The Other Side of the Story

by Marian Keyes

  Right up to this minute, she wasn’t even sure she’d believed in the existence of glass ceilings. If she’d thought about it at all she’d suspected it was something lame-duck female employees used to salve their pride when their more deserving male colleagues got promoted over them. She’d never felt part of a sisterhood: it was up to each woman to do it for herself. She’d always thought she was as good as men and that she’d be treated on her own merits. But guess what? She was wrong.

  ‘This has got nothing to do with you being a woman.’

  ‘The bottom line,’ Jojo said slowly, ‘is they made him partner because he might pull off a deal with one of his golf-course cronies.’

  ‘No, they made him partner because they think long term he’ll bring in more money.’

  ‘And how’s he going to do that? By playing golf with other men. Stop peeing in my ear and telling me it’s raining. This is a case of glass ceiling.’

  ‘It isn’t.’

  ‘It is.’

  ‘It isn’t.’

  ‘Whatever.’

  ‘It isn’t.’

  ‘I hear you. Hey, we’ll talk about it later.’ She wanted him out of her office. She needed to think.

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘What do you think? Whack Gant?’ She pointed towards her desk. ‘I’ve got a job to do.’

  He looked relieved. ‘I’ll see you later.’ He tried to hug her again and she slipped away from him. ‘Jojo, don’t punish me.’

  ‘I’m not.’ But she didn’t want anyone touching her. She didn’t want anything. She was on auto-pilot until she figured out what to do.

  Ten minutes later

  Richie Gant stood in her doorway, waited until he had her attention, then sniggered, ‘They’re oversexed, they’re overpaid and they’re OVER.’

  He moved off, leaving Jojo with a heart racing with anger.

  Manoj came in. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Richie Gant is the new partner, not me.’

  ‘But –’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘It’s not fair! You’re far better than him.’

  ‘Exactly. But, hey, no one died, right?’

  ‘Jojo.’ He sounded surprised, almost disappointed. ‘Are you just going to take this lying down?’

  ‘Manoj, I’m going to tell you something I’ve told very few people.’

  ‘Because you like me?’

  ‘Because you’re the only person in my office. The reason I left the force and came to London?’

  Manoj nodded encouragingly.

  ‘Because my brother killed someone. He was a policeman –still is. Needed overtime money so went out cruising to arrest someone. Happens a lot in October when they’re trying to make the overtime pay for Christmas. Anyhow, he finds a dealer who, in the course of arrest, pulls a gun on him. My brother loses it. Pulls his own gun and kills the guy. And yeah, maybe he had to, get them before they get you, like they say, but you know what? I so did not want to do a job where I might kill someone. Very next day I gave notice, came to England three weeks later. Worked in a bar, worked as a reader and when I became an agent I was happy because no matter what happened, I wasn’t going to kill someone. Nothing –negotiations, whatever – mattered to me that much because, bottom line, it wasn’t life and death.’

  Manoj nodded.

  ‘So Richie Gant has been made partner when it should have been me, it’s all wrong, but no one got hurt, no one died, right?’

  ‘Right.’

  In silence she twisted it over in her head. ‘But all the FUCKING same!’

  ‘Quite.’

  ‘I should have got that promotion. I’m a better agent and I deserve it.’

  ‘Too right. You can’t just take this.’

  Jojo considered. ‘Yeah. I’m going to see Mark.’

  Instantly, Manoj’s head was full of images of Jojo on her knees in front of Mark giving him an on-duty blow-job. Jojo put her face very close to Manoj’s and hissed, ‘I don’t do that sort of thing.’

  Manoj swallowed and watched her departing back. How did she know?

  Mark’s office

  She didn’t mean to bounce his door against the wall. She wasn’t looking to be dramatic, but hey, these things happen. He looked up, startled.

  ‘Mark, I’m going to sue.’

  He looked even more startled, ‘Who?’

  ‘Lipman Haigh.’

  ‘For what?’

  ‘For what? A broken ankle? A dented fender?’ She widened her eyes. ‘Sex discrimination, what else?’

  Mark went the colour of dust. Suddenly he looked ten years older. ‘Don’t, Jojo. Richie got it fair and square. It’s just going to look like sour grapes.’

  Slightly perplexed, she focused on him. ‘This is my career. I don’t care what it looks like.’

  ‘Jojo –’

  But she was gone.

  Back in her office, she hit the phones. She rang Becky but the only solicitor she knew was the one who helped her and Andy buy their flat and – because of the last-minute shenanigans involved – whom they hated. ‘Ring Shayna. Brandon will know someone. Or else ring Magda, she knows everyone in the whole world.’

  There was no need to ring Magda because Brandon knew someone. ‘Eileen Prendergast, the best there is. She’s like you: nice but scarily good at her job. When do you want to see her?’

  ‘Now.’ Jojo was surprised. ‘When else?’

  ‘You do mean business. Eileen’s booked up weeks in advance but let me see what I can do.’

  He rang back three minutes later. ‘You owe me big. She’s cancelled a lunch. Come over now.’

  ‘See you in twenty.’ She grabbed her bag and told Manoj, ‘If Mark is looking for me, tell him I’ve gone to see the employment lawyer, but don’t tell anyone else.’

  Monday lunchtime

  Walking into the glass tower in the City, Jojo had a moment. Her circumstances zipped by her head like something tangible and she actually felt dizzy. How did it ever come to this? And so quickly? This time yesterday she’d been looking forward with tentative confidence to celebrating her partnership. And now it had turned one-eighty and she was suing.

  Brandon met her in reception and took her to meet Eileen, who was tall, beautiful and had more than a touch of Liv Tyler about her.

  He made introductions, left, then Jojo sat down and launched into the details of Richie Gant. ‘I bring in more money than him. But they picked him because he can play golf, bond with corporate guys and try to shake them down for sponsorship. As a woman I can’t do that.’

  Eileen listened, making notes in a pad, interrupting occasionally to ask questions.

  ‘There isn’t a pattern of you being passed over in favour of him or another man?’

  Jojo shook her head.

  ‘So this is a one-off, which will make it harder to prove.’

  ‘I’m not sticking around, waiting for it to happen again!’

  Eileen smiled. ‘Fair enough. Now, things you should know: even if you win, the tribunal doesn’t have the power to order an appointment. In other words, no matter what the decision of the tribunal, you won’t make partner.’

  ‘So why am I doing this?’

  ‘If you win, you get awarded compensation and your reputation recovers.’

  Jojo made a face. ‘Better than a kick in the head, I guess.’

  ‘Some other things. This is a tribunal, not a trial. It’s meant to be accessible, in other words, there’s meant to be no need for legal representation, but in practice, most people do. But because of that, they don’t award costs. So Jojo, even if you win, you could be looking at a bill for ten thousand, twenty thousand, even more. Any compensation you receive could be wiped out by legal costs. And that’s if you win.’

  ‘What are the chances of that?’

  Eileen thought about it. ‘Fifty-fifty. Even if you win, it may be difficult for you to continue working there. And if you lose, you’ll find it impossible. And probably very difficult to f
ind employment in another agency – you might have acquired a reputation for being difficult.’

  ‘For what? Doing the right thing?’

  ‘I know, but unfortunately some women use this process in a vexatious way. For example, if they’ve been having a relationship with a male colleague and it ends messily, sometimes they cry “sexual discrimination” to cause trouble… what? What is it?’

  ‘Yeah, look.’ Jojo took a breath. ‘I’ve been having, am having, a relationship with, as you say, one of my colleagues. The Managing Partner. But we haven’t broken up, we’re very together. Is this a problem?’

  Eileen considered. ‘You promise me the relationship is ongoing? That he hasn’t just dumped you and you’re doing this for revenge?’

  ‘I promise.’

  ‘And you’re ready for it to be in the public domain?’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘These hearings are held in public and they’re haunted by members of the press looking for a juicy story. I’ve a feeling yours might count as one of them.’

  ‘People from the newspapers?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘But do I have to tell this tribunal about Mark?’

  ‘You won’t be able to keep it secret.’ Eileen was stern. ‘All relevant details must be submitted. And if you don’t volunteer it, it could be used against you.’

  Jojo thought about it. It was tacky but it was all going to come out soon anyway. ‘OK. So have I got this straight? I have a fifty-fifty chance of winning. My legal representation – you, yeah? – will cost me thousands but if I win I’ll get compensation which should cover it. If I lose I’ll have to eat it – but hey, I won’t lose because I have right on my side!’

  Eileen couldn’t help smiling but had to add, ‘The tribunal may not agree with you. They may decide that Richie was simply the better agent, that he deserved the appointment –’

  ‘They won’t. They picked him because the slimy fuck can play golf. The sole reason. So let’s do it. What happens now?’

  ‘The first thing we do is serve your employers with notice. Let them know they’re being sued.’

  ‘When can we do that?’

  ‘Asap.’

  ‘Yay!’

  But in the taxi back to work, Jojo’s positive mood dwindled. She’d just embarked on a long, scary ordeal. Eileen had said she had a fifty-fifty chance of winning; Jojo had thought the odds would be better than that, but Eileen was an expert…

  What if she lost? She went cold with fear that she might. Just because she knew Richie didn’t deserve the promotion didn’t mean it would be clear to a tribunal. Justice didn’t always get done; she’d been in the police, if anyone knew that, she did.

  She had a sudden powerful desire to halt it. It would be easy to stop right now, before notice had been served on Lipman Haigh. What was the point of suing them? Even if she won, Richie Gant wouldn’t be removed and she wouldn’t be installed in his place. Like, the worst had already happened; she could not undo the decision of the partners. Nothing would fix that. Did she want to run the risk of being humiliated again, this time in public?

  But she wasn’t giving up. She refused to let Gant waltz away with it. It didn’t mean she was happy, though. The next three months or however long the process took were going to be tough, tough, tough. Lucky she was too.

  Back at work

  ‘Mark’s been looking for you,’ Manoj said.

  ‘I know.’ He’d left two messages on her mobile, saying he needed to talk to her, and when she checked her emails, one from Mark asked her to come and see him as soon as she got back. So she did.

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ he said. ‘You went to see an employment lawyer?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And?’

  She swallowed, not looking forward to telling him, ‘I’m suing Lipman Haigh for gender discrimination. Notice will be served by the end of the week.’

  He looked like she’d slapped him. ‘I don’t believe it.’

  ‘But Mark… That partnership was mine. It was wrong that he got it.’

  He looked at her and despair was stamped on his face.

  ‘Please don’t look at me like that,’ she begged, ‘I’m not your enemy.’

  ‘Get real, Jojo. You’re suing my company.’

  ‘It’s not your company –’

  ‘I’m the managing partner. What’s all this going to do to you and me? Jojo, I’m asking you, for us, to stop this.’

  ‘Mark, don’t. It’s OK for you, you’re a partner, you’re a managing partner. Please, Mark, I need you to be supportive.’

  ‘This will destroy us and you don’t care.’

  ‘I do! And it won’t destroy anything! I still want you to tell Cassie tonight. Tell her, then come over to me.’

  He rubbed his eyes. ‘OK.’

  ‘It’ll all be OK, I promise.’

  But later c Not even a voice message. Can’t do tonight. M xxx

  OK, so that’s how it was.

  Ten minutes later

  The phone rang and she seized it. But it was only Anton Carolan, partner of Lily Wright.

  ‘Gemma Hogan’s book? Chasing Rainbows? I need to talk to someone about it but I can’t get hold of Jim Sweetman. I read the proof and we at Eye-Kon think it would make a fantastic made-for-TV feature. We’ve already had a verbal commitment from Chloe Drew for the part of Izzy.’

  ‘Yeah?’ Why bother getting excited? Chloe Drew was hot but Eye-Kon hadn’t a bean.

  ‘I’ve been speaking with Gervase Jones, Head of Drama at the BBC, and he’s keen too.’

  But if the BBC were interested in a co-production… Trying to inject some animation into her voice, she said, ‘OK, I’ll let Gemma know right away.’

  That evening, deep in dark depression she went home. She didn’t want to see anyone. What a shit day for her career and now it looked like Mark was backing out on her. Double whammy.

  What if she and Mark split up over this? What if Lipman Haigh suspended her for the duration of the suit? And it was too late to undo stuff. If she called off the suit, she’d blame Mark for trying to hold her back. And hey, if she backed down surely Mark would be disappointed in her. The feisty girl he fell in love with wouldn’t keep schtum just to keep the peace. He wanted her to sue, he just didn’t realize it! Yeah right, she wasn’t convincing even herself.

  She admitted it – she was angry with him; if he loved her enough, he’d support her decision to sue. But it was his company, she could see how he felt she was attacking him. It was a mess! If only she’d been made partner, they’d be blissfully celebrating their first official night together. Well, maybe not blissful, what with their guilt and everything…

  This was what happened when you got involved with someone you worked with. Then again, they’d never have fallen in love if they hadn’t worked together.

  But what was going to happen? How could she keep working at Lipman Haigh? Where else could she go? Her stock had gone down, other firms mightn’t be as keen to employ her if she wasn’t good enough to be a partner at Lipman Haigh. The only other option was to set up on her own and that was too expensive and scary to be viable.

  All evening her thoughts swirled round and round and eventually she fell asleep on the couch, aided by exhaustion and most of a bottle of Merlot. At ten-fifteen, the phone rang, waking her.

  ‘Yeah?’ she said sleepily.

  Mark’s voice said, ‘Howdy, partner.’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Howdy, partner.’

  She was confused. Was Mark trying to be funny?

  ‘I’ve just come out of an emergency meeting with the other partners of Lipman Haigh,’ Mark yelled, ‘and they want to offer you a partnership.’ He sounded giddy and high.

  She scrambled to sit up properly. ‘They changed their mind? Me? Instead of Gant?’

  ‘No, as well as.’

  ‘How? I thought there could only be seven partners.’

  ‘If every partner is in agreement, the term
s of the partnership can be altered – and they’re all willing to do that because they want to bring you on board! This is a big, big deal, Jojo, they don’t want to share the profits any more than they have to, but they were willing to do it because they love you.’

  And they didn’t want the negative publicity of a lawsuit, but no need to rub their noses in it.

  ‘Can I come over?’

  ‘Sure. Hurry.’

  The following morning

  A mass email was sent to everyone in Lipman Haigh, breaking the news. Official confirmation would appear in Friday’s Book News.

  ‘Happy now?’ Mark asked.

  ‘Mmmm.’

  ‘So tonight’s the night with Cassie.’

  ‘Let’s wait until Friday,’ Jojo said. ‘Just so’s it’s all nice and official.’

  He gave her a look.

  ‘This isn’t a trick.’

  ‘OK.’

  In her office she was going through stuff with Manoj when a shadow fell on them. She could smell the hair oil: Richie Gant. He grinned nastily at her. ‘See you got your boyfriend to make you a partner.’

  ‘Get out of my office,’ Jojo said serenely.

  ‘So why didn’t he vote for you in the first place?’

  ‘Just get out.’

  ‘He didn’t vote for you. He voted for me.’

  She felt herself flash white with shock but kept it steady. She eyed his skinny frame and said, ‘I’ve got at least twenty pounds on you. I could snap your arm like a twig. Don’t make me hurt you. Now get out.’

  He backed away, still grinning, and when he’d disappeared from sight, she began to shake. One thing she’d learned: the SkankMeister didn’t lie. If he said Mark didn’t vote for her, then Mark didn’t vote for her. But how could she find out? Who could she ask? Because at this stage she trusted no one.

  ‘Could you really snap his arm like a twig?’ Manoj asked.

  ‘I don’t know.’ Her lips felt annoyingly mumbly. ‘But I wouldn’t mind the chance to find out.’

  ‘Ignore him. He’s pissed off because he’s not the one and only. He’s just trying to cause trouble with you and Mark.’