AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I frown, my hands beginning to sweat on my small satin clutch. “What?”
“Ridiculous,” Dad cuts in gruffly, his cheeks flushing. “You’ve always been dramatic, Gideon, but this is too much.”
“He suggested our relationship would be great for the companies,” Gideon says, ignoring my father, his gaze locked on mine. “He wants you out. He wants you home, having babies, while he and I build an empire for the son you’ll hopefully have one day. A son, he specified, not a daughter.”
“I didn’t say that,” my father says, his face even redder. “I said I’d rather see my daughter at home, raising children, where she’ll be happy. The business world is hard on women. And the bigger the company, the harder it gets. Men are better suited to the ugly parts of what we do.” He glances up at me. “You know how I feel about that, Sydney. I’ve never hidden that from you. I told you it was going to be harder for you to lead as a woman than it would be if you were a man.”
He’s right. He’s never hidden the way he feels from me.
And even if he’d never said a word, his sexist side comes out loud and clear in a hundred unspoken ways. Like insisting on skirts in the office for women four days a week, though pants have been acceptable office wear for as long as he’s been an adult. Or the way he defaults to promoting men and giving them all the juiciest leadership positions. There’s only one female VP at Watson Global and she’s as hard and competitive as the men, a product of the environment my father has created. And Martha didn’t earn her position until she was in her early forties.
I’m the only woman who’s been given a shot at advancement in her twenties and that’s only because I’m Silas Perry-Watson’s daughter.
I was the exception…one he’s clearly ready to do away with now that he has a shot at passing the torch to a male heir.
It’s disappointing, but far from shocking.
I knew this was a real possibility when I started at Watson Global, that I’d eventually be pushed out if Dad couldn’t wrap his head around ceding control of his empire to a woman. I knew it in my bones, guts, and sinew. It’s part of why I was dreading the move back to the city and why every Monday morning at my new job gets harder and harder.
Watson Global isn’t where I belong.
Hell, this city isn’t where I belong, not anymore. I’ll always love New York and treasure my friends here, but I ache for a quieter life, closer to nature.
That’s the life I have to live, my life, not my father’s.
It’s suddenly so painfully obvious, but instead of feeling torn or terrified about disappointing him, I feel…free. It’s like someone’s ripped the blinders off my eyes and I can finally see clearly.
“I know, Dad.” I pull in a deep breath, hesitating. I don’t want to hurt him, but I’m done twisting myself in knots to fit in at a company that doesn’t share my values. “I know you mean well and want what’s best for me, but that’s not for you to decide. That’s my choice and it’s become clear to me that I’m not a good fit for Watson Global.”
His bushy brows shoot up. “What are you saying? You are Watson Global. This is your legacy as much as mine.”
“But it’s not, and I don’t know if it ever could be, even if you gave me free rein to make all the changes I want to make.” A sad smile curves my lips. “And you wouldn’t let me, Dad. You’d fight me every step of the way because what you believe to be true and right and what I believe to be true and right are fundamentally at odds.”
He shakes his head. “That isn’t—”
“A Y chromosome doesn’t make someone a superior leader or business mind,” I cut in, interrupting my father for one of the first times in my life. “Not even close. And the reason so many corporate environments are callous and unwelcoming to women is because men made them that way. They were created without women in mind and without a place for us. But instead of pushing back against that, you think everything is as it should be. You think the fact that I’m a woman is the problem, but it’s not, Dad. If I were just another recent graduate looking for a job, I would never work at a company like ours. I’d take one look at our stats on retaining and promoting female employees and skip the application altogether.”
“Fine,” my father snaps. “Two new female VPs and you can start a daycare on-site or whatever it is you wanted to do. I’m not so rigid I can’t see the benefit in changing things up a bit.”
“It would have to be so much more than that,” I say. “It would have to be a systemic shift. You’d have to let me fire every dude bro who talks to his executive assistant like she’s a lesser species. I’d need the freedom to expand parental leave for both mothers and fathers and allow more flexibility for people to work from home when they’re sick or caring for relatives. I’d want to move toward projects that put worker and human well-being before the bottom line and investigate supply chains that will reduce or eliminate the chance we’re using exploited workers. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Sydney,” he says, a pleading note in his voice I haven’t heard before. “You’d ruin us. Profits have been down the last two quarters.”
“Profits are still extraordinary,” I counter. “That’s your loss aversion bias talking, Dad. Just because we have less, doesn’t mean we don’t have more than enough. The company would absolutely survive these changes. In the long run, I think they’d even help it thrive.”
He shakes his head slowly back and forth, the color draining from his face. “I can’t. I can’t risk my entire life’s work on some progressive dream that might destroy everything I’ve built.”
“And I can’t abandon my dreams, no matter how much I want you to be proud of me,” I say gently. “Please consider my resignation effective immediately. I’ll tie up any loose ends and fetch my things from my office tomorrow morning.”
Dad slumps in his chair. For a moment, I think he might tear up. Instead, he grunts, and his eyes narrow on Gideon. “This is your fault. You and your wild ideas, the same ideas that have kept G.P.G. Green a bit player on a stage Watson Global has dominated for the past fifteen years. Congratulations on dragging my daughter down to wallow with you in mediocrity.”
I laugh at that. I can’t help it. It’s just so absurd. “Dad, stop, please. Gideon isn’t mediocre and neither am I. Success means different things to different people. For me, success means having fulfilling work and close ties with the ones I love. I’m still your daughter and I love you. That’s never going to change.”
His cheeks sag. “I would threaten to disinherit you, but…I know you.” He sighs, his lips curving slightly. “Better than you might think. I know that would only drive you farther away and I…” He sighs again. “Well, I don’t want to lose you. I love you, daughter, as bad as I might be at showing it sometimes.”
I circle around to his chair, leaning down to hug his shoulders. “I love you, too, Dad. And we can get better at showing how we feel. I know we can.” I pull back, smiling down at him. “That will probably be easier if we’re just father and daughter, not co-workers. Now, tell Gideon you’re sorry about calling him mediocre. I need all my favorite people to get along. That’s very important to me.”
He grunts again, but his smile widens, clearly pleased to hear he’s still on my favorite list. It’s unexpected and makes my heart swell as he grumbles, “Sorry, Gabaldon. Be good to my daughter or you’ll get the same attitude adjustments as the rest of us. She’s no pushover.”
