by Jason Letts
“No, I mean with someone that you’re with, a girlfriend. Have you ever raised your voice or made demands about something she should be doing? It’s just something Chelsea said to me my very first day in the office, and we actually ran into a woman named Cassie who apparently had been with you. I just have to know the truth.”
It didn’t take long for Keenan to start shaking his head. He actually smirked a little and looked up at the ceiling.
“I’ll tell you that I never directed any anger at someone I was with, though that doesn’t mean I didn’t raise my voice around them for other reasons. But hearing about Chelsea and Cassie…I can’t even imagine what they told you,” he said.
“Why’s that?”
I crossed my arms over my middle. Keenan kept shaking his head.
“It’s funny you should mention Chelsea saying something to you on the first day you arrived. She said something to me about you too.”
“She did?”
“Oh yeah, that was how I found out about your blog. She told me about it and said you had told her you were only taking the job to try to get close to me, luring me into a situation where I might be liable for a harassment lawsuit.”
My loathing for Chelsea reached a new peak I never could’ve imagined. But whatever she had told him, evidently it wasn’t enough to keep him away.
“So that’s why you had your lawyer draw up consent forms?”
He nodded.
“I tried to keep my distance altogether, especially after you were saying you were having issues with other members of the staff, but there was just something interesting about you that I had to find out more about, even if it could only be as friends.”
I had an I thought the same thing moment in my head.
“That I was thoughtful,” I said with a smile.
“Right. But things weren’t going well with Cassie. I’m pretty sure she thought our relationship would be like a permanent vacation. She didn’t like that I had to work so much, or that it occupied so much of my thoughts. She kept pushing me to take more time off and delegate more responsibilities. I knew she was eventually going to try to make me choose between her and my company, but I went ahead and ended it first.
“After that it was hard not to notice you every time you came into a room, but I still had this nagging fear that you were out to get me. It wasn’t until we came clean after that kiss on the basement stairs that I finally started to accept that you were the real deal,” he said.
The real deal? That sounded good to me, but I was still steaming about how our relationship had almost been derailed before we’d even met.
“She tried to play us against each other,” I said, and saying it out loud did more to lift my concerns than anything else. Most of what she’d said had been made up, and she’d probably conspired with Cassie to fabricate stories in order to get back at him.
“I should’ve known better than to listen to her at all after she tried to corner me one night in the office, which I refused, and after her love letter, but once the impression she made about you got in my head, it was so difficult to get past it.”
“Huh, that figures,” I said, my eyes opening at this little revelation. Chelsea had been trying to keep us apart so she could have him for herself.
Now I was ready to lean in for some cuddling. I put my hand on his chest to gently nudge him back against the couch, but my impulses got the better of me and I ended up leaning in for a long, deep kiss.
“We’ll have to enjoy each other just to spite her,” he said after we pulled away by just an inch.
“Works for me,” I said, grinning with my eyes lowered. All of her lies had run their course, and we were still here together, stronger than ever.
Another week passed, in which time I actually published a couple of blog posts about why it was important to have a diverse staff and even some ways I found of finding a wider range of candidates for positions in tech. I began developing LinkedIn and Medium accounts to get them out there, and although the traffic wasn’t off the charts, there were people out there who were obviously interested. I just had no idea who they were.
Fixing the health insurance situation was also something I tackled. Not everybody had a rich sister and brother-in-law who would pay for everything you needed and then some more on top that wasn’t. And it was good to have a new plan in place too, not just for my counseling, which was about to begin, but for the new members of our staff.
Our office no longer looked like the ghost town it had been lately. We still didn’t have the numbers we did when I first started, but we had some really great men and women who made the place feel alive with positivity like it never had before. A lot of talented people out there liked the idea of contributing to a company that worked to help other companies make a difference.
I was in my office, now decorated with figurines depicting various female superheroes and characters, when Lena popped open the door and stuck her head in.
“There’s a reporter from the New York Times who just came in,” she said.
That reminded me it was time to get a real receptionist. Drop-ins from clients, prospective clients, and other visitors were becoming a frequent occurrence. I looked away from an article I was reading about employee benefit packages to respond to Lena.
“That’s great, but Keenan is in a teleconference. I can try to buzz him, but the reporter might have to wait a while,” I said.
Lena shook her head slightly, a smile emerging.
“She said she’s here to see you.”
I blinked twice.
“Me? You can send her in, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Moments later a tall woman with brown braided hair and wearing a smart gray pantsuit stepped in. I shook her hand enthusiastically.
“Is there something I can help you with?” I asked. The woman looked at me for a moment before raising her eyebrows and craning her neck forward a little.
“Surely you must’ve guessed why I’m here. My name’s Janet Icorin. I’m sorry I didn’t let you know I was coming in an email, but sometimes I like to make surprise visits.”
I squinted a little at her and shook my head.
“I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with you and don’t have the foggiest clue why you might be here other than to talk to Keenan.”
She smiled in a reassuring sort of way.
“Let me see if I can give you a strong hint then. Mouse Roar has, of course, been a well-known startup in town for a while, but lately it’s gone through a remarkable transformation that, as best we can tell, has been the work of just two people, one of them being Mr. Roche. If I’m not mistaken, you started here just within the last couple of months and are now overseeing much of what goes on, not to mention who goes on around here. Does that seem like a story worth hearing a little more about to you?”
I raised my eyebrows, feeling my cheeks flush. The last time someone from a newspaper actually wanted to talk to me was because I’d written a poem in middle school.
“It could be. I don’t know,” I said, shrugging.
“I think there are readers out there who would love to hear more about it. Do you have some time to sit down and talk about it? Good. I’m going to record this, OK? Great. Let’s dive right in, shall we? How would you describe your rise in Mouse Roar?”
A chuckle escaped my lips as I tried to condense everything that happened into a few words. What did it all boil down to?
“To be honest, I’m not sure I can take much credit for anything. Some of it was just lucky circumstances, good fortune that my ideas happened to work out the way I guessed—they certainly haven’t always—and the benefit of having a boss who appreciated a thoughtful approach. He saw something in me I don’t think anyone else ever has.”
Janet gave me a piercing look and nodded. She had one leg crossed over the other, balancing the recorder, a pen, and a notepad.
“What would you say if I told you that some people already considered you a leading voice for women in tech?
I’m aware of your blog and your writing is already getting around in the right circles.”
I tried not to gasp and resisted the urge to ask her if she was joking. She wasn’t. Somehow all of this was real.
“I’d say I’m flattered, but as is the case with any kind of advancement there’s some learning on the job to be done. There’s still so much more I need to know, so much more I can do. But if I can be some sort of example to others or the bosses figuring out whom to hire or promote, that would be a dream come true for me.”
Janet smiled again. It was surprising how much fun this was, how it seemed to illuminate all of the possibilities before me. What I was doing was something women needed someone to do. I only hoped I would be up to the task.
“And there’s also been some speculation about you and Mr. Keenan Roche. How would you describe him? Is there anything to the idea that you are in a relationship?”
I leaned forward, not shying away from her interested gaze for an instant. While running a company and managing a staff was new territory for me, I didn’t have to think twice to know what I needed to say about that man.
“Sometimes he still likes to call it professional development,” I said, grinning widely and without hesitation, “but for a long time I’d wondered if there were any good men out there. Then I found one, and it made everything in the world seem possible.”
The End
Look for the forthcoming sequel, Agency!
FROM THE AUTHOR
I’d like to extend a special thank you to all of the readers who’ve made it through Consent, which I hope has been a meaningful exploration of a number of issues that should be at the forefront of everyone’s minds these days. I say “exploration” purposefully, because I’ve always felt fiction is at its best when it presents topics for readers to consider without also drawing the conclusions for them. Similarly, characters and events should both appear realistic and yet be unique at the same time. I’ve had positions in the counseling field and just heard stories from women I’ve known that can both reflect and contrast sharply with some of the depictions in this book. My hope is that this story will speak to the real experiences some have had and provide something new and thought-provoking. Who doesn’t want to have it both ways?
If you enjoyed this story, I hope you’ll please take a moment to write a review, even a short one, on Amazon. If readers who enjoy the book won’t write a review, who will?
You’re also welcome to get in touch with me at [email protected] or www.facebook.com/authorjasonletts/
Thank you again for reading!
—Jason
© 2018 by Jason Letts
All rights reserved: no part of this book may be reproduced by any means without written permission from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.