CHAPTER 2
Don't Get Mad Yet
Dina stood in front of the break room, looking completely different from how she had that morning.
A few hours earlier, she had been the happiest person on the twelfth floor because her paycheck had just come in. Now her hair was a mess, her phone was clenched tightly in her hand, and the moment she saw Sera arrive with Gilang, Miko, and Adit, she immediately raised her hand.
“I’m asking for one thing. Don’t get mad yet.”
Sera stopped in front of the break-room door. “Why?”
“Because if I tell you now, you’re all going to get mad immediately.”
Gilang, who had just come in, closed the door behind Adit. “With an opening like that, I’m even more curious.”
Dina held out her phone.
Sera took it and read the email still open on the screen. She immediately recognized the client’s name at the top. The moment she saw the attachment, Sera looked up.
“Is this the deck from earlier?”
Dina nodded.
“The one that isn’t final yet?”
This time, Dina only nodded again.
Gilang took the phone from Sera’s hand. He read the email more carefully, then rubbed his jaw.
“You sent it to the client?”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Dina…” Gilang said impatiently.
“I know.”
Dina let out a long breath before explaining. She had been forwarding the file to Sera for another check. An internal email that was already open on her screen meant she only had to choose the attachment and hit send. The problem was, the selected contact wasn’t Sera. She only realized it after the email had actually been sent.
“I thought Sera’s email was the one open,” she said as she took her phone back. “By the time I saw the recipient’s name, it was already too late.”
Adit, standing near the break-room table, rubbed his face.
“How many minutes has it been since you sent it?”
“About fifteen minutes.”
“Has the client opened it?”
“I don’t know.”
Sera stepped closer to Dina. “Try opening Sent Items.”
Dina opened the email. Its status still looked normal.
Miko leaned over to look at the screen too.
“Was it sent from your account?”
“Yeah.”
“Give me the laptop.”
Dina immediately handed it over. Miko took it to the break-room table and opened the company email settings. He was usually the one who handled things the other employees never saw—servers, accounts, systems, and emails that suddenly started acting up. This time, his work happened to be directly related to Dina’s panic.
“If it hasn’t been opened, there’s still a chance we can recall it,” he said as he typed.
Dina stood behind him.
“Can you really do that?”
“Yeah, but I can’t guarantee the client hasn’t read it.”
“What if it fails?”
Miko glanced back at her.
“Let’s just try first.”
Dina covered her mouth.
Sera was still reading through the attachment that had been sent.
“The problem isn’t just the deck.”
Gilang turned to her.
“The pricing too?”
Sera nodded.
“It’s still using the old version.”
Dina immediately squeezed her eyes shut.
“Oh my God.”
The price on the slide still used the figures from before the last negotiation. If the client had made it that far, they could take those figures as the final price.
Gilang let out a slow breath. “Okay. Let’s not panic yet.”
“You’re only saying that because you’re not the one who sent it wrong,” Dina shot back.
“Exactly because I’m the one who’ll have to talk to the client if something happens.”
Sera took the chair beside Miko. “Try recalling it first. If it works, we’ll fix the deck tonight.”
Dina turned to her immediately. “Tonight?”
“Better than waiting until tomorrow morning to start.”
Gilang nodded. “I agree. If the recall works, I’ll send the final version to the client tomorrow morning and say there was an update to the deck.”
Dina looked from one of them to the next. “I’ll stay late too.”
“Okay,” Sera said as she opened her laptop. “You know the marketing side best.”
Adit pulled out a chair and sat down. “Then what am I doing?”
Sera glanced at him. “You can help check it from a sales perspective.”
Adit nodded with satisfaction. “Finally, I’m useful.”
Dina snorted.
“What are you usually?”
“I’m the guy who gets paid to talk a lot.”
“That’s sales for you,” Gilang chimed in.
“Guys, the deck.”
They immediately refocused.
Miko was still staring at the screen when a notification appeared.
“It’s done.”
Dina moved closer.
“What’s done??”
“The email recall worked, but if the client already saw it, recalling it won’t matter.”
Dina bent over to look at the screen.
“For real?”
Miko shifted the laptop a little so everyone could see.
“Now you just have to hope the client hasn’t read the email.”
Dina immediately let out a relieved breath, her shoulders dropping.
“Hopefully. I’ll buy you guys coffee for helping me.”
Miko closed the laptop. “With your paycheck?”
Dina stared at him. “Don’t start.”
Adit laughed. “She was so excited this morning, talking about being rich.”
“I had no idea my life was going to turn out like this.”
Sera smiled as she opened the campaign file.
“That’s why you shouldn’t celebrate payday too soon.”
Dina stared at Sera’s screen. “Don’t you start too.”
“I’m just reminding you.”
“Everyone’s being awful today.”
Gilang pulled out the chair beside Sera.
“Work first. Drama later.”
Dina finally sat down too.
The break room, which should have been empty by then, filled once again with the sounds of keyboards and little comments about the unfinished deck.
About an hour later, the problem began to look simpler.
Sera fixed the presentation flow and made sure the revisions from the different sections didn’t clash with one another. Gilang checked the parts that would be presented to the client. Dina handled the copy and marketing materials, while Adit reviewed the campaign from the sales side. Miko had already made sure the email situation was under control and eventually sat back at the end of the table, occasionally commenting on anything he thought was overly complicated.
They weren’t actually in the same division. Sera and Gilang worked together most often because the project Sera managed ran alongside the account Gilang handled. Dina dealt mostly with the marketing side, Adit was buried in sales, and Miko usually only got involved when something had to do with the system.
That night, their division of labor felt more fluid.
“Slide seven is still too busy,” Adit said, pointing at Dina’s screen.
Dina leaned closer to the laptop. “Which part?”
“The headline and the benefits. If I were a potential customer, I’d be tired before I even got to the bottom.”
Dina read it again.
“You sure?”
“Sure.”
Sera looked at it from her laptop too. “Cut one sentence.”
Dina deleted the last part. “Like this?”
Adit nodded. “Much better.”
Dina looked at him. “You’re useful sometimes.”
“I’m writing that down.”
Gilang chuckled from the side. “Don’t praise him. It’ll be a problem later.”
Adit shot him an unimpressed look. “I don’t need validation from you.”
Sera held back a smile.
That was how they finished their work: correcting one another, interrupting one another, occasionally getting on one another’s nerves, but still moving in the same direction.
A little after eight, Sera finally saved the last file.
“That’s a wrap.”
Dina immediately leaned back in her chair. “I don’t want to look at this deck again tonight.”
Gilang checked the final version on his laptop. “I’ll send it tomorrow morning.”
Dina nodded. “I promise I won’t send it to the wrong person again.”
“Good,” Miko said as he put his charger in his bag. “I don’t want to recall two emails in one day.”
Dina laughed softly.
“Sorry.”
Miko raised a hand.
“It’s all good.”
Adit stood up and grabbed his jacket.
“Then are we heading home?”
Sera checked the time.
“Let’s go home.”
They gathered their things.
Dina still looked tired, but her face was much more relaxed.
As they walked toward the elevator, she suddenly stopped.
“Guys.”
The other four stopped too.
“Thanks.”
Sera gave her a small smile.
“Don’t make us work late again tomorrow.”
Dina raised her hand like she was swearing an oath.
“Deal.”
Gilang pressed the elevator button.
“If there’s another problem tomorrow, I’m pretending I don’t know you.”
“That’s so mean.”
“I’m kidding.”
The elevator doors opened.
They got in together.
Only a few seconds into the descent, Gilang’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His smile disappeared.
Sera, standing beside him, noticed immediately.
“What is it?”
Gilang didn’t answer right away. He opened the email, read it to the end, then handed his phone to Sera.
The client’s name was clearly displayed.
The subject line read:
Re: Campaign Deck
Sera read the contents.
Hi Gilang, we received the previous deck. Could we discuss this tomorrow morning?
She looked up.
“They managed to read the email.”
Gilang shoved both hands into his pants pockets.
“Looks like it.”
Dina, standing behind them, immediately stepped closer.
“What?”
Sera handed Gilang’s phone to her.
Dina read the email.
Her face changed instantly.
“I want to quit.”
Miko nodded slowly.
“Tomorrow.”
Dina turned to him. “Why tomorrow?”
“Because HR’s already gone home tonight.”
Adit laughed.
Sera laughed softly too, even though she was already starting to think about tomorrow morning’s meeting.
The elevator doors opened on the ground floor.
They all stepped out together.
Gilang walked beside Sera.
“Coming in early tomorrow?”
Sera nodded.
“At eight.”
“I’ll be there at seven-thirty.”
Sera turned to him.
“Seriously?”
“The client wants to meet at nine. I don’t want to cut it too close.”
“Okay. I’ll come too.”
Gilang smiled faintly.
“Coffee?”
Sera looked at him.
“I’ll make my own.”
“Feisty.”
“Gotta save money.”
Gilang laughed.
Behind them, Dina was still complaining to Adit about her misfortune.
Her paycheck had only come in a few hours ago, and their first problem had already managed to send the five of them home later than usual.
Tomorrow morning, they would have to face a client who had seen something that should never have reached their hands.