“I just packed it in, actually,” I said. Staring at my laptop and scraps of paper, I felt all of my self-doubt bubble to the surface and added, “I’m in so far over my head.”

“I don’t believe that,” he said. “I’ve seen your work.”

“How?” I asked. Weary all the way down to my bones, I sank onto one of the outside chairs. Nick moved his wheelchair beside me.

“Your replies to my rules always included a drawing,” he said. “You’re very talented. You shouldn’t doubt your abilities.”

Flattered, I shook my head. “Those were just doodles, but thank you. It’s not the art part. I’ve got that. It’s the managerial stuff.” Nick looked interested so I continued, “I have a coworker who, well, never mind. He’s not the problem. Well, actually he is, but the bigger issue is my own stupidity.”

“Not getting any clearer,” Nick said. He shook his head, looking bemused as if I were a hummingbird zipping around him. I took a long breath, tried to center myself, and exhaled slowly and mindfully.

“In a moment of panic, I, quite stupidly, said I was bringing a huge new client into the business to said coworker, Carson West, who has resented me since the day I arrived,” I explained.

Nick held up his hand. “Wild guess, he thinks you took his job?”

“Yes!” I cried. It felt so good to tell someone. “Which is ridiculous. I mean if it was his, it would have been his, you know what I mean?” I plowed on, not really needing a response because I was on a roll. “Needless to say, Carson’s been impossible to work with, trying to make me look bad at every turn, so in an act of sheer dumbness, I told him I was bringing in a huge client to get him to back off. I’m such an idiot! Naturally, he told Miguel and Soph, who are now expecting me to deliver, and I don’t know a soul in Phoenix. How the heck am I supposed to pull this off without looking horribly unprofessional, childish, and ridiculous?”

Nick pursed his lips. “You need to channel this”—he paused and waved his hands in the air at me—“insecurity—”

“I am not insecure!” I protested. I was totally insecure. “I’ve just been a freelancer for five or so years and I’m not used to working in an office environment with all the backstabbing and petty meanness.”

“Uh-huh,” he said. “That, right there, use that insec—pardon me, that frustration to give yourself momentum. Push yourself. Prove yourself. Win the job you have, leaving no question who it belongs to.”

I stared at him. “So you’re a motivational speaker now?”

“That depends,” he said.