Prologue
"Cheers!"
Glasses clinked together as laughter filled the little bar on North Fifth.
It wasn't much to look at: brick walls, warm lights, music just loud enough to make you lean in, but after months of twelve-hour workdays, it felt like paradise.
I smiled as I raised my drink.
For once...I wasn't late.
That rarely happened.
Usually I was the last one to leave the office.
The last one answering emails.
The last one going to bed.
Ryan was the one running behind tonight.
Honestly? It was kind of nice.
"So..." Savannah leaned forward with that smile that made everyone else at the table look underdressed. "How does it feel?"
I laughed.
"Honestly? I'm still trying to process it."
"You deserve it," she said.
"I don't know if I'd go that far."
"Oh, please."
I smiled into my glass.
This morning I'd walked into the executive director's office planning to ask for a department transfer.
I'd walked out with a promotion.
Life had a strange sense of humor.
Joseph pointed his beer bottle toward me.
"I told you they'd recognize talent eventually."
I rolled my eyes.
"Joseph, you've been saying that about yourself for three years."
He grinned.
"And one day I'll be right."
Joseph Kim had somehow convinced himself everyone loved him.
Nobody had the heart to tell him otherwise.
He wasn't a bad guy.
Just... the kind of person who still talked about college like it had happened six months ago instead of over a decade ago.
"I still can't believe it," Tim said, stealing fries from my plate without asking. "You went in asking for less responsibility."
"And came out with more," Savannah finished.
"Exactly." Tim laughed. "That’s corporate logic."
Tim Lawson. The human equivalent of a golden retriever.
Always smiling.
Always hungry.
And somehow always carrying snacks for everyone except himself.
If there was office gossip, Tim knew it.
If there was free food, Tim found it.
If morale was low, Tim fixed it.
"I just..." I sighed. "I don’t mind hard work or responsibility what I really wanted was to transfer."
The table grew quieter.
"I mean..." I shrugged. "We literally work for one of the biggest architecture and interior design firms in the city. That’s what I went to school for, and it’s what I actually want to do. Architecture.”
I spent five years dreaming about designing spaces people would actually live in.
Instead...I market them.
Don't get me wrong.
I’m good at marketing.
Project timelines.
Client presentations.
Managing expectations.
I could do all of it.
But every morning I went up past the eigth floor where the design department was. And wondered what would've happened if someone had just given me a chance.
"So what happened?" Savannah asked.
"I told Navida I wanted to apply for the opening in Interior Design."
"And?"
"She told me she'd see what she could do."
Everyone waited.
"The next morning I found out I'd been promoted to Senior Assistant Manager."
Tim blinked.
"...That's not even close."
"I know."
Joseph whistled.
"That's a huge disconnect."
"It is," I admitted.
The pay's amazing.
Living in the city wasn't cheap.
Every extra dollar helped.
I looked down at my drink.
"I’m sure it’ll be fine. It's just not what I wanted."
There was a difference between succeeding and succeeding at the wrong thing.
Savannah reached across the table and squeezed my hand.
"I know."
For a second, nobody said anything.
Then Tim broke the silence.
"Well." He raised another fry. "I'm quitting before I get promoted."
We laughed.
He'd been saying he was going to quit since the day I met him.
"I'm serious," he said. "I'm gonna leave this place, open a bookstore somewhere, and never attend another Monday morning team-building bullshit meeting."
I pointed at him.
"I already called dibs."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, you open the bookstore. Savannah can decorate it, and I'll finally design something."
Tim nodded thoughtfully.
Joseph straightened in his seat. "I'll build your website."
Tim and I looked at each other.
Then at Savannah.
She tried not to laugh.
"Wonderful," I said. "We'll definitely need you."
"I knew it." Joseph leaned back proudly. "I bring value."
Before Tim could respond, I felt a familiar hand rest gently on my shoulder.
"Sorry I'm late."
I turned and smiled.
Ryan.
He leaned down and kissed my forehead before pulling out the empty chair beside me.
Ryan Singh.
My boyfriend of almost five years.
A middle school history teacher.
Kind.
Patient.
Loving.
The kind of person who somehow remembered everyone's birthday without needing Facebook to remind him.
He looked around the table.
"So...I hear we're celebrating."
Tim immediately lifted his glass.
"Our fearless leader, Carolinha."
Ryan looked at me.
"I'm proud of you."
Something about the way he smiled made me feel like maybe everything would be okay.
Maybe this promotion was the beginning of something.
Maybe I'd finally be noticed.
Maybe this was the first step toward the career I'd actually wanted.
Tim cleared his throat dramatically.
"Speech."
"Oh, no."
"Speech."
Everyone joined in.
I laughed and lifted my glass.
"I guess..."
I looked around the table.
At Savannah.
At Tim.
At Joseph.
At Ryan.
"My dream didn't exactly happen the way I imagined."
A few smiles.
"But... I'm lucky. I have amazing friends. A wonderful boyfriend. A job that pays the bills."
"And maybe..." I smiled. "Maybe this is the beginning of something better."
I raised my glass a little higher.
"To new beginnings."
"To finally doing what we love someday," Savannah said, lifting her glass.
"Cheers."
"Cheers!"
Glasses clinked again.
My phone buzzed.
I glanced down.
Navida Graker: Congratulations again. Looking forward to working more closely together. Enjoy your evening. See you tomorrow.
I stared at the message for a second.
Then locked my phone.
Something tightened in my chest.
I couldn't explain why.
I just smiled and took another sip.
