“Demeter is definitely bad for the health,” says Sarah. “She’s a nightmare. Management just couldn’t see it.”
“I know what we did was a bit extreme.” Rosa seems to be the only one to have the slightest qualms. “But it was going to happen anyway. I mean, Demeter can’t run a department. She’s so scatty! She’s all over the place!”
“We only accelerated what was inevitable,” says Sarah crisply. “It always should have been Rosa in that job.”
“But what about Demeter?” I keep the same easy, unthreatening tone. “What if you really messed her up? What if she thought she was getting dementia?”
There’s a slight silence. I can tell this thought has not crossed anyone’s mind.
“Oh for God’s sake,” says Flora at last. “This is Demeter we’re talking about.” As though Demeter counts for nothing, has no rights, no viewpoint, is just some kind of subspecies. I stare at her, feeling chilled.
Don’t say anything, I tell myself, don’t provoke them, just leave….But I already know I can’t do that.
“You called Demeter a bully,” I say lightly. “But actually I never saw her bully anyone.”
“Yes, she did!” Rosa gives a short laugh. “You saw her; she was a nightmare!”
“No, she didn’t. She used to assert herself, yes. And she was tactless, yes. But she didn’t bully anyone.” I draw breath, trying to stay calm. “Yet here you are, rounding up on her like some lynch mob.”
“Lynch mob?” Sarah sounds offended.
“Isn’t that what you are?”
“For God’s sake, Cat,” says Flora, glaring at me. “I thought you were signed up.”
“Signed up to what? Drumming someone out of a job by messing with their mind? Destroying someone’s sanity? Well, sorry if I’m boring, but no thanks.”
“Look, Cat,” snaps Rosa defensively. “With all due respect, you left Cooper Clemmow, you weren’t there, you don’t know what Demeter’s like—”
“I do,” I say curtly. “And I’d take her as a boss over you any day.” I stride to the door, my heart pumping, desperate to get away. But as I open it, I turn back and survey the aggressive, defensive faces. “You know the really sad thing? I admired you all so much. I wanted to be you, more than anything. But now I realize…you’re just a big bunch of bullies.”
“What?” rejoins Flora, sounding outraged.
“You heard me. Bullies.”
I let the word sit in the air for a few seconds, then close the door.
—
And now it’s nearly an hour later. It didn’t take long for Demeter and Alex to arrive in Chiswick. Nor for them to join me in a little café, listen to my playback, and realize the truth. As the recording ended, none of us said a word. I felt quietly vindicated. Alex looked chastened. But Demeter…Demeter looked properly shocked.
In a way, it should have been a sweet victory for her. We should have been whooping. But how can you whoop when you’ve just learned that so many people are out to get you?
At last Alex drew breath and said, “OK. Let’s take this to Adrian.”
“Yes,” said Demeter, her tone strangely flat. “Let’s.”
And I didn’t say anything, just got up with them from the table.
That’s where they are now: in with Adrian at the Cooper Clemmow offices. I’m sitting outside Adrian’s room, in his private reception area, waiting for them. Adrian’s assistant, Marie, is at her desk nearby, typing away. She looked pretty surprised as we all marched in, but she hasn’t asked me a single question about it. She’s discreet like that, Marie. I have no idea what’s going on in there, but I can only imagine. And then, as I’ve almost drifted away into a trance, I hear my name being called.
“Cat?”
“It’s Cat!”
It’s them. Rosa, Flora, and Sarah. They must have caught sight of me as they were on their way back in from lunch, and now they’re all coming toward me, their expressions wary and hostile.
“What are you doing here?” demands Flora accusingly as I get up from the sofa. “Are you waiting for Adrian?”
“Are you talking to Adrian about Flora’s job?” Rosa shakes her head. “Because that’s not on. You shouldn’t go over my head.”
I give her a withering look. “You’re not running the department. So it’s nothing to do with you.”
“She will be,” says Sarah loyally.
“I doubt it,” I retort, and Rosa draws breath in anger.
“God, Cat,” says Flora, shooting me a look of dislike. “What is your problem?”
“What is my problem?”
And as if on cue, Adrian’s door opens. As he steps out, with Alex and Demeter, he looks profoundly shocked and upset. His iron-gray hair is rumpled and his face is craggy and he’s saying, “It beggars belief. It fucking beggars belief—”
He breaks off as he sees Rosa, Sarah, and Flora, all standing there before him, and his face becomes even craggier. His eyebrows draw together and for an instant I think he’s going to bellow. But instead he looks levelly at each of them in turn and says, “We’re going to talk. Don’t go back to your desks, any of you. Stay here.” He gestures to the seats in the reception area, then turns to Marie. “Clear the rest of my day.”
“Of course,” she says, in that unflappable way she has, and picks up the phone.