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Story: A Country Quandary

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KITTY

Kitty heldup the manila folder and tipped the contents onto the smooth, black desk.

“There you go, Stefan. It’s all yours.” Sheets of paper fell around him like a snowstorm.

Death by a thousand paper cuts.

“Katherine! Don’t be so bloody dramatic. Let’s talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I only hope you and your new client will be very happy together. Enjoy the honeymoon period. They’ll find out what you’re really like soon enough.”

Kitty stalked out of the room, her footfalls deliberate and efficient. Heat sprung to her cheeks, and sour bile pooled in her throat. Interns scattered in her wake as she reached her office and leaned against the door that closed behind her. She fought back hot tears.I won’t cry. I won’t cry. Her fists clenched into tight balls.

After six long years at Fenwick and Partners Law firm and countless hours of slog and sacrifice, Kitty’s fate had come down to a decision by an “old boys” club she had no way of fighting.She didn't have the right equipment between her legs for a start.

Kitty had spent months cultivating the client, and when they’d requested she take over their account entirely, her boss had ‘relocated’ her to another team in what he called a parallel move. To her mind, the shift in her role was a demotion, plain and simple.

Unimpressed and full up to the gills with Stefan Watts and his unequal opportunities approach to her career, Kitty took his decision to the partners. No sooner had she rocked the boat then they’d closed ranks around him.

She could stick it out, suck it up, and make the most of things, but she’d had enough of head-butting the glass ceiling. On mutual agreement, she’d just completed her last day. And her last meeting with her jerk of a boss.

Kitty snatched the black-rimmed glasses off her nose and sat down behind her desk, massaging her temples with shaking hands. What would she do now? Her fast track to Senior Associate lay dead and buried. The bland simplicity of her office calmed her racing brain. Its lack of clutter acted like a balm to her chafed pride. A tentative knock broke into her thoughts.

“Yes?”

A flushed woman stood at the door, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. As one of the newer assistants, Kitty had yet to commit her name to memory. She racked her brain to remember it. Mercifully the rhyme “Abbie gets my Cabbies” sprang to mind. This assistant had been organizing her travel recently.

“Abbie,” Kitty said, hoping to hell she’d got her name right.

“Do you need me to do anything?” Abbie approached Kitty like she had a communicable disease, skirting the desk, unsure if Kitty welcomed her presence. “We can tie up loose ends, or I can help you organise your personal effects?”

How does organising an intravenous supply of gin sound?

“Thank you, Abbie, but I’m fine. Stefan can manage the loose ends. Perhaps you can just order me a cab? I’ll be leaving immediately.”

The words jarred Kitty to the core. Her time at the company was over, and all her hard work would dissolve into thin air. She’d been right to turn down the new role. After the hours she’d put in to win this client, Stefan couldn’t just glide in and take it away from her. She was worth more. If the powers that be couldn’t see it, then that would betheirloss.

As if he heard her thoughts, Stefan materialised at the door, his thin face a picture of concern. Kitty’s eyebrows raised, and her lips met in a tight line.

“Thank you, Abbie, that’ll be all. I’ll be ready in ten,” she said.

Abbie nodded and bolted from the room, pale and a bit sweaty. Barely moving out of the way for the flustered woman, Stefan kept his eyes fixed on Kitty as she popped her glasses back on. Ignoring him, she picked up a Sharpie and began to doodle on a pad of bright sticky notes lying on the desk. The door closed behind him with a soft click.

“You didn’t do yourself any favours in there, Katherine. So childish,” he said, all pretence of concern dissolved. “I think it’s probably best that you move on.”

Kitty stopped her doodling and put down the pen with white-knuckled fingers. She took a breath and stood to meet Stefan’s eyes, looming over him like an Amazonian warrior, her four-inch heels adding to her already significant height.

“You’ve got to be kidding, Stefan? You pushed me out. But to be clear, you’ll regret losing me.”Breathe, Kitty, don’t lose control. “I’m astounded you got away with it!”

Stefan shrugged, an arrogant smirk on his face.

“It comes down to talent, track record, and who you know. Maybe next time….”

“There won’t be a next time. I’ll never base my career on who my dad went to school with. Who my mum lunches with. And I’ll never work with a narcissistic prick like you again.”

Kitty opened the bottom drawer of her desk. She grabbed her pristine bag and strode towards the door, stopping to tap Stefan on the lapel of his jacket, making sure she had his attention.