Page 41 of Courage, Dear Heart
“He laughed and said that either way, no woman has ever been made a partner in his firm and as long as he was in charge, no woman would.”
“But that’s not true. Grandma was a partner with Grandpa,” Nikki adds.
I put my hand up. “I know. That’s something my father conveniently forgets. He likes to think of her as Grandpa’s secretary, but we all know who ran the show in the firm.”
“The fucking cocksucker,” Mandy hisses.
The server chose that exact time to bring our food. He hesitates for a second and I push glasses and plates around to make room for the platter I’d already ordered for us to share.
“Do you understand now why this can’t come back to me?”
Nikki nods. “He’ll castrate you if he finds out you told us.”
I wince. My father is not a forgiving man. “I had to tell you. And you two can figure out what to do with that information.”
“I want to burn the place down.” Mandy digs into the food, taking an angry bite.
“I completely understand that. But you two are smarterthan anyone else in the firm, and as they say, revenge is best served cold.”
Nikki tilts her head. “Why are you telling us this?”
“Because I don’t agree with what he said. And because I’d pay to see you two take my father down.”
Nikki raises an eyebrow. “You would?”
“He’s my father, and I love him. But he’s also the biggest prick I’ve ever met. And I’d love to see him beaten at his own game. That’s why I wanted to meet far away from the office. I don’t want to take a chance of anyone seeing us and also the ride back will give you a chance to cool off.”
“I’m not sure if three trips around the planet would be enough to cool me off,” Mandy says.
“But you must. You can’t go back with guns loaded and ready to fire. You need to be cool about this. Gather proof. Talk to previous female employees. Make a case, and then when there’s no way to deny it, knock him on his ass.”
Nikki nods again. “He has a point.”
I tap on the table. “He underestimates you. You know he does. All of them do. My father, uncles, and Josh. Use that to your advantage.”
Mandy smiles. “They’ll never see it coming.”
And had I been on the wrong side of that smile, I’d probably wet my pants.
Screens & Sparks
Jillian: Tell me something small that you never admitted to anyone before.
Elliott: Whoa, we’re getting deep tonight.
Jillian: You’re deflecting.
Elliott: Okay, confession time. I pretend I don’t like rom-coms, but I secretly love them.
Jillian: Notting Hill or 10 Things I Hate About You?
Elliott: That’s not fair.
Jillian: We should plan a movie night and watch them both.
Elliott: You’re on.
NINETEEN
