Dreams (Part One) (Dreams #1)(18)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

Colby dropped the last of his unfinished taco onto his plate and fixed his son with a forbidding glare. “I think the idea is goddamned stupid, that’s what I think.“

Tears trembled in Robyn’s eyes. Brandon’s face hardened.

Diana winced. The gloves were off. She knew she and poor Robyn were about to witness a full-blown quarrel between the two men. “Excuse me,“ she said, rising swiftly. “I don’t think I want to hear this. Robyn, would you like to come with me? Neither one of us needs to listen to these two do battle.“

“Sit down,“ Colby said through his teeth.

“Give me one good reason,“ Diana invited.

Colby drew a deep breath, clearly making a superhuman effort to control himself. “Brandon and I will discuss the matter later. This isn’t the time or the place.“

“True.“ Diana sat down cautiously. “But I wasn’t sure you realized it.“

Brandon looked at her with respect. Apparently he wasn’t accustomed to hearing his father handled in that manner. He hesitated nervously for a moment and then came up with what he undoubtedly assumed would be a safe topic of conversation.

“Dad said you were just here for the summer, Miss Prentice. How did you happen to pick Fulbrook Corners? From what Dad’s told me and from what I’ve seen, this isn’t exactly the vacation spot of the western hemisphere.“

Diana took pity on him. She smiled slightly. “Tm not sure why I picked this little town. I took a leave of absence from my job in Portland, and I felt I had to get away from the city for a while. I wanted a complete change of scene. As I told Colby, I just got out a map and Fulbrook Corners caught my eye. It turned out there were a few cottages available, so I took one for the summer.“

Brandon nodded. “How come you took a leave from your job?“

“Well, it’s a complicated story. I was in line for a promotion at the manufacturing firm where I had been working for the past four years. I felt I deserved the promotion. I’d worked extremely hard for it and, to be honest, I thought it was in the bag.“

“What kind of work do you do?“ Brandon asked.

“I have a degree in accounting and one in business administration. I was working as second-in-command in the office of a division controller at Carruthers and Yale.“

“So you did financial forecasting and things like that?“

Diana nodded, delighted by his interest. “That’s right. I helped work up the forecasts and also did a lot of accounting administration work. It’s all computerized these days, you know.“

“So what happened to the big promotion?“

“As I said, I didn’t get it. When it didn’t come through, I was forced to reconsider my situation. It became apparent that women could advance to the ranks of middle management but no higher at Carruthers and Yale. The men at the top had drawn the line at the divisional level.“

Robyn looked up, showing faint interest in the conversation. “You think you were denied the job because of sexual discrimination?“

“I have to assume that was the reason. There was no one else as qualified for the job as I was and everyone knew it.“

“But that’s illegal,“ Robyn said with a puzzled frown.

“I’ve got news for you, Robyn. Just because there are now laws in place to protect women from discrimination on the job doesn’t mean it’s always easy to get employers to obey them. In my case, I could never prove discrimination and there was no real way to fight it.“

“So you took a leave to think things over.“ Brandon nodded understandingly. “Going to go back?“

“No. I’ve done a lot of thinking, and I’m sure I’ll end up resigning my position. You have to know when to cut your losses in the corporate world,“ Diana explained calmly.

“But didn’t the whole situation make you mad?“ Brandon persisted.

Diana looked up from her taco and for an instant all the helpless fury she had experienced at the time was mirrored in her eyes. “Oh, yes,“ she whispered tightly, “it made me angry. More angry than I’ve ever been in my entire life. Nor have I ever felt so frustrated and helpless. I had worked hard for that promotion. I’d put in countless hours of unpaid overtime. I had put out one fire after another for my boss. When I first started to work in the division, it was losing a half a million a year. Within a year we were breaking even, and six months later we were clearing a profit. That division of Carruthers and Yale now makes a million and a half a year. And I had a lot to do with the turnaround, damn it.“

“Oh, wow,“ Brandon said, looking rather awed. Colby and Robyn were staring at her as if they hadn’t noticed her sitting there at the table until now.

“But where I really went wrong,“ Diana continued with barely suppressed violence, “was believing the upper management of Carruthers and Yale when it claimed it would treat women equally on the job. I put my faith in a bunch of male executives who lied through their teeth. They used me, but when it came time to promote me, they ignored me.

Yes, Brandon, it made me angry.“

Another taut silence descended on the table as the last of Diana’s fury evaporated. She had her temper in hand almost immediately, but Colby was still looking at her with a stunned expression.

“Christ, Diana, I hadn’t realized it had been like that for you,“ Colby said bluntly. “Why didn’t you tell me how bad it was?“

She shrugged. “You never asked.“

“No,“ he admitted slowly. “I didn’t, did I?“

Robyn looked genuinely puzzled. “But I thought it was different for women now.“

“Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t. Mostly it isn’t. Not at the higher corporate levels.“

Brandon spoke up. “How will you know if it’s going to be any better at your next job?“

“Good question,“ Diana said, trying to lighten her voice. “It’s one of the risks women face in the business world.

The only way to know for sure it might be better would be to start my own business, I suppose.“ She looked at Robyn.

“What type of career are you thinking of for yourself, Robyn?“

Robyn chewed her lip nervously and looked quickly at Brandon. “I’m not sure yet. I mean I haven’t thought too much about it. It’ll probably depend on what Brandon does. That is, I mean if we, uh – “ She broke off abruptly.