Page 15 of Pucked and Pregnant

“Ah, there’s the new girl. Sorry I didn’t greet you when you came in. I was on the phone with Carl, sorry, Coach Masters, about the report I’ve been working on.”

Grace stands up. “I’ll take that as my cue to leave since it sounds like you have a report to discuss.”

“Thank you for the tour, Grace,” I say. “Oh, and would you mind shutting the door on your way out, please?”

Travis extends a hand. “So, would you like to know what Carl had to say about my report?”

“Only if you want to share or have any questions, but as the top junior analyst, I don’t anticipate that you would.”

I don’t miss the slight scowl at the word junior.

“Oh, no. No questions on my end. The coach and I have a good rapport. He’ll tell me straight up if there’s an issue.”

“That is definitely an asset our team can use.”

He plops down into the chair Grace just vacated. “I am definitely an asset for sure. I knew you had a good head on your shoulders when I first saw you.”

Anger flares in my chest at his patronizing tone, but I refuse to allow him to rattle me.

“So, what did you want to discuss then? It must be important, seeing as you interrupted a meeting without knocking.”

“A meeting? With Grace?” He scoffs, but then seeing the look on my face adds, “Oh, you’re not joking. You seriously want me to knock every time?”

“Yes, actually.” I smile. “Thank you for understanding.”

“You have a dazzling smile,” he says. “For the cameras, I mean. The media is going to love you. Fans, too.”

“They did in Minnesota, so hopefully they will here, too.”

“Love the confidence.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry, I don’t think you introduced yourself when you came in, or if you did, I didn’t catch it.” I actively have to suppress my smirk at his obvious annoyance that I asked for his name. Of course, I already know it but I refuse to play into his delusions of superiority.

“Travis Hydt.”

“Olivia Winters.”

“Fantastic. Now that that’s out of the way, why don’t I give you the grand tour?”

Classic attempt to reassert his perceived power… how predictable.

“Grace already gave me the grand tour, actually.”

“Nonsense. She doesn’t know any of the good spots in the office.” He beckons me with his hand. “Come on, let’s go.”

I want nothing more than to break those fingers, but knowing that causing a major scene on my first day would not go over well, I follow along behind him. The tour consists of him introducing me to everyone Grace already had. To my chagrin, he does it in a way that implies he discovered me. And when no one else was in earshot, he peppered in some thinly veiled sexist comments, testing the waters presumably to see if I’d report him to HR.

The whole thing made me sick.

He might have been able to harass Alice into quitting the senior analyst position, but he’s going to have a rude awakening if he thinks those tactics will work on me.

The first thing I do once he finally leaves me alone is create a locked folder and record every misogynistic and sexist sentiment he expressed to me. His behavior over the past two hours is enough to go to HR, but an official warning from them isn’t going to be enough for me. I need this man to be fired and blackballed from the entire industry, and I want to be the one to make that happen.

Travis said my smile was dazzling. I wonder if he’ll still feel that way once he finds out exactly how sharp my pretty teeth are.

5

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