“I’ve had plenty of women work for me, Violet, who’ve had babies and worked during their pregnancy, even with the problem of morning sickness. My wife: we have six kids, and she had morning sickness five of those times. We’ll get through it. You’ll do what you can, what you can’t, you’ll delegate. I’m not opposed to you working from home when you need to as long as the job gets done and you don’t mind the occasional call after hours if we need to iron things out for this acquisition as well as another one we’ve got in the works. And I’m prepared to offer you an extra-long maternity leave if that helps sway you as long as you attend weekly conference calls to make sure you stay in the loop.”
I pull my lips tight. “This was a big shock, getting fired the way I did. And it caused me to reflect on what I might want going forward. I’m not sure I can make a decision on the spot.”
“Think about it over the holidays. Get back to me the first week of the new year.”
“Thank you for the opportunity. I’ll absolutely think on it.”
He rises and reaches for my hand. “You’ve been an asset to the company. We’re going into a period of upheaval, and I’ll need to retain the right people through that. I’d hate to lose you. You’ve saved the company money, streamlined processes, and the team as well as your vendors all respect you. I had four calls and two emails since you were let go from people urging me to reconsider. I left it to Frank and Shara to restructure their team, but I see that was a mistake and I’ll be talking that over with Frank. I’ll have an offer letter drawn up. Tara has your non-MT email address, I take it?”
“She does.”
“I’ll have it sent to you tomorrow. You’ll earn almost double your current salary. Plus performance bonuses. If you work out as Director. If we determine it’s better for you to return to your old role or something in middle management, you’ll get a raise with performance bonuses. Shara should have bumped your pay up annually by at least double the rate she gave you each year. I’m not sure what went wrong there because I already reviewed your performance reviews and there’s no reason why she should’ve held back on that. And I’m willing to give you those raises proactively. And you’ll get the full increase for the duration of being acting Director, which I’d say we should try for ninety days as a trial.”
Holy shit.
“Thank you for the offer. I’ll let you know.”
“And you can keep the severance package Frank offered. For the trouble and distress the restructuring caused you if you decide to come back.”
I blink twice. A year’s salary.
He smiles. “As you can tell, we’d really like to have you back. Especially with this acquisition. You’d have my full support if your pregnancy is a difficult one. I know it’d only be a temporary business disruption. I’m not in the habit of turning my back on my reliable people the moment their lives become difficult.”
“Is this partly because of the lawsuit you could have to deal with if I went to a lawyer?”
He pauses before answering. “It was grossly mishandled, Violet. You would win that lawsuit. I’m sure of it. I’m hoping you’ll give us the chance to treat you better than you’ve been treated by Shara and not file a lawsuit.”
“I’d be happy to consider it, Peter. Thank you. I’ll talk it over with my husband and I’ll think about it. But, whatever decision I make, the way you’ve handled this, there’s no way I’ll sue you.”
“I appreciate that. Happy Holidays, Violet.”
“Same to you, Peter.”
I leave the office trembling.
I’m shook up. Shocked. What a day. What a week. Shit. What a year, even.
I get into the car and head home, Wesley following. He insists on seeing me to the apartment door.
“Merry Christmas, Wesley,” I say, when we get to our floor.
“Merry Christmas to you, too, Mrs. Coulter.” He walks me toward the apartment door.
“Violet,” I correct.
“Violet.” He smiles and waves toward the door.
I unlock the apartment, disarm the alarm, rearm it, wave goodbye to him, then head to the couch and flop.
Wow.
I text Killian.
“More news. Come home early if you can. I want to celebrate. Naked.”
He replies a little while later.
Killian: Things are crazy so not sure I can. Sorry baby. Love you.
Me: No sweat. Don’t worry. If I’m sleeping when you get home (which I might be doing NAKED), wake me. Love you.
***
At five thirty, the lobby phone rings.
“Hello?”
“Susanna Gagne to see you, Mrs. Coulter.”
“Oh. Send her up.”
I open the door to a wide-eyed and open-mouthed Susanna a few minutes later.
“This is a surprise,” I say.