They Never Saved Me A Seat So I Built My Own Table Chapter 07
By the time I landed in Austin, the sun was just beginning to rise.
Lauren, my project lead, picked me up from the airport.
She glanced at my single suitcase and paused.
“Is that all you brought?”
“It’s enough.”
She didn’t press, just handed me a hot coffee.
“The apartment’s all set up. Take today to rest. You can start tomorrow.”
That one line—*you can start tomorrow*—made my eyes sting.
It turned out that when someone genuinely cared, they didn’t need you to prove you’d already hit your limit.
Life in Austin was busier than I’d expected.
I was on the core team for a new product, and the project was riddled with challenges.
I worked late almost every day that first week.
But every time I proposed an idea, people listened until I was finished.
The process charts I created had my name on them.
No one left my comments out of the meeting notes.
And whenever we ordered lunch, someone always asked in the team Slack if I had any dietary restrictions.
None of it was extraordinary.
But it still took me a long time to get used to.
I got a new number, keeping my old phone only for essential notifications.
The day I finally turned it on, hundreds of messages flooded in.
Matteo asked where I was living.
Nico offered to help me analyze Austin’s career prospects.
Bianca sent a string of crying emojis.
Bruno had sent the most.
At first, they were accusations. Then, they slowly became demands for an answer.
[Stop this.]
[I bought you dessert.]
[I had the pen made, too.]
[If you still want to go to the festival, I’ll figure out a ticket.]
As if making up for the missing pieces could put everything back the way it was.
I never replied.