Glass Ceilings (5 page)

Travis smiled warmly at both candidates as they rose to their feet. ‘I’m sure you’ll do all you can to help our new CEO, Royce. Your support will be of great assistance during her settling-in period.’

Royce gave a curt nod and turned on his heel to leave. Verity smiled and dipped her head at the other two men before following him out.

After their guests had left, Travis and Clyde exchanged meaningful glances.

‘OK, that’s done,’ Travis sighed. ‘Now, as I’m your “ten o’clock”, I guess we’d better move on to that other item.’

Both men closed their recruitment folders, and put them into Clyde’s ‘out’ tray, before opening two brand new files labelled,
Succession Planning: RCL Board of Directors.

Royce didn’t look to left or right as he marched out of Clyde’s office, and Verity had to run to keep up with him.

‘Royce,’ she panted, ‘You know there was nothing personal—’

‘Why the hell did you apply?’ He stopped so abruptly she almost ran into him.

‘I ... well ... you see....’
Oh, great timing, brain! Right when I need you, you go on a coffee break.
Her mouth dropped open.

Royce gave a sharp, derisive snort. ‘Well, you’ve got what you wanted. I just hope you know what you’re doing.’

He’s so disappointed
, she thought,
I wish I could think of something constructive to say
.
For some reason I feel an irrational need to comfort him.

Hey, hang on! WHAT? Did I really just think that?

Royce glared at her for another second, before striding away with a brusque, ‘Excuse me.’

His high-handedness brought on an instant surge of hot resentment in Verity. She lifted her chin and pinched her lips together.

He’s still treating me like a nobody
, she thought furiously,
and here I am, taking it, and feeling
sorry
for the arrogant bastard!
Well, not any longer, mister. I’m CEO now and you’d better learn to accept it, otherwise we’ll be bumping heads before too long.

Turning on her heel, she walked purposefully in the opposite direction. But underneath her anger, she still felt a twinge of empathy for him. She knew how bad that sort of disappointment felt.

Welcome to my world, Royce. I’ve worn those ill-fitting shoes before and suffered for ages with the resulting blisters.

* * *

I had a 3am sit-up, diary. You know, one of those where you’re sound asleep and suddenly jerk awake with your brain on fire? And the scene still smoking in my mind was of that AWFUL night years ago, when I told David about the promotion Nimbus offered me. I guess the events of yesterday brought back the memories. It was the same scenario, with me excited as all hell at the prospect of a great new job, only back then I’d rushed home to share my news with a husband. Tonight I hurried home to a cat and you, diary.

 
I wasn’t keeping a journal at the time, so if you think you can hack it, I’ll regurgitate the sordid details now, as a sort of exorcism....

When Nimbus offered me the promotion, I accepted it straight away. It was a good career move and a significant financial boost for us. I was thrilled to think my increased earnings would help establish a secure future for the family David and I planned. So how rotten did it feel when I got home and burst out with my wonderful news, only to have him turn on me, shouting that I hadn’t bothered to consult him first? Talk about having the air punched out of my balloon! I couldn’t believe the brute standing there yelling at me was the same happy-go-lucky man I’d married.

Once I got over the shock, I placated him by promising to pass on the promotion. I couldn’t understand why he felt so strongly about it, but thought he must have had his reasons. It occurred to me he might have been worried the new job would make me delay our family plans. Family plans, hah! How wrong can a girl be?

Anyway, nothing was the same after that. He was like a different person, forever looking sideways at me as though suspicious of my every move. And all because I was offered a better paid job. Sheesh! And it didn’t get any better as time went on. He only became more withdrawn and moody. I didn’t know him anymore, and that scared me.

And then that
OTHER
awful night happened. The one that brought things to a head and spelt the end for us. I had to work late and when I got home David was pacing the floor, breathing fire—well, flammable fumes—and shouting all sorts of accusations at me. Although I hardly said a word, not daring to contradict him in the mood he was in, he actually raised a hand at me.

And in that moment, it was all over. I wasn’t going to give him the opportunity to make good on that threat.

And when I look back on it now, diary, I can’t help thinking how ironic his accusations were, considering what he was up to behind my back. No wonder he didn’t trust me. Those not worthy of trust themselves....

* * *

Verity’s life changed abruptly
as soon as
she stepped out of the meeti
ng w
ith Clyde and Travis. N
o longer Verity Parker, Associate Mine Manager, RCL Bauxit
e Mine, s
he had become
the new
chief executive officer
of multi-nation
al mining venture, RCL Alumina.

W
ord spread like
an uncontrollable bush
fire throughout the office building, scorching its way aroun
d t
he refinery
,
and
leaving a
trail
of
smoking
ash as it ran full-tilt
along
the conveyor belt to the bauxite mine.

Royce James was beaten to the CEO job by a
WOMAN
!

Chapter Four

Ve
rity easily pushed Royce out
of her mind as other, more urgent matters
clamoured
for her attention
. And they
all
landed in her lap
at once
,
or so
it seemed
.
Realising how much she didn’t know about the job, she made a
conscious
effort to cling
,
limpet-like
,
to Clyde
, watching and learning
for as long as she could. She grew
increasingly anxious as his departure date loomed. T
he changed attitudes of her executive colleagues
,
foll
owing her promotion
,
didn’t help either
. But s
he
’d been expecting that
. She
knew
they, like Royce, would find
it difficult coming to terms with her
unexpected
elevation to power.

She was well aware
of what
they would
be saying, or at least thinking; that her appointment
was a
break
from tradition
,
and
possibly an unwelcome one
. RCL’s
CEO
had
always been sourced
from
among
the
executive
ranks of
the
join
t
venture’s
international o
wners.
With the major shareholder, Orix Corp, based in the US, all the previous CEOs had been Americans, and male.

At least Royce would have met that last criterion
, she acknowledged sourly,
but now they have a CEO who’s both Australian
and
female.
Talk about smashing the
mould
!

RCL Alumina was no different from any other
large
organisation;
it suffered under the burden of office politics.
It was easy to predict that some in its ra
nks would be unwilling to accept
having
a ‘token femal
e’
in
the company’s top job,
and
a
s
their boss
.
Verity
soon became aware of grumblings among some d
epartment heads, all older
men
,
who were l
oath to accept the new status quo
.

Clyde was also aware of the unease among the senior staff
, but he and Travis
decided it
was something Verity had to sort out on her own.
She needed t
o establish her authority, and Clyd
e had his own future to think about now—a rosy one
including
lots of golf
,
and time with the w
ife, kids and gra
ndkids. He was
content
to take a seat in the ‘departure lounge’ and hand
over the reins to his
enthusiastic
young
replacement
.

Although Verity ha
d enjoyed
cordial
relationship
s
with most members of the executive team
in the past, she
found some of
them
uneasy in their dealings with her
now
. She
wondered
if she would need to take steps to address the issue so the or
ganisation could move on from it
. S
he was pleased and very relieved
when Claire seemed to take
it all
in her stride.

After work on the day Verity had been told about the job, t
hey’d met for coffee at a favourite beachside café
. O
n hearing her friend’s news
,
C
laire’s girl-next-door face
had
lit
w
ith genuine pleasure.

‘Well, I
never
thought this would happen.
Oh,
not because I didn’t think you could do it. I
totally
knew you’d blitz the interview
, and you’ll be brilliant in the job
!
It was just that Royce
....’ She shrugged.
‘
W
ell, you know the story. Oh,
I’m
so
h
appy for you, you clever, clever thing!
’ She beamed across the table at Verity.

‘Thanks.’

‘
But,’ and Claire dropped her voice to a whisper, ‘
you do know
what the
word around the office will be
? T
hat
you fluttered those beautiful long lashes of yours
at the male
panellis
ts
,
’ and she gave a wicked cackle,
‘
and they
couldn’t help but offer you the job
!’ She giggled,
‘It’s
good to
know that
old
malingerer,
The Duke of E
nvy, is still alive and well
.
I would’ve missed the
mean-spirited
old buggar!
’

Claire’s
teasing
banter
earned her a mock
punch
on the arm
from Verity, who grinned fondly at her friend. She saw only laughter and affection in Claire’s blue eyes
, and thought
once again
how lucky she was to have had her help and support through the good and bad times
.

And
now,
Verity mused,
when so many others are resentful of my achievement,
you
’re
still
the true friend you’ve always been.
Treating me no differently
,
except for
a hint of additional respect on the side
.

Her
eyes grew serious and she
looked intently at Claire.
‘I want you to know how
thankful
I am
that
no matter what happens, I have you as
my
friend
.
’

‘Oh
,
come on, no
getting all mushy now
... boss!’