“No, she’s right, Frank. My comments were sexist and inappropriate.” Jeff again peered at something beyond the window before turning to Alex. “I’m ashamed of what just happened and hope you will forgive me. I have nothing but high regard for your work. And,” he hesitated, “in my defense, I think I slipped into overprotective dad mode rather than boss mode, which is where I should have stayed. You remind me of my daughter and I have watched your success here with pride as I do hers. Please forgive me for overstepping.”
Jeff and Frank watched her, waiting for a response. She was still shaking, although she couldn’t tell at this point if it was from anger, shock, or disappointment. Neither of these men had ever been less than professional with her in the past. She didn’t trust herself to speak.
“Honestly, I need to go cool off. If you will excuse me?” she asked.
Jeff nodded and Alex snatched her laptop off the table then fled the room. Frank called her before she got two steps down the hall. She turned and waited for him.
“Alex, take off the rest of the day. I know that hit hard, and if it’s any consolation, he’s never expressed any doubt to me privately about your abilities. And I believe his remark about slipping into dad mode. I’m not sure if you knew, but you’re the same age as his daughter.” Before Alex could protest, Frank raised a hand and continued, “At any rate, take a break. Your team can handle things for you. It’s Friday. Take the weekend and let’s talk first thing Monday. Okay?”
She nodded once and turned to go. Frank didn’t follow, but went back into Jeff’s office, shutting the door. Lord only knew what that exchange would be like.
On her way back to her office, she pulled her phone from her pocket and called Fin. When he answered, she asked, “Hey, Fin… you remember that gym you told me about? Can we go there? I need to hit things.”
Chapter13
Friday Aftermath
Fin heldthe punching bag as Alex attacked it. Her call had first surprised, then delighted him. Earlier in the week, Blake had introduced him to Pete, the owner of Pete’s Gym, and Fin had come here for his daily workout ever since. He had mentioned it in passing to Alex, but had never thought to invite her along. Now they were here sweating together while she worked out her frustration from the meeting with her bosses. She had said little about what happened, but it must have been bad because she had thrown punches for ten minutes straight with a fury he never wanted to see unleashed on himself.
“You know,” Alex finally spoke, “I expect to run into the chauvinistic bullshit from the guys in the manufacturing plant and the sales dudes in the field. They’re rough. They’re used to talking shit and being the big man or greasing the wheels through the good old boy system. But he completely blindsided me this morning. I never expected to hear that shit from the highest-ranking person in the company. And my boss just sat quietly beside me, saying nothing. I had to fucking defend myself!”
“What happened?” Fin asked, thinking she was ready to talk.
“You happened.” Alex punched again with force. “He approves of my project and certainly seems excited about it, but wasn’t sure if little ol’ me could handle all that pressure, especially since I’m so busy dating a Hollywood movie star.” She bent her head forward and punched again.
Fin winced. “Truly? He brought up your love life?” The last thing he wanted was to cause problems for Alex.
“Right? If I were a man, my personal life would never have come up. But women are judged harshly in that area. We can’t promote you because you might have babies and leave us. We can’t pay you the same because you will spend too much of your time focused on your family rather than the job. Or worse, we can’t pay you the same or promote you because your work isn’t as good as a man’s. Utter. Bullshit.” She gave the bag a double punch.
“You know,” she continued, “I’ve paid my dues. I’ve dealt with harassment, both subversive and blatant. Do you know that I once had my work double-checked by some guy in IT because he didn’t think I knew what I was talking about?” The question was obviously rhetorical because she continued before he could respond. “Do you know what a subject matter expert is?”
Fin shook his head no.
“A subject matter expert is someone who—as the name suggests—is anexperton the topic. The finance department chose me to represent them—the entire global community of our finance organization—on the project. Aside from that tidbit, I was a fucking controller at my last job. I mean, the company was smaller, but Iwasthe top accountant. I signed the tax returns and bank papers, dealt with auditors and attorneys…”
She trailed off before scowling and added, “And yet some snot-nosed, holier-than-thou network guy ran my work by amaleaccountant to make sure I was right.”
Fin held the bag steady as her punching grew furious again.
“I’ve put up with comments about my legs, about how I dress, about how Idon’tdress, and about how I won’t date anyone in the office. I’ve had men whom I outranked in seniority ask me to make the coffee!” She gave another hard double punch to the bag. “I finally reached the point where I thought I had earned my seat at the table… where I would no longer be subjected to crap like that.”
Alex paused, breathing heavily for a minute before she glared at him. “Do you know how I knew they finally accepted me as ‘one of the boys?’ I was at a pub with some sales managers on a business trip when one of them talked about a vacation he’d taken with his mistress. They suddenly realized I was a woman and swore me to secrecy because they didn’t wanthis wifeto discover his cheating ways. That disgusting moment was when I knew I had been accepted.” Alex hung her head, collecting herself before continuing. “But it seems I was wrong. Apparently, I’m still fighting that battle.”
She closed her eyes and took another calming breath. “He said something weird. Jeff, the CEO.” When she opened them again, she looked directly at Fin. “He said he was thinking like a dad when he made the comment. Like he was acting protective of me. What does that mean? Does he think he’s protecting me bynotgiving me challenging work? Bynotadvancing my career?Humph.”
Her eyes filled with tears and one slipped down her cheek. Fin let go of the bag and gathered her up in his arms.
“Damn it! I hate it when I cry,” she said into his chest.
“Men are arseholes,” he replied as he kissed the top of her head.
She laughed and agreed, “Yeah, they are.”
Alex moved away, and Fin let her go. She wiped her cheeks and smoothed her hair, as if those actions would erase the distress she felt. “I’m starving. You hungry?”
Fin raised an eyebrow. “Are you finished hitting things?”
“Yes. I’m still mad enough to spit, but we’ve taken the edge off so now I can think clearly.” She rolled her eyes. “In fact, I just now realized I didn’t even ask you if you were available. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?”
