Page 16 of Kiss and Tell

Even I could tell that, from another person’s perspective, there was clearly no rhyme or reason to the bits I’d stuck up there. I wasn’t even close to coming up with a design.

“Looks like a challenging one,” he continued.

I gritted my teeth, not saying anything.

“I’ve got some paperwork I need you to file,” he said, gesturing to the folder in his hand.

“That’s not my job.” I couldn’t stop myself from snapping this time.

“You never used to care about taking care of the small details for me,” he said.

“That was when I still cared about impressing you.”

“And you don’t anymore?” he asked, feigning disappointment. “I wonder what changed.”

“You know exactly what changed.”

He’d been friendly with me at first. He’d flattered me, made me feel like I was special. He always made an effort to tell people at the firm how smart I was, how talented.

He began to flirt with me. He made me think he actually liked me. Eventually he convinced me to go on a date with him. Just one date. I agreed.

The next day he threatened to tell everyone I’d slept my way to the top if I didn’t do exactly what he said.

“I’m not doing your paperwork this time,” I told him. “I’ve got enough on my own plate.”

“One single client is keeping you so busy you can’t do a bit of filing?”

“Let me rephrase that. I’m too busy to doyourfiling.”

“Are yousureyou don’t want to take care of it for me?” he asked with a warning tone. “I would have thought you’d remember our previous conversation about you helping me out.”

I couldn’t stop myself from repeating to Peter what I’d repeated to myself a dozen times.

“You weren’t my boss then, and you’re not my boss now,” I said. “It doesn’t matter that we went on a single date. Nothing happened.”

“Hm, really?” he replied easily. “That’s not how I remember it.”

He was always so careful not to say anything incriminating. Always careful to make it sound like I was the one being irrational.

“If I tell my boss, she’ll have you fired,” I shot back.

“You mean Charlotte?” Peter said. “I don’t believe she has the power to fire anyone. Only the firm’s partners do.”

“Then I’ll tell them.”

“You mean Hal and Kent?” he said with a hint of a scornful laugh. “Arthur and Greg? The guys I play squash with every weekend? What are you going to tell them, exactly? How I worked so hard to get you those promotions?”

“I’ll tell them exactly what’s happening,” I growled. “That you’re blackmailing me.”

”How many of them do you think will believe your made up stories over me?” he asked.

I gritted my teeth, because I couldn’t guarantee all of them would. There were more than half a dozen partners, after all, and the majority were men over the age of fifty. Peter was their Golden Boy. They all loved him.

Peter smacked the file folder of papers onto my desk with a loud whack. “Take care of those for me.” He strode out of my office without another look.

Rage welled up in my chest, along with a sick sense of helplessness.

I had wondered if maybe the only way Peter had been able to get so far ahead at Courtice and Cooke was that he got others to do his work for him. I had to wonder how many other women he’d done this to.