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“Dad is going to drive it into the ground anyway and I don’t want my money and the other investors’ money to go with him. I can’t keep watching him steal and cheat.” He paused. “As it is I may have to call the FBI. Grandpa wouldn’t want that.”
“How much are we talking with your money?” Jason asked.
“Of mine?” Josh hated mentioning numbers out loud, but nothing he said would surprise Jason. “About three-quarters of a billion. Pocket money to you.”
“Pocket money my ass. That’s some serious coin. You started with like a tenth of that.”
“Yup. I’m very good at growing money.” Josh winked and enjoyed the fact that his brother the billionaire was impressed.
Jason raised his coffee cup in salute. “Well, good luck, man. Let me know if you need help kicking the old man to the curb.”
Josh raised his own mug. “Will do.”
* * *
Caroline sether briefcase and hardhat on her desk and dropped into her chair. Her visit to her latest project was a disaster. The engineer in charge hadn’t followed protocol and there were water problems around the foundation of the new building. He had tried to pin it on her initial assessment of the site, and her foundation design, but the hydraulic engineer backed her up. It wasn’t her fault.
She didn’t know how she was going to spin this one to the higher-ups. The hydraulic engineer may have agreed with her, but Keith, the project’s lead, was one of the most senior engineers in the firm and he’d screwed up. Bad.
But as Caroline had been reminded over and over in this business, shit rolled downhill, and since she was at the bottom of the hill, she would probably catch the blame for this. Thank God she was giving her notice today.
She’d received her hard offer from the new firm and was set to start in four weeks. She’d leave her current position in two, and then Josh had a vacation planned for them. She couldn’t wait.
But that didn’t solve the problem she had right now.
She’d gone off the rails at the job site and that wasn’t going to help the situation. When Keith had chastised her about the survey she’d supposedly messed up, about the supposed design flaws, Caroline hadn’t held back. Oh sure, she should have been diplomatic. She should have held her tongue until they were in private. She should have found a way to defend herself without making Keith look like an incompetent blowhard in front to the construction foreman, the project manager, the architect, the hydraulic engineer and the building inspector.
But deep down, Caroline guessed she had nothing to lose, so her years of feeling put down and dismissed shot out like a bullet and no one was safe.
No, this day wasn’t going to end well. Keith arrived back at the office around the same time she had and had made a beeline for the director of engineering’s office. Yup. Chances were she was going to be fired by the end of the day. For a girl who’d never failed before this year, she sure was pretty good at it now. She could not wait to start fresh someplace new.
The employee dining room was empty when she walked in and Caroline relished the quiet while she made a cup of coffee and added some flavored creamer. The company prided itself on taking care of its employees. Her salary and benefits, the perks in the office were all terrific. The problem was her gender. In this firm, gender bias still found its way into the culture. It wasn’t practiced by everyone, and it wasn’t all the time, but the fact that they allowed a guy like Mark Strickland to set the tone of the office was a problem for her.
He was a misogynist of the worst kind. The kind who could hide it well. But no matter what he did in public, his actions behind the scenes were all about fostering the boys-club environment. He was a disingenuous backslapper. And she didn’t have any use for him whatsoever.
The reality of her situation had come to light about a year ago. The firm had just landed a major restoration project and was looking for an engineer to lead the team. The job had a lot of geophysical challenges, including the fact that the building was near an active fault line, and Caroline’s experience was a good fit. She knew how to work with geologists, hydrologists, and structural designers. She was excited about the project and the buzz around the office was that she could get the nod on this one.
And then the bottom fell out.
There was some gossip in the office suggesting that a new engineer, Shane, who had been there maybe a year, was going to get the appointment to lead the project. Caroline blew off the speculation because she knew he didn’t have the experience and the firm wouldn’t risk its reputation on someone so new. Shane was a nice guy and had great skills, but he was still green and had just passed his professional engineer exam. Not to mention he was a generalist. He could build you a great bridge, but the restoration project needed a specific skill set.
It was right around then that Mark hit on Caroline for the first time. He’d invited her to lunch to discuss the project and Caroline was thrilled. She kept looking for something in her job to be excited about, something to care about. It was her livelihood, and although her heart may have been in her writing, she wanted her career to be fulfilling. She didn’t have any delusions about being able to quit work to write full time, so she tried to make the best of it.
But when the business lunch got personal—when Mark’s hand covered hers, when he invited her to dinner so they could discuss her career without distractions—is when Caroline knew she was in trouble. She wasn’t seen as an equal. She would always be a girl to them.
When she told him no, he seemed to take it okay, but lunch was over. And, she soon found out, so was all the forward movement in her career.
Shane got the lead position on the restoration and an office and an engineering intern of his own. What she discovered later is what had Caroline reeling. She had an early call at a job site one day and had forgotten a file on her desk. She stopped at the office around six thirty that morning to pick up what she needed and saw Shane, along with Mark and a few other higher-ups, arriving at the gym housed in their building.
After a little small talk, she learned the guys got together to play basketball every Friday morning before they started their day. It may have seemed like a little harmless male bonding, but the significance wasn’t lost on Caroline. No women were included in these games, and women weren’t getting ahead in the firm, either. Caroline guessed if she’d gone out with Mark, slept with him, things would have been different for her, but she wasn’t going to pay that price to get ahead. She didn’t think she’d have to.
Especially when all the men had to do was shoot some hoops.
Disgusted, Caroline looked around and wondered what the hell she had to do to catch a break.
It turned out she had to make her own break and she did.
Mel came flying from the corridor near the executive offices looking like someone had set her pants on fire. “Jesus Christ. What did you do to Keith? He’s in Mark’s office screaming his head off!”
