Simona Bonghez

- Gogu, do you think we’ll get an Easter bonus?
- Why do you ask me, Mișu? Ask the Boss. How am I supposed to know?!
- They gave us a bonus last year... Mișu went on, looking at Gogu in a telling way.

"Gogu, are you coming to the gym tonight?” Misu’s Transylvanian face suddenly appeared from behind the display.  “No, I’m going to the barrelhouse. Er… to the bar, if you want it to sound better,” Gogu rectified rapidly. 

“Waiter, these minced meat rolls have eaten my mustard!” Gogu tried a subtle irony, but it was in vain.
“Would you like more mustard?”
“No, you didn’t get this”, answered Misu, spitefully. “It’s not the mustard, but the meat rolls. Take them back and put them a little bit more on the grill, as they are raw.”
“Coming back to our stuff, Gogu,” said Misu, turning back towards his friend while the waiter was taking the meat rolls away, appologising, “tell me what to do. Should I speak or not? Is it better for me to be honest or to protect myself? ‘Cause, after all, that’s what this whole situation is about.”

“Well, finally…” Misu respired with ease seeing the name and especially Gogu’s face on the screen of his smartphone. But he hardly managed to say anything since the outpour of Gogu’s words broke out through the little device, as if the dam had given way:
“What has happened, goodman, to make you call like crazy?! Do you think I am blind and can’t see you called the first time? Who died? Has something exploded? ‘Cause I can’t possibly have a quiet day! Just one day, pal, that’s what I allowed myself to take off. On good grounds. One day! And you are calling me five times in one hour. Five! May thunder and lightning come over your phone anytime you reach for it again!. Or is it that you are suicidal and you want me to fix this problem for you, which would make me extremely happy right now…”

“Come, dad, come! There’s a fire!” Gogu hasted to the kitchen, felt the smell of smoke and quickly looked about for the possible source. However, with the tail of his eye he noticed that something wasn’t right and immediately realized what was fishy: both the mother and the child were leaning against the wall, the same playful smile on their face, but also in their eyes, both of them suspiciously calm. God, this child looks so much like his mother, Gogu couldn’t help noticing. “You, rascals, what are you up to here? What’s with all this smoke? ′Cause you wouldn’t smile to me like that if there were something more serious…”

“Ssiga –ssiga…”, Gogu smiled when remembering his holiday and he abandoned himself to the reverie: turquoise sea, fine sand beach, pine trees and sun on a permanently blue sky. God, I’m sure this island is the Heaven on Earth…
“What are you hissing about, Gogu?... Has any blonde memory come to haunt you? I thought you said you were having troubles with the Golf project … But you’re smiling, like you have no work to do.” Misu’s words broke Gogu’s reverie.

“Holy crapping crap!” Misu burst spitefully. Spitefully, only for those who knew him very well, otherwise – to a stranger – it would have seemed a mere observation, shared calmly but in a deep, whispered voice. Obviously, Gogu was not the case. He looked at Misu, dumbstricken, as he couldn’t believe that somebody had succeeded to get – Misu! – out of his usual mood of remiss understanding and utter detachment from the whirl of the surrounding world. However, it seemed like, finally, the impossible had occurred and the whirl had managed to hook him too, Gogu said to himself, somewhat spiteful.

Gogu leisurely screwed the cap on the water bottle, made sure it is well sealed, screwed it once more, which was completely useless, but it was obvious he was doing all that while his mind was wandering elsewhere. Misu saw he was thoughtful and probably thought it was the best opportunity to pick on him, as it had been long since they had a verbal fight and he didn’t want to lose touch:
“Hoo, brrrr…” he said quite loudly, staring at Gogu. But he didn’t react, so, Misu repeated it, this time even more loudly:

“Any problems, Gogu?”
Chief stood still in front of Gogu’s desk and he was trying to read the face behind the display. All eyes were focusing on them: for about 10 minutes, only gabbles had been heard from the strategic area entitled “Gogu”, but nobody had had the courage to see what was going on with him, whether someone had made him angry and whom. It was risky to place yourself in front of Gogu’s batter of pungent remarks, and his unintelligible gabble was a clear sign – confirmed in many similar situations – of danger.

“Tell me again, dad, what do you do at work?”
I muck about, was the thought that crossed Gogu’s mind, but he refrained from saying it aloud. He was spiteful for not having succeeded till now to offer an answer so that the child could understand, neither had he an idea about what explanation to give. Oh, brother… It isn’t easy to manage a project, but it looks like it’s even harder to explain how you do that. He grumbled:
“I am in charge of projects; that’s what I do. But what are you about again?”

Gogu looked - for the hundredth time – at the watch. It’s not normal, acceptable, or in any way excusable for someone to delay that much, he thought, and this time put his hand on the phone. He’d just dialed the number when he saw Misu entering, relaxed and with a wide spread smile on his face.
- Now… why do you look so glum? He asked Gogu, then quickly added: Wait, I’m being sought-after ... He took the phone, he looked at the screen for a moment, gazed at Gogu, and then looked back at the phone and then again at Gogu. The smile was replaced by astonishment:

Gogu is a funny character, cynical here and there, an introvert for whom the interior monologue represents an alternative to real life. With Gogu’s help, we analyze different aspects of the life of a project manager and his team, we suggest solutions that are easy to understand and apply. As Gogu would put it… “almost common sense”.
We invite you to follow Gogu and send him your suggestions.
“Gogu, what’s with that dumbstricken face?!”
Misu pitied the imprudent that dared pick on Gogu on such a moment. Nobody wished to become Gogu’s target when he was angry, as the sourness of his replies would burn the soul of the unfortunate, and if by any chance you also had the lunacy to answer back, the fire of Hades would immediately become a much happier alternative.

“It’s complex.”
“No, it’s not complex.”
“Oh, yes, it is, ‘cause we have 12 systems to interconnect, all developed on different platforms. Plus, we are using a technology that’s new to us…”
“So, it’s a complicated project, not a complex one.”

Gogu saw Chief entering the office and swallowed his line. Misu, with his back to the door, didn’t notice the movement and without any comment from Gogu, concluded:
- So you think that being boss went to his head?!
- Who are you talking about?! asked Chief. Hello, Chief to Misu, reception! He insisted towards a stiff Misu; only his narrowed eyes looking at Gogu were silently screaming for help. However Gogu ignored him and, looking at Chief, put another log on the fire:

- I got that one too. It’s a simple GPS, it’s cheap and does his job, I really recommend it. Chief appeared surprisingly behind Gogu. Auch!... he caught me wandering on Google. He thought about answering with an excuse, but he soon realized how ridiculous it would have been. Plus he was too interested in the technical details of the GPS. Chief quickly gave him all the information.

Gogu took - slowly, as usual – the food tray, and started looking for Misu. It took him a few seconds to find him. Dude, this Misu has a very bad habit to always sit in the farthest corner of the dining room; he amused himself while walking towards his colleague. He replied to the greetings and felt somewhat important seeing how many people paused from eating to salute him or to wish him good appetite. After all, I’ve been working for some time now in this firm... He sat satisfied near Misu, smiled at him, and realized instantly the major error he had committed.

- You prehistoric mammoth, you feed extinction! You must be flexible, you must adapt ... Gogu was very involved, it was a subject he loved and which he had often debated with Chief, so now was very sure of himself.
- No, it’s not true, even mammoths can be agile. Haven’t you heard those guys with the event?... even mammoths can be Agile is actually the title of the event.

Gogu looked at his watch for the hundredth time, he was already exasperated; two hours had passed without any tangible result. He was under the impression that whenever they were near a decision point, someone from the other departments intervened and turned the whole discussion upside down.

- Damn with the „mioritic” shepherd! – said Gou out loud. He suddenly looked around to see if he had to give some explanations, but no one seemed to bother. They were all deepened into the documentation they had received, all cheerless... Yeah, no one seems too happy about the requirements list. How could someone accept that? Such resigned people ... He continued to read the email, becoming more and more cheerless; from time to time, he was muttering something to himself.

Gogu’s blood was boiling and he felt the pressure inside his head growing slowly but irreversibly. He suddenly became aware that he will explode and the feeling filled him with an awkward tranquility. All his emotions were erased, leaving him with just a bitter taste... It was time for a reaction, now or never. He interrupted Chief:

The Chief opened the door and, by looking at him, Gogu soon realized that something was wrong. The truth was that if he had looked around, he would have noticed that the entire office was shocked: everyone found it hard to believe the way that Mişu and Gogu were fighting and yelling to each other. Well, that’s because he’s so stubborn! Gogu said to himself. But wait a minute, we’ll settle it right now…

Gogu set the alarm, turned off the lights and stepped out of the building. He nodded to the idly smoking doorman. He was standing in front of the door as if he was the owner of the dozens of offices standing in the darkness. Gogu choked back a sigh: „It’s not like someone made me stay until this hour like the doorman”. Actually, the pride made him stay „but that doesn’t count”. Some other time he would have smiled at his own remark, but now he was too bitter: he could not believe that a “child” was sent to give him indications, he who had been in that company for seven years,

Meet Gogu! Gogu is a funny character, cynical at times, an introvert to whom the interior monologue is an alternative to the real life. With Gogu’s help, we explore different aspects of a project manager’s life trying to find and suggest solutions easy to understand and to apply. As Gogu would say: “almost common sense”. We invite you to follow Gogu and send him your comments and suggestions.

Gogu is a funny character, cynical at times, an introvert to whom the interior monologue is an alternative to the real life. With Gogu’s help, we explore different aspects of a project manager’s life trying to find and suggest solutions easy to understand and to apply. As Gogu would say: “almost common sense”. We invite you to follow Gogu and send him your comments and suggestions.
Gogu suddenly got butterflies in his stomach. He revised the values one more time and even read the email hoping that somewhere, something was changed, that maybe he hadn’t properly understood the message.