Gina Calanni - How To Bake The Perfect Wedding Cake

“Trent, I don’t have time to talk. Please just give me the list.”

“All right, let me see if I can find it.” He opens up his desk drawers and begins sifting through papers. “So, I’m taking by your demeanor that you and Jack broke up?”

I roll my eyes. “No, we did not break up. Seriously, Trent, you have to stop this.”

“Stop what? I’m just a concerned co-worker—is there a problem with that?” He raises an eyebrow at me.

“Do you have the list?” I’m about to leave and just go up and down the cubicles and see if I can spot new people on my own. Our floor is not that big—maybe fifty or more rows. I should be able to run the whole floor before noon.

“Yes, Lauren. You seem really on edge. You’re not worried about competing against me, are you?” He winks at me.

“Oh come on, Trent. I’m not worried about you being a new manager or competing against you. My love life is great. The only thing I need from you is the list. Now do you have it or not?” I glare at him.

His mouth turns into a full-on smirk. “Well just between you and me, I plan on taking over Javier’s position next. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure I keep you on the payroll when I hire on the next group of managers. I’ll be bringing in some of my old co-workers from Masters and Schmitt.” He hands me a stack of papers that have been sitting on his desk the entire time.

I shake my head. “I’m not worried and if you think you can take Javier’s position, then you must really have your head in the clouds.” I grab on to the doorknob.

“Really, Lauren? I got in this position, didn’t I?” His hand is on mine. “You might want to change how you think and talk to me. I would if I were you. Pretty soon, I’ll be your boss.”

I jerk my hand off the knob and march out into the hallway. There is no way Trent could ever be my boss. He hasn’t worked here that long. My chest is so tight it’s like it is going to explode. I close the door to my office and lean my head against the laminated wood. This is not good. I’ve got to hire two new people for my team and figure out a way to let Javier know about Trent’s plan without sounding like a paranoid insecure wreck. I need to grab some coffee and tackle this—and not the kind from our break room. This requires Starbucks. I head down the corridor to the elevator.

The elevator is shiny and bright full of promises for a ride to success and yet I can only imagine the opposite of that. I haven’t felt this down about Calstone since I began working here several years ago and now I’m a manager and my aspirations are plummeting. So much has changed since that day. I’ve got to change my attitude and really get things righted on this track with my team… Can I even call it that? There are only three people on it now and I used to have five. I should be adding people, not having them leave in droves.

In my determination to get to the elevator, I barely miss running into Elaine.

“Whoa, what’s the rush?” She grabs on to my elbows.

“Sorry about that, I’ve got a lot on my mind.” I try to push past her but she doesn’t release me from her solid grip.

“Yeah…” She shakes her head. “How are you dealing with losing so many members? What’s your game plan?” Elaine’s eyes zoom in on my face as if she is truly concerned.

“Well, I’ll be adding new ones…excuse me.” I eye her hands with a glare that is not exactly full of friendly vibes. I do not have time for this. I have got to get new team members lined up and quickly. I use as much force as I can without seeming physically aggressive and push past Elaine. I’m sure she is saying “I told you so” in her head. After all, back in January she had an entirely different idea about who should be on my team and why. But that was seven months ago and no matter what it is still my team. I’ve just got to increase the head count. No big deal.

Later I slide into my office chair, complete with much-needed coffee, and power up my computer. As soon as my screen illuminates I see that I’ve got an IM from Trent.

Hey there, I hope there are no hard feelings between the two of us.

My eyes cannot roll back in my head far enough. The nerve of this guy. Hard feelings. There are no feelings…except regret for ever hiring him. He has been trouble since day one. I should have realized it. But as the saying goes…hindsight is twenty-twenty and in this case twenty-zero. As in adding him to my team brought me zero benefits. Argh.

I minimize my IM. I’m going to let that sit and pretend that I didn’t see it. I really don’t care. My number one concern is adding more people to my team and getting our total numbers up. I cannot be on Javier’s no bueno list, as he calls it. There is no need to have taken Spanish in college to get the gist of what that means.

I scan over the résumé list again. Slim pickings…but I’m going to have to work with the hand I’ve been dealt. I can do this. I can find a good group. I’m confident. A name sticks out at me, Marcus Scalia. I nod. I remember hearing good things about him. I send him an IM and flip through the stack once more. Bethany Carlson. Yes, she will be the perfect candidate for my team. I don’t know why I didn’t see her résumé before. Nonetheless, I send her an IM as well and download their sales reports. I pull up the calendar app and send a meeting invite to my current team. I’m ninety percent sure that Marcus and Bethany will be joining but I’ll wait until after we chat to make sure they are right for the team.

A message alert flickers on the bottom of my screen. I roll my eyes. Please tell me, it’s not Trent again. I click on the box. It’s not Trent.

Do you have new people on your team or do we need to have a meeting with Elaine?

My stomach clenches tight and for once I don’t have the feeling of nausea. I respond to Javier.

About to interview two candidates. I think I’ve found the perfect ones. Will update you at noon.

Good to hear. Let’s discuss over lunch.

Sounds great.

I let out a deep sigh that is interrupted by a tap on my door. On the other side is Bethany.

“Hey, Bethany, nice to officially meet you.” We shake hands and both sit down.

“So, I need to hire a few more people for my team and I think you show signs of real potential. Can you tell me what one of your strongest characteristics is?”

Bethany runs a hand through her light blonde hair and nods. “Yes, wow, um I’d love to join your team. I would say my strongest attribute is my customer retention rate.” The sides of her mouth pull up and she glances at the ground for a mere second. “It’s ninety-nine percent, by the way.”

I raise an eyebrow and scan the paper in front of me with her numbers. “True indeed. Well, that is very impressive.” I nod. “Tell me where you see yourself in five years?” I hate to ask these standard interview questions but I have to ask something.

“I’m in this office, in your role and you are above me managing managers.” The glimmer in her eyes couldn’t be more pure and true. I can’t help but agree with her five-year approach.

“Nice, I like your five-year goal. Thanks for meeting with me.” We shake hands and she stands up to leave. “By the way, I’ll be sending you a meeting request, to discuss our team’s goals for this week.”

Her eyes light up. “Thank you, I look forward to receiving it.” Bethany closes the door behind her and I check the clock. I’ve got thirty minutes before my meeting with Marcus. My Starbucks coffee buzz is wearing off and I’m in need of another caffeine fix. I am in a better state here at the office. I don’t seem so frail and like I’m going to be sick. What was that all about? Am I just having anxiety issues about Jack? What does that mean? Should I be concerned? I shake my head and exit my office. I need some coffee. I’m making progress and coffee will only accelerate my speed. I’ve got to get on track and get to where I was before the Fourth of July when I had my team intact. Maybe this change of staff is a good thing. Maybe, after our meeting, things will be better than they had been before. I roll my eyes. I can only hope for such good luck. I shake my head. No. It’s not good luck. Hard work is what makes things happen.