by A. Anders
“What’s Baby Doll?” Lucy said barging into Peter’s office.
Peter, who was on the phone, flicked his eyes up as she entered. “Listen, I’m going to have to call you back later. I love you,” Peter said to Lucy surprise. She hadn’t known that he was in a relationship. A part of her had thought that he might have still been interested in her.
“Have you ever heard of knocking?” Peter said snarkily.
“What? Is that one of those corporate rules that you’re always talking about?” Lucy asked dismissively.
“Actually, yes. That would be a perfect example of one.”
“Noted. What’s Baby Doll?”
“What?” Peter asked surprised.
“You heard me. What’s Baby Doll? I know it’s something. Don’t pretend like it’s not.”
Peter looked at Lucy like a deer caught in headlights. It took a moment for him to gather himself. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said casually.
“Why would I worry about it? And why shouldn’t I worry about it?” She asked confused.
“Listen, you have to expect that when someone like you comes in to an office, a few people might get on edge.”
“Someone like me? What does that mean?” She asked not realizing that it had anything to do with her.
“You know, the boss’ daughter.”
“So you’re saying that Baby Doll is me? People are calling me Baby Doll?” She asked disturbed.
“I wouldn’t be offended by it. Hey, you had to expect some pushback when you got here.
“The guys here went to Yale and Harvard. They work twelve hour days and sixty hour weeks. Their entire life is about getting promoted. But then you, the boss’ daughter waltzes in… Well, you have to expect at least a few of them to feel threatened.”
Lucy cringed at the idea. All of her fellow executives were making fun of her behind her back. And was it just about her being the boss’ daughter or was it also a crack about her weight? Baby Dolls weren’t exactly Barbie looking. The whole thing was demeaning and she decided to put an immediate end to it.
“Wait, Lucy. What are you thinking?” Peter asked a little concerned.
“What do you mean?”
“I can always tell when you’re up to no good. You get a certain look in your eyes”
Lucy looked at Peter surprised. He had never struck her as being very attentive about anything concerning her. How could he have picked up on a look that no one else in her life had ever mentioned?
“I don’t have a look,” Lucy denied.
“Yeah, right. There’s no look. Then tell me, what were you just thinking.”
Lucy considered lying. In the end, she just chuckled and admitted the truth. “I was thinking about what I’m going to have to do to put an end to that nickname.”
“Lucy, trust me on this, just let it go. It’s not offensive and it’s not as mean as it could be. You have to understand how much of a threat they see you as.”
“But I’m just like them. I’m trying to learn the business and do my part,” she said starting to feel hurt.
“But you aren’t like everyone else. Your father brought you in with the hopes of one day running the company. Now, do you really think you’ve earned that position or is it something that your father’s trying to hand you on a silver platter?”
“But I didn’t ask for any of this. Peter, you know me. You really think that I would choose to be here if I could be traveling or at least grabbing brunch with my friends? I didn’t want any of this.”
“I may know that, but do any of them? Listen, the nickname is harmless. They’re just a bunch of frat boys letting off a little steam. Don’t do anything. Don’t say anything. Just leave it alone. Eventually it’ll go away and they’ll think of you as one of them.”
Lucy considered whether or not she could let it go. She wasn’t sure that she could.
“Promise me, Lucy?”
Lucy considered it. Peter seemed to be asking a favor as if they were friends. Maybe they were becoming friends. Clearly he was in love with someone else. Perhaps now her father would stop trying to force the two of them together. With that pressure off of her shoulders, maybe the two of them could be friends.
After all, it turned out that Peter wasn’t that bad of a guy. Sure, he always entered a room like he had a big dick and that rubbed Lucy the wrong way. But who didn’t have something annoying about them?
Besides, the more Lucy saw him, the better looking he got. His angular face, his curly blonde hair. Now that they worked together and corporate rules prevented him from saying anything obnoxious, he was kind of pleasant to be around. Maybe she should take his advice, if for no other reason than to foster a better relationship between the two of them.
“Fine. I’ll let it go,” Lucy said resigning.
“Good. Now get out.”
Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “Rude,” she said as she turned towards the door.
“Yeah. And don’t forget to knock next time Miss Etiquette,” he said not letting her get away with anything.
Lucy left Peter’s office with a smile on her face. After their history, it was actually becoming fun to work with Peter. It wasn’t like could be BFFs or anything, but they had a repartee that she enjoyed.
Lucy returned to her office and did her best to put the nickname out of her mind. It didn’t work. As much as she tried, it continued to bother her. Her coworkers had a nickname for her and were talking about her behind her back. Who would be okay with that?
As Lucy scanned the endless files piled on her desk, she leaned back and thought about Cristiano. What was he doing at that exact moment? Was he thinking of her? Did he even remember her? Would he recognize her if he saw her wearing a suit and sitting behind a desk?
It saddened Lucy to think that she might never see Cristiano again. He was still the love of her life. Cancún and her new job had helped to push thoughts of him to the back of her mind, but they were still there. When thoughts of Cristiano became overwhelming, the only thing that made things better was calling Pedro into her office and flirting a little with him.
“Pedro, can you come in here, please?” Lucy yelled through her open door.
Pedro appeared a moment later with his notepad and pen in hand.
“Yes, Lucy?” He asked having been told by her to call her by her first name.
In truth, Lucy just wanted to stare at the good looking guy for a little while but she knew she had to say something before the situation got awkward.
“Hey, have you heard people referring to me as Baby Doll?” She asked saying the first thing that came to mind.
Pedro froze. Lucy looked at him surprised.
“Wait, have you?” She asked again.
Pedro looked at Lucy and released a deep breath. After that, he reached back for her office door and closed it. Everything about his reaction took Lucy by surprise.
“Yeah, I might’ve heard something,” he admitted reluctantly.
“What did you hear?” Lucy asked concerned but intrigued.
“I heard that it’s something that people call you,” he said uncomfortably.
“And…”
“And that they call you that because they don’t take you seriously.”
Lucy was taken aback. “Really?”
“That’s just what I heard from the other assistants.”
Lucy thought about it. The nickname seemed to be more serious than Peter had let on. They were using it to undermine her credibility. And it wasn’t just one or two of them saying it. Even the assistants were discussing it. Lucy didn’t like this at all.
“Do you have any idea how this got started?” Lucy asked starting to get upset.
“I don’t know how,” Pedro said suggestively.
“Do you know who started it?”
Pedro swallowed as if caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I only know what people told me.”
Considering it, Lucy went through the suspects in her mind. There were a lot of peop
le it could have been.
“If you know, then tell me,” she said becoming a little more serious.
“Again, I only know what people told me.”
Lucy was getting annoyed. “I got that. Spill it, Pedro.”
Pedro took another deep breath. “Someone told me that it was Peter.”
“Wait, Peter Baron?” She asked stunned.
“Yeah.”
Lucy felt dazed. Could that be true? Was it possible that while he was pretending to be her friend, he was making her the butt of everyone’s jokes? Lucy felt like she was going to throw up. She did her best to hold herself together.
“I see. Well, thank you for telling me that. You can go.”
Pedro looked at her sympathetically. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it was good that you told me. Thank you. I appreciate it. You can close the door on the way out.”
Lucy sat still as she watched Pedro leave. Once the door was closed, Lucy collapsed into tears. How could she have been so foolish as to trust Peter? How could she think that anyone here saw her as anything other than the boss’ spoilt daughter?
Lucy now understood why Peter had been urging her to let it go. She couldn’t let this go anymore, though. He had declared war on her and Lucy wasn’t one to back down from a fight.
For the next week, Lucy pretended like everything was fine between her and Peter and together they worked on their presentation. Supplying the numbers for it, Lucy was sure to memorize every detail of the presentation script knowing it back and forth.
On the day of the presentation, Lucy realized that it was being presented to more than just to her father. The audience would be every executive on their floor. This was considered to be a big deal and Lucy sat back waiting for her opportunity for revenge.
Peter began his presentation just as they had planned. First was an introduction to Vernon Industries, their portfolio, and all of their remaining assets. Next was an outline of their analytical techniques and finally was Peter’s conclusion. Peter’s advice was that their company not move forward with their acquisition.
“They simply don’t have enough transferable assets,” Peter told the men seated around the conference room table. “At best we would break even. At worst we stand to lose between ten and $60 million.”
It was then that Lucy raised her hand drawing everyone’s attention. Peter looked at her confused.
“Lucy, usually all the questions are left until the end,” Peter told her unsure why she would have any questions at all considering she helped put together the presentation.
“Oh, really? I’m sorry,” Lucy replied.
“That’s no problem. Anyway. As I was saying…”
“It’s just that I think a few of your numbers are off,” Lucy continued.
“What?” Peter said trying to hide his near panic.
“Yeah. Go back to slide seven,” Lucy told him.
Rattled, Peter flipped back through a few pages.
“Yes, see, right there. You list the value of their transportation equipment as $7,000,000. That should have been $70,000,000. At 70 million, turning a profit from our company’s acquisition should be fairly easy.”
Lucy’s father turned to her curiously. “How is that?” He asked her.
Lucy got up. “Do you mind, Peter?” She asked forcing him to concede the spotlight. Dazed by what was going on, he simply shook his head and stepped out of her way.
Standing where Peter had just stood, Lucy walked everyone through the details of the acquisition as if she had written it herself. In truth, she had. She had spent the last few days researching the presentations of all of the company’s previous acquisitions and mirrored them accordingly. All that was left after that was to feed Peter incorrect numbers for his presentation and wait for his presentation to begin.
By the end of her talk, her father was impressed. “Good work, Lucy. It was a good catch. We’ll move forward with the acquisition. Meeting dismissed.”
Lucy accepted congratulations from the rest of the men as they exited. When it was just her and Peter left, she turned to him and smiled.
“No hard feelings, Baby Doll?” She asked with complete satisfaction. Peter looked at her stunned. “And I suggest that you don’t make too big a deal out of this. It’s natural that some of the others might be resentful of a guy in your position. I’m sure it’ll all blow over.”
It was on those words that she turned on her heels and walked out. Peter now knew what it felt like to be humiliated at work. Considering that there was nothing he could do to top that, she declared herself the victor. Having won, she felt comfortable bring their cold war to an end.
With things between her and Peter settled, Lucy decided it was time to celebrate. Tomorrow was the company-wide picnic at Griffith Park. Originally she wasn’t going to go. Now, not only was she going, but she was planning on having a good time.
Arriving early she spotted Pedro. He had a beer in his hand. Looking forward to a little light flirting, she went over and join him.
“Do you have another one of those?” Lucy asked him.
“I have one right here,” Pedro told her reaching into a bucket of ice.
“Perfect,” Lucy said retrieving it and taking a swig.
“I didn’t see you much as a beer drinker,” her assistant told her.
“I’m usually not but I figured it’s time to celebrate.”
“I heard some of the other assistants talking. They say the presentation went well for you and, unfortunately, not as well for Peter.”
“I know. Could you imagine someone at Peter’s level making such a simple accounting error? He’s got to feel so embarrassed. I hope he still comes,” Lucy said with a knowing smile.
“Yeah,” Pedro laughed. “How could someone like him make a mistake like that?” He asked knowing that this was her payback for the nickname.
Lucy looked at Pedro in his casual clothes and saw him in a new light. She had always thought of him as younger, but really the two were about the same age. Who would say anything if something were to happen between them? They were both consenting adults.
Besides, there was no question Pedro was interested in her. They flirted almost every day. Perhaps it was time to explore just how far their flirting would go.
Lucy was about to make a move on Pedro when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Lucy, can I have a word with you?” her father asked her.
“Sure. Pedro, don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back.”
“Okay,” Pedro said with a smile.
After the two of them walked for a bit, her father turned to her and stopped.
“I want you to know that I know what you did yesterday,” he told her displeased.
“What do you mean?”
“For the presentation. I know that you fed Peter a false number so that you could one up him during his presentation.”
“Dad, why would I do something like that? Peter and I were working together on the presentation. I don’t know how he got that number. I certainly didn’t give it to him,” Lucy said.
“Cut the bullshit, Lucy. This isn’t some lunch room full of high school girls. Everyone in that room knew what you did. I knew it and I played along because I didn’t want to undermine your credibility with the others.
“Lucy, I’m trying to groom you to take over this company. For that, you need their respect. You can’t just be someone who tells them what to do and stabs them in the back when it’s convenient. They need to be able to trust you.”
“But, Dad,” Lucy began feeling like a thirteen-year-old girl being chastised by her father.
“No, Lucy. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t know what brought about this and I don’t care. You and Peter are going to clear things up today. I don’t care how you do it. I just expect it done. Do you hear me?”
“But, Dad…”
“I said, do you hear me?” Her father said as sternly as he had ever said anything.
Lucy wilted under his ga
ze. “Yes, Sir.”
“Good. And if you ever do anything like this again, I promise you, Lucy, not only will you lose your job, but you will lose every penny of your inheritance with it. Do you understand?”
Shrinking as she stood there, she replied, “yes, Sir.”
“Now, find Peter and make this right. By the way, have you seen him arrive yet?” Lucy’s father looked around. “Oh, wait, there is.”
Lucy turned in the direction of her father’s gaze. He was right. Peter had just arrived and to Lucy’s surprise, he had brought someone. It was another guy.
As the two walked towards them, Lucy lost her breath. Her face went white. She recognized the man. It was a face she hadn’t seen in weeks. Peter had come to the company picnic with Cristiano. Lucy struggled to figure out what was going on.
“Peter,” Lucy’s father greeted. “It’s good to see you. I’m glad you came. And who’s this?”
“Hi, Sir. I wouldn’t miss it. This here is my boyfriend, Cristiano.”
“Your boyfriend?” Lucy’s father asked surprised. “Oh!”
“Yeah.” Peter grabbed Cristiano’s hand pulling him closer. “I know.”
“I didn’t know that you dated men,” Lucy’s father said casually.
“I don’t usually. But Cristiano was special. And when you meet someone as special as him, you don’t hide him. You share your relationship with the world.”
Lucy’s father looked uncomfortable but only mildly. “Well, yes. Congratulations on finding someone special.” He turned to Cristiano. “Treat him good. You have a good man there.”
“I will, Sir,” Cristiano replied.
“Please, you don’t work for me. Call me Harold.”
Cristiano smiled awkwardly. “Then I will… Harold.”
“Anyway, I’ll leave you all to talk. Lucy,” Harold nodded to his daughter and then left the three alone.
Lucy stared at the two of them unable to speak. She could barely breathe. Although she had heard the words, she couldn’t believe what was going on. With her father gone, Cristiano looked at Lucy with as much surprise as she looked back.
“What’s going on, Pete? I thought you said you didn’t know Lucy,” Cristiano said turning to him upset.