Page 10 of Sparks Fly
Stella hadn’t even realized she’d closed her eyes, but she quickly blinked them open as the elevator doors parted. As soon as she stepped out, she was hit with the hustle and bustle of the Yellow Sparks office.
Set up as an open floor plan, the space was wide and expansive, with large windows that let in plenty of natural light. To her left was the kitchen area, which was constantly stocked with snacks (both healthy and unhealthy), a Keurig, fountain soda drinks, a sink, a microwave, and a couple rows of counter space with yellow barstools for people to sit and eat lunch. Because it was Wednesday, there would be a catered lunch today, and Stella prayed it was good. She’d have to check the company website when she got to her desk.
Past the kitchen, the office split. To the left was where the Spark News team sat, and to the right was where Yellow Sparks proper resided. Although the space was divided, each side looked exactly the same. There were rows of long white tables with desk chairs and MacBooks scattered every fewfeet along the tables. Each laptop had a yellow sticker with the employee’s name to distinguish them from one another.
Yellow Sparks did not believe in cubicles and welcomed employees to feel comfortable moving around the office, working wherever they pleased. So although everyone technically had a designated spot at a table, there were also couches, chairs, and beanbags where people could work. There were conference rooms, too, each named after an iconic girl group for some reason. These were for meetings but were also quiet rooms if people wanted to get away from the constant hum of noise that filled the office at any given time.
The conference rooms were all glass, though, so while they were quiet, they always gave the feeling of being in a fishbowl.
Stella made her way to her seat and found her friend Effie already in the chair next to hers.
“Good morning, Effie,” Stella said, cheerily sliding into her seat. The caffeine was kicking in, thank God.
Effie only gave a little finger wave, without looking up from her computer. Even though it was only ten minutes after nine (Stella inwardly applauded herself for being just ten minutes late), Effie already was hard at work in Photoshop, messing around with a graphic of Kristen Stewart.
“What are you doing?” Stella asked.
“Comparing Kristen Stewart’s looks to Bella Swan’s,” Effie said as if it was obvious.
“Of course,” Stella said, because now that she looked closer, itwaskind of obvious.
Effie and Stella had been in the same editorial fellow class, but while Stella was hired for quizzes, Effie was brought on to join the content team. Admittedly, Stella was a bit jealous atthe time, but the truth was, Effie got the voice of Yellow Sparks way quicker than Stella did, and her content always made waves. Unlike Stella, Effie hadn’t even applied for the editorial fellowship. Her posts on Yellow Sparks Community, a subset of the website that allowed anyone to make their own Yellow Sparks lists and quizzes for free but also without compensation, had performed so well, she had been invited to join Stella’s fellowship class.
As the only two Black women in their group of four, Effie and Stella immediately clicked. Or rather, Stella kept pestering Effie until eventually she relented and they got drinks outside work andthenthey clicked. Regardless, Effie was one of the main reasons Stella enjoyed coming to work, and she truly didn’t know if she would’ve stuck around this long without her.
“You know, there’s no way you’re going to finish that before the pitch meeting,” Stella said as she turned on her computer.
“Not going,” Effie said quickly.
Stella sighed. “Of course not.”
The pitch meeting wasn’t mandatory. It was more like a voluntary brainstorm session, where instead of emailing Melanie ideas, people could bring them to the whole group and get feedback. Effie didn’t really believe in feedback, so she rarely made an appearance. The only person who had to be there was Melanie, and if she didn’t feel like going or was too busy doing her own stuff, she’d cancel the meeting.
Stella checked her calendar to make sure it was still on for today and was relieved to see it was. Then she frowned as her eyes scanned lower.
“Do you know what this mandatory all-staff meeting at four is?”
Effie didn’t even look up. “No clue. No one does. Everyone’s stressed.”
Stella blinked up from her screen and looked around. There did seem to be an air of apprehension in the office, and Stella could easily imagine why. Just yesterday, news had broken that Bustle was laying off twenty percent of its staff. Before the holidays last year, Complex had let a solid chunk of its staff go, and before that, another news site had shuttered its doors.
Of course no one at Yellow Sparks felt safe. Stella could practically hear whispers around her saying, “We’re next.”
She turned to Effie, who appeared unbothered.
“And you’re not stressed?” Stella asked.
“I refuse to let myself worry about something that hasn’t happened yet,” Effie said. “If it’s bad, I’ll worry then. But for all we know, Miles could just be gathering us up to tell us we are, in fact, getting the holiday swag we didn’t get last year.”
Miles was the CEO of Yellow Sparks. Stella didn’t know much about him except that he was Black and allegedly a little out there, but what CEO wasn’t? In years past, Yellow Sparks employees received a swag bag of Yellow Sparks merch at the end of the year to celebrate the holidays, along with a nice bonus check. Last December, however, no swag bags were handed out, and the bonus checks were smaller than usual.
Truthfully, if it was a choice between the bag of stuff or money, Stella would always choose the money, but she did need a new hoodie.
“Alright, well, rather than stay around all these stressed-out people, why don’t you come to the pitch meeting with me?” Stella asked, turning her chair so she was facing Effie.
Stella had had an idea brewing in her head since last night, and she was ready to pitch. It would be nice to have Effie in the room as one solid vote of confidence, though.
“I have an idea,” Stella added, gleefully.
