Month six came.
No salary review.
Tolu emailed that compensation was being reviewed across the team.
Month eight came.
Still nothing.
Temi emailed again.
Mr. Biodun will be in touch directly.
He wasn't.
She saved the email.
That was all.
No meeting.
No argument.
No please can we revisit this.
She finally understood that she had been treating Pinnacle like a negotiation.
It wasn't.
A negotiation required two people willing to move.
This was just a circumstance.
And circumstances changed when you changed them.
Sunday night.
9:47 p.m.
Temi was on the sofa with her mother watching the news when her phone lit up.
Mr. Biodun.
Voice note.
“Temi, Kellerman needs a full Q3 campaign concept by tomorrow morning. Strategy, messaging, platform breakdown. I need it by seven.”
Her mother looked over.
“Work?”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow morning?”
Temi nodded.
“At this time?”
Normally, Temi would already have been calculating how long the work would take.
Instead, she stared at the message.
Then she opened WhatsApp and typed.
I am unavailable tonight. I will address this first thing Monday morning.
Her thumb hovered over send.
Her heart was beating far too fast for a WhatsApp message.
She pressed it.
Then placed the phone face down.
Her mother looked at her.
“Finish?”
“I said no.”
“Ah.”
Temi looked at her. “Just ah?”
“What should I say?”
“I don't know.”
Her mother turned back to the television.
“Good.”
Temi waited for the phone to ring.
It didn't.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Nothing.
She picked it up.
Read.
No response.
The world had not ended.
Temi started laughing.
Her mother looked at her.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You people will use fear and kill yourselves.”
“Mummy, abeg.”
Her mother started laughing too.
That night, Temi slept.