Glass Ceilings (20 page)

‘John’s done nothin’
...
yet. It’s what he
will
do. When Verity fires ’
im.’

‘
She’s going to
f
ire
him? But
—’

‘Lower ya voice, son, no
need to shout. Connell’s
test
ing
Verity. He’s
dr
op
ped the hot potato in her lap—
Reardon
’s dismissal—a
nd, knowing Connell,
wo
n’t
have
given her the necessary
documentary evidence
. She hasn’t been in the job long enough to’ve gathered that sort of intel for herself. And without that, it’ll be
next to
impossible
to
follow the pr
escribed disciplinary procedure
.
’

Royce
grunt
ed.
‘Well, the first
thing Reardon will do is sue the company
for unfair dismissal.’

‘Of course.’
Guy noticed
a
growing menace in Royce’s
dark countenance
,
so he
said
hurriedly, ‘Look, we all know Reardon won’t go without a fight, and
a nasty one at that.
Connell’s
been crowing
about
“
find
ing
what sort of stuff the new
CEO is made of
”
.
’

Royce
lowered his
head to star
e
at the ground
.

Guy
carried on,
‘The way he
and other members of the board see
it,
if she succeeds
,
we get rid o
f that pain-in-the-
ass
,
Reardon.
’

‘And i
f she doesn’t
?’
Royce still didn’t look up.

‘S
he’s discredited
,
along w
ith her champion, Brenda
Sharpe. And w
e all know how Connell
feels about that pushy
bit—
er, I mean,
our
erstwhile
female
colleague
.’

Royce
exhaled sharply and rolled his eyes.
It was common knowledge Peter Connell had sworn he’d get
square
with
Brenda Sharpe
for vetoing, justifiably,
a number of
his proposals.
He
turned
to Guy with a steely look
,
saying
through tight lips, ‘So
,
they’ve set
up
Verity to face the
wolves
in the hope she’ll be devoured, and
Sharpe
along
with her. But if she succeed
s, it’s still a win for them,
’cos
they get rid of
that prick,
Reardon.
’
Royce
shook his head and growled,
‘
What a
courageous
plan, with a built-in sacr
ificial lamb. They can’t lose.’

His
angry voice carried up the fairway, and the other two men glanced at them curiously.
Guy pulled him
aside
, saying gruffly
, ‘You’re
actin’
like a guy who cares
, Royce
. I th
ought ya weren’t happy with the
new situation?’

‘No-one deserves to be treated like that
, Guy. T
hey’re setting her up
,
and covering their own arses, of course.
She’s new in the position. They aren’t giving her a fair chance.’

‘I think y’right
,
son.
S
he’s not
gettin
’
a fair go, and not just from them.
’

Royce looked
away,
shame
face
d
.

‘But
,’ and Guy gave a deep sigh,
‘
we all know
that life ain’t meant to be easy, and
office politics
ain
’
t
always
fair
.
...
’

Royce knew he was overreacting, but couldn’t help feeling angry at the games they were playing with Verity.
Unlike the rest of them, s
he wasn’t toying with anyon
e. S
he was
only
trying to do her
job
.

Oh yeah,
whispered his
snide inner voice,
you feel
REAL
bad for her. What about
your own
attempt to
undermine her
? What does that make you? Connell’s other side-kick?
A challenger for Lewis’
place
as Crown Prince Crawler?

Oh, hell!

Royce’s mind
was made up
.
Thrusting his
iron
into
the golf bag, he bark
ed
, ‘I’ll have to be content with just nine holes today
, Guy
.
I should get home. I have a project proposal to prepare for my CEO.’ He flashed the other man a rueful glance
,
but said in a tone that brooked no resistance, ‘I’ve finished what I came over here to do. I’m going to see if I can
get onto the next
flight back to Australia.’

Guy gave a smiling nod. ‘
Well, alright
ee
then
.’

‘Thanks
, Guy
... for everything.’

The two men smiled and shook hands
,
and Royce turned on his heel and strode
towards the club house.

‘You’re welcome, friend. B
on voyage
,’
Guy
murmured
to his retreating back
.

Chapter Ten

Claire
knocked sof
tly before entering the office,
and Verity
turned
from where she’d been resting her forehead o
n the cool glass of the window.

‘Oh,
Claire
am I glad to see you!
Could you shut the door
behind you
please?’
Verity
sank
onto a
nearby
settee
and put her head in her hands.

A worried frown quickly replaced
Claire
’s smile. She
closed the
doo
r and
hurried
over to join Verity on the settee
.

‘I need to talk to someone I can trust,’
V
erity mumbled through her hands.
She raised her head
.
‘S
omeone who isn’t trying to discredit me somehow.’

Claire
grew more
anxious. Her friend was normally so composed
, so
able to cope
.
‘What’s happened?
’

‘
I
t’s not just one thing, i
t
’s a whole bunch of things
.
’
Verity leaned
back
against the cushions
and stared at the ceiling.
‘
For starters, y
ou would’
ve heard
I
had to
dismiss a department head
?’

‘
Oh y
eah,
Tony.
He l
eft in a bit
of a h
urry,
I’m guessing because his travel misdemeanours finally caught up with him?
’

Verity
nodded
.
‘
A
fraid so. I checked all the particulars and tried to find an alternative, but
he hadn’t left me
one.
’
S
he glanced at her hands. ‘So
all I could do was follow procedure
, a
nd
now
he and his family have an uncertain future.
’

‘
Sounds like he deserved it, flouting the company’s t
ravel policy like that
. It m
ust’
ve been intentional, ’
cos
I
know
he’d been warned. Even his secretary
urged
him to mind his Ps and Qs
,
after his first two gaffes.
He
brought this on himself and his family, not you.
’ Claire
’s brow creased
again
.
‘
Anyw
ay, what
else has been going on?
’

Verity sighed.
‘
Well
,
I’
ve
come to the
con
clusion
I’
m
being treated like an agony aunt by my managers, none of whom
is performing satisfactorily in
my estimation.’

Claire gave a wry grin.
‘And n
ot just yours.’

‘And there’s pressure coming from other quarters. I’m reliably informed that
RCL i
s expected
to succeed in the corporate dragon
boating challenge
this year.’ Veri
ty gave a half smile
. ‘B
ut our team
can’t even keep the
boat upright when the “oars-up”
command is given.’

Claire swallowed a giggle.
‘Oh yeah, the captain yelled “
oars-up” and everyone went arse-
up!’

Verity chuckled and
then
quickly
sobered.
‘But I’ve saved
the worst
’
til last.’
She
paused. ‘
Y
ou know Peter Connell,
one of RCL’s directors?’

Claire nodded.

‘He
contacted me
yesterday
to issue
an instruction from the board
. B
ut
I don’t know
how
I’m
going to do what they ask
.’

‘Which is? Or can’t you
tell m
e because it’s strictly confidential
? If you like, you can
tell me then kill me.’ Claire’s
light-hearted response lifted Verity’s spirit
s a lit
tle, but her eyes remained deeply troubled
.

‘No, I have to tell someone, and y
ou’re the only on
e I can trust.
’ She looked down at her hands
again
,
now
twisting agitatedly in her lap
. ‘
I
have to
fire John Reardon.’

Claire ga
spe
d. She hadn’t expected that
! Not that
the
board’s desire to be rid of Reardon was
any surprise
.
In her
opinion,
as a huma
n resource manager
, Reardon made a perfect ar
s
e
,
and
RCL would be
way
better
off w
ithout the
hot-headed sleaze
.
His incompetence had
resulted in
a plethora of
legal proceedings
against the company
, and
his inabil
it
y to keep his temper in check
was legendary
. And those
w
e
re only two of his many vices....