Chapter 7 - The Promotion
By February, my life had settled into a rhythm so foreign and wonderful that I sometimes had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn't a dream.
My degree in Information Systems hadn't just sat on my shelf in its blue cardboard folder. Two months after graduation, I applied for a junior systems analyst position with a mid-sized logistics firm based in Portland—operating entirely remote out of my Salem apartment.
By January, my manager pulled me into a virtual one-on-one meeting.
"Erin, your database migration project for the Pacific Northwest supply chain was flawless," she said, smiling through the laptop camera. "We have an opening for a senior data systems architect opening up next month. Normally it requires three years of corporate experience, but your contract work and efficiency metrics blew the evaluation panel away. I want to put your name forward."
The promotion came with a thirty percent salary bump.
When the HR paperwork landed in my inbox, my first instinct—ingrained by years of familial conditioning—was to calculate who needed what. Mom’s rent? Chloe’s insurance? Mason’s school supplies?
Then I caught myself, laughed out loud in my empty kitchen, and deleted the mental ledger.
The money was mine. Every single dollar of it.
I used the first paycheck from the new position to do something I had dreamed about for months. I booked a round-trip ticket to Seattle, reserved a corner room at a boutique hotel overlooking Elliott Bay, and ordered a custom celebration cake from an upscale downtown bakery.
White frosting.
Dark blue border.
My name written across the top in elegant script: CONGRATULATIONS, ERIN.
May you like
When the bakery box arrived at my hotel room, I opened it slowly. I didn't invite anyone. I didn't wait for applause. I cut a generous slice, poured myself a glass of sparkling cider, and sat by the floor-to-ceiling window watching the Seattle ferries glide across the gray waters of the sound.
It was the best cake I had ever tasted.
