He'll Be With You in Five

She has been here since seven. She will leave after six. In between, she has forwarded the calendar invite, blocked the conference room, placed the catering order, circled back on the revised agenda, and updated the org chart — for the fourth time this quarter. The board deck is in the shared drive, in the folder she created. He has not found it on his own in eleven years.

This song lives in that gap. Not the dramatic kind of gap, not a grievance — just the quiet distance between the person who holds everything together and the room where everything gets decided. Baroque strings and harpsichord make a small ceremony of it, because her work deserves ceremony even when no one arranges it for her. The verses move the way she does: methodical, exact, a little wry. The chorus is where the composure costs something.

In the bridge, she almost says it. She gets as far as I need that by EOD — actually, I think I needed it a long time before today. Then the piano holds, and she doesn't finish the sentence. She goes back to work. The orchestra swells under her on the way out, which is the only standing ovation she is going to get today.

[Verse 1] I've forwarded your calendar invite I've blocked conference room B till three I sent the reminders last Tuesday and the catering order is placed by me

The board deck is in the shared drive under the folder you haven't found I've been circling back on the revised agenda since the last time you were out of town

[Pre-Chorus] I know every password, every room I know the names of all the wives I've updated the org chart four times this quarter and the one thing no one asks is mine

[Chorus] He'll be with you in five I've been here since seven The board deck is in the drive and I'm still not in the meeting He'll be with you in five That's eleven years of knowing when to hold the door, when to hold your tongue and when to just keep going

[Verse 2] He mispronounced my name at the all-hands said it fast, moved on, didn't catch it I ordered a cake for the VP of Sales for a birthday I had to go fetch it

Your noon is free if you move the two-thirty I've already made the call Out of office — please contact my manager though she doesn't know my schedule at all

[Pre-Chorus] I know every exit, every flight the coffee order, the after-hours line I've been the quiet hinge this building swings on and nobody's noticed in a very long time

[Chorus] He'll be with you in five I've been here since seven The board deck is in the drive and I'm still not in the meeting He'll be with you in five That's eleven years of knowing when to hold the door, when to hold your tongue and when to just keep going

[Bridge] I need that by EOD — Actually, I think I needed it a long time before today I've sent the reminders I've sent the reminders I've sent the reminders and I'm still the one who stays

[Outro] He'll be with you in five I've been here since seven The board deck is in the drive and I'm still not in the meeting He'll be with you in five That's eleven years of knowing when to hold the door, when to hold your tongue and when to just keep going

He'll be with you in five (She keeps everything running) The board deck is in the drive (she keeps everything running) He'll be with you in five (she keeps everything running) and I'm still not in the meeting