Glass Ceilings (3 page)

With
no rouge or eyeliner to accentuate
her fine bone structure and dark eyes
,
Verity looked, if anything, more
youthful and vibrant than ever
.
The smooth skin of her face had a translucent peaches-and-cream quality, and her naturally sweeping brows made a perfect foil for her brown eyes; eyes that held great warmth and laughter, but which could also be disarmingly direct and unnervingly shrewd.
Her
choice of
fitted linen suit
emphasis
ed her
slim waist and trim
figure
,
and
a pair of
classic paten
t
leather
courts fine-tuned the outfit.

Claire took a quick peek down and frowned at her own slightly lumpy proportions, clothed in practical but unspec
tacular corporate wear. She glanc
ed
back
at her friend
and
acknowledge
d
that Verity
certainly
did look
like executive material.

I’d bet my bottom dollar
some of the ‘powers that be’
have noticed it, too,
she thought.
But stil
l,
isn’t it presumptuous for her
to try for the co
mpany’s top ma
nagement position,
‘la grande
from
age
’
? E
veryone
knows Royce James has dibs on that title
.

Verity took another g
rateful gulp of coffee before bending to collect
her belongings.
Claire waited for her
by the door
so they could walk to their offices together.

‘So, you’re
actually goi
ng ahead
and applying
for the CEO position?’

Verity felt a rush of irritation at the incredulous tone in Claire’s voice.
She was about to snap a response but realised her annoyance was more to do with her own insecurities than with Claire’s doubts
, which
were only reasonable in the circumstances
.
The question irked her because it touched a sore point, her own misgivings about applying for a position
everyone regarded as
already filled
.

Her
voice was sharper than she intended when she answered, ‘Yes I am, and they’d better take me seriously.
I’m sick of being an “executive-in-waiting”
.
I’m as capable as any one of them.
After all, I’ve worked my way up through the industry ranks
—’

‘I know. F
rom refinery line manager to production manager at Nimbus Alumina, then to bauxite mine associate manag
er for RCL—
’

‘That’s right,’ Verity barked,
‘
a
nd
I have the qualifications to back up my industry experience.
I bet that’s more than other
members of RCL’s so-called executive team can say.
’

Claire narrowed her eyes and stared at Verity.
‘Hang on, is all this angst just
’cos I
asked about
your application? Or are you still cheesed off about what Royce James did the other day?’

The spots of colour in Verity’s cheeks deepened a little. ‘That was the proverbial straw, Claire. When he thrust that report at me with orders to “see this is faxed today a
nd copied
to
...”—
who was it again? Oh yes
—“...
Joe Goodfornaught
, Bert
Backstabber, and Larry Loser, blah blah”,’ at which Claire couldn’t help a snigger, ‘
and
without a “could you” or a “thank you”, he made me feel like a junior office clerk, or worse still, an inanimate piece of machinery.
’

‘Hey,
’ Claire
soothed,
put
ting
a hand on Verity’s arm for a moment to calm her friend
,
who looked about to pop, ‘
I
was there, remember? And I
thought he was just in a hurry and preoccupied when he got you to help him.
It didn’t
come across as
a deliberate put-down to me.
He’s probably typical of most male execs and doesn’t know one end of a fax machine from the other. I
reckon
he
just
grabbed the nearest available person to help
.
I was talking on my mobile
at the time, making you the obvious choice
.’

‘Oh th
at’s right,
I’m talking to “Lets-be-fair-Claire”.’
Verity raised an eyebrow and gave a lop-sided grin.

Claire chuckled.
‘
And don’t you forget it!
But
getting back to your application,
I thought ... the operations manager job
, once Royce vacates it
?’

‘Oh, sure, there’s always that. But w
hy should I settle for second best when I’m quite entitled to try for the top job? Would Royce settle?
As if!
’
She spat the last words
.

‘Ouch! We’re feeling especially tetchy today, aren’t we?’

Verity
pulled a face at
Claire
as t
h
ey paused
in the corridor
to
nod
acknowledge
ment to a
passing
colleague.
W
hen she spoke again she
made sure to lower her voice.
‘Well, can you blame me? L
et’s face it, Claire, there’ve been
suitable
ope
nings alright, but all
“
done deals
”
before I could get a look in.
I wish someone had
the guts to
tell me the truth
.
’

‘Which is?’

‘That t
he
y
can’t see past my age and gender to acknowledge I’m as qualified as most of the other candidates—and more qualified than some.
’

‘Ah
.
...
’

‘
But
this time
might be different
,
if
Brenda Sharpe
comes to the party like she said she would ... then again, I don’t blame
her if she doesn’t. I’m sure our
“
friend
”, Mr James,
wouldn’t thank her for trying to sideline him, and he’ll have some pull once he’s CEO.
Oh!’ Verity
gasped and
stopp
ed
abruptly. She
threw an
agitated
hand
in the air.
‘
Crap
! W
ill you listen to me? Even
I
have to remind myself it’s not written i
n stone he’ll get the job!’

She
shook her head
and sighed before catching
up with Claire
again
. ‘
Well, if
he does get it, someone will ne
e
d
to
replace him,
and
that someone
had better be me. O
therwise I’ll be calling in the anti-discrimination dogs.’

‘
Are you fair dinkum
?’

‘You bet!
I’ve had enough of being treated like a poor cousin.
Look,
back-filling Royce’s position
might not be a huge jum
p as far as careers go, but it would be heading
in the right direction. A
nd
almost
any move i
s better than stagnating
.
’

‘If you say so. Some of us are quite happy
little
bacteria
,
living
here
in
the stinking ooze of
“stagno-pond
”.’

V
erity gave a half
smile at
Claire’s attempt at humour
, but her
focus
remained
firmly f
ixed
on the subject closest to her heart.
‘
I have plans for this company
, Claire
. Big plans. I’ve
managed to excite
Brenda Sharpe
with them,
enough
for her
to
consider coming
on board.
All I need is the chance to put them into play.
’

Her
voice grew pensive. ‘
But
I feel as though my career
’s in danger of stalling
. And i
t’s
all I have
left
s
ince the divo
rce
.
’

The two women
stopped at the door to Claire’s office.

‘Well, you know what I think?’ and Claire chuckled, ‘
I reckon
you need to find
a distraction
and
fast, Verity. Hopeful
ly one of the male persuasion, ’cos y
our frustration’s s
how
ing
!’

‘Oh!’ Veri
ty
sucked in a breath
and glared
, but a grin hovered
around her lips.

C
laire
giggled
and
found herself hurriedly ducking
a
crumpled-up
coffee
cup
,
pitched
at her
like
a well-aimed
m
issile
.
‘How long has it been?
’ she chortled,
‘
And when are you going to start living again?
You’ve been divorced over a year
and separated for ages before that
.’

‘Who says I’m not living now, Claire?’

Claire grew still and her face became serious again.
‘There’s lots more to life than work
,
Verity.’

Verity noticed
the concern in her friend’s eyes
.
‘Yes, you’re
right. B
ut for now, work is
what I need to focus on
.
’ She
sighed
.
‘
Tho
ugh
I
must admit
,
I
still hate
being on my own at
night.
And when I see other happy couples out and about
...
well, there are times when the loneliness almost
chokes
me.’
She rubb
ed a hand across her forehead
.

Claire
gave her
a quick, one-armed hug, before going
over to her desk and putting
her bag down
.
Verity followed her in and Claire could see the emotions running
across
her
face.

F
riend
s since their school days,
th
e two women had
remained
close
over the years
. Claire had
been
Verity’s
bridesmaid
,
and
afterwards
helped her through the divorce proceedings w
hen it all went pear-shaped. She’d always secretly doubted that D
avid was worthy of Verity
,
so
she
had
n’t
been
shocked or devastated when their marriage failed, although she never
said as much
to her friend. But she was saddened to know Verity was willing to share the blame for the break-up, despite all her efforts to fix their problems, and
all her sacrifices
.