Truly Married (4 page)

Tracey laughed. “No, I don’t read minds, but I have sensitive olfactory nerves. That’s what the doctor calls it, anyway. I smelled your perfume. You always have the fragrance of flowers around you. Like an English garden bouquet. If it had been Anna I’d have smelled spices.”

Sharon shook her head in wonder. “I haven’t added a drop of fragrance since I left the house this morning. I don’t see how there could possibly be any scent left,” she said. “You know, you really should have joined the canine corps of the police force. You’d probably be better than the dogs at sniffing out drugs. Do you need some help in here?”

“Nope. Now that you’re home, I’ll fry the potatoes and hamburger. It won’t take more than twenty minutes.”

Sharon accepted the dismissal gratefully and went upstairs to change her clothes.

Later, when they were finishing their meal, the subject of how their day had gone came up and Sharon’s outrage at being so rudely treated returned. She told them about her experience with her boss. “Sure it’s against the law,” she admitted, “and I was seriously tempted to yell at him so everyone in the room would know what he was doing, instead of whispering, but I was married to a lawyer long enough to grasp that you have to prove an accusation like that. No one could see what was going on. It was all happening under the table. It would have been just my word against his, and he’s the boss.”

She sighed and made an effort to calm down. “Thank God, he’s being transferred to the Starlight Honolulu in a few weeks. If I can stay out of his way until then he’ll be gone and I’ll move up into his job. I’d like nothing better than to expose him for the creep he is, but I really can’t afford to make waves now. You can be sure he’d do something to jinx my promotion if I did.”

“I understand he has a lot of seniority with the company,” Anna said. “Do you suppose the management at your hotel has received complaints against him and is having him transferred rather than firing him?”

Sharon didn’t answer immediately, but took time to think about Anna’s question. It was a possibility, but... “No, I don’t think so,” she said. “The Starlight hotel chain is a big one. It wouldn’t make sense for them to transfer a known troublemaker from one of their facilities to another.

“Also, this guy is going to go too far one of these days and pick on some woman who’s in a position to fight back. The company would be courting a multimillion-dollar law-suit if it could be proven that they knew Floyd was sexually harassing women employees and hadn’t dealt with it.”

Tracey joined the conversation. “But, Sharon, if you don’t report him he’ll just harass the women he works with in Hawaii.”

Tracey had zeroed in on the load of guilt that weighted Sharon’s conscience, and she reacted angrily. “Dammit, Tracey, don’t you think I know that? I have no proof that he’s making sexual advances to some of the women who work under him. If none of them have come forward by now to assert their rights you can bet they’re not going to just to save my job. With the unemployment rate soaring, none of them can afford to take a chance on being fired.”

She ignored Tracey’s shocked protest that she wasn’t blaming her and continued. “If I file unsubstantiated charges against one of the hotel managers I’ll be branded a troublemaker and lose everything I’ve worked so hard for the past five years. Besides which, my hopes for a career in the hotel business would be blown away.”

“Sharon, I’m sorry,” Tracey cried plaintively. “I didn’t mean...that is, I meant... Oh damn, I don’t know what I meant! I always speak before I think and then say the wrong thing.”

She jumped up, knocking over her chair, and ran out of the room, but not before Sharon saw tears running down her face.

Sharon knew she’d overreacted, and muttered an unladylike expletive as she dropped her face in her hands.

It was Anna’s cool reason that defused the situation. She stood and came around the table to put her arm across Sharon’s hunched shoulders. “No one’s criticizing you or blaming you for anything, Sharon,” she said gently. “You’re absolutely right. There’s nothing you can do without proof and lots of it. When Tracey grows up a little more, she’ll learn that we women have to fight our own skirmishes in our battle for equal rights and not expect a mother figure to do it for us.”

Sharon raised her head and patted Anna’s hand that rested on her shoulder. “I know. It’s just that I’m torn between doing what’s right for me and my responsibilities to the women who look to me for guidance.”

She straightened up in her chair, and Anna moved away and started stacking dirty dishes.

“You can’t help those women unless they come to you and file a complaint,” Anna said. “Now, why don’t you go upstairs and convince Tracey that you don’t hate her while I load the dishwasher.”

* * *

On the following day, Floyd left for a conference at corporate headquarters in Los Angeles, leaving Sharon to shoulder his duties as well as her own. Not that she minded. It was a relief not to have to confront him again, and she used the time to acquaint herself with the finer details of the position she was in line to move up to when he left for Hawaii.

She was excited and happy about the promotion. She hadn’t been officially notified yet that the job was hers, but she expected the confirmation any day now. It would be most unusual if she didn’t get it. She was the best qualified, and her record was spotless.

When Vancleave returned on Monday, the first week in June, he sumoned her to his office. Since hers was just down the hall from his, she arrived at his reception room in only a couple of minutes. His secretary, Beverly Maitland, was young and pretty, just the way he liked his “girls.” She smiled at Sharon and motioned toward the inner door. “Go on in. He’s waiting for you.”

Floyd stood when Sharon entered. She’d always envied him this office. It was so cheerful, with its sliding-glass door that looked out over the outdoor swimming pool and cabana, and she felt a thrill as she realized that in a few short weeks it would be hers.

“Good morning,” he said pleasantly. “I hope you weren’t overworked while I was gone. Have a seat.”

Sharon returned the greeting and sat down. He looked tan and rested. Obviously not all his time in L.A. had been spent in stuffy conference rooms.

He settled himself comfortably in his executive chair and smiled, only Floyd’s smile always seemed to Sharon like more of a leer.

“I’ve got good news for you, love,” he said.

She was immediately on guard.

“If you play your cards right there’s a good chance I can take you with me to the Starlight Honolulu as my assistant.”

He leaned back and beamed, and she wondered if he really thought he was God’s gift to women, or if his self-esteem was so low that he had to make himself believe it. She suspected it was the latter. If so, she should feel sorry for him, but unfortunately she couldn’t bring herself to be that charitable.

Still, she’d play his game for a little while just to be sure she wasn’t misreading him.

She, too, settled back. “Oh?” She raised her eyebrows slightly. “And just what cards do I have to play?”

He made a steeple of his fingers and settled his chin on it. “Why, the king and the queen, of course. We can have a great time cavorting among all that tropical flora and fauna. In some places it’s so thick we wouldn’t even have to wear clothes.”

Just the thought of Floyd Vancleave in the nude was repulsive to her, but she fought to control her temper. “And what about your wife?” she asked, far more coolly than she felt.

He brightened and sat up straight. “You want a
ménage à trois?
” he said eagerly. “That can be arranged, but not with my wife. She’s far too straight—”

Sharon had had enough! She clutched the arms of her chair and leaned forward. “Mr. Vancleave,” she said tightly, making his name sound like an obscenity. “There’s no way I’d go to Hawaii or any place else with you. I don’t sleep my way to the top.”

She stood and had started for the door, when his voice, cold and filled with rage, froze her.

“Stop right there, you arrogant bitch. Don’t forget, I hold your future right here in my hands.”

She turned around as he cupped his palms together in front of him.

“If you want my job when I’m gone you’re gonna have to be nice to me, get it? Extra nice! You need good references from me to get that promotion. I can fix it so you won’t even be able to get a job as dishwasher in the hotel industry.”

Never before had Sharon felt such fury. The pressure of it was so hot she could almost feel smoke coming out her ears.

How dared that overbearing bastard threaten her. She’d been wrong not to file a formal complaint about his harassment earlier, but she was going to rectify it.

She glared at him, hoping the disgust she felt showed in her expression. “I have just one thing to say about that,” she rasped. “If I don’t get the promotion I’m entitled to I’ll file a complaint of sexual harassment against you with everybody from the general manager of this hotel to the federal bureau that handles such things. Believe it. That’s not a threat, it’s a promise.”

Floyd’s face twisted in a sneer. “Who in hell do you think you’re kidding? Don’t pull that outraged-virgin bit on me. A hot little hussy like you can never get enough. Besides, nobody would believe you. It’s your word against mine, and we in management protect our own.”

Without even trying to answer, Sharon turned and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind her.

For the next week the atmosphere between Sharon and Vancleave figuratively dripped frost. They communicated only through written memos or a third party, usually his secretary.

Then, on Wednesday, Sharon received a letter from the general manager, expressing regret that she hadn’t been chosen to succeed Floyd Vancleave as front-desk manager and notifying her that the position had been filled by a more qualified person from the chain’s Starlight Denver.

Sharon was stunned. Her knees gave way and she sank into the chair behind her desk. She’d been passed over! They were bringing in an outsider to fill the position. Something the Starlight Corporation almost never did!

There could only be one reason. Floyd Vancleave had carried out his threat to block her promotion!

Although her whole body was trembling with shock, her mind was clear and her self-preservation instinct powerful. He wasn’t going to get away with this!

She jumped up out of her chair, picked up her purse and hurried down the hall to Floyd’s office. When she opened the door she was aware that there were several people waiting in the reception room, but she strode straight through and had her hand on the knob of the inner door when Beverly called to her.

“Sharon, wait, you can’t go in there!”

Sharon paid no attention, but pushed open the door and walked in. Floyd was sitting behind his desk, facing her, and it crossed her mind that she must look pretty wild, because his eyes widened with alarm as he stood.

“You rotten bastard!” she shouted before he could open his mouth. “I’m going to make you sorry you ever tried to coerce me into playing musical beds with you!”

She pushed the door shut and paced toward the desk, her smoldering gaze locked with Floyd’s alarmed one.

“What in hell...! he rasped. “You can’t walk in here like this and call me names—”

She’d caught him off guard, and could see that he was rattled. “I just did, didn’t I?” she said as she stopped squarely in front of his desk. “And I’m far from finished with you. I’m going to do exactly what I told you I’d do if you carried out your threat to derail my promotion unless I submitted to your disgusting sexual advances. When I get through filing suits and complaints everyone in the hotel industry is going to know what a pathetic lowlife you are.”

He backed away slightly, as if her fury were a physical presence. “Now, hold on a minute,” he said shrilly. “I didn’t—”

“Oh yes you did,” she shouted. “I just received this.” She tossed the letter she still held crumpled in her fist on the desk. “There’s only one reason I’d be passed over for that promotion, and that’s because you told the general manager lies about me.”

Floyd looked around nervously. “Sharon, for God’s sake lower your voice. Everyone in the building will hear you.”

“Good!” Sharon shouted even louder. “That’s exactly what I want. I’m sorry I didn’t leave the door open. You’ve humiliated the women who work under you long enough, with your groping hands and your dirty innuendos—”

“Christ, woman, will you shut up and get out of here!” This time it was Floyd who was shouting. He was also gesturing frantically. “We’ll talk about this later, somewhere else, when you’ve calmed down....”

“Oh no, we won’t,” she told him. “I’m through talking to you. From now on you can speak to me through my attorney.”

Sharon saw the blood drain from his florid face as she stalked past the desk, out the sliding-glass door and across the pool area.

She was shaking so badly that she could hardly walk, and she knew she had to get away from there! Go someplace where she could get a grip on her runaway temper and cool off a little.

She’d never been so flat-out furious in her whole life. Even when she’d found out that her husband was in love with another woman she hadn’t been so much angry as hurt. Fergus hadn’t deliberately set out to break up their marriage, but Vancleave had maliciously and willfully taken the necessary steps to derail her promotion for his personal satisfaction, just to exercise his power and show her that he could do it!

The screech of tires and the blare of a horn jolted Sharon’s wandering attention, and she realized that she’d started across the street at the end of the block and had almost been hit by a car. The driver was busily cursing her out even as he drove on.

Sheepishly, she turned back and headed for the front of the hotel and the entrance to the attached parking garage. She’d better keep her wits about her until she got home or she was apt to end up either in the hospital or in jail.

She was all the way up to the top floor of the garage where the employees parked, when she realized that she didn’t have her purse. She’d taken it with her because she’d known she wouldn’t stay around after her confrontation with Floyd, but then she’d left it in his office!