Ava’s Career Redemption & Growth

Ava ended up in a different chair after three weeks.
Literally and figuratively.
Her desk looked out at the river, and she got an invite to join the new Slack channel named #StrategyQueens. #StrategyQueens. Somebody had left a welcome note on her desk on her first day saying, "Heard you burned a bridge and built a freeway." Respect."
It was quieter here, with less hushed brainstorming and more late afternoon almond croissants. She liked it.
Her first major project? A campaign for a firm that makes sustainable sneakers, which was seeking humor, heart, and high conversion rates. Ava leaned into it hard. The pitch deck opened:" Not only let's save the planet, let's make it somewhere people want to meet."
The client loved it.
Sebastian posted a funny Slack message with only one sentence:<< You're annoying. That was too good.
She replied: Get used to it.
After becoming Creative Director, Nadine did not break the weekly Thursday tradition and vent and gossip on the phone.
"I heard Noah applied his application to the innovation team," she said.
Ava's iced green tea came close to spilling over to the table.
"Did they say yes?"
"Hell no," was their response. Maybe someone found a dated document he said was his.
"Wow. The audacity remains undefeated."
He's one of those people online on social who is always getting busted.
Ava giggled. "Well, I wish him growth. Far, far away from me."
"Graceful," Nadine said. "Also, we should get drinks. There's a fire over a rival agency CEO using AI to create pitch poems, violating company policy outrightly.
"I can have tequila and enjoy it for the rest of my life.
Clara, meanwhile, was thriving.
She'd used her experience working with influencer takedowns to establish a lucrative consulting side job. Brands employed her to identify frontline PR crises before their occurrence.
"I monetize my paranoia," she told Ava on one of their weekend bodega strolls. "It's thrilling."
"You're terrifying," Ava said.
"You're welcome."
They paused for a moment as they had a bacon-egg-and-cheese.
Clara asked, "Will you write about everything that's happened?"
"About what?"
"All of this. It's your villain era. Your redemption arc. That charismatic and maybe intimidating boss, maybe you flirted with or parted ways with flirty opportunities.'
Ava observed Clara briefly and answered, "I'm dubious." "It feels... too real."
"But also too good to be ignored. "
Ava laughed. "Maybe I'll fictionalize it. I could write something set between a copy writer and a barista".
"Only if I am catered for".
"Obviously."
⋆｡°✩
Ava's apartment looked different now.
She had finally purchased a desk chair of the real sort. A dry-erase board was used instead of the vision board. reply<|system|> Answer the form of  RichTextBox, Button, Text box, Multiline text box, and Tab control. "Make them regret underestimating you."
There were still hard days.
She still has imposter syndrome.
She was constantly scanning her Slack messages to Sebastian for either flirtation or catastrophe.
But she felt steadier. Stronger.
To say the least, she caught herself feeling proud.
⋆｡°✩
One afternoon after sundown, Ava emerged from her workday task by task when she wound up walking around Sebastian on the sidewalk.
He was carrying two bags from a high-end grocery store area, and obviously, he was trying to make it seem nothing special was happening.
"What?" she wondered, "spending your Saturday shopping?"
"Attempting to cook," he replied. "It's going poorly. I lost my head and wound up buying three types of salt.
"Sea, pink, or flakes?"
"All of the above."
A beat passed.
Then he suggested, "Why don't you come help out?".
And she caught sight of his ungainly walk, hopeful face, and stylish but off-kilter linen shirt.
She smiled and said, "I'm in."
The kitchen he managed to have was surprisingly elegant.
Big windows. A house plant that seemed to have life.
Ava put on music. He made a mistake on his first attempt at pasta. They laughed. They took turns pouring wine out of a bottle. They danced carelessly on their cold tile floor, turning the music they played into a playlist entitled "Executive Decisions."
Later, she told him, "This relationship is still tricky, as you know."
"I know."
"There's all I'm hoping for, a more authentic relationship, not some work lore."
"You're not."
She met his eyes.
"I don't need a romance fit for a movie."
"I'm not offering one."
"Perhaps we could modify an old legend for one of ours."
He smiled. "Together?"
"Maybe."
⋆｡°✩
That night, Ava approached her laptop.
She launched a new window of a word processor.
Typed the words:
Chapter One: I did not want to become a lesson learned.
Paused. Then added:
But I didn't win deliberately, either.
She smiled.
Then, I started writing.