The truth was Richard had been unknowingly giving me a hard time. I was sure that that was just the way that he was and that it wasn’t anything personal. He would probably be as strict, as demanding, and as challenging to work with had he been paired with someone else. I knew that I shouldn’t take it personally, but that didn’t make it any easier for me to meet his demands. Rather than complaining about that to Ace, I decided to take his advice and just step up my game.

“You are aware they this is a complete rebranding project, right?” Richard asked as he turned his sharp gaze to me.

“Yes, we were briefed about it in the scope…” I replied.

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“Well, then why does your idea seem like the exact same concept that they’ve been using for the past twenty years or so?” he asked sarcastically.

“Basically, what you’re trying to say is that I should propose a bigger change, right?” I asked in return.

“Yes. Let’s start all over again. This isn’t going to fly with the client for sure,” he said before getting out of his seat.

“Ok…” I mumbled as I stared at the presentation that I had prepared.

That was the third time that Richard had outright rejected my idea. I wasn’t hurt by his rejection, but I had to admit that since it wasn’t the first time that I had had to revise my work, it had started to frustrate me to a certain degree. I stared at the details of my proposal as my brain raced to figure out another angle that might work.

“Richard, let’s have another go at this together tomorrow, ok?” I suggested hopefully.

“Sure, let me know if you need any help before then,” he said before walking away.

I let out a sigh when he was gone before gathering my wits and courage to push on. Working with him was indeed difficult; however, I tried to tell myself that this would make me emerge as a better person in the end. All the challenges and hard times that he was putting me through would help hone my professional skills and I would become a better asset to the company and to my team in the future. With that thought in mind, I gathered my things into my bag before heading out for lunch.

Needless to say, Richard wasn’t the type to invite me to have lunch with him and neither did he like to take his breaks with me. I smiled a little to myself when I thought that things might be better this way because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to smoothly swallow down my food if I sat down alone with him for lunch. I walked out of the room while thinking of what lunch option would be fastest for someone who had to eat all alone like myself.

“Karina…”

The sound of someone calling my name softly caught my attention. I looked in the direction of that familiar voice and found Jeremy standing there with a warm smile on his lips. Immediately, I returned his smile while I wondered what it was that he needed.

“Jeremy, what are you doing here? Do you need me for something?” I asked blankly because now that we were working on separate projects, I wasn’t sure how I could be of assistance to him.

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“Have you had lunch?” he asked.

“Umm…not yet. I’m about to head out for lunch right now…” I replied.

Lunch time had just started, and it was a miracle that I was about to take lunch on break on time without having to push through with work and skipping lunch. It seemed like Jeremy had not had lunch as well. I looked at his slightly excited face when I thought that someone might be in the same boat as me.

Just how tough is work at his new project?

“I guess you haven’t had lunch either, do you want to grab some lunch with me?” I said with a smile.

“That would be great. I’m so hungry…” he readily agreed.

I ended up laughing a little as we walked side by side along the hallway of the company toward the elevator. Jeremy looked cheerful enough but something about him didn’t seem normal. The fact that he was here alone searching for me told me that something must be bothering him in his new team. My new team members invited me out to lunch almost all the time but since I have been glued to Richard, I’ve had to decline most of their invitations in order to power through the work.

Jeremy left the restaurant choice to me, and I chose the first restaurant that didn’t seem too crowded as we strolled by. I couldn’t keep my eyes off Jeremy when I sat down opposite him at the small dining table set up for two. Without knowing it, I had started to seriously worry about him. After placing our orders, I decided to ask him straight on if something was bothering him at work. After making some casual small talk, I decided that it was time that I dived in and asked him what was on my mind.

“So…how’s working with your new team members?” I asked as I tried to keep my tone light.

“It’s all good. They’re nice enough,” he replied without providing any more details.

That vague reply of his only made me worry about him more. Perhaps it was because I wasn’t having such a great time in Richard’s company that I felt like he might be going through something similar with his new team members.

“Are you sure? You seem a little down…or is that just my own imagination?” I asked as I cocked my head a little to the side.

“I’m still adjusting to the new team, but overall people are nice and welcoming,” he replied before showing me a small smile.

I was about to say something, but the waitress brought us our order and we both got distracted by her.

--To be continued…

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