Harper
One of the differences between me and my sister is that Hannah can keep her temper in check like nobody’s business. You will never find a calmer woman. Nothing ruffles her or gets her to lose her cool.
Whether that’s just part of her personality and DNA, or the fact that she’s a mother, or maybe that she had to live with an abusive husband for so long. Whatever the reason, you’d never know she was irritated unless you looked closely at her eyes.
There you’d see a telltale little tic underneath the eyelid that pops out whenever she is well and truly pissed off.
But me? Not so much. I can’t guard my emotions that well. I have no game and no poker face.
There is never any question when I’m happy, sad, disgusted, or mad.
So maybe it wasn’t fair of me to allow my anger to stew all morning long until it finally boiled over the top when Marek approached me in this setting. I glare daggers at him from my spot in the audience while he does his best to remain composed and coolly answer every question being lobbed his way during the start of the conference.
I know I’m playing dirty and acting ridiculously juvenile, but life and love aren’t always fair.
Especially when I found out the man who supposedly loves me went behind my back and called in a favor with his good ol’ buddy, Herve Schueller, to get me my promotion. That minor detail Marek just happened to leave out and never tell me about.
I could’ve forgiven him for that too—if he’d groveled and begged appropriately—had he told me about this transgression when we shared everything this weekend.
This he kept from me, and the way I inadvertently found out about it was the salt being poured into an open wound.
I was in the breakroom at the station earlier this morning, steeping my tea because any more coffee and I would’ve had the jitters during the conference, still wearing a goofy girl-in-love smile on my face after the weekend’s events. That’s when I overheard Alex speaking with Taylor, whose cubicle is right around the corner from the breakroom.
It was Alex’s low-toned whisper that clued me in to the gossipy content of his conversation.
“Hey, Tay. How was your weekend?” Alex asks, in that fake friend manner that only fake people use.
“It was good. Yours?”
There’s a pause for obvious dramatic effect. “Well…it started out very interesting. As I was leaving the office on Friday, I ran into Herve on the elevator. I mentioned that I’d given Talbert’s ex-wife’s book to Harper to read over so she could get some quotes for the press conference today. And you know what Herve told me?”
“Um, no, but I assume you’re going to tell me.”
Alex snickered like Taylor made a joke. “Well, he said the only reason Harper got a job with us and transferred from that Podunk station in Spokane is that she and Marek are sleeping together and Marek made sure he got her the job. Can you believe it?”
I can hear Taylor typing on his laptop. “Should I believe it? What does it even matter? I’ve seen her work and she’s a great reporter. She’s great with the player interviews.”
Alex makes a scoffing noise. “Of course, she is. Duh. The players don’t mind looking at her. She’s a hot young thing. Which screams of sexism and gender bias for the rest of us. It seems downright unfair if you ask me. We guys have to work to prove we’re ready for our next role, and she just comes strolling in, showing some tits and legs, and spreads—”
A laptop lid slams down hard. “Alex, I don’t need to hear any more of this. I have a segment to produce.”
There’s another pause and the scrape of a chair on the floor. “And for the record, you seem to misunderstand the meaning of sexism and gender bias. It’s thewomenin this business who deal with double standards every day, not the men. Plus, didn’t I hear something about you sleeping with Debbie Steinwahl back in the day before you got promoted? People in glass houses, bro…”
Atta boy, Taylor. Thanks for having my back. I’ll need to buy him a beer for telling his boss off and sticking up for the new girl. That’s the kind of coworker I want in my corner.
But I was still unbelievably shocked by what I’d just heard. My stomach dropped to my feet upon hearing that tidbit of gossip from Alex. It felt like the floor vanished from underneath me to hear that I somehow slept my way into this position.
My fury rose at the unfairness and inequity of it all. How women in positions like mine can’t play ball in a designated male-dominated role without being labeled as either bitches or sluts.
I was so angry at Marek that I let it dictate my actions. I sent off those texts to him before I thought better of it. Not knowing Marek’s side of the story or what transpired between Herve and him prior to my job transfer, I jumped to a conclusion, but I guess the only way to find out the whole truth is to confront Marek about it. So, I can put the rumors to bed, so to speak.
Marek has robotically been responding to questions for the past ten minutes, glancing at me between every transition, looking for me to jump in. I can read it in his eyes. He’s ready for the questions we prepared and rehearsed for me to ask. But that ship has sailed. And I’m steering the ship and my career in another direction. Time to get it all out there and squash the gossip so it doesn’t hang around my neck the remainder of my professional life.
Glen pipes up. “Next question?”
I keep my gaze fixed on Marek as I raise my hand. Glen smiles and motions for me to step up.
“Yes, Harper, now from KOGN in Seattle. Congratulations, by the way.”