"Knock knock. Erica, are you ready to do your quarterly performance review with me?"

The mousy woman with dark hair jumped in her chair and scrambled to close the windows on her computer screen. Little Erica was terrified of performance reviews to a greater extent than anyone else on the analyst team. It had gotten to the point that she was beginning to detach herself from reality. She was looking up pictures of Miss Planner, from her appearances at Hands of Light charity events to her goodbye party when she left her post at the World Alliance Bank to go work for the Chosen Ones.

Erica and Miss Planner had been working together for a long time, and Erica wanted to be just like the tiny terror. She quit her job as a bank teller to work for her. She would comb her hair in the reflection of the mirror and practice smiling so she could become as beautiful as her. She wanted to talk like her, too, but her natural shyness made that impossible. For Erica, Miss Planner was both an object of adoration and a source of endless fear and pain.

"No! I mean, yes. I'm ready to do my performance review with you," she replied in a meek tone of voice.
Miss Planner caught a glimpse of the picture of herself at the World Alliance Bank with a banner that read 'Bon Voyage, Jessica!' and smirked.

"Great. Do you mind if I come in? Or we could do this somewhere else if that would make you more comfortable."
"Can we... go to your office? I don't want anyone to overhear this."

"Of course. Grab your self-evaluation form and whatever else you need and meet me up there. I'll see you there, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am..."

Miss Planner turned around and disappeared down the hallway. Erica sighed in relief. She took a moment in the restroom to make sure her hair and makeup was just as perfect as Miss Planner's before taking the elevator up to the top floor.

She entered her boss's office to find her typing away at her computer and tapping one foot impatiently. She wheeled around when she heard the door open and smiled pleasantly at her most timid employee.

"Hello again, Erica. Please, take a seat," she said, pointing at a comfortable-looking chair across from her desk.
Erica sat down and waited expectantly, not saying a word.

"How are you feeling today, Erica? No, wait, let me guess. You feel anxious. Is it excitement? Anticipation? If you could sum up how you feel in one word, what would that be?"
"I feel... worried, Miss Planner," she said, wringing her hands nervously.

"I understand, Erica," she said soothingly. "Don't be nervous. I just have a few questions for you, and then we'll get to your review. Now, how do you feel about your work here? Do you feel engaged, or do you feel bored?"
"I... I really like my work here. I really like working here. No, I love it here. I don't want to leave or do anything else."

"Good. That's good. I have to say I've been very impressed with your output lately. You have been our top-performing analyst for seven months in a row. I know you're not Gordon, and you don't want public recognition for your work, but I feel like you deserve to know."

Erica was terrified of negative feedback, but for her, positive feedback was almost as bad. Actually, she hated the idea of being judged in any way, shape, or form. After an awkward silence, she squeaked out a quiet "Thank you."

"No, thank YOU, Erica."
"I'm sorry... I didn't realize I was doing so much better than everyone else..."

Erica felt like she was going to cry. Miss Planner knew how nervous she was about these things, so she always made a point to lightly joke with her beforehand. Today, she just got straight to business. She hadn't even said anything about Erica's new blazer and matching skirt.

"Well, I didn't realize it was a secret. You've really done a lot for this organization. You've saved us money, improved our efficiency, and generally made everyone's jobs a little bit easier."
"Thank you," she said, quietly. "Thank you for telling me, Miss Planner."

"It's important that we take some time out to reflect on our successes. Now, what do you see as your biggest professional problem right now?" Miss Planner asked, leaning forward and making a steeple with her fingers. "Anything you're not happy with? Any problems you've been having with coworkers or your work environment?"
"No. It's all going very well. You give us a lot of autonomy, and I think that's great. I feel like I can do whatever I want to do."

"You know that's how we run things here. We're a people-first organization. So, no complaints or issues? Doesn't even have to be work-related."
"Everything is going really well for me right now, Miss Planner. I'm happy with everything in my life right now. Thank you for asking."

"That's wonderful, Erica. You should cherish these moments; they don't last forever. Everything has its season, after all. Speaking of, I want to talk about your future. How would you describe your ideal career? What are your goals in the next five, ten, and twenty years? What would you like to be doing with your time? Where do you see yourself?"

Erica shuddered. She didn't want to think about the future. The future made her uncomfortable.
"I want to be right here, at this job," she answered truthfully. "I want to keep working for you, and I want everything to stay the same forever. I'm happy with how things are now."

"I'm very glad to hear you say that," Miss Planner said, smiling knowingly. "I love working with you, too. I guess we'd have to like each other a lot to keep working together like this for so long."
"Yes, I suppose so..."

"You know, I think the two of us are really quite similar. We're both dedicated women who love our work and know how to get results. We understand people and know how to get them to work well as a team."
"I really appreciate that, Miss Planner..."

Erica shriveled in her chair. She didn't want to hear anymore. She was scared that Miss Planner was about to ask her to do something.

"But I don't think you quite realize how talented you are... or how much potential you have... or how much I believe in you. I believe that you were meant for something more than just sitting in your office every day thinking up marketing gimmicks. I want you to move up in this organization and achieve your potential. And more importantly, I want you to help others achieve their potential. I want you to become a manager."
"A manager? But I don't want... I mean, I'm not cut out to..."

"You have an excellent work ethic, and you know just what to say to get people motivated. You'll be an excellent manager."
"I really like my job," Erica whimpered.

"I know you do, but you're capable of more, and I'm going to prove it to you. I want you to go through leadership training. You're going to shadow me and the other managers. Attend a few courses. We'll build you up and see just what you're really capable of. This is going to be good for you."
"...I don't think I'd be very good at it..."

"Nonsense. I have complete faith in you. And if I'm wrong about this and it doesn't work out, we'll put you right back where you left off. No harm, no foul."
"M-m-maybe I could think about it..."

"That's my girl. I'm going to check in with you on Thursday to see how you're feeling about the whole thing. Just think it over until then."
"Okay... I might have decided by then..."

"Now, that was the big part, but we still have a little paperwork to get through for your performance review. I'm going to have you read over these documents and sign where the red crosses are. Okay?"
"Um, okay..."