Associate

"I hate my job!" Freddie Benson announced as he dragged his feet into his home, carelessly tossing aside his briefcase. "I hate it!"

"Hi to you too, baby," Sam smirked, rolling her eyes at her husband as he plopped down on the couch next to her. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "Bad day?"

"You can say that again," Freddie sighed, massaging his temples. "Some moron deleted all of the companies files this morning, and since I'm the only one with half a brain at that place, I was the one who had to spend all day recovering everything."

"I thought you were good at that sort of stuff, though," Sam pointed out.

"I am," Freddie nodded. "It wasn't hard to recover all those files. In fact, it was super easy. That's the problem…"

"What do you mean?" Sam frowned.

"I mean, all I do at this job is recover files and write code for boring car insurance websites," Freddie said. "That's it! I don't get to do any more editing or graphic design or any of the fun stuff that actually challenges me."

"Aw, I guess that does kind of suck," Sam said sympathetically. "But baby, you've only had this job for ten months. It's not like you can't still get out. If you're so bored and miserable there, just march in tomorrow and quit!"

"Sam, I can't do that," Freddie said.

"Why not?" Sam asked.

Just then a loud cry came from the play pen next to the couch. Freddie let out a small chuckle. "That's why."
"Somebody sounds hungry," Sam smiled as she stood and picked up the couple's five-week old son, Jason. "Is that it, sweetie? You want dinner?"

"How was he today?" Freddie asked as Sam began to nurse him.

"A little fussy," Sam replied. "He got woken up from his nap this afternoon because your mother came over and tried to put him in some weird cloth diapers she found on the Internet. Again."

"I'll talk to her," Freddie promised. "But anyway, I can't just quit my job because we have Jason to think about now. If this was two years ago, sure, I may be willing to do that. But now we've got to start putting away savings so Jason can go to an Ivy League college. And as miserable as this job is, it pays great. So if I have to suffer so Jason can benefit, I will."
"Freddie, that's really sweet of you, but it's not like you wouldn't get another job," Sam reasoned. "You're a tech genius for crying out loud!"

"It's just too risky," Freddie said. "Maybe…Maybe in a few years once we're a little more stable I can look around for another job. Maybe. But for right now, me staying here is the most practical thing for this family."

He got to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked.

"To take a shower," Freddie said. "I smell like burnt popcorn. My co-workers are all in their thirties, yet they can't figure out how to work a simple microwave. Also, they can't read the notes that I leave on my lunch in the fridge that say 'Freddie's, please don't eat', so I'm starving. Do you think you could order a pizza or something for dinner?"

"Sure," Sam said.

"Thanks," Freddie said, leaning down to give her another kiss. He also kissed the top of Jason's head. "You know, coming home to you two actually makes this job bearable."

Sam watched as her husband went upstairs.

"Poor daddy," Sam said to Jason as she gently burped him. "I wish there was something we could do for him. I mean, his tech stuff is boring to begin with, but it sounds like this place is duller than Ms. Briggs' class. She was this mean, grouchy old lady that mommy and daddy had as a teacher. We'll tell you more horror stories about her later."

Jason softly cooed in his mother's arms.

"I bet you wish you could make daddy feel better too, huh?" Sam chuckled. "Hey! Maybe we can, Jason! I think I have an idea…"

The next day, Freddie returned back home after yet another long day at his dull job.

"Sam?" he called as he closed the front door behind him. "Sam, you home?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Sam said, coming into the room with Jason on her him. She leaned up and kissed him. "How was work?"

"The usual," Freddie shrugged. "I typed a lot of numbers into a computer for eight hours. How was your day?"

"Jason blew a spit bubble that was almost the size of an orange!" Sam told him. "I tried to get a picture, but then he spit up and the whole thing popped."

"Wow, you take after your mommy, don't you?" Freddie laughed, taking his son from Sam.

"He sure does," Sam said proudly. "Anyway, guess what? I think I solved your problem!"

"Oh, you finally found the special ointment?"

"What? No, gross," Sam cringed. "Your other problem. You know, about how you're so bored at work?"

"What do you mean?" Freddie said. "Did you find some magical way to make my job entertaining?"

"Not exactly," Sam said. "There was no helping that job, baby. I think watching paint dry might have actually been more fun. But while Jason was napping this morning, I went online and I found an open position at the Pear Company that is perfect for you! You'd be designing apps; that's what you've always wanted to do! All you have to do is email over your resume. Here, there's more information here."

She handed Freddie her Pearpad. "It sounds exciting, right? A lot better than the job you have now, that's for sure."

"Well, yeah, it definitely sounds better," Freddie agreed hesitantly. "But…I-I don't think I should apply."

"What?" Sam frowned. "What do you mean? Of course you should apply! Look, I already checked, and you'd be making the same exact salary as you do now. Plus the insurance junk is the same too."

"Yes, but what about job stability?" Freddie pointed out.

"What about it?"

"Well big companies like the Pear Company can go under pretty quickly if something happens," Freddie said. "Like what if there's some giant scandal or a new competing tech company comes out or what if the stock market crashes again and it loses all its money?"

"Stock markets can't crash, Freddie," Sam said, rolling her eyes.

"I keep forgetting you slept through every history class you took," Freddie sighed. "But Sam, a lot of things can happen at the Pear Company. Right now the place I'm at is extremely stable. It's been around way longer than the Pear Company and it's less likely to have anything happen because it's much less popular. It's still the safest option."

"But you would love it there!" Sam exclaimed.

"I know I would," Freddie said. "And I really appreciate you finding this position for me, Sam, but I-I think I'm just going to stay where I am."

"But why?" Sam said, somewhat exasperated. "It's not like you're quitting your job to become a hobo! All you're doing is quitting to go to a job you'd actually enjoy!"

"It's just too risky right now," Freddie said firmly, walking over to Jason's playpen and setting the infant in there. "I told you, maybe in a few years-"

"I'm sure in a few years you'll have some other excuse ready," Sam snapped.

"What do you want me to do?" Freddie frowned.

"I want you to be happy!" Sam said loudly. "Believe it or not, I don't like seeing you come home all sad and depressed every day after work!"

"I told you, I don't mind!" Freddie retorted.

He turned and headed into the kitchen. Saw quickly followed after him. She watched as he took an iced tea from the fridge and drank it slowly as he stared out the window.

"You don't think the Pear Company is suddenly going to go bankrupt," Sam said slowly. "You know it's the biggest corporation in the country. The chances of that happening are basically nonexistent."

"Anything's possible," Freddie mumbled.

"Sure, but that's not why you don't want to take this job," Sam said, stepping closer to him.

"I said I want to stay where I am because it's safer."

"Yes," Sam nodded. "But it's not the company going under that you're afraid of…is it?"

Freddie was silent for a moment.

"Baby?"

"How'd you know?" Freddie finally asked.

"I'm your wife, I think I know you pretty well," Sam said, putting an arm around him. "You're afraid to leave your job to go to the Pear Company because even though you hate your job now…at least you're completely safe from failing there."

Freddie looked down at his feet. "Yeah…"

"Aw, Fredwad, that's crazy!" Sam said. "You're so amazing at this tech junk! You wouldn't fail!"

"You don't know that, Sam," Freddie said. "I-I know I'm good with software design and editing and all that, but doing it for the Pear Company? The stakes are so much higher. It's not like when I did stuff on iCarly where I could just brush off little mistakes here and there."

"Well they're not going to expect you to be perfect," Sam pointed out. "You're not a robot!"

"But they can demote me!" Freddie said. "Or-Or laugh at me. I could become the laughing stock of the entire tech world! And how do you think Jason will feel having to say that his father is some big doof who messes up at work all the time?"

Sam reached for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Freddie…every job in the world has some chance that you'll fail at it. Even at the job you're at now! I mean what if one day you accidently mess up one of the codes you type into the computer and create some virus that turns everyone's screens permanently magenta?"

"Why magenta?"

"Just shut up and listen to me!" Sam snapped. "Look, do you remember right before we graduated high school and I was freaking out about going to college because I thought I'd fail there?"

"Yeah," Freddie nodded.

"And do you remember what you told me?"

"Of course," Freddie said. "I told you that you were being ridiculous. That you were incredibly smart and talented, and that the only way you'd fail is if you kept telling yourself you would fail."

"Well the same thing goes for you now," Sam smiled. "Freddie, it's been your dream to work at the Pear Company since I've known you. And now you finally have the chance to make that dream come true! Sure, it will probably be a lot harder than the job you have now, and yeah, I guess there's more opportunities for you to mess up, but there's also more opportunities for you to succeed! But you're not going to get those opportunities unless you take the risk and take this job!"

Freddie pondered this.

"And as for Jason…he's going to be proud of you no matter what you do," Sam said. "Do you see the way he looks at you already? You could be scraping gum from hobo's shoes and you'd still be his hero."

Freddie gave a small smile. "You think?"

"Definitely," Sam said, giving him another kiss. "And I'll always be proud of you too. No matter what. Just remember that, okay?"

Freddie wrapped his arms around her. "That means a lot to me, Sam."

The couple simply stood like that for a moment, neither saying a word.

"So-So will you at least think about it?" Sam finally spoke, looking up at him.

Freddie played with the lose strands of hair on her shoulder. "Alright," he agreed. "I will."