I practiced the oafart, she said. Last night in my apartment alone, I said it out loud, a pause. It was harder than I expected. Which means it's more true than I want it to be. The true parts are always harder, Marcus said.
When does it get easier? When you've said it enough times that it stops feeling like exposure and starts feeling like record. He looked at her. It's the difference between a wound and a scar. The scar doesn't hurt anymore.
It just tells the story of what healed. Olivia was quiet for a long moment. James Okafor actually called me back. She said, and her voice changed when she said it dropped. Became something more careful.
2 Days ago, I had reached out to him two weeks ago. Actually, before all of this, I just I wanted to reach out. I told him I'd been thinking about what he said when he left. And that he was right and that I was sorry. Marcus said nothing.
Just waited. He worked for us for 11 years. She said he built our entire Southeast operational framework. He trained 12 people who are still running departments. He was he is one of the I have ever worked alongside.
A pause. He said he appreciated the call. He said he needed to hear it. He said she stopped for a second. He said he'd seen the announcement that we'd promoted Maya Tres into his old role and that Maya had reached out to him for advice twice and that he was glad the culture was changing.
Is it? Marcus asked. Changing? I'm trying, she said. And it was not a PR answer.
It was just the truth. Clean and plain. I don't know how to do everything differently at once. But I'm trying to do one thing differently every day. That's how it works.
Marcus said, "Is that how you did it?" After Diane, he thought about it. After Diane, I didn't do it one thing at a time. I just survived. And then one morning, I was surviving better. And then one morning, I realized I wasn't surviving anymore.
I was just living. And I couldn't tell you exactly when that happened. He paused. But I can tell you the moments that moved the line. They were all small ones making the eggs, walking her to the door, saying good day instead of goodbye.
He looked at her. It's the small consistent things they compound. Like interest, she said. Like interest, he agreed. She nodded slowly and then very carefully.