The subject line alone was enough to take my breath away: Request Denied.
Picking up the phone with trembling hands, I dialed my boss’s number.
I was convinced she wouldn’t answer by the fifth ring, but just as I was prepared to hang up and call the office line, she did.
“Hello?”
“Tina, it’s Ainsley. I just received your email about my request to transfer…”
“Mhm. Look, I’m sorry, Ainsley. As much as I’d hate to lose you, even if I wanted to transfer you, I couldn’t. It’s not up to me. It would have to go through HR, and they say we need you here.”
“Who says? Jenn? She just approved Sara’s transfer when she moved to New Orleans last year. How is this any different?”
“Listen, you’re lucky they didn’t fire you because you still haven’t turned in your forms for leave. I had to fight for that.”
“What? I…could’ve sworn I turned them in.” I thought back, trying to recall the moment Tina had mentioned them. Had I been interrupted by Tara before or after that? Did I truly forget to send in the forms? How could I be so stupid? “I’m so sorry, Tina. I don’t know how I managed to forget. I’ll get them turned in today. Will they reconsider then?”
“I’m sorry, Ainsley, but no, I don’t think so. Tara’s leaving, your branch is barely hanging on by a thread, you still haven’t even looked at the candidates I’ve sent you to fill her position. I know you’re going through some things, but the bottom line is there was no way I was going to get them to approve a transfer on top of everything else going on. Denver’s a new market. They want the best of… They want managers with proven track records.”
“This is the first time I’ve had any issues. You know that. You know me. I’ve done everything for this company.”
“I’m not arguing any of that, but again, it’s not up to me.”
“Then who is it up to? Who do I need to talk to?”
“Burt Stover.”
“Who?” I pinched the skin on the inside of my wrist, the pain keeping me focused.
“The new head of HR. He doesn’t know you like Jenn did. If she was still here, maybe she’d reconsider, but it’s just rotten timing. I wish there was more I could do.”
“Tina, please, I need this transfer. I have to have a job when I get out there. It doesn’t even have to be Colorado. Do they need me somewhere else? Somewhere outside of Nashville? I’m not picky. I just can’t stay here. But I have kids—two of which are accident-prone teenagers—and my husband’s company is small. We rely on me to provide our health insurance.”
She sighed. “Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat this. They’re not pleased with the fact that you’ve missed two weeks’ worth of work, are trying to move suddenly and rather urgently, and have just drained your accounts after having them with us for years. One of those things is bad enough, but put them together… Ainsley, I need you to be honest with me here. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on. Are you in some sort of trouble?”
“No,” I assured her too quickly. “It’s nothing like that.” Then, because I felt like I needed some sort of excuse, I added, “My kids are having trouble at school. My daughter specifically.” Tina’s daughter was around Maisy’s age. If there was anything she’d sympathize with, this was it. “She’s being bullied, and I’m not going to allow it to continue. The school isn’t doing anything about it, and I’m done. I have to get her out of there. But I don’t want to leave this company. I would think my loyalty would mean something here.”
“Even if that’s the case, and I can certainly understand it if it is, why would you take the money from your accounts? You know how that looks.”
I tried to think quickly, to piece together any sort of excuse that would make sense. “Because one of the parents we’re having issues with also works for this company. I’m not saying he would do anything, but I just thought it was better to protect ourselves in case things get ugly.”
“What do you mean? Is this something I need to get HR involved in? Do you have reason to believe he’s been looking at your accounts?”
“No. I don’t even know that he realized I work here, but I recognized his name in a meeting we had with the school. It was a precaution. You know me, always prepared.”
She was typing something when she spoke again. “Okay, I’ll talk to Burt about the transfer, see if I can get him to reconsider, but no promises. Just…just get the form put in for your leave.”