The Promotion

An HR meeting room, Monday morning, Sam's chair empty across the floor

So that was why Sam's desk had been empty. HR called Maya in to find out the truth: Sam had moved abroad over the weekend, and the team was suddenly without a lead.

HR slid Sam's handover note across the table. "It's sudden, I know, but I told them you're the one," he'd written. "The role will take up far more of your evenings than you think."

A noisy cafe round the corner, lunchtime, with Lena

By lunch her head was spinning. She could carry out a plan well enough, she thought — but managing people twice her age? That was another thing entirely.

Lena: Take it. You'll gain experience you won't find anywhere else, and if a plan fails, you come up with a new one. You always do.

She wavered between turning down and stepping up, but by two she rang HR and said yes — she would take over Sam's team and learn on the job.