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MidReal Story
Ignited Innovation: A Silent Hero's Rebellion
Scenario:A businessman has an excellent employee, but he doesn't value her or listen to her good advice. The employee and her team are unmotivated.
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Mark Jensen
oblivious CEO, Emily's boss, early 50s, imposing yet distant, authoritative.
Emily Carter
neglected employee, relationships with colleagues and superior, mid30s, sharp, determined, overlooked.
Sarah Nguyen
collaborative team member with Emily, friendship with Emily and other colleagues, late 20s, creative and resilient.
Chapter 1
Iāve been working at Jensen Software for over a decade, and Iāve been in love with my boss for almost as long.
Heās the CEO of the company, and heās also my brotherās best friend.
Mark Jensen is a big man, tall and broad-shouldered, with a strong jaw and piercing blue eyes that make me melt every time they land on me.
Heās in his early fifties now, but heās still as handsome as ever.
And he has no idea how I feel about him.
Iāve been too shy to tell him the truth, so Iāve kept my feelings to myself all these years.
But lately, itās been getting harder and harder to keep them hidden.
He takes me for grantedājust like everyone else in his life.
Iāve been here almost as long as he has, but he barely knows my name.
Iām just another employee to him: someone who works behind the scenes to make his company a success.
He doesnāt care about me beyond thatānot even when I try to get his attention.
But it wasnāt always this way.
Mark used to be kind to me, back when I was an intern at Jensen Software, just starting out in my career as a software developer.
I worked hard to prove myself and move up through the ranks, doing everything I could to make Mark notice me along the way.
But no matter how much time passed or how much I changed, it was never enough for him.
He still treated me like a childānot even worth a second glanceābecause of our complicated history together.
And now things are worse than ever between usā¦ because he hasnāt looked at me in years.
Weāre having a business meeting this morningājust the two of usāand Mark is late again, taking his sweet time to saunter into the conference room weāre using today on the fifty-third floor of Jensen Softwareās headquarters.
His assistant Jessica got here early to set up everything we need, making sure there were fresh glasses of ice water on the table when we arrived ten minutes ago.
She also brought in a beautiful bouquet of lilies, which she arranged in the center of the room, just so she could show off her impeccable taste to her boss.
Jessica loves kissing Markās ass every chance she getsāand heāll never notice that sheās doing it on purpose.
Because he doesnāt pay attention to anything but himself.
I know this all too well by now.
But I still canāt help feeling hurt when Mark walks into the conference room without even looking at me, as if Iām not worth acknowledging or engaging with in any way.
He does this to me all the time: ignoring me during meetings because he doesnāt think I have anything worthwhile to say.
Itās an insult, and it hurts more than I care to admit.
Iām not stupidāI know whatās going on at work, and Iām one of Markās most valuable employees.
But he treats me like some kind of joke because we used to be friends back when I first started working here.
Mark hasnāt taken me seriously since thenāno matter how much time has passed or how much weāve both changed over the yearsāand there isnāt anything I can do about it besides prove him wrong at every turn.
Iām not sure what it would take to make Mark see me as an equal, but whatever it is, I know I havenāt found it yet.
Maybe thatās why heās been treating me like a silly little girl instead of the brilliant woman that Iāve become.
It doesnāt matter how much I accomplish or how hard I work for him; Mark will always think of me as a kid who isnāt worth his time.
A kid who has ruined everything between them because of their past together.
Or at least, thatās what he keeps telling himself whenever weāre in the same roomā¦ and yet, there are times when Mark can be surprisingly kind to me.
Iāve seen glimpses of the man he used to be before our relationship went south, back when we were friends and everything was still innocent between us.
But those moments are few and far between these days, and they never last very long once Mark realizes whatās happening.
Iāve learned to ignore his mean streak over the years, and Iāve done my best to fight back against his insults whenever they come my way.
But itās getting harder and harder to put up with Markās horrible attitude these days, especially when he has no idea how much he hurts me with his careless words.
I love this man more than anything in the world, and all he does is pretend that he canāt stand being around me!
I recently pitched an idea to Mark that could potentially revolutionize the way we do things at Jensen Software, not to mention save us millions of dollars in the process.
He should have been thrilled with my suggestionā¦ but instead, Mark shut me down without a second thought.
It didnāt matter how much research Iād put into my proposal or how certain I was that this new project would be a game changer for the company; Mark didnāt want to hear about it, and he certainly wasnāt going to give me the chance to prove myself.
The CEO dismissed me out of hand like a spoiled child who had wandered into his office uninvitedāeven though Iād made an appointment with him ahead of time and had come prepared for our meetingāand then left me feeling like a complete failure once again. As if my idea wasnāt good enough to be taken seriously by someone as important as Mark Jensen. As if all of my hard work and dedication over the last fifteen years hadnāt amounted to anything at all.
As if it had all been for nothing.
My heart was pounding so hard in my chest at his words that it hurt to breathe.
I couldnāt believe that Mark would treat me this way after everything Iād done for him and the company.
After everything Iād sacrificed to be here in this room with him today.
Our relationship might have been complicated because of our past together, but that didnāt mean I deserved to be treated like a second-class citizen by the man who was supposed to be in charge of me.
Like an employee who wasnāt worth his precious time or attention.
Like a woman who hadnāt given up enough already just to get this far in her career.