Promotion
It was a sunny and pleasant day in downtown Chicago; the sun, high in the sky, was warming the busy streets of the city as Summer was just getting underway. Julia sat outside at a busy corner bistro, alone at a table, just off Michigan Avenue, across the street from the Art Institute. Lost in her own thoughts, she idly strummed her long red nails, as the multitude, people and vehicles swirled around her. She took a quick sip of ice tea and was pleased to see her new lipstick was staying in place instead of passing to the straw. It was a small thing, but it was nice that something was working as promised, especially when other, important, things in her life weren't.
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to relax. Waiting for a friend to show up for lunch always unnerved her. She imagined what it might be like to be considered important enough to never have to wait for people. Would she ever be important like that? While waiting, she did get to play, "who's the boss". It was her friend Samantha's people watching game. The key was to watch groups of people walking together to determine who had more formal power in the group. It was almost always the people in front who had the power. Samantha always tallied male versus female lead groups. According to her, women were slowly pulling forward and she predicted that women would eventually outnumber men as "the boss", in her little game. Julia had to admit, it was satisfying to see one or more women walking along with some hapless looking guy humbly shuffling behind them, anxiously hanging on every word.
As she continued scanning for "who's the boss" groups, Julia spotted Samantha getting out of a taxi, across the street, in front of the Art Institute. She was finally here, almost twenty minutes after the last text she'd sent saying she'd be late for lunch.
Julia stood up, smoothed down her skirt and gave a couple of quick tugs on her blouse to make sure it was nice and straight before waving excitedly to her friend. Samantha quickly spotted her and returned a tiny, cute, little wave. She paid the cab driver, and started to walk towards the bistro, plucking her corporate ID badge off her blouse and tossing it in her cute little clutch without missing a step.
Samantha worked in human resources and had been tied up in meetings all morning. Julia was anxious to hear whatever inside news she had on the rumored reorganization from Corporate. Everybody was nervous. Samantha had told her not to worry last time they talked and hinted at something good coming her way. It was all so unnerving.
Both women were in their late twenties, pretty, and dressed in chic, somewhat suggestive, clearly feminine attire. Julia's husband, Eric, called the look "business-professional-sexy" and occasionally quipped that Julia's business attire was "erection-enabling" when he thought one of her outfits was a little over the top.
Samantha wore a short sleeved pink blouse, and an A-line black skirt cut a few inches above the knees with black heels. Her skirt swished appreciably as she moved in three-inch stilettos while making her way to the crosswalk. As she crossed Michigan Avenue, a couple of men locked their eyes on the jiggling under Samantha's blouse. She had ample boobs which always seemed to be in motion, especially as she swayed in heels. Samantha seemed to enjoy flirting with men but it was a pure power trip for her, another game, since, ironically, Samantha hated men.
Samantha was smiling as she entered the bistro, quickly picking her way past the tables to where Julia was. She was beaming with excitement and even stamped her heels and let loose a tiny squeak before sitting down at the table with a wide grin.
"Good news then?," Julia asked nervously as they sat down, trying to stay calm despite her friend's obvious exuberance.
Samantha nodded barely able to contain herself. "You got the promotion," she finally said. "Regional sales manager. Even better, you beat out three men for the job," she added. "This is a real shake up, a lot of restructuring. They're letting go of some of the older men that have been there forever, realigning the teams, and putting in younger talent. And the best thing is, most of the senior promotions, like yours, are going to womyn!" Julia wasn't sure if Samantha was more excited about her promotion or that women had taken so many of the positions. "They're going to make you the offer before the end of the day it looks like. Oh, and you're going to be getting your own office! And..." Samantha stopped and looked at Julia who was sitting there blank faced, as if she was in the third hour of a meeting discussing corporate financials, supply chains, and lost revenues. "Well, aren't you excited?"
"Yes?" Julia said hesitantly.
"What's wrong honey?" Samantha's tone had switched from excitement to concern. She'd thought her friend would be thrilled at the news but instead she seemed distant and preoccupied.
Julia toyed with the bracelet on her left wrist, a thin gold chain, remembering better times. It wasn't especially expensive but Eric had given it to her a couple of years ago when he was still working. Under her shoulder length auburn hair both ears were decorated with earrings he'd bought her too, delicate three inch gold hoops with two small gold balls behind each of them. He'd even pierced her ears for her, adding the two extra holes to each ear so she could wear more earrings. It had been a better time. Eric had money and enjoyed spending it on her, spoiling her, having fun with her. But all of that was before he lost his job to what he called "gender politics".
