Chapter 4 | Group Work

Group work always starts with a very simple sentence.

A sentence that looks like nothing. An administrative sentence, often full of goodwill, and which usually ends up complicating far too many things.

“Today, you’re going to do a cross-program exercise. To work on your adaptability.”

I already didn’t like that word.

Adaptability.

It sounded like an elegant way of saying: you’re going to have to talk to people.

He continued:

“You’ll be in mixed groups. Two CCA students, and you’ll work with one marketing student, one human resources student, and one sales student.”

A murmur passed through the lecture hall.

The professor added:

“It’s exactly like in a company! You never work only with finance people. You’ve already started your company induction, haven’t you?”

Aïcha turned toward me.

“If we’re together, it’s going to be funny.”

“You’re optimistic.”

“Always.”

She had that smile that makes it feel like everything is going to be fine. Not because the situation is simple, but because she has decided it will be.

The professor started assigning the groups.

When he read our names, Aïcha raised her hand.

“Present!”

Then she looked at me.

“We’re together.”

I think my heart made a small stupid movement.

“Yes.”

She grabbed her bag.

“Come on, let’s go.”

We changed rooms for the tutorial class. The tables had been pushed together into a rectangle. Groups were forming, chairs sliding, voices tangling together.

Ours was at the back, near a window.

There were already three people.

A boy with an open shirt over a white T-shirt, his hair styled like someone who knows exactly how it’s supposed to fall. Next to him, a brunette girl with a very confident smile. And another boy, a little calmer, spinning a pen between his fingers.

Aïcha lit up.

“Ah! You’re here.”

The brunette girl stood up.

“Aïcha!”

They gave each other a quick little hug.

“It’s been so long.”

“Three days.”

“That’s long.”

The boy in the shirt laughed.

“She always exaggerates.”

Aïcha turned toward me.

“Eliott, this is Sarah.”

Sarah shook my hand.

“Hi Eliott, I’m in HR.”

“Eliott.”

“Finance like Aïcha?”

“Yes.”

The boy in the shirt added:

“Karim. Sales.”

Energetic handshake.

“And that’s Lucas, marketing.”

Lucas raised his hand.

“Hi.”

All of it happened very fast.

Aïcha talked with them as if she saw them every day.

“You’ve been together since the beginning of the semester?”

“Yes,” Sarah said. “We’re surviving.”

Karim pointed at Eliott with his chin.

“And he’s your sidekick?”

Aïcha smiled.

“Yes!”

“You work together often?”

“We try.”

I couldn’t tell if it was a joke.

Karim pulled out a chair.

“Right, sit down.”

I sat down.

The conversation kept going around me, fast, easy, like a radio that had already been on for a long time.

Aïcha was laughing. She was laughing a lot. I hadn’t seen her like that yet.

Not with me.

With me, she laughed too. But more softly.

Here, it was different.

Bigger. Louder. More… natural?

I wondered if I made her calmer. Or if they made her more alive.

The professor handed out the exercise.

“You need to analyze the situation of a fictional company and propose a complete strategy adapted to the difficulties you identify. Finance, marketing, HR, and sales.”

Karim grabbed the sheet.

“Right. We split the roles.”

He looked at Aïcha and me.

“You two, the numbers.”

Aïcha raised her hands.

“We accept this heavy responsibility.”

Karim laughed.

“I hope so.”

Sarah leaned toward me.

“Are you the silent type or is that just today?”

I think I blinked.

“A bit of both.”

Karim added:

“He does talk, though?”

Aïcha gave the table a little elbow nudge.

“Yes, he talks. Sometimes.”

Everyone laughed. Me too. A little.

I didn’t know exactly why.

Lucas was leafing through the pages.

“Okay, we have three hours.”

Karim leaned back.

“Plenty.”

Sarah looked at Aïcha.

“Are you two together?”

The silence lasted one second.

Aïcha laughed.

“What?”

“I’m asking.”

“No, why?”

She pointed toward me.

“He’s my classmate.”

Karim added:

“Ah.”

He looked at me.

I didn’t know why, before trying to answer.

“Yes.”

Then the discussions started again.

Marketing. Budget. Recruitment.

I took notes.

Sometimes, someone spoke very fast.

Sometimes, everyone spoke at the same time.

I felt a little like someone sitting at a table where the game had started before he arrived.

My phone vibrated. A message.

Jade?

She had asked for my number, but I didn’t think she would write to me.

“Jade: So, little finance guy, how’s university? Bored?”

I looked around. No one was paying attention.

“Eliott: Cross-program tutorial class”

“Jade: That explains why you’re answering me, actually no, help them a little”

“Eliott: I am helping them, but it’s not easy”

“Jade: You’re with funny little people? I don’t miss university”

“Eliott: I can’t wait to miss it…”

“Jade: Give me the details”

“Eliott: They talk fast.”

“Jade: Any pretty girls? Flirt, big guy, it’ll keep you busy”

“Eliott: …”

“Jade: Are you still alive?”

“Eliott: I’m at university to work, and I should get back to it”

“Jade: Good luck Mister Intern, don’t forget to enjoy it, and write down the gossip for me”

I think I smiled.

I looked up. Karim was explaining something to Lucas while drawing a diagram on the sheet. Aïcha was talking with Sarah. She had her elbow on the table. She was laughing again.

I didn’t know if I was really part of the conversation.

“Should we take a break?” Karim said after a while.

Sarah agreed.

“Yes.”

Aïcha turned toward me.

“Want to go out?”

“Okay.”

We crossed the building.

The courtyard was full of students.

The sun had that mid-afternoon light that makes it feel like the day has already lived through something.

“You okay?” Aïcha asked.

“Yes.”

“You’re lying.”

I think I laughed.

“Maybe.”

She shrugged.

“They’re loud.”

“A little.”

“But they’re nice.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

She looked at me for one second.

“You know, they ask questions to everyone.”

“I imagine.”

We spotted Nawal and Youssef near a bench.

“Hey!” Aïcha said.

Nawal raised her hand.

“Survivors of the tutorial?”

“Barely.”

We talked for a few minutes.

Simple things.

“Who are you with?”

“People we vaguely know.”

“Good luck.”

Youssef looked at Eliott.

“Are they annoying?”

“No, it’s fine, we’re trying to finish quickly.”

He nodded.

“Good strategy.”

Aïcha leaned against the wall beside me.

Very close. Not on purpose. Or maybe a little.

I could feel her shoulder against mine.

“We should get back to work,” Nawal said.

“Ah yes… can’t wait for the end.”

They left.

The silence stayed for a few seconds.

Aïcha looked at me.

“You’re very quiet today.”

“That’s my normal mode.”

“If you say so…”

She moved a little closer again.

“But we know each other by now.”

That sentence did something strange in my chest.

Then someone shouted in the courtyard.

“Aïcha!”

Karim.

“We’re starting again!”

She rolled her eyes.

“We’re coming!”

We went back into the room. The group had already returned to the discussions. Karim was talking about sales strategy, Sarah was writing things down, and Lucas was doing marketing calculations.

I dove back into the numbers.

At one point, Karim said:

“Hey, Aïcha, your finance partner still isn’t saying anything.”

She replied:

“He’s thinking.”

Karim laughed.

“Intensely?”

“They’re numbers, not pretty talk for decoration.”

I didn’t know if it was a defense or a joke.

Probably both.

The work continued.

Then a second break settled in almost naturally.

Sarah went out to make a phone call. Karim left to get coffee, and Lucas was talking with another group.

Aïcha turned toward me.

“Come.”

“Where?”

“Come.”

We left the room.

The building was quieter on this side.

Aïcha stopped in front of a vending machine.

She slipped in some coins.

The machine started making that very serious noise of instant drinks, then she handed me the cup.

“Here, gift.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s a social investment.”

“I’m honored.”

She smiled.

Then the silence came back.

We were alone in the corridor.

The kind of silence that isn’t empty.

She leaned against the wall across from me.

“You don’t really like this kind of group.”

It wasn’t a question.

“Not really.”

“I know.”

She looked at her cup.

“They can be a little… a lot.”

“Yes.”

“But they’re not mean.”

“I know.”

She lifted her eyes to mine.

“You know, I’m not making fun of you.”

“I know.”

It was true.

And yet, something had stung a little.

But there, in that quiet corridor, it was easier to forget.

She came one step closer, very simply, very naturally.

“I’m glad you came into my group.”

“We were already in the same one.”

“Not wrong…”

She lifted her cup.

“But still.”

Our hands brushed.

It was stupid. But my heart sped up.

She noticed.

I think.

Because she smiled…

Not the big smile from earlier.

A smaller one. Closer. More intimate.

“You see,” she said.

“What?”

“We’re doing well.”

I looked at my cup.

Then at her.

Then at the corridor.

“Yes.”

And for one second, everything seemed simple.

I told myself that maybe I had imagined some things in the room. That the remarks weren’t so serious. That people were just loud. That maybe I was the problem.

And strangely, that idea didn’t hurt so much.

Because despite all that… with Aïcha, things were going well.