Without Hesitation

Chapter 4

The next two days flew by in a whirlwind of emails and calls to caterers, and before Elle knew it, it was Wednesday. Elle had struggled to balance both her maid of honor duties and wrapping everything up with work the entire week. By the time Wednesday afternoon hit, Elle had never been more ready to close her laptop in her life.

Elle was completely burnt out. After many calls with Will, emails coming in at six in the morning, and endless invoices to approve, Elle was feeling a lot of regret about not taking the full time off that she was in Oregon. All she wanted was a break - to rest and recharge in this gorgeous state. However, her few days off were going to be filled with being Morgan's right-hand woman, which while fun, wasn't exactly rejuvenating. And then, less than forty-two hours after the wedding, she had to be back on a flight to Chicago to start working the next day. The mere thought made Elle's stomach turn.

Her phone screen lit up with Will's contact photo, and she checked her watch. Three o'clock, which meant five in Chicago - it was time for her end of day check in with Will.

"Hello!" he chimed from the other end of the line.

Elle did her best to mirror that energy and immediately felt exhausted. "Hey Will, how was your day?"

"Oh, you know, just the usual. Busy but exciting. Never a bad day to work at Jolt!"

"Hah, yep, never a bad day."

"So, how is progress coming on the Jolt Money announcement plan?"

Elle pulled out her notebook and flipped through the many scribble-filled pages. She was going to need to get a new one soon. "It's coming. We are working on the email blast design now and finalizing approvals on the logo with legal. We should be able to get a draft to you by the end of April." Elle did her best to stifle a yawn that was escaping, but it caught the last word of her sentence.

"Good, good. Great work on that." Will took a quick pause. "How has this week been so far?"

"Oh, busy. Morgan has been running around like a madman, but things are getting done. I'm grateful you let me stick to Chicago time, since I have so much stuff to do this afternoon for the bachelorette party."

Will chuckled. "Yeah, I can only imagine." Another pause. "How are you doing though?"

"I'm alright," Elle started, trying to think of what else to share with her boss. "Just tired. It's been a lot this week."

She sensed that Will was nodding through the phone. "Yeah, I figured. You know, I was looking at our payroll system and saw that you have quite a bit of time off saved up. You should take some time after the wedding."

Elle felt a smile creep across her face. "Is Will Lawson really encouraging me to take time off?"

Will sighed on the other end of the line. "Yes of course I am. I don't know why everyone acts so afraid of me! I believe in work-life balance, I just want people to do their work well so they can earn it."

"I'm not afraid of you, Will," Elle said, flustered by his honesty.

"Yes, but I feel like sometimes you just see me as your manager rather than a person. Look, you did great work this week. You have been integral to our brand and this company, and we wouldn't be where we are at without you. I also know that I ask a lot of you, and it's clear that you're feeling some burnout. I want you to feel recharged as we prepare for this launch."

Elle looked down at her lap, ashamed that her burnout was that noticeable. She didn't mean it to be, but it has been difficult to stay excited about work with so much on the line.

"I also know that I haven't exactly done a good job at encouraging you all to take time for yourselves," Will continued. "So, I am trying to make up for that now. As your boss, I"m telling you to extend your trip and take another week. The work will be here when you get back."