Not That Smiley

I worked late last night. Not shockingly late, only till about 6.30pm, but that counts as late where I work. There is virtually no-one left in our section past 6.00pm. Usually, I don't like it when other people sitting nearby me stay late if I am also working late. I like the fact that it is quiet and I can work undisturbed, while checking emails or editing blog posts in-between. However, Boss Lady was also working late that night, probably in part because we are both tying up loose ends before I go, but also because she is on leave from this Friday and doesn't get back till the following Wednesday.

When everyone around us had gone home, she came to sit at the desk closer to me to have a chat and keep me updated about things. It was easier to have a chat when the office was empty, since if you talk in work hours, everyone around you can hear the conversation, but if you book a meeting room, people then start speculating and being nosey about what is going on. I know it's open-plan, but it doesn't help keep the rumours at a minimum. They still don't have a temp confirmed for next week, despite Boss Lady putting in a case for Mini Me on two occasions. I would be happy to have trained someone on the basics before I move, but that would be way too logical and straight-forward for this department. They better not be expecting me to take time away to train someone new when I am just starting my new job, considering I will be going through enough training for my new job and furthermore that since Mini Me and the other temp working with her are leaving this Friday and next respectively, so our section will probably be manic. Not to mention the fact that Little Big Boss (LBB) is still fuming that BlankFace randomly took our sub-team out of his managerial responsibility, her reason for which we are still trying to work out and are growing increasingly suspicious of.

Boss Lady wanted to tell me about the temp situation so that I didn't think anything untoward was going on,other than management's usual shoddy organisation and lack of forward-planning. She remarked about how in our meeting with BlankFace, Shoulders, Ms. Sugar and Scottie that afternoon, it was mentioned that an outstanding action Shoulders and I still had to complete needed to be done ASAP.

"Are you going on holiday or something?" Ms. Sugar asked.

"No, I'm moving to Vinyl on Monday," I explained.

"Oh, well we'll really need to get that done soon, then," she replied.

"Well, we can be flexible,"said BlankFace, while I smiled and nodded without thinking.

Boss Lady told me it was the first she had heard of that. Furthermore, she was less than convinced that LBB would be at all willing to be 'flexible' with staff he had just regained managerial responsibility for. I agreed, saying that I had smiled and nodded automatically, then only afterwards had realised exactly what she had said.

"Mmm, she often does that," said Boss Lady, "I often feel like I'm being flattered into something, but I don't know what, yet."

"I think she's a smiling assassin," I whispered.

"I don't think she's even that smiley," Boss Lady replied, making me smile at the fact that I call her BlankFace for that very reason, which is a slightly nicer version of Bitch Face, which I have heard Miss T refer to her as, on more than one occasion.

Boss Lady and I chatted for a while longer and she told me that she thought, career-wise, this move was a good one for me. "It's a dead end here," she explained, "At least there you will be broadening your experience. Don't get into a career cul-de-sac, that's what I've done," she said ruefully, explaining that when you become too specialised, you become dispensable if that role is no longer needed. With the two recent redundancies, she is not feeling very secure about her position. "I think LBB is feeling that was too," she said. "But he's really nice to work for and it seems like more of a team in Vinyl, so that will be good."

After we spoke, I finished up the things I had been working on and then left before Boss Lady. I was feeling much more positive about things, not so anxious that I must get every little thing done and reassured that it wasn't just me who was feeling a sense of insecurity and disillusion with this place. I think she is keeping an eye out for other opportunities and I don't blame her. We rarely get a chance to have a proper talk and it was nice to actually talk to her as a person, especially since she is so encouraging and supportive about career advancement and suchlike. I had been meaning to buy her a card for when I left, just to say thank you.

Tonight, I ended up staying late again. Boss Lady was also staying behind. "I'd rather stay a couple of hours now than try and do it in the morning," she explained, knowing I understand her way of time management and that she is a bit of a night owl, like me. We both worked in silence for the most part, again in a virtually empty office, until I spoke to her to explain a few of the things I was going to hand over or try and complete before the end of the week. "Don't get anxious about it," Boss Lady reassured me, "I mean, if you can't finish things, you can't finish them. I know you won't mind me asking next week if I can't find something. Anyway, it's not your problem, BlankFace can deal with it!" We laughed about the fact that BlankFace had apparently offered to deal with some of the email queries after I leave, since Boss Lady currently has to field queries in two generic email inboxes, as well as her own work email. After being off work for one day, she came back to 74 new emails in her own inbox, not even counting the other two that are getting steadily more busy and the start of the new round of applications creeps up on us. Boss Lady was almost giggling at BlankFace's complete underestimation of the work levels involved.

It's weird how a conversation or two to get things out in the open and share common gripes or observations can change your perspective to a much more positive one. I know that this move is probably a wise one for me in terms of career advancement, but I am really going to miss working with Boss Lady, Miss T and Mr. G. Even though Miss T has now taken to jokingly calling me a 'traitor' and discussing loudly in front of me whether I should still be allowed to participate in Payday Pizza.

"It's less money for you," I said, "if the bill is split four ways instead of three!"

"Yes, but there's less pizza for us that way," said Boss Lady, smiling.

They're gonna miss me, they're just frontin'. :o)