Risa told her family the interview went well in the most restrained way possible.

“It was… fine,” she said, placing her bag down and kicking off her shoes.

Her mother looked up immediately. “Fine fine, or you’re-being-humble fine?”

Risa shrugged. “They said I did well on the technical part.”

Her dad folded his newspaper. “Did they say what’s next?”

“Another call,” Risa said. “With the CEO.”

Both of her parents froze.

“The CEO?” her mom repeated.

“Yes,” Risa said carefully. “The actual one. Not, like, a fake title CEO.”

Her mom clasped her hands together. “Okay. Okay. That’s good.”

Her dad nodded. “Very good.”

They stared at her like she might evaporate if they blinked too hard.

Two days later—Wednesday—Risa sat on her bed again, laptop open, hands folded, posture immaculate. She had changed tops twice already, even though this was a call.

She clicked “Join.”

Brad appeared first, already looking like he’d been awake since 5 a.m. Then another square popped up.

The CEO.

He was older than Brad, salt-and-pepper hair, relaxed demeanor, wearing what looked suspiciously like a hoodie. This somehow made him more intimidating.

“Hi, Risa,” he said warmly. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Risa said, smiling so hard her cheeks hurt.

They asked a few questions. Nothing wild. Background. Interests. How she handled pressure. What she liked about working with teams.

Risa answered calmly, confidently, only mildly panicking internally.

Then the CEO leaned back slightly and smiled.

“Well,” he said, “I like you.”

Risa blinked.

“Oh,” she said intelligently.

Brad jumped in. “I agree. I think you did exceptionally well. I have really high hopes.”

Risa nodded, trying not to look like she was about to cry, scream, or pass out.

The CEO nodded once. “So—when can you start?”

Risa didn’t hesitate. “Anytime.”

Brad immediately said, “Tomorrow then!”

Risa laughed.

Because that was a joke.

Right?

She looked at Brad’s face. Brad did not look like someone joking.

“…Tomorrow?” she repeated, still smiling, like this was a fun hypothetical.

“Well,” Brad said, adjusting in his chair, “we do really need someone in the role.”

Risa’s brain short-circuited.

Tomorrow tomorrow?
Like… shoes-on, subway, employee-badge tomorrow?

The CEO chuckled. “We’ll let HR sort out the logistics.”

Thank God.

“Well, Risa,” the CEO said, “it was great speaking with you.”

“Likewise,” Risa said.

The call ended.

Brad lingered.

“Just so you know,” he said, “this last interview was mostly a formality. HR will be reaching out soon with next steps.”

“Oh,” Risa said. “Great.”

She ended the call and stared at her screen.

Her phone rang immediately.

“Hi Risa! It’s Amanda from HR,” the voice chirped.

“Hi!” Risa said, still recovering.

“Just wanted to confirm—you will not be starting tomorrow,” Amanda said quickly, laughing. “We need time for paperwork, equipment, onboarding—all that fun stuff.”

Risa exhaled. “Okay. That makes sense.”

“You’ll be starting Monday. Does that work?”

“Yes,” Risa said happily. “That works perfectly.”

She hung up and ran downstairs.

“I GOT THE JOB.”

Her mom screamed. Her dad clapped. Someone hugged her too hard. There was food. There was celebration. There was relief so thick Risa felt like she could finally breathe again.

Monday came faster than expected.

She woke up early, dressed carefully, triple-checked her bag, and left the house with a mixture of excitement and pure terror.

The building looked less hostile this time.

She checked in. Rode the elevator. Walked into the office as an employee.

Brad greeted her with a nod. “Morning, Risa.”

She almost thanked him for hiring her.

Instead, she followed him into a conference room where a few faces appeared on screen.

“Alright everyone,” Brad said. “Let’s do introductions.”

Rachel waved from her screen.

Another face appeared—tall, skinny, young. He stood when Risa entered.

“Hey,” he said, extending a hand. “I’m Fred.”

Ah. The nepo baby, Risa thought.

He smiled warmly, though. Friendly. Normal. Slightly awkward.

They shook hands.

Two more women joined—Evelyn and Sophia—from Customer Service.

Everyone was roughly her age. That helped. A lot.

Brad cleared his throat. “So, quick rundown. Operations includes Analytics and Customer Service. Rachel and Fred handle Analytics. Evelyn and Sophia are Customer Service.”

Rachel and Sophia waved.

“Sophia and Rachel have been here the longest—about three years,” Brad continued. “Evelyn and Fred about a year.”

Fred nodded. “I kind of grew up around the business,” he added casually.

There it is, Risa thought.

“My uncle’s the head of the company,” Fred said. “CEO reports to him.”

Brad continued smoothly. “And I’ve been here twelve years.”

“Twelve?” Risa said instinctively. “That’s amazing.”

Brad smiled. “I job-hopped a lot in my early twenties. Finally settled here.”

Risa nodded with reverence. Twelve years sounded mythical.

They went over the plan.

“For the first two weeks,” Brad said, “I want you in-office for training. You’ll be supporting both Customer Service and Analytics.”

Risa’s eyebrows lifted. “Both?”

“Yes,” Brad said. “Combined role.”

Oh.

She smiled. “Sounds great.”

Which was true. Mostly.

She followed Evelyn and Sophia first.

Customer Service was… lively.

Phones ringing. Emails popping. Slack messages flying.

Evelyn leaned over. “So—how was your interview?”

“It was good,” Risa said.

Sophia grinned. “Brad loved you.”

Evelyn nodded. “You apparently did the best on the technical portion. Like, out of everyone.”

Risa blinked. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Sophia said. “There were about ten people before you.”

Risa felt a small, warm glow of pride.

Evelyn added, “Also—we’re really glad they hired you.”

Sophia nodded. “Yeah. The second choice was a guy in his thirties.”

Risa laughed. “Nothing against men.”

“Men are fine,” Evelyn said. “But it’s nicer working with someone our age.”

Risa smiled, settling into her chair.

This might actually work.

She opened her laptop.

First day. First job. First step.

Adulthood, apparently, had officially begun.