AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Both of them looked up to her immediately and nodded for her to continue, but they didn’t separate themselves and sit up properly. Kate eyed them, knowing that they were going to start talking again when they thought they were in the clear.
“As I was saying,” Kate said, hearing the anger seep through in her own voice. “Our departments have been working really hard on some of these early designs.”
She pressed the button again, switching the slide. A sketch appeared on the wall behind her, bright and white. It was an early drawing showing how they were planning to scale all of the technology down, making it smaller and more lightweight than ever before.
“And this is all doable?” Walter asked, leaning forward in his chair, his elbows placed on the edge of the table. “You’re sure?”
“I wouldn’t bring it to the board if it wasn’t,” Kate snapped. “My teams have assured me that this design will work.”
A couple of the men glanced at each other. Clearly, none of them could believe that she’d done the work and calculations, or had her team even double-check that it was plausible. Doubting a woman was second nature to them. It came so naturally, that they didn’t even think about it.
Kate could have screamed as she watched the men sitting in front of her, actively doubting her as they glanced between themselves. Just open her mouth and let all of the rage fly out. That wouldn’t solve anything, though. And it would just reinforce the idea that women were irrational and over-emotional.
She had to keep herself composed and calm. If not for herself, then for the rest of the women in the company. An example needed to be set and it started here, in the board meeting.
“Anyway,” she said, trying to remain calm, “moving onto the technical specifications.”
That was all it took for the two men to start talking again. They weren’t going to stop. According to them, she didn’t deserve their silence. Kate balled up her fists as she stared at their pudgy faces, feeling the hatred rising inside of her.
This is why I’m still single,she thought bitterly.Men think women are nothing. They think we’re worthless.
The thoughts didn’t help Kate keep a cool mind. She felt her lips parting as the anger came rushing up her throat like vomit.
“Stop talking,” she said forcefully, raising her voice without meaning to. “Show me the respect I deserve and pay attention to what I have to say.”
She had everyone’s attention after that. Some of the men gawked at her, their mouths falling open in shock. Kate wanted to roll her eyes into the back of her skull. How pathetic they all were, shocked that a woman would dare speak to them in such a manner.
“Excuse me?” One of the talkers asked, chortling. “Did you really just speak to me like that?”
“I did,” Kate snapped. “Do you not realize how rude you’re being? Mr. Harpe already asked you to shut up. Why didn’t you listen?”
The man narrowed his eyes and stood out of his seat, shaking his head slowly. “I won’t be spoken to like this,” he snapped. “This is outrageous.”
“So was your behavior,” Kate replied. “You can sit quietly and listen to me for thirty minutes. It’s not hard. Somehow you manage to do it for all of the male colleagues present. Why am I worth talking over while they’re not?”
The man put his hands on his hips and scoffed as he stared around the room. It was like he couldn’t believe that a woman had dared to call him out on his asshole behavior. Kate just stood at the head of the table, expectant.
“Too scared to answer?” Kate goaded him.
“Of course, thewomanmakes it about sex,” the man scoffed. “You women always make it about what’s between your legs.”
“Maybe if you’d listened to me it wouldn’t have come to this,” Kate replied. “I don’t see what’s so important that you had to talk over me for almost the entire time.”
It was clear he wasn’t going to answer Kate. He just kept looking around at his colleagues, expecting someone to come to his rescue. When no one did, he stormed away from the table and went for the door. With his hand gripping the handle, he looked back to the room and raised his eyebrows as if to saywell?
Kate stared him down, unwavering. She wasn’t going to apologize for asking for respect. She wasn’t going to apologize for calling him out on his bullshit. After all, he’d be one of the first people to call her out if she dared pull the same crap.
“This is information that you all asked for,” Kate continued. “You asked me to make this presentation. You asked me to provide this information. Why the hell should I be talked over when I’m giving you exactly what you asked for?”
“You can’t police us,” one of the men in the back replied.
His black hair was scattered with stripes of gray, thinning at the top. His face was fairly wrinkle-free but Kate couldn’t really tell. He had a thick, dark beard covering the bottom half of his face and most of his neck.
“And yet if I ever dared to talk over any of you, I’d be thrown out of the meeting,” Kate said. “This is disgusting and I can’t believe this has escalated because one man couldn’t keep his trap shut.”
Kate stared over at him, his face dark and shadowed with rage. She knew she’d gone a step too far. Not only had she called him out, but now she’d embarrassed him in front of his colleagues. People he had to see every day. People he dealt with regularly.
Of course, she didn’t give a shit about his feelings, but she did care about her job. Without it, she’d be nothing. She loved her job. She lived for it. She’d spent years climbing her way to the top, using everything in her toolbox to get herself into power. And now she was here, she was starting to think it wasn’t everything she’d expected it to be.
