Women Like You

“Women Like You”   appeared in the second edition of Skive Magazine in April, 2006.

Leah took one last look in the bathroom mirror, patting a stray blond hair into place, applying one last coat of bright pink lipstick. There, she thought to herself. Looking pretty good if I do say so myself. She bared her teeth and rubbed a smudge of pink off their sparkling whiteness. Pulling at the collar of her crisp white blouse, she tugged at the black skirt and wriggled a little all over.

She felt as ready as she would ever be to undergo this evaluation. It was an important one, she was pretty sure she would be offered a substantial raise and promotion this time, now that Mr. Thurston was indisposed. She giggled a little at the reflection in the mirror, remembering the state in which she had left the poor, unfortunate Mr. Thurston.

She exited the bathroom, her high heels tapping on the tile floor. Leah knew wearing a short black skirt and high heels put a little sass in her walk, and she loved it. Let the office secretaries’ gossip about her, let their small minds judge and sentence her. A smart woman used all of her assets.   She tossed her head and heard the large silver earrings tinkle softly as she approached the office door.

Leah knocked firmly on the door, one, two, three raps. A husky voice bid her to enter.

She turned the cold knob in her hand, pushed, and walked in to the room as if she owned it. Closing the door behind her, she flashed a brilliant smile to the man behind the desk.

“Have a seat, Leah,” he indicated a chair to the left of the high polished, oak desk.

“Thank you, Mr. Winston.” She sat carefully in the chair and crossed her long legs, aware of the eyes upon her, and secretly smiled to herself. What a cake walk this will be, she thought. She was expecting Ted Winston to do her evaluation; as a matter of fact she was counting on it. Thankfully her plan seemed to be going in the right direction.

Mr. Winston fondled a pencil between his fingers; leveling an appraising look at Leah with sharp, gray eyes. Leah sat calmly in her chair, watching the pencil and to her surprise feeling a little flushed. He was handsome in his own way, she mused, but not really my type.

“You have been with us for three years, Leah, and you know you are here for your yearly evaluation. Since Mr. Thurston is out this week, I am assuming that responsibility.” Leah nodded her head and looked serious, but even though Mr. Winston made it sound like Mr. Thurston was on vacation, she knew the real reason he was out and suppressed a smile. Mr. Winston cleared his throat and put the pencil down on the blotter of his desk. Good, good, Leah thought gleefully. He’s nervous. She kept her face neutral, and only someone who knew Leah well would be able to tell she was feeling anything but relaxed at the moment. In that case, she was safe because no one knew her well. She liked it that way.

“Well, Leah,” Mr. Winston’s eyes shifted away from hers for a moment and he picked the pencil back up. “I will start with some positive things we like about you.”

Leah casually changed her position and crossed her legs again. She fancied she could see beads of sweat pop out on young Teddy’s forehead and was pleased with that reaction. She kept an innocent look on her face and smiled and waited in silence for him to go on.

“You are good at handling the phone.” She almost snorted out loud. She really had to get a grip; these double entendres were going to get her in trouble. “You are punctual, and you are assertive. You know how to take charge of a situation and get the job done.”

Leah almost laughed out loud. Oh, you could sure say that about her; just ask the legions of witnesses in the battle of the boudoir. On top is where she wanted to be, in more ways than one. A small, nasty smile hovered at the corners of her mouth and she was helpless to prevent it. She looked up at young Teddy and was surprised to see his eyes steady upon hers, the steely gray very cool. Leah blinked but kept her game face on. Well, she thought. Might be a little bit more to this boy than I thought.

“However, there are issues that you need to work on before we can consider you for promotion, or even a raise.”

Leah sat up straight in her chair, her heart starting to thump. She could feel the beginning of the adrenaline rush that signaled a dangerous crossing into the red zone. She uncrossed her legs and clasped her hands in her lap, and her brown eyes narrowed as she tried to get control of her emotions. “Mr. Winston, I would welcome instructions in any area that would improve my job performance,” she said in a soft tone, proud of the way her voice did not tremble or give away what she was truly thinking.   I can play this game, she thought. Young Teddy has got some instruction of his own coming. “But I must confess, I feel like I have given more than 100% to this firm, and I have earned both a promotion and a raise.” Let him chew on that.

“We are well aware of what you have given to this firm.”

Leah’s heart gave a tremendous thump she was sure he could hear from where he sat. Oh, this was not going the way she had hoped, not at all.

“As a matter of fact, that is one of the issues we have here, and in light of Mr. Thurston’s…..vacation, I am going to ask that you go clean out your desk and vacate the premises immediately.”

In spite of her iron control, Leah’s jaw dropped down and she gaped at young Mr. Winston like he had just sprouted an antenna and started speaking Venusian. “Excuse me?” she stammered. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am dead serious,” Mr. Winston replied. “As a matter of fact, I wanted this assignment. You have had this coming for quite some time, and I am thankful I am the one that got to lower the boom, so to speak.”

Leah was thunderstruck and her mind raced frantically, trying to turn this situation to her advantage and not finding any way to do so. She felt her cheeks flush and sweat beading on her upper lip and between her ample breasts. Her eyes probed the young Mr. Winston’s, trying to find purchase. He smiled gently at her; the steely gray eyes not cool anymore, but ice cold.

“Mr. Thurston is my uncle. His wife is my mother’s dear sister. You picked the wrong man when you picked him, my dear, and it is payback time. Get packed and get out. The security guard will help you. You will get full severance, but don’t ask for a letter of recommendation. Don’t worry; you will fall on your feet. Women like you always do.”

She looked into his face and saw there were no appeal and no parole to this sentence. She knew when to cut her losses and retreat, and realized for the first time in years she had underestimated her opponent. Leah bottled up the anger for perusal later, right now she wanted to get out before she blew a gasket and ruined any chances of a job anywhere else in the industry.

He read her mind with uncanny accuracy. “If you are expecting a job elsewhere in this field in this city, you may have to change your expectations. I have made sure that a version of your sordid activities has been communicated to the ones that needed to know, and my advice to you is to save yourself the humiliation and pick another venue.” He smiled sadly. “It’s too bad, Leah. You have a lot of potential and I am sorry to see that go to waste.”

He got to his feet, and she got to hers on trembling legs. He walked to the door and opened it. She walked through the door; her body feeling like it belonged to someone else. No sass in this walk. She heard the echo in her head for days and weeks afterward, spoken in a gentle tone, but nonetheless stinging as if they were bellowed.

You will fall on your feet. Women like you always do. Women like you always do.