“I’ve just been on the phone with our
attorneys,” Henrietta said without preamble. “There’s a better than even chance
we’re going to lose our H-1B approval at the end of the year.”
Emily caught her breath. If that happened,
her application for permanent residence would be in limbo—or terminated. “Why?”
“Because the idiots who make the laws, or
listen to the people who elect them, are hysterical about immigration issues
right now and they’re cutting all the quotas. We are not tech, and that’s where
most of the allocations go.”
Emily knew that, but she’d been in the United
States since she’d enrolled at Harvard as an undergraduate. Singapore had a very
good working relationship with educational institutions in the United States
and obtaining a student visa had been easy. Then when she’d been accepted as an
intern after a year of graduate school, she’d moved into H-1B status. Other
than being a supreme hassle in terms of paperwork and documentation, her visa
had never really been a problem.
“But if—” Emily swallowed. “Am I going to
lose my job?”
“Not if I can help it,” Henrietta said, a
fierce light in her eyes. “The entire thing is ridiculous, and we’re working on
it, but I wanted you to know.”
“Of course, yes.” Emily’s mind reeled. She
couldn’t lose this job—this was more than a job, it was her passion, her
future, and if she had to return to Singapore…she couldn’t. She’d never find
the kind of job there she had here, and even if she could, she’d never earn the
same. The cost of living was even worse than New York City, and with Pam’s
expenses…she’d never manage.
“I don’t want you to worry.” Henrietta
laughed shortly, her voice catching as she coughed. She drank from a glass on
her desk and grimaced impatiently. “I know that’s a ridiculous thing to say,
but we’ve worked our way through miles of red tape more than once.
Unfortunately, this time we have to deal with multiple agencies, federal at
that, and it might take some time.”
“I—” Emily cleared her throat. “I’ll do
anything necessary. I love this job, you know that.”
Henrietta’s expression softened. “Of course I
do. You also happen to be very good at it. We’ve never really talked about it,
but someday, I expect you’ll have a much larger role in the company.”
“I can’t imagine being anywhere else, doing
anything else.”
“Well, I don’t plan on retiring anytime
soon,” Henrietta said, “and there’s time for us to talk about that when this
visa business is straightened out. We need to get you that green card and be
done with it.”
Emily sighed. “Believe me, I know.”
“Well, I’ve set up a meeting with our
attorneys for the end of the week. We’ll talk about all of it then.”
“Thank you.” Emily swallowed around the lump
in her throat. She wouldn’t panic. They had time to straighten it all out.
She’d keep her job, she’d be able to take care of Pam. Her plans would all be
fine.
“Emily,” Henrietta said, rising from behind
her desk and starting toward her. “You don’t need to worry. I’m not going to
let—” She stopped abruptly, one hand reaching for the side of her desk. Her
expression registered surprise and then she gasped, “Oh.”
“I’m sorry? What?” Emily said. “Henrietta?
Henrietta!”
Emily jumped up as Henrietta Winfield slumped
to the floor.
