Takeover

Finally, I got my salary. I was excited to see the message, but the excitement turned into disappointment. There were too many deductions.

I rushed home to check my internship offer letter and verify the figure. It didn’t match.

The next day, I gathered some courage and asked my manager about it.

She reviewed everything and said, “Since you joined on the 9th, your nine days of salary will be deducted.”

That made sense.

When I stepped out of her cabin, I saw a new character sitting in my seat.

I thought he might be a new joinee or a client, so I politely asked him to sit in the meeting room.

He looked at me and said in a harsh tone, “This space belongs to me.”

I was confused. My laptop was right there.

I went to my manager and asked who he was.

That’s when I learned the truth.

I was hired as his replacement, and now, the person who had absconded was back.

My colleagues welcomed him warmly.

I was left out.

That was the first time in my life that I experienced work drama.

To make things even worse, my manager assigned my work to him and said we both had to work together on the same project.

This was the worst part.

My one-hour task turned into a half-hour task.

The remaining hours were spent cold calling and helping the team.

It felt nice when he struggled.

Soon, the competition became cutthroat.

To snatch the project from me, he started doing my part of the work, and I ended up doing cold calling all day.

A few weeks passed.

Then my manager called me in and asked me to hand over my entire project to him.

I expected it.

I thought, This is it. I’m going to be fired.

The guy accepted the project gladly.

My manager asked him to leave the room.

He walked out with a smile.

Then she turned to me.

“Since you already know digital marketing and you’re familiar with design, I want you to work on calling during the first half and marketing and design during the second half.”

I felt relieved.

It was supposed to be *Intern 🙁

A strange happiness took over me.

I was glad he snatched that opportunity from me. I got the one that was meant for me.

This can only happen in startups.

And sometimes, that is the best part.

So every day, I was expected to call during the first half and design during the second.

My design skills were amateur. I was asked to redo things often and given a lot of feedback.

It was overwhelming, but I enjoyed it.

Soon, I became the office’s charm.

People with design needs started coming to my workstation.

One of my graphic works

I was getting connected to everyone.

I began talking more to my colleagues.

We played Call of Duty and Bomb Squad.

We discussed startups and life during lunch hours.

It felt wholesome.

I was finally at ease.

Slowly, my calling hours faded into designing tasks and social media marketing.

There was no AI back then, so writing and thinking about copies took time.

And that made the work fulfilling.

I enjoyed it.

Finally, I stepped into my passion calling.

But it was time to leave.

Read Chapter 5

Peace out