Page 56 of Zimyra

“I figured I needed to fit in with the culture.”

There’s that giggle again.

She says, “You act like it’s that drastic of a change. If you don’t go on somewhere…”

“It is a change. Y’all don’t dress like we do up north.”

“Jeans and T-shirts are universal.”

“I suppose. But let’s take you, for example…you be wearing those colorful pantsuits to the office. Women don’t dress like that in Bridgeport. They wear dark colors.”

“Yeah, because it’s so cold and depressing up there. I’m a sunflower. I wear vibrant colors that represent how I feel.”

I grin.

She asks, “What are you laughing at now?”

“I’m laughing at you describing yourself as a sunflower. I’m going to save your name in my phone underSunflower.”

“Whatever, Axel. I’m going to go ahead and jump off this phone if you have nothing further to discuss with me.”

“I get two more questions, remember?”

“You and these questions…okay. What you got?”

“What were you doing before working at Atlantic?”

“I was working at a daycare.”

“Interesting. I never would’ve guessed that.”

“Yeah—I love kids. I went to college only because it’s what I was supposed to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Going to college was a requirement in my house. Plus, I had a full scholarship, so I definitely didn’t want that to go to waste, even though I had no idea what I wanted to do. So, I did what everyone else does who has no idea what to major in—I signed up for business administration.”

“So, property management is the field you decided to go into.”

“For the short term.”

“What’s the long-term plan?”

“Interior design. That’s my true passion. I’ve done odd jobs for people and companies. I designed my brother’s place, my place, I did the lobby, the clubhouse and the model apartment at Atlantic.”

“The stuff you did for Atlantic—did you come out of your pocket for that?”

“Why do you ask me that every time I mention something I did for the office?”

“Because I feel like these companies shouldn’t take advantage of their employees like this. If something needs to be enhanced or changed, they should pay for it out of their own bank accounts—not from the wages of their workers.”

“Okay, but in their defense, they have no clue what I’m doing down here. I don’t tell them things because they probably wouldn’t approve. The group activities I do…the coffee in the lobby—everything that the tenants love is a red flag to them for some reason, so I just keep it to myself. Plus, the furniture that’s in the lobby and the tour apartment was already there when I took this job. I just brought things to enhance them like the flowers, candles, pillows, throws, mirrors, pictures—you know—home accents.”

“You still shouldn’t have done that much.”

“Well, the tenants love it, so it doesn’t bother me. But in answer to your question, no, property management isn’t my end game. Interior design is. I don’t plan on being at Atlantic at all next year. I’m studying for my certificate in interior design, and then I’m starting my own business.”

“That’s good,” I say, but I’m not sure how to feel about the possibility of losing such a valuable asset to this company. The thought of her leaving has me dumbfounded. I know there will never be anyone remotely as good as her to fill this position.

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