Just Say No

"So what happened after ice cream?" Song asked.

"We talked a bit. He's a nerd, though I think that's part of his job," Tigress smiled, fidgeting with her desk pens. The two felines chatted at the tiger's work desk during Song's break. "Then we went bowling."

"Wait, you bowl?"

"Nope."

"So... how badly did you lose?"

"How do you know I lost?"

"Did you?"

"No."

"Oh?"

"But... Po did accidentally throw a bowling ball into the ceiling."

Song's eyes dropped open, leaning on the desk by her arm. "How did he accidentally throw a bowling ball into the ceiling?"

"The ball was a little on the light side," Tigress chuckled. Just then, Mr. Shifu's door swung open. Tigress and Song stood up. "Mr. Shifu."

"Ah! Hello Song. Tigress, I need you for something important," The red panda said, frantically fixing his red and green tie. "There's a major delay on one of the production studios. Technical issues as well as organizational problems. I know project management is a little out of your job description, but I was wondering-"

"I... I'll see what I can do, Mr. Shifu," Tigress sighed with a small smile. The snow leopard watched her friend carefully.

"Great, I knew I could count on-"

"Mr. Shifu," Song finally spoke up, "Is it possible for both of us to work on this project? Technical and organizational problems often need more heads."

The red panda stroked his beard and nodded. "Yes, I guess that's true. Then I'll have you work with Tigress on the project. I'll write to your supervisor and tell her the news." Shifu walked back into his office and closed the door. Tigress's glaring eyes snapped onto the snow leopard.

"What was that about?"

"I'm making sure you don't take on more than you need to," the snow leopard replied.

"I can handle it, Song."

"But do you want to handle it?"

"That's... not the point," Tigress sighed. "Anyway, why do you care? I've done this before."

"Yes, but this was the first time I could actually see you upset," Song replied. The striped feline's eyes widened. "You're good at hiding your emotions. Or at least distancing yourself from them."

"You sound like a therapist."

"I dabble."

"Still, I can do this by myself."

"Do you want to?"

"That's not the point."

"That's exactly the point. Tigress, why do you take on more work than you can handle? Especially when it's not in your job description."

"I... I... I don't know! Look, enough with the meta-cognitive questions," Tigress growled. "I'll be fine. I'll talk to you later, okay?" Song watched the tiger march back to her desk and begin to work again, entering a cold stiff void of productivity. Song shook her head and walked back to her station.

Tigress tried her best to focus, but her head munched on what Song said again and again.

She must have shaken her head a dozen times, and each time, she tried her best to whirl away that nagging feeling in the back of her head. "Tigress?"

"Yes!" Tigress snapped her head up, both alarmed and annoyed. Her eyes focused on a red panda standing in the middle of his door. He wordlessly motioned her to come into his office.

Tigress felt coils worriedly wrap around her legs, making her gait unsteady as she pushed herself up from the table and followed the red panda. Dark-colored shelves held law books, movies, and plaques of different accomplishments lined on either side of the office. A large wooden desk stood in front of two chairs with a neat stack of papers on its left and a computer on the right. Tigress sat in the left one. A small picture of the red panda and a slightly seasoned fox sat in the lower left corner of the table. "Is something wrong, sir?"

Shifu sighed as he took a seat in his large chair. "Tigress, where do you see your work going in the next five years?"

The tiger narrowed her eyes. This was an interview question. "Why do you ask?"

"I... overheard your conversation with Song. Why did you accept the project if you didn't want it?" Shifu asked.

Tigress felt her heart drop to her feet. "I... I... I didn't want to... disappoint."

Who?

Shifu didn't ask her this, but the question came up in her own head. Tigress stared at the red carpet.

Strange, she thought, she never had these thoughts in her head before. What changed?

Shifu gave a great sigh and smiled, "Tigress, you don't have to impress anyone here. Everyone knows that you are a well-accomplished and very dedicated woman. If you want to exit out of the project, you simply had to tell me."

"I... don't mind being a part of the project. It's just... organizational problems are strenuous and take a lot of work. It would... I would need some assistance for my secretary work."

"Ah! Is that so?" Tigress nodded. "Then why didn't you say that?"

"I'm... not used to complaining."

Shifu stared at her for a moment. His face mixed between quiet surprise and bewildered shock. Then he laughed, rocking back into his chair.

"Tigress, setting limits on what you can and cannot do isn't complaining. Complaining is when you can do something but won't do it because complaining about it is your secret vice."

"I... I suppose," Tigress sighed, sagging her shoulders. "I'm sorry that-"

"To be honest," Shifu interrupted, "I was hoping you would say no to the project."

The feline lifted her head up a bit higher. "Why?"

"I spoke with some of the board members. They mentioned our productivity and commended me on a job well done," Shifu pointed to a new plaque on the bookshelf. "But I kept saying that it was my executive assistant that made all of this possible. One of the directors joked that because you do such a good job, I'm basically not doing any work. But it got me thinking about how much work I put on you, either intentionally or not."

"So this was a test to figure out how much work you could get me to do?" Tigress asked in a raised tone. She wasn't angry. Mostly incredulous.

"And to figure out if I've been putting too much work on you and you've never... noticed."

"Why would I not notice?" Tigress asked, crossing her legs and arms.

Shifu shrugged. "You've always said yes in the past to projects like this. It was only now that I realized that's not the case anymore."

"What makes you say that?"

"It sounds like what didn't bother you back then, bothers you now." A long frown drew itself on Tigress's face. "It's not a bad thing. People's priorities and boundaries change over time. To be honest, I always thought your workload was a little too much. I was hoping that you would say no at one point, but... I didn't realize that you felt like you couldn't."

Shifu offered a wide smile. "It's okay to say no, Ms. Claw."

"I know, Mr. Shifu. I just..." She couldn't say the words.

"If you want, I can take you and Song off of the project."

"I can do the project. It's just... I want someone to help me with my work," Tigress made a brave smile of her own. "If someone's not helping you, I fear you'll fall apart."

A boisterous laugh came from the red panda's form. Tigress didn't think such a loud laugh could come from such a little person. "No, no, we wouldn't want that."

"Where exactly is this project being done?" Tigress asked. "You never told me the studio."

"Oh yes. Chaotic Studios. Monkey needs some help with-"

"I'll be right on it," Tigress shot up from the chair. Shifu's bushy eyebrow rose. "I mean, I'll see to it that Song and I figure things out."

"I appreciate the... enthusiasm," Shifu smiled. With that, the tiger was dismissed. Tigress flung to her table and texted Song.

Shifu overheard us.

A wide-eyed emoji came from Song.

And what did he say?

Had a talk about boundaries and stuff. Nothing bad. Just wanted to tell me it was okay to say no.

And the Father of the Year award goes to. A laughing emoji came into view. Tigress shook her head.

We're still doing the project. He said he'll get someone to cover my secretary duties.

A celebratory emoji was received. Great! Now you won't be as stressed out.

Yeah. A wide smirk came to Tigress's lips. But you're not gonna believe where the project is.

Where?

Chaotic Studios.

She took longer than expected to reply, but an answer finally came.

This is gonna be interesting ;)

Continued...