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As soon as I walked down the hallway, Omar stopped me. “How was the party last night?” he asked. Then, with a hand to his hip, he raised his hand. “Never mind. Judging by the two red spots on your cheeks, it went well. I want to hear all about it.”
“Oh, look who strolled into work today,” another voice called from behind me. I rolled my eyes before pasting a smile on my face.
“Good morning to you too, Faith,” I said, then pivoted on my heel and walked toward my cubicle. “Let’s chat at lunch,” I called over my shoulder to Omar.
Unfortunately, Faith followed. “Quite the ride you took to work today. Guess you don’t need that promotion anymore.”
I wanted to tell her it was creepy that she looked for my car in the mornings, but instead, I smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter if I need the promotion or not, Faith. I earned it. More than you did.”
She sucked her teeth and pressed her tongue against her cheek. “I’m sure you earned that car, too.” The irony of that statement made my blood boil, but I wouldn’t shame another woman, not even Faith.
I took a step forward and raised my eyebrow. “Get out of my cubicle. You’re not worth my time.”
She shook her head and walked away.
I settled into my chair and stretched out my fingers. I enjoyed working, not all the time, but I liked delving into a new client’s file and looking for someone else’s errors. It pleased me, and I smirked at the pettiness of that thought.
A knock at the top of my cubicle startled me and I straightened when I saw Damon Fromer, the partner who refused to reschedule my interview, standing there.
“Do you have a minute to chat in the boardroom, Grace?”
“Of course,” I said, and followed him down the hallway. He sat in one of the chairs and lifted his leg to rest his ankle on his knee. The casual gesture put me at ease, and I took the seat next to him. “How can I help you, Mr. Fromer?”
“Grace, you’ve been with us for many years and your work has not gone unnoticed.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile tugged at my lips. Finally, some acknowledgment of everything I’d done for Delmar & Tuch.
“It’s unfortunate that the promotion didn’t work out, but there’s a new role we’ve been thinking about that would work well with your skill set.”
“New role?” Sometimes companies created job positions for people and perhaps this was one of those times. It wouldn’t be crazy to open up two manager positions. “I’m open to new possibilities.”
“That’s great. We think you’ll love working on the second floor, training new staff.”
“Training? New staff? But that’s not what I do.”
“Think of it as a new opportunity for you.” He looked around the room, avoiding my eyes momentarily. “Also, you won’t be needing your cubicle, but you’ll have until the end of the day to clear it out.”
I felt as though the world tilted on its axis and everything in the room swayed to the right. My stomach turned and I felt nauseated. “Are you…” I couldn’t get the words out. “Are you firing me?”
“No, no. Of course not. Just assigning you to a different role.”
“I see,” I said. The pieces clicked into place. “You’re not firing me, but you’re demoting me.” My eyes held his, and he loosened his tie.
I couldn’t believe it. After all these years. “Is this because I was late for one meeting? One meeting and I’m out?”
He put his hands up. “No, no. It’s not that. It’s…”
I raised my eyebrow, eager to hear his explanation. Well, not exactly eager, more like pissed off.
“Look, Grace. We just can’t have that sort of reputation in our firm. Our clients are not looking for that kind of notoriety. We can’t have you client-facing anymore. But there will always be a place for you at Delmar & Tuch.”
Reputation? Notoriety? Oh, my gawd! This was still about that picture with Luke on the bleachers. I remembered my conversation with Faith, but that only ignited my fury. Then I recalled some past indiscretions and my indignation exploded.
“And what sort of reputation is that?” I asked, standing up. “Are our clients looking for the reputation of a man who cheats on his wife with the latest intern in the office? Is that it?” Fromer’s face went paler than usual. “How about the sort who skims off the top of his expense account to pay for his weekend rounds of golf? Is that more a client’s preference, Mr. Fromer?” I asked, my voice rising. “Because I’m pretty sure that if I weren’t a woman, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. Instead, you would ask if he had a sister. Am I wrong?”
“That’s not true. This isn’t because you’re a woman. It has nothing to do with that.”
I nodded my head. “Right. Because all the partners’ indiscretions—and there are many more than the ones I’ve listed—occurred before they made partner. Those indiscretions were acceptable because?"
