Page 85 of Joy to Noel
Curiosity extremely piqued, I take advantage of this opportunity to press my thumb into Chad’s pain point. BecauseI told him this would happen! “What was the mistake, Chad?” I ask.
“Well, the client was a Chamber of Commerce for a mid-sized town in Ohio, and the story was about a new commercial retail space opening. Including a new private hair salon that required a monthly membership fee to utilize multiple benefits,” Chad says, and I hear the embarrassment rising in his voice. “Um, there was a line contrasting the salon to a public hair salon, but the, uh, the ‘l’ was left out of the word ‘public.’”
I can’t help it. I burst out laughing. Becauseof courseartificial intelligence wouldn’t recognize it as a mistake when it’s technically still a word.
When I finally manage to contain my giggles, I can hear Chad’s scowl beaming through the silence. “I’m sorry,” I say. “Actually, I’m not sorry. I tried to tell you that something like this would happen. This never would have happened if you would have just listened to me instead of thinking you could slash my position to cut costs.”
I don’t mention that if he had never cut my position, I would have never come to Noel. Or met Liam. Chad doesn’t deserve to know that his buffoonery brought some good things to my life.
“I’m going to need to think about it,” I finally say. “I’m not quite sure that Iwantto come back to WritInc.”
“Yeah, I saw on your LinkedIn that you’ve been trying your hand at independent editing,” Chad says. “How’s that going for you?” There’s a sneer in his voice that would indicate he knows hownot wellit’s been going, even though there’s no way he could know that.
“It’s been a great opportunity to meet new clients and edit literature I find interesting,” I say, emphasizing the good points. I don’t acknowledge the panicky failure feelings that start swirling in my stomach.
“Just come in next week and let us discuss your offer. Mr. Douglas would like to present it to you in person,” Chad says.
Relenting a little, I say, “Fine. I’ll think about it and see you next week.”
I’m distracted all day by the WritInc offer as I work with Clara and Emily. As much as I would love her advice, I don’t have the heart to tell Clara. This Christmas festival is her baby, her favorite thing in the world—aside from Clark. And me. And Chase.
I can’t bring myself to burst the bubble of her joy by mentioning that there’s a possibility I could be moving back to Kansas City. Even if it’s slim.
Do I want to return to WritInc? Absolutely not. As gratifying as it was to hear Chad wallowing in his misstep, I have zero desire to go back to working with him. And even if my MJE clients have been fewer and farther between than I’d like, I’ve enjoyed editing their content so much more than endless newsletters and postcards.
But . . . accepting the WritInc offer might be the responsible thing to do. I tried to make it on my own—tried and failed. It might have beenthe wrong move from the very start, despite the positive side effects of bonus time with Clara and meeting Liam.
Liam.
What am I going to tell him? Would he move to Kansas City if I decided to go there? I mean, he could do his independent consulting from anywhere, right? And the Kansas City airport would certainly make travel easier than living in Noel. Maybe I move back to KC temporarily until I get my feet under me. We could do long distance for a little while—Clara and Clark did. At least, for a couple of months until the distance was killing them and Clara moved to Noel.
I pace the living room as I wait for Liam to get home. I didn’t have the heart to tell Clara about the offer, but I need to talk this through with Liam.
When he comes in the door, he takes one look at my energy and immediately senses turmoil. Hamlet is meowing at his ankles, but he quickly takes off his dress shoes and crosses the room to me. “What’s wrong, MJ?”
“WritInc called and offered me my job back,” I blurt out.
“Huh?” His brows form a confused line in the center of his forehead.
“The company I worked for that fired me. They’ve had multiple editing errors go out in their content, and customers have been upset, just like you predicted could happen. They want me to come back to my proofreading job,” I explain.
“But you told them no,” Liam states, certainty in his voice.
“I mean . . . I didn’t say ‘no’ right away. They want me to come in next week to meet with the COO to hear the full employment proposal,” I say, my voice wavering slightly.
“But you’re going to turn them down.” It’s a statement, not a question from Liam.
I shuffle my weight on my feet. “Probably?”
Liam makes an exasperated sound that’s half scoff, half laugh. “You’re kidding me, right? It would be stupid to go back to them.”
My defensive hackles rise. “It’s not stupid to consider a stable job offer.”
Liam gives me an incredulous look. “Madison, theyfiredyou. After Chad treated you like garbage working there, they replaced you witha robot. Do you not remember how upset you were about that? Howrightfullyupset you were? You can’t possibly be considering going back to a company that mistreated you that way.”
Picking up on the changing energy, Hamlet slinks away toward Liam’s room.
“I have to be a responsible adult, Liam!” I yell. “I tried to go out on my own, and I failed. Maybe I need to make a mature decision, even if it means swallowing my pride and going back to a company I don’t like.”
