Lisa Asks Her Manager for Help

By her sixth week at the studio, Lisa had more work than ever. The bookshop quiz night was on Thursday, and there were still a hundred small things to do.

She had to write the questions, make the score cards, order the prizes and send a reminder to everyone on the bookshop's email list.

And on Monday, Helen had given her something new. A small café wanted fresh text for their website, and Lisa was the one to write it.

"It's only five short pages," Helen had said. "Take your time."

But Lisa didn't have time. On Monday evening, she stayed at the office until eight. On Tuesday, she stayed until nine. She ate her dinner at her desk and went to bed thinking about quiz questions and coffee.

On Wednesday morning, she sat down at her desk, opened her laptop and looked at her list. It was longer than yesterday.

Mia looked at her from the next desk. "Are you okay? You look really tired."

"I'm fine," Lisa said. "Just busy."

Mia didn't look convinced. "Have you talked to Helen?"

"I don't want her to think I can't do my job."

"Lisa," Mia said kindly, "asking for help is part of the job. Helen would much rather know now than on Friday."

Lisa looked at her list again. Mia was right. She couldn't finish everything by Thursday, and pretending was not going to help anyone.

Helen was at her desk, reading something on her screen. Lisa walked over and stood next to her.

"Helen, do you have a few minutes? I need some help."

Helen looked up and pushed her laptop to the side. "Of course. Sit down. What's going on?"

Lisa sat down and took a breath. "I think I have too much to do this week. The quiz night is on Thursday, and I still need to finish the questions, the score cards and the email.

And I've also started the café website, but I've only written one page. I've been staying late every night, and I'm still behind."

"Okay," Helen said calmly. "Thank you for telling me. Let's look at it together. Can you show me your list?"

Lisa turned her laptop around. Helen read it slowly.

"Right. The quiz night has a fixed date. The café doesn't. When I said take your time, I meant it. They need the website next month, not this week."

Lisa felt something heavy leave her shoulders. "Oh. I thought it was urgent."

"That's my fault. I should have been clearer," Helen said. "So, the café can wait until next week. Now, the quiz night. What's the hardest part?"

"The questions. I want them to be fun, but not too difficult. I've written about twenty. I need forty."

"Could Paul help? He loves quizzes. He goes to one every Tuesday at his local pub."

"Would that be okay? I don't want to give him extra work."

Helen smiled. "Let's ask him."

Paul was more than happy. In fact, he looked excited. "A book quiz? Give me an hour. I'll write you twenty questions, and some of them will be really evil."

"Not too evil, please," Lisa laughed.

"And the score cards and the email?" Helen asked.

"I can do those today. They're not difficult. They just take time."

"Good. And Lisa, one more thing." Helen looked at her seriously. "Please go home at a normal time tonight. If something isn't finished, we'll deal with it tomorrow. A tired person makes mistakes, and you know what happens with posters."

Lisa laughed and went red at the same time. "I remember."

That afternoon, Paul sent her twenty questions. They were funny, smart and only a little evil. Lisa finished the score cards and sent the email to the bookshop's list. At six o'clock, she closed her laptop and went home. For the first time that week, she cooked a proper dinner and slept for eight hours.

On Thursday evening, the bookshop was full. Young people sat at small tables with their friends, laughing and arguing about the answers. Mrs Hill walked around with a huge smile on her face. Paul's evil questions were everyone's favourite.

At the end of the night, Helen came over to Lisa.

"Great work," she said. "And good job asking for help. That's not easy for everyone."

Lisa smiled. She had learned something this week that was more important than any quiz question. You don't have to do everything alone.