A Very Bad Day at the Office
It was his third meeting of the day. Manny sat toward the end of the conference table, bent over his sketchbook.
He was tall and well into his thirties, but his insecurities made him appear smaller and younger. He, unlike the others in the conference room, wasn’t adept at office politics. But he did have a superpower that he hadn’t yet shown his coworkers.
His frustration had been growing over the past several weeks.
His best friend at the office had taken another job.
A new department head, Josie, had been put in place in a Game of Thrones-like coup for no apparent reason other than her ass-kissing finesse.
He had been put on a project team with a micro-managing director that didn’t know his ass from his elbow and wouldn’t let anyone who he deemed less important than himself get a word in edgewise.
Manny’s drawing took shape as the conversation swirled around him. The meeting had started with a team-building exercise involving blindfolds and tarantulas, then had segued into a “brainstorming” session about ways to promote the business.
“Viral videos! Content marketing! Infographics!”
Manny drew faster.
Finally noticing that Manny hadn’t said a word in well over an hour, Josie turned toward him and asked, “what do you think, Manny?”
He took his eyes off of his sketch — a detailed yet cartoonish drawing of the people at the table — shot a quick look her way, and said, “I think I’m done here.”
He looked down again and picked up his eraser.
Manny’s rudeness, unusual for him, startled Josie and made her pause briefly.
“What do you…”
Before she finished her question, her likeness had disappeared, and so had she.
The others at the table cried out in panic and began to flee the room.
“No matter,” thought Manny, “they’ll be gone soon too.”
