What she didn’t realize was that her plan was going to be a hell of a lot harder to pull off than mine.

TEN

Frankie

“I was able to improve the company’s ROI on ad spend by nearly ten percent last quarter.” I continued to list off one impressive stat after another as a middle-aged man with a sour expression nodded while writing them down.

Even though I had on a short-sleeve turtleneck sweater, I was burning up. The shirt had started to stick to my skin in the worst way, and I said a silent thank you that it was black. Even if I was sweating my ass off, the interviewer wouldn’t be able to tell.

“That’s impressive, Frances,” he said.

I winced at the sound of my full name. Even though I had told him I go by Frankie at the beginning of the interview, he didn’t seem to remember—or care.

I let it go, though, because I needed to nail this interview. It was like I had blinders on to anything else around me.

This position was far from my dream job. It was a level down in title and in pay. And to top it all off, it was located in Madison, Wisconsin. After applying to every job possible in the metro Atlanta area, I had decided to expand my search. At this point, I was open to moving anywhere. But Wisconsin? It wasn’t exactly a prime location for me. The brutal winters alone were enough to give me pause.

But times were tough and opportunities were scarce. This was my first interview beyond the basic phone screening with HR. So even though I wasn’t sure I was all that interested in the job, I felt desperate—no, hungry—to move on in the process.

He asked me a few more basic questions, to which I responded with what I thought were solid answers. By the time we hung up, I felt pretty confident that I’d killed it.

I blew out a sigh of relief as I closed my laptop. Crushing interviews made me feel a little bit like myself again. I was at home in conference rooms, with a slide deck prepared and a captivated audience of my coworkers. I lived for things people dreaded, like performance reviews and presentations. It had only been a few weeks since I’d been let go, but it was like that person was already fading away.

My phone dinged.

Oliver: How’s the wrist? ;)

Frankie: Excruciatingly painful, but I’ll survive.

Oliver: You’re so brave.

Frankie: I try.

Oliver: I have an idea for our next little funventure.

Frankie: Does it involve creating a vision board for your future? Because that sounds like fun to me.

Oliver: Ew

“Frankie?” Mattie called out from the stairway.

“I’m done,” I called back, stuffing my phone into my pocket.

“Come upstairs and hang out. Giles made some popcorn on the stove.”

As she said the words, the heavenly scent of butter and salt drifted into the basement. Right on cue, my stomach rumbled.