Glass Ceilings (41 page)

No one
in the audience
could tell how hard Verity was working to maintain the polished performance. She was mustering every atom of energy to control her physical, emotional
,
and psychological presence in front of her peers, as she related
items
they wanted—and some they didn’t want—to hear.

‘
I draw your attention to
the proposal
for
the
extension
s to the Bayer process currently
utili
sed at the RCL refinery. A report outlining the proposal was
distributed
to you all earlier this week
, and
is
included
in appendix five of the meeting papers.’
Aware that many wouldn’t have read it beforehand,
Verity
gave
the delegates
time to
flip
through their papers and
locate the
document
.

While
she waited, h
er eyes flicked towards
Royce
and
she
found him
looking intently at her, his expression
undefinable
. She
hastily
dropped her eyes to
her notes
, cleared her throat,
and
began outlining
the
proposal’s
main points
. She continued smoothly into
an
analysis of the project’s risk
s
, costs
and expected benefits
, and
then concluded
with
detail
s of
modifications necessary to accommodate the new process
at the refinery
.

‘... and so
,
after careful consideration of all aspects of this proposal, I can now
declare
that the project has
my full support
.
’ Papers
rustled throughout the room and
Verity paused to allow the
noise
to die down
again,
before stating resolutely,
‘
I hereby seek board
approval to commence
the nec
essary capital works,
and
request that
a vote
be
held at close of business, to
allow time for proper consideration of
this proposal
in light of my endorsement
.’

There was a low murmur and some head-nodding from the delegates, and once again pages fluttered in preparation for the next agenda item.
Verity moved onto it promptly.

‘
The next
section of my report deal
s
with
workforce planning, and i
t is my
...
sad
...
duty to advise that
both
executive a
ssistant,
Kerry Stowe
,
and
human resources m
anager,
John Reardon
,
have tendered their resignations
.
’ A ripple went through the crowd but Verity ignored it.
‘
As these positions are
crucial to effective operations, applications will be called as a matter of urgency. I
will advise on the status of recruitment
in my official communiqués
.’

Verity
glanced cautiously
in Peter Con
nell’
s direction, and watched
his expression change
from one of
self-
satisfied
scorn
,
to
surprise
, and then
to reluctant respect
.
She
swallowed a smile and
proceeded
with the rest of her report
,
without noti
cing
the gamut of emotions
that
had
also
been
cros
sing
Royce’s countenance
.
Guy was more observan
t though, and gave a slow smile at the
mixture of
gratitude,
a
dmiration,
and
thinly
veiled
affection
he saw traversing
Royce’s
features
.

But, a
s Verity continued speaking,
Royc
e’s
expression
grew serious again
. He
could hear Ella’s voice in his head, but couldn’t
grasp
what she was saying.
Her words were growing
softer
and increasingly hard to hear,
as though
she was throwing them over her shoulder while walk
ing away
. But before they were
gone completely
,
he finally made them out.

‘It’s time.’

Later, as the meet
ing drew to a close, Royce waited
, outwardly relaxed
but inwardly anxious,
for the
final
v
erdict on
his proj
ect
.
Finally, Travis called for the casting of votes by each director.
With rising tension
and trying not to hold his breath
, Royce watched as the delegates voted to decide the future of his brainchild. To his relief and
satisfaction
, the vote was overwhelmingly in favour.
Elated, h
e turned towards
Verity
, who had resumed her seat,
and found her
looking at
him
with a proud smile in her eyes
.
He
beamed at her
and she
f
ound herself grinning
openly
in return
,
sharing
a moment of private pleasure at their joint success
.

Travis
re
mained standing at the
lectern. He waited for the buzz surrou
nding the vote to die down
,
before declaring
there was to be a
special announcement. This caused a
nother
ripple among the delegates
. There’d been no mention of this
on the meeting agenda.
Everyone
listened, intrigued, as Travis
spoke
glowingly of his association with RCL’s board
of directors
. He went on to announce
that his term as chairman was up and he
would be
vacating the position
, effective next meeting.
This wasn't
a
news
flash
, the company grapevine was alive and well, but the question uppermost on everyone’s mind was, who would be Travis’ replacement?

They didn’
t have to wait long to find out.

‘I’
ve been
carefully considering the question of my replacement, and am happy to say tha
t the decision about who to nominate
as my successor
ha
s
been
one of the easiest of my career. In fact,
’ he added d
ryly
,
‘the hardest part was
keeping him from applying for other positions before I had the chance to
nominate
him
for
this one.’

This met with a rumble of laughter
,
but
Verity and
Royce
remained poker-faced, ears pricked, while
Brenda and
Guy looked on benevolently.

Travis
carried on
, ‘The person I’m proposing
to replace me as c
hairman
of the RCL board
was recently unsuccessful in applying for a
nother
executive
position
. This was
because
he’d already been identified in th
e board’s succession planning,
a
nd
because
we were fortunate enough to have another
, very deserving
applicant.
’ Travis’ gaze
fell on Royce, and
moved
across
to
Verity. ‘
I’m sure
you
’ll
ag
ree that Verity Parker has proven herself
a more than capable
CEO
, who
will no doubt
mirror others
in having an
upwardly mobile
career
.’

Verity
quickly
shut her mouth
,
which had been dangerously close to gaping,
and
held herself straight and steady
.
Everyone clapped loudly and Travis had
to raise his voice to be heard.

‘
I
’d like to
take this
opportunity to congratulate Verity
on an excellent performance
,
during what could be described as somewhat difficult times. I know we have exciting years ahead with RCL’s management secure in her capable hands.’

Verity
blushed and felt
her
chest swelling with pride at the
glowing praise, but half her mind was on Royce and what
she now
knew
was in
his future. She felt his eyes on her again, and
turned to see a proud smile spread
ing
across
his face.
But
was he smiling about
her
success
,
or
his own
?

‘Well, I won
’t keep you hanging in suspense,’ Travis
said.
‘
For those of you who haven’t already guessed,
I have great pleasure in nominating Royce James
to take on the
supernumerary
role of chairman of the b
oard of RCL Alumina
, for a period of three years
and no doubt beyond
.’

All eye
s were on Royce, who sat looking
steadily
at Travis
,
while
cries of ‘I
second
the
nomination,’
and ‘H
ere, here
,
’
resounded throughout the room.
Travis
nodded to acknowledge the
almost
unanimous approval,
and
declared
the meeting closed.

Royce rose to join
the
stream of
delegates
exiting the
room,
and
found Verity by his side.

‘I’
m so pleased for you Royce, congratulations.’

H
e heard the sincere pleasure in her voice, and saw it glowing from her eyes. Sh
e reached out to shake his hand
,
and he grasped
hers
firmly
.

Immediately
,
a
little shudder
ran through her. I
t felt as though the warmth of his grip was flowing up her arm like
some sort of
energy
. Her brow puckered for an instant, and she pulled her hand away
more abruptly than she’d intended
.

Royc
e
felt the exchange of heat too, and noticed
her reaction
when they touched. He
took a step closer
,
before remembering
where they were.
He
smiled warmly
at her
and murmured his thanks.
‘And
Verity,
I—’
B
ut b
efore he could say more,
a mob sur
rounded him, clapping him on his broad
shoulders
and bellow
ing their congratulations
.
When h
e looked around for
her again
,
Verity
had
disappeared into the crowd.