Let's be honest, you're too good to let you go to another division.

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"Let's be honest, you're too good to let you go to another division. Maybe next year a new position will open in this department and we can talk about it."

I'm standing in front of Mr. Anderson without knowing if I should feel good or complain about what he just said.

"Think about it Mario, 5 years in the same division, executing this complex tasks will appear just wonderful on your curriculum" He said and winked at me.

"I guess you're right Mr. Anderson and I appreciate all this nice words about my performance within this department" I replied but at the same time I asked myself did I really mean what I just said?

"Mario, this is what you really deserve!... Now, excuse me, I need to make some calls before lunch" and he walked me to the office door.

After this fast meeting with Mr. Anderson, I couldn't put two sentences out of my mind:

"You're too good to let you go to another division" and "Mario, this is what you really deserve"

What that even means!!? I said out loud sitting on the subway. And an old lady who was next to me decided to leave me alone and move to another place.

Now I can add on my resume a new attribute "the crazy guy that scares grannies on the subway..."

I should calm down before someone screams and police take me for a mental evaluation.

Unexpected meeting in the park

Some of my colleagues invited me — few weeks ago — to join to The Saturday Runners Team.

After all this weird situation with Mr. Anderson I decided to give it a try.

Esther, one of the organizers, was clearly more excited than me about all this running initiative.

"Hey Mario, how is your time?"

"Oh! Esther I reached 15 minutes but I'm planning to continue running until the other side of the park" I said while I'm cleaning the sweat from my forehead

Esther ran a bit faster and said "nice Mario, you should come every Saturday so we can run together.

This cubicle life makes you a sedentary guy"

I'm soooo tired that I can't even breathe but taking one more inhale I said "Sure Esther, I'll think about it"

The ugly truth in that moment was that I wanted to go to the other side of the park to escape from these fit runners and just lay down to rest. My ego won't ever let me quit in front of their faces full of joy like they were shopping instead of running.

"Hey there?....You look sick?"

"I'm ok... Just super tired" I said laying under the trees without even opening my eyes.

"Come up here, this tree has strong branches" the voice said.

"I can't believe it... It's you little boy?" I said when I look up.

"Where are you kid?.... Few days without talking to you"

"Do you wanna climb trees with me?" The voice repeated.

"I told you already, I'm not a kid anymore" I replied with an intrigue voice tone.

I see some branches moving. Some leaves falling down and there he was looking at me with his innocent smile.

"That's why I didn't see you last week on my way to the subway" I said sitting next to a big tree.

"Why you change to this park?.... These trees have more branches?" I asked him, looking at him when he jumped to another branch.

"Every tree is different, so the adventure is endless" He said and disappeared through the greenness.

"I used to enjoy like you do in my childhood. With not too much worries, well, no worries at all!.... just having fun jumping around"

He shouted at me from somewhere over the trees: "I know, I know what you'll say... You're an adult and adults do not climb trees... I don't wanna be an adult!... Adults forget about enjoying every day and having fun!"

These sentences struck me like a big tree in my head.

The next thing I hear was "Check your watch, maybe you're late for work" and the kid didn't come back to face me.

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Coffee break #2 (working overtime)

My watch tell me it's 8.45 pm, I'm holding my latte vanilla with one hand and the cellphone in the other hand calling my wife.

"Alo! How are you feeling over there?" I said with tired voice.

"You know, I need to finish this report on time for my meeting tomorrow and this overtime is extra money for the baby" I repeated trying to convince myself more than her.

"I'll call you when I finish here and don't worry I have a driver waiting for me to take me home when I’m done here" Like that, the phone call finished and I'm back to my desk full of numbers and notes.

My watch says 10.15 pm. I hear a voice from the next cubicle:

"So, another latte vanilla? Or you wanna go straight to black with rum?

"This was Luis, 20 years old, junior assistant…. He was used to work overtime to pay a big debt called university tuition. He told me about his ritual after 10 pm but I didn't know he was serious about black coffee with rum... at the office!!!

"Bring it to me! We need 2 hours more at least to finish here" and like that I was initiated in — the legion of dark knight — that's how we called those overtime guys at the office.

of course, more than 2 hours later....

"See you tomorrow, Mario"

"Have a good night, Pedro" I said before closing the door of the car.

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My watch says 3.30 am, I'm finally in my front door....

My eyes are red and heavy but I'm pretty much convinced that it's worth it for the extra money I earned for this 12 hours of overtime.

"Mario, I think it’s not worth it.... I can see how tired you are and this kind of routine is gonna impact your health in the future"

"Bae, this was just one time. Mr. Anderson asked me and I couldn't refuse to collaborate with the company and earned extra money on the way" I said from the edge of the bed, getting ready to go to sleep.

3 weeks later.....

My watch says 4.22 am, here I am — one more time — in my front door, coming home after working for more than 10 hours of overtime.

"This is number 8, Mario!" "8 times in the last 3 weeks"

"What did you say?" I asked with a guilty voice

"8 times in the last 3 weeks.... When you aren't working you're sleeping after countless hours of overtime" She replied from the bed without uncover her face.

When I tried to say something in my defense she struck me again:

"Looks like you forgot about enjoying every day and having fun doing what you do" and the silence invaded the whole room.

In the middle of this storm of silence was the awkward memory of the boy on the tree saying the same sentences that my wife said few seconds ago.

To Be Continued....

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That's it for today's episode...

What the heck Mario's gonna do with his life?

Will he discover more about this little boy?

Follow me and find out in the Last Episode of this story

@handmade

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