Pineapple on Canvas: The Odd Adventures of a Toy in the City

The one where Ella gets inspired.

Persuaded by both Maple and Zoe, Ella gathered up her resolve and knocked nervously at the reviewing partner's office door. She would have turned back if Maple hadn't spent the entire morning prepping her and making her promise she would go through with it.

Linda, a tall, thin blonde, with a loud and authoritative voice, looked up from her desk and boomed out, "Yes?"

Linda did not have the reputation for being the friendliest of people and was known to be rather abrupt, but Ella had always liked her and never mistook her abruptness for anything other than efficiency.

"Hi Linda. May I come in?" asked Ella.

"Of course," replied Linda. "You can close the door if you like."

"Thank you," said Ella, as she shut the heavy mahogany door behind her.

"What brings you here?"

Shaking with anxiety, Ella stuttered a few times before she managed to get out the words she had practiced with Maple all morning. "I think there may have been a misunderstanding and I wanted to make sure I understood what happened," she said as her lips trembled.

"About the review last week?" asked Linda, putting down the pen in her hand. "I was actually meaning to stop by your office to speak to you again, but I've just been swamped."

Ella's heart froze--was she going to be fired?

"But you came here first, so I want to hear what you have to say," Linda continued.

"Well, the thing is, I really enjoy working here and I'm trying very hard to do my best. But I think there may have been some confusion. I have the mark-ups that I got from both Mr. Ryde and Mr. Shermane as well as their instructions on who to send them to. I'm really sorry if I did something wrong or if I misunderstood," Ella said as she held out the papers (or the "receipts" as Sir'Duke referred to them) that proved her story.

"Ella," said Linda. "Put those away, I don't want or need to see them."

Ella nodded and a knot of dread formed at the bottom of her stomach. "I'm very sorry, Linda. I'll head out now."

"Wait, why?" asked Linda. "First, I don't need to see those documents because I believe you. I know you're telling me the truth and I know you didn't do anything wrong."

Ella looked up in shock, eyes wide with disbelief.

"I had meant to go to your office later today to tell you that I looked into your file and noticed that Dick had been requesting you for all of his deals, even to the extent of pulling you off other transactions. Correct?"

Ella could barely respond but managed to croak out, "Yes."

"Well, eff that. How could he give you scathing reviews if he always wants you on his deals? Now look, I'm just a junior partner and there is a whole heap of politics in this place. But know this, if he even tires to put you on one more of his deals I will personally pull you from it. As of right now, you're off all his other deals."

At this point, the tears Ella had been holding in let loose in a waterfall over her face. Linda pushed forward her box of Kleenexes.

After Ella's crying subsided, Linda said, "There's a lot of horrible things you're going to have to put up with, Ella. Don't let this get you down. And trust me, I have similar war stories. I'm sorry it's happening to you now, but remember this. Some good will come." Then, her voice softened and she added, "You now know the type of lawyer you never want to be like and, if you stick it out, you'll have the opportunity to influence the next generation of female associates."

Ella tried to say "thank you," but the words caught in her throat as she desperately tried to hold back another onslaught of tears.

"Look, Ella," continued Linda, as she reached across to grab Ella's hand. "I'm not telling you it will get easier, but you're a good kid and a phenomenal lawyer too. But this job eats you alive. My suggestion, and take it with a grain of salt, is to push back a little, and do something outside the office. Do something that inspires you."

Ella nodded.

The phone rang and Linda eyed the screen. "Sorry, kiddo," she said. "I have to take this. But think about what I said."

On the way back to her office, Ella thought about her conversation with Linda. What inspired her? Her family and Maher, of course. But what else? Well, she thought to herself, one thing she had always really been passionate about was getting to know and help different people.

Being a young ethnic girl, Ella had struggled a lot growing up. She had hated the way she looked and had always just wanted to fit in and go unnoticed. Unnoticed was a lot better than getting teased after all. But all that changed when she met this older girl, Jossia, who had taken her under her wings and made her appreciate all her unique differences.

Maybe she could volunteer to be a mentor to another young girl, Ella thought. Since the very thought put a huge smile on her face, Ella knew she had hit the nail on the head and that was exactly what she was going to do.