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MidReal Story
Emily Jenkins is determined to get a job as the
Anonymous
Apr 7
Scenario:Emily Jenkins is determined to get a job as the general manager at Ryan Mitchell's bar, but he is hesitant to give her a chance until she impresses him with her knowledge and experience in the music industry; meanwhile, in a bonus novella, Lily struggles to find her way back to her childhood friend and love, Mark, after her life is ripped apart.
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I like being underestimated.
It’s a gift that I’ve cultivated since my first day in the music industry, when I was told that I wasn’t old enough to know what real music sounded like, and that I was just a pretty face that had somehow stumbled into a marketing job.
Since then, I’ve been determined to prove to everyone—and myself—that I belong.
This is no different.
In fact, the stakes are even higher.
So I lean back in the chair and smile at my friend Ryan Mitchell, who owns this bar.
I am confident that he will hire me to be his new manager.
Every other place I’ve applied has said yes, so why not this one?
Even if it does mean moving from London to Boston.
“Em, I think you need to slow down a little.
You’re not listening to me.” Ryan runs a hand through his dark hair, a nervous dart of a motion that he repeats over and over when he’s anxious.
“I’m happy to have you here, and for as long as you need.
I just don’t know about this whole manager thing.
You’re…well, you’re young.”
“I’m twenty-four, Ryan.” I cross my legs and lean back in the chair, trying to look more casual than I feel.
It’s hard when my very future is what’s at stake in this conversation.
“I have four years of experience in music management, both in terms of logistics and marketing.
I was head of my department at one of the largest labels in Europe.
And I know that you have a great manager right now, but I also know that she’s just taken a new job and she’s leaving you short staffed.”
“True,” Ryan concedes.
“But you could probably get a job in management anywhere.
In London, even.”
“And I would,” I say quickly, before he can really think about that option and turn me down because of it.
“I just want to work here.In Boston.And I have an angle that most people don’t have.And more than anything, I understand music.”
“True,” Ryan says, echoing his earlier statement but with a little less conviction.
“But I just can’t imagine you coming back here to work in a bar, Em.I mean, I know it’s my bar, but still, it doesn’t seem like it’s something you’d be all that into.”
“I’ve spent the last six years working in an industry that is ninety percent male,” I remind him, not for the first time.
I send up a silent prayer of thanks for all of the old white men who have underestimated my intelligence over the years, allowing me to blow their sexist minds on countless occasions.
“I love this job, but it hasn’t always been easy.And I might be twenty-four years old, but I feel like I’m thirty-four with everything I’ve been through.”
Ryan narrows his eyes at me in suspicion, suspicion that ignites a fire in my belly because I refuse to be underestimated yet again.
“I want this job, Ryan,” I say steadily.
