Page 6 of Breaking the Ice

Samantha had never been enamored with his insistence on infantilizing her name. Sammy sounded like such alittle girl. After five years she barely registered it anymore but for some reason, this morning, it was exceptionally irritating.

Joining him at hisfloor-to-ceilingwindow, she looked down at what he was muttering over. The protestors swarmed like ants around the bottom of the building. “Goddamn rent-a-crowd,” he growled. “All we’re trying to do up here is earn an honest living. I bet that’s something they wouldn’t know the first thing about.”

“I did warn the board this would happen,” Samantha said, handing over the pamphlet.

He looked at it disparagingly and then crumpled it up. “What our clients do is none of our business. We invest their money, get them the best tax advantages money can buy and keep ’em happy.”

“We could make it our business,” she murmured. “You know these guys are going to screw up somewhere at some point to the detriment of the environment. Then what do I tell my kids when they ask me why I didn’t?—”

“Kids?” Bob interrupted with a splutter.

He gaped at her and Samantha couldn’t really blame him. Where the hell had that come from? Were her eggs controlling her mouth now?

Bob stood there doing a very good impression of a fish out of water before he launched into his tirade. “You stood here, in this very office five years ago, and swore black and blue that you didn’t want kids.”

Samantha sighed. It was true – she had. He hadn’t asked her outright, but she’d sensed Bob had been prevaricating and she’d taken a punt that it was her reproductive potential that was making him reticent. Of course, it was questionable – not to mention illegal – to use her age to discriminate against her inan interview situation but it hadn’t mattered at the time. She’d wanted the job and she sure as hellhadn’twanted children.

“You’re right,” she nodded. “I didn’t… I don’t. It’s just… my eggs have started talking to me. I think my clock has suddenly started ticking.”

He stared at her, clearly mystified by the statement – something over which she could empathize. She didn’t really understand what was happening, either. “Don’t worry,” she assured. “I’m having a bad couple of days. Forget it.”

Samantha made a mental note to see her gynecologist about having her eggs surgically removed as she left his office.

Bob’s secretary buzzed after lunch and she responded to the summons without the usual spring in her step. “I want you to take some leave.”

Samantha would have laughed at Bob’s no-nonsense, no-beating-around-the-bush method, if he hadn’t been so serious.

“I beg your pardon?” What the hell was this?

“You’re obviously a little stressed and not nearly as focused as you should be. I’ve checked; you haven’t taken any annual leave in the last five years. Take it now. Come back when your err…eggs… have stopped talking.”

Samantha couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. “Are you… sacking me?” She’d had one tiny blip in her focus and he’d terminated her employment?

“Of course not,” he boomed. “But I’ll not lie to you, Sammy. I need someone who’s more than just a damn good accountant. I need someone who’s going to play the game. Someone who can give me 110 per cent. Kids, Sammy… they shift a woman’s focus. You need to have a good hard think about your priorities.”

“I can’tleave. I have five active accounts and three more in the pipeline worth tens of millions of dollars.”

“Ray can handle it.”

And that was when Samantha got it. This wasn’t about her focus or her leave or even her eggs. This was about the golden-haired boy. Bile rose hot and acidic in her throat. She was beingput on leaveunder some ridiculous pretense to make way for the company douchebag!

“Ray cannot handle it,” she said through gritted teeth.Ray is a fuckwit!

“Of course he can. You’ve taught him well. And when you’re… better, he’ll be top-notch.”

Samantha snapped. Ray could kiss her ass. “No, Bob. No way. No how. No deal. It’s Ray or me.Ray or me. I will not be replaced by an incompetent fool and I will not be part of a company or any deals where our names appear together.”

“I think you need to be very careful here.” Bob’s voice lowered a degree.

Ha! Fat chance.If Bob thought she was going to sit silently while his nephew used her hard work and reputation to get a leg up then he could think again.

“Or what? You’ll fire me instead of asking me totake leave? Well, you know what? You can stuff your job but mark my words.” She rose from the chair, jabbing her finger at the desk. “I’ll be back and do you know why? Because when your dim-witted nephew destroys years of my hard work and loses this company millions of dollars, you’re going to come crawling back. And you’d better be prepared to eat humble pie because I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.”

“There’s no need to get all hysterical, Sammy. I’m not sacking you.”

He was using what she assumed was his placatory voice while displaying that stricken look men often got when women wentallfemaleon them. Like he was expecting her to burn her bra or say the wordvagina. Or worse – cry.

“Too bad, because I quit. It’s me or him, Bob.”

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