Chapter 23

• “I can’t approve this….. It’s not about my not wanting to let you leave.” Manager Lee sighed and sat back in his chair across his desk from Meilei. Staring at the paper in his hand before laying it down. He pushed his glasses up his nose in disappointment and reread her letter. “I don’t want to accept this, but that’s not why I can’t sign it… You’re a team leader with a management contract. You signed five years of your life to OTS when you accepted the position; I don’t have the authority to approve this. I have to send it upstairs for them to deal with.” Manager Lee had not expected this to be the first thing he dealt with today, and Meilei, wanting to leave, had come out of the blue. She was one of his best techs, which had him sitting in disbelief. He had mentored her for years and always thought she would be a permanent fixture in OTS. Meilei had never caused issues or raised complaints in her entire time here.
• “Okay. Please do so.” Meilei didn’t doubt that it would be approved immediately once this went upstairs and Kai saw it. She wasn’t even worried about it. Her manner today was one of sad resignation and zero fight. She had made peace with what she needed to do. She had watched Yue sleep this morning for an hour, finding strength in her baby’s face to hold herself together to do this. Knowing for her, she would walk through fire. Leaving OTS was nothing.
• “You will have to work as normal until HR summons you. They have a lot going on right now with evaluations, so it might not be until late today or not even at all. I have no idea how quick a response you will get. It might take a week.” Manager Lee sounded apologetic and stressed. Sitting in here with her, trying to think of reasons to make her stay, but Meilei was adamant. She said this was down to her personal situation and could offer him no workable reasons. It wasn’t OTS, her pay, or her job role.. she wasn’t unhappy with any of it. He had no leverage to make her stay. There was nothing to offer her.