Tough Conversations

Danielle walked into the white big office with her toddler on her hip. She walked up to one of the four desks lined up at the far end of the office. At the desk a woman in her 50s was shifting through papers. "Hold on, love." she said and licked her finger before she kept on flickering through the papers. "Ah! There it is. You are Danielle Jackson, right?" "I am indeed." Danielle answered and bounced her toddler higher up on her hip. "And this is Charlie?" the woman said and smiled at little Charlie who giggled at her. "Yes, this is my son Charlie." Danielle confirmed nervously. "No need to be nervous, dear. I'm sure everything will work out fine for Charlie. My name is Darlene by the way. Please take a seat." Danielle thanked Darlene and sat down on the grey chair on her side of the desk. She placed Charlie in front of her on her lap so he was facing Darlene. He liked to engage with strangers. Darlene reached across the table and tickled Charlie who had engaged with her with his big smile. She then leaned back in her seat and said "He's adorable." "Thank you." Danielle replied and the two women smiled at each other until Darlene looked down at the papers again and Danielle felt her smile freeze. "You're here to learn about the tough conversations Charlie will have in his life. Now, you haven't paid for the full package, so I can't give you exact time and dates for these conversations. That would cost the-" "Interferrence Fee. I know. I don't want to meddle with his life too much." Danielle interrupted and winked at Darlene as a joke. Darlene blew air out of her noise to indicate she recognised Danielle's joke and gave her a quick smile. "That's what all the parents say" she said and looked down at the papers again. "I bet..." Danielle answered shyly and held Charlie a little closer to her. "You will of course get a document describing in more detail, such as what year it will take place, etc., but these are the headlines." Darlene informed. Danielle took a deep breath and nodded. "Well, Charlie will have 7 major talks in his life. The third one will leave emotional scarring. He will have around 1,389 tough conversations in relation to his worklife." Danielle raised her eyebrows in shock. "People who have this many clashes at work tend to be leaders in their field. Maybe we're looking at a little boss." Darlene said and smiled at Danielle reassuringly. Danielle felt her shoulders relax when Darlene smiled at her. "He will have 5,769 minor conflicts throughout his life which is just below average, actually. A little peacekeeper, maybe." Darlene said and smiled again. Danielle's heart was beating faster. She kissed Charlie on his head and he laughed a little and threw his little toy giraffe on the floor. Danielle picked it up and gave it to him and looked into Darlene's brown, kind eyes. "Any questions?" Darlene asked.