her hand, holding it a beat too long. "Raji mentioned you. Said you were on the Vegas account.”

"Yes," she stammered, both flattered and unnerved by his apparent knowledge of her client load.

“I'll be handling that client now so we'll be working together," said Marty as he patted her shoulder. Jamie tried not to flinch, reminding herself that she'd just watched him bro-hugging guys on the sales team. As another employee stepped forward to introduce himself to the new vice president, Jamie took the opportunity to extricate herself from the conversation and return to her office.

A half hour later, she was calculating budget projections when a knock at the door startled her. She looked up and was surprised to see Marty standing in her doorway.

“Can I come in?” Before she answered, he walked into her office and sat down stiffly on the cushioned chair in front of her desk. "So you're on the Vegas account."

Jamie nodded.

"Sounds like Raji took my advice when I told him we needed to go after the contract for the new stadium they're building out there.”

Jamie curled her fingers and placed her hands in her lap. Michelle had been the lead on that project. Going after the stadium was her idea. How could Marty even know about it?

"Ever been to Vegas?"

Jamie shook her head.

"Good. I'll get to show you the town when we fly out there next week for the client meeting."