My husband, Phil, had been expecting a promotion at his company for a couple of weeks since the VP for Marketing suddenly resigned after an investigation. There was only one other person in the running. His name is Brad and he had less company experience than Phil, even though he was more educated than him. I had met him at a few company functions and he had always been a prick, very aloof and always talking down on other people. Phil and I were very hopeful that he would get the job. While we were comfortable in our lifestyle the extra income and perks would certainly enable us to do all the things we had always wanted to do. But more importantly, Phil needed this promotion for his career growth. He had given his life to this company.
You can imagine the disappointment when he came home one day and told me that the job had been given to Brad. Phil was devastated.
"I'm crushed Beth," he said. It was even more personal to him because it was Brad that got the job. He always looked down on Phil and was generally very disrespectful toward him. And now he was going to be his boss. Anyway, Phil took the rest of the week off to process what had happened and to deal with it. During that time we even discussed the possibility of him quitting and looking for another job. But my income only would not be enough to carry us through that period. I have two jobs. I am a fitness trainer at a local gym where I work with ladies who want to get their bodies in shape. And I also coach cheerleaders at the local school.
During the week Phil got a call from the office informing him that Brad wanted to meet all senior managers with their spouses on Monday. Something about the company's family values and some other crap. I wasn't interested. I was dead set against going there. But Phil convinced me to go as he did not want it to look like he was bitter for not getting the job and was now being rebelious. I didn't want to make things difficult for him so I agreed to go. He was told that our appointment with Brad was at 1pm.
On Monday Phil and I got up and got ready for work. I was going to the gym for my morning classes first. I would then come back home, freshen up and go to Phil's office to join him for the stupid appointment. I really was not looking forward to it. And the fact that I would have to keep up the pretence of being ok and cordial with Brad made it worse. But I had to do it for Phil. I got back from the gym just after 11 and started getting ready. I picked a nice black dress that was about mid-thigh long, a red pair of panties and a matching bra and a pair of black red bottoms. My outfit was professional and classy. The heels made me even taller, which usually intimidated men especially. I am almost 1.8m tall without heels already.
I arrived there just before 1pm. I did not want to leave much time for chit chatting with the PA, receptionist or whoever else while waiting. I simply wasn't in the mood. Phil came down to get me. We had to walk to another wing of the building where the executives sat. The executive hub had its own reception and the lady there was quite warm and nice. She told us Brad would see us soon. So we waited. The bastard made us wait for more than twenty minutes. I am pretty sure it was a deliberate act. He wanted to rub his superiority in Phil's face. And I could tell Phil was pissed. Finally the assistant's phone rang. It was Brad telling her he was ready to see us. The lady escorted us to his office which was not far from the reception area, probably about 10 meters away.
Brad met us at the door.
"Thank you Celia." he said to the assistant. He reached out and shook my hand. "Good afternoon Beth, it's good to see you again." he said. I greeted him back politely but I wasn't going to say it was good to see him. I wasn't going to lie. He then turned to Phil and said, "Phil I would like to meet with Beth first if you don't mind. I like to get to know the spouses a bit and understand how they experience our company through their partners. I will bring you in once I am done with that, it shouldn't be long." He didn't wait for a response, he simply turned and walked back into his office. I looked at Phil, he looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. He kissed me on my cheek and squeezed my hand and said, "I'll see you in a bit." and he went back to reception.
I entered Brad's office. My intention was simple, to listen to whatever bullshit he wanted to say and get out of there. Little did I know what devious plans he had in mind. His office was quite big. He had lots of certificates and graduation photos of himself hanging on the walls. What a surprise!
"Please close the door Beth, thank you." he said. I closed the door behind me. He was already sitting on the other side of the large table. I took a seat, put my small handbag on the table, crossed my legs and folded my arms and waited for him to talk. He smiled. Now, I didn't explain how attractive Brad was. He was athletic. He was tall, noticeably taller than even me. The few times I had seen him he had always been well groomed and smelling really good. If he was not such an asshole I might actually have liked him. On this day he was wearing a blue tight fitting shirt with no tie on. His smile almost disarmed me. But I had my game face on.
"Beth thanks for coming in. I will cut to the chase. The reason I am meeting with the senior managers today is because the department is top heavy and I need to make quick but tough decisions. We need to lay off three managers." I couldn't believe that the first thing this prick wanted to do as VP is fire people. I also quickly realised that Phil would probably be on his list as they didn't get along and he was basically his rival. He didn't wait for a response.
"Now, to make a decision like that I can't only rely on the people's competence and record. I like to make well rounded decisions. That's why I wanted to meet with you so I can get to know another side of Phil." he said, looking straight into my eyes. Somehow that stare intimidated me. I was in unfamiliar territory all of a sudden. I usually intimidate people, not the other way round.
"Ok, so what do you wanna know?" I asked.
"Well," he said as he stoop up, "you seem quite tense Beth. It's really important that you relax so we can have a meaningful engagement." He came across the table and stood behind me. I tried to stand up but he gently pushed down on my shoulders and said "It's ok."
