Since morning, Adit had opened the sales dashboard several times, even though he knew the numbers on it wouldn't change just because he kept checking them. This month's target still hadn't been met, while the past few days had felt like an endless string of rejections. He finally closed the dashboard and switched to his list of leads, trying to distract himself with work that could actually still be done.
Dina, sitting not far from his desk, noticed the habit.
“You've been opening the same page all morning,” she said as she walked by with a coffee. “If you stare at it long enough, will the numbers increase on their own?”
Adit looked up and chuckled. “I'm giving it a chance to change its mind.”
Dina glanced at his laptop screen. “Is the gap still that big?”
“Pretty big.”
“How pretty?”
Adit nudged the laptop slightly farther away, as if the numbers weren't fit for anyone else to see. “Pretty big. Big enough that I'm starting to consider pretending to be sick.”
Dina laughed. “Don't. Your target will go up while you're gone.”
“Exactly. That's the problem.”
Dina continued on to her desk while Adit reopened his list of leads. He started with a few prospective clients he thought still had a chance. The first message hadn't been read, the second had only been seen with no reply, while the third had taken nearly an hour to respond.
We're still considering other vendors.
Adit read the message to the end, then leaned back in his chair.
“Another vendor.”
He didn't reply. He closed the chat and moved on to the next name.
A few minutes later, a new follow-up filled his calendar. It wasn't much, but at least there was something he could pursue.
Around noon, his boss asked Adit to stop by his office for a moment.
The conversation lasted less than fifteen minutes. The month's performance report was pulled up on the screen, and several accounts still considered promising were pointed out one by one.
“Try going after this one again,” his boss said, pointing to one of the names. “They've asked for a proposal before, right?”
Adit checked his notes. “Yes, sir. Two weeks ago.”
“Follow up again. If they respond, let me know immediately.”
“Got it.”
There was another account that still hadn't given them a definite answer. Adit wrote down the name before closing his notebook.
“This one might still work too?”
“There's still a chance. They haven't rejected us.”
“Good. We've still got time until the end of the period.”
The sentence sounded ordinary enough, but Adit knew what it meant. He returned to his desk with two new names in mind and opened his laptop without thinking much about it.
Dina glanced over when she saw him sit down.
“Did you get chewed out?”
“Nope. Told me to go after them again.”
“Isn't that literally your job?”
Adit looked at her with a laugh. “I know. That's why I can't get mad.”
Dina pulled out the chair at her own desk. “So there's still hope.”
“There’s always hope. The client is another story.”
Dina snickered and went back to work. Adit did the same.
Lunch was livelier than that morning.
Dina had already shown them the bag she bought a few days earlier, while Miko was busy commenting on how shopping-app algorithms could make someone feel like every item on the internet was just waiting to be bought.
“I only opened one product,” Dina protested as she put away her phone. “Then suddenly my whole feed was bags.”
“Because you taught the app,” Miko replied, taking a drink. “The more you look at something, the more of it they show you.”
“So the app understands my taste.”
“Not understands. Memorizes.”
Adit, who was opening his lunch box, laughed. “Same thing.”
“Not the same,” Miko said. “If it understood your taste, it would know you already have three organizers.”
Dina immediately looked at him. “This one is different.”
“How?”
“It’s cuter.”
Adit laughed even harder this time, making Sera smile too.
“I don't know how you two have managed to argue about organizers for this long,” she said.
“Because they don't appreciate art,” Dina replied, picking up her phone again.
“I appreciate it,” Adit said. “I just don't have the money to enjoy it.”
Dina turned to him immediately. “Now that's a problem.”
Miko laughed, while Gilang simply shook his head and continued eating.
The conversation eventually shifted to work. Sera asked about Adit's meeting that afternoon because she knew he was pursuing a new account.
“Is the two o'clock one still happening?” she asked.
Adit nodded. “Yep. But I'm not getting my hopes up.”
“Why not?”
“There haven't been any signs that they're interested.”
Sera shrugged. “The important thing is to show up first. If we don't try, we'll never know.”
Adit smiled faintly. “Yeah.”
He opened his phone again for a moment to check for incoming email, then put it away.
No one brought it up.
Their conversation continued as usual.
That afternoon, one of the emails Adit had been waiting for finally came in.
He was finishing a proposal when the notification appeared. He recognized the company's name immediately. Adit opened the email without taking his hand off the mouse.
A few seconds later, his hand stopped.
They had chosen another vendor.
Adit read to the bottom, then let out a short breath. He'd expected that possibility, but it still stung a little to read the final decision.
He replied politely, thanking them for the opportunity, then closed the email.
“What about the one from earlier?”
Gilang was standing beside his desk. Adit had no idea when he'd finished his meeting.
Adit turned his chair slightly.
“Yeah. They chose another vendor.”
“The big account?”
“Pretty big.”
Gilang pulled over an empty chair and sat down. “Do you still have others?”
Adit opened his list of leads and scrolled slowly. “Yeah. But the most promising one still hasn't gotten back to me.”
“Have you followed up?”
“Twice.”
“Try one more time.”
Adit turned to him. “What if they still don't reply?”
“Then let it go. Don't keep chasing them.”
Adit gave him a thin smile. “Must be nice.”
“What is?”
“Being able to say, ‘Don't chase them.’ I'm the one who has to look at those numbers on the dashboard every day.”
Gilang smiled too. “Then stop looking at the dashboard all the time.”
Adit chuckled, but afterward he looked back at the screen.
“Sometimes I feel weird about it.”
Gilang waited.
“When my numbers are good, I feel like I'm good at my job. As soon as they drop, I start wondering if maybe I'm actually just average.” Adit paused briefly before continuing, “Even though I know that's how sales works. Some deals close, some don't. But every end of the month still feels like I have to prove myself all over again.”
Gilang didn't answer right away. He looked at Adit's screen, then back at him.
“If your numbers are down this month, then it's this month's numbers that are down.”
Adit chuckled. “I know.”
“I'm not saying you can't be upset.”
“I'm not saying you're wrong either.”
They both laughed for a moment.
Gilang stood and picked up his laptop.
“You still want to try the one from earlier again?”
Adit looked at one of the names on his list of leads.
“Yeah. One more time.”
“Try changing how you approach them.”
Adit nodded. “I won't send another proposal. I'll invite them to talk.”
“That's it.”
Gilang walked back to his desk.
Adit opened the prospective client's chat. This time, he didn't send a presentation or a lengthy proposal. He simply offered a time to meet and discuss their needs if they were still open to working together.
The message was sent.
Adit waited for a while before finally closing his laptop.
He didn't know whether he would get a response.
But at least there was nothing else he could do for that account tonight.
It was after nine when the email finally came in.
Adit was eating dinner when the notification appeared. He almost ignored it, assuming it was a newsletter, until he saw the name of the company he'd contacted earlier on the screen.
He opened the email immediately.
They were willing to meet.
Tomorrow morning.
At nine.
Adit read the schedule twice, then opened his calendar to make sure the time was actually free.
Once he was sure, he picked up his phone and opened the PENGABDI GAJI group chat.
Adit: Guys, I got a meeting.
Dina replied a few seconds later.
Dina: Which meeting? Don't get me all tense if it's just an internal meeting.
Adit laughed and sent a screenshot of the email.
Adit: This one. Tomorrow at nine.
Miko replied immediately.
Miko: The one you said was a long shot yesterday?
Adit: Yeah. Turns out they want to meet.
Dina: See? This afternoon you looked like you were about to move back home.
Adit read the message with a laugh.
Adit: I wasn't that bad.
Miko: I've got a picture if you need proof.
Adit: When did you take a picture of me?
Miko: Didn't need to. I can still picture your face.
Adit laughed to himself before Gilang joined in.
Gilang: Is your presentation ready?
Adit immediately opened the laptop still sitting on the dinner table.
Adit: I haven't checked it again.
Gilang: Check it now. Don't realize tomorrow that you left a file behind.
Adit typed while opening the project folder.
Adit: Yes, boss.
Dina: There you go. Just got a meeting and you're already being told to work again.
Adit: That's life.
Sera replied afterward.
Sera: The important thing is not to rush tomorrow. If they're willing to meet, it means there's something they want to hear.
Adit read the message with a smile.
Adit: Yeah. I'll do my best.
He set down his phone and started checking the proposal from the first page. He double-checked a few numbers, tightened up the slides that felt too long, then opened the presentation file to make sure everything was still working properly.
He didn't know how tomorrow morning would turn out.
For tonight, at least he had something more pleasant to think about than the numbers on the dashboard.