Claire had a restless night, and felt especially drained at work the next morning. To make matters worse, a staff meeting was called before people had even settled at their desks. She found her usual place at the big conference table, and waited to be ignored. (Well, that's how she felt, anyway!)
The day got even worse when there came Andy, wielding the water pitcher, and filling everyone's glasses. She tried not to look at him, and didn't look up as he passed behind her. She couldn't have been more surprised about anything than she was to find him leaning over her, and filling her glass to the top. He moved on without comment.
Wondering about that little change helped keep her awake through the staff meeting, and into the rest of the work day. But what was there to wonder about? She still hadn't figured that out by quitting time.
She didn't feel like staying around any longer than was absolutely necessary, so when the time came, she joined all the others in front of the elevator doors. She found herself looking around for Andy, but she didn't see him. Then, just as she was filing in, he appeared beside her.
"Time for a cup of coffee?" he asked.
***
They sat at the same table as on the previous day. Claire ordered another latte. (She spoke up quickly, so Andy couldn't order, first.)
"I'll have the same," said Andy.
Terri gave him a look. "That's a first. I thought you were strictly a black coffee guy."
"Well, we all need to expand our horizons, on occasion."
They sat and looked at each other for a few moments. Claire thought he seemed very relaxed. She didn't feel that way, at all. Maybe part of it was because she was wondering how she ended up here, again, having coffee with Mr. Confusion.
She was just about to say something, when he stood up, excused himself, and moved off toward the restrooms. Terri was just arriving with their drinks.
"He's such a nice guy, isn't he. You're really lucky."
"About that: I wanted to clear something up," Claire began. "When we left yesterday, you called Andy my boyfriend. He isn't. We just work together. I don't really know him personally, at all."
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. That's so embarrassing! It was just he'd never come in here before with a girl... woman. And I swear I wasn't eavesdropping, but sound sometimes really carries in here - particularly if there aren't a lot of customers talking at once - and some of the little bits and pieces I heard sounded pretty sexy."
"Oh, my. Well, I guess it could have sounded that way. Actually, we were having an argument."
"I see. Well, sexy arguments can sometimes be a lot of fun, can't they?"
"I don't think we've reached that stage, yet."
Andy reappeared before anything more was said. "Thanks, Terri. Say, my manners aren't very good. I didn't introduce you two. Terri, meet Claire. Claire, Terri."
"Hi. Yeah, we just talking about that. She said you work together. Are you both in the mailroom?"
"Mailroom?" Claire looked confused. (Why not?) "We don't work in the mailroom. We're both senior staff at the corporation down the street."
Terri looked at Andy. Andy gave kind of a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I guess I told a little lie, there. I said I worked in the mailroom because I wanted you to think I had honest, important employment, rather than just being a corporate fat cat."
Now, both women were looking at him, expectantly. "Well, you know that old story about the woman who told her mother she was a sex worker because she didn't want her mother to find out she was vice-president of a certain corporation.
"Forgive me?" he asked Terri.
She regarded him for a moment before she spoke. "Well, I don't like being lied to, but I understand why you did it. Just don't let it happen, again."
She turned, and went back to her work.
Claire was still looking at him, oddly. "Mailroom?"
Andy just shrugged.
Claire turned her attention to her drink. "She seems nice."
"I agree. Smart, too. She's going to be finishing her degree in June - History major. We've had some fun, brief conversations between her serving her other customers."
Silence. Then, Claire: "So, why am I here?"
Andy looked puzzled (or pretended to). "What do you mean? I asked if you had time for coffee, and apparently you did."
She wasn't satisfied. "So, nothing else? You didn't want to continue being mean to me, telling me what a horrible person I am?"
He smiled at her. "As I remember the conversation, I was not being mean to you. You asked why I hadn't been 'hitting on you,' like most of the other men in the office, and I merely said that I had fairly specific ideas about who I went to bed with. It wasn't personal... Well, obviously, it was personal. What I mean is that I have this ideal about who I want to have sex with, and why, and you're just one of several million women who wouldn't fit in my fantasy.
"However, I don't picture you as a woman who would purposely subject herself to that kind of 'meanness.' What's really on your mind?"
She thought for a moment, wondering how sincere he was about hearing her out. She decided to try. "I was thinking about the other part of the conversation. Did you really do the things you did because you thought that's what I wanted?"
"You mean walking through doors ahead of you, and not pouring your coffee?" She nodded. "Then, the answer is yes, but with a bit of malice and mischief mixed in. You have made your preferences very clear around the office. I wanted to see how you'd react if someone actually did what you said you wanted. I found out what I wanted to know."
Claire really wanted to know what he'd found out, but another question was more pressing. "So, why did you pour my water today? Nothing has changed."
"Two reasons. One, I found out what I wanted to know, and I didn't think I needed to continue being so obvious about what I was doing. Two, I think our fellow employees might have been getting the idea that we don't like each other, and I just decided I don't want to give them any more reasons to think that."
"But we don't like each other."
Andy just smiled at that. "Changing the subject, how are things going, in general?"
Claire looked at him across the table, and for the next 30 seconds, a dozen thought raced through her mind. He looked so relaxed, and friendly. Terri had said he was "so nice." He hadn't really been that mean to her - he had just challenged in response to her challenge to him. Nevertheless, he was a male - the enemy - a competitor in the office. Was he really interested in what she might say, and - if he was - why was he interested?
It was very confusing. On the other hand, she really wanted to tell somebody how she was feeling. She made a decision - time would tell if it was a good one.
"To tell the truth, I'm really frustrated, and really bored. I have a great education. I graduated near the top of my classes in both undergraduate and graduate programs. My Senior thesis was praised by my advisors as especially innovative. Because of this, I was hired by this company with a pretty good starting salary - probably not as good as yours had been, but still nothing to be sneezed at. The bosses must have seen my potential, and hired me because of it.
"Now, after saying all that, I've been here for three months now, and so far haven't been given anything to do that couldn't be done by a reasonably competent high school graduate. I've tried to present ideas in staff meetings, but I'm largely ignored. I don't get it. Aren't they paying for my expertise and potential?"
Andy sat quietly for a moment before he spoke. "What if you weren't hired for your education and potential?"
(Oh, Lord, what is he up to, now?) "What do you mean by that?"
"Let me present you with a possible scenario. Our leaders - not our merry little band, but the big wheels upstairs - are having a staff meeting. The C. E. O. starts out by observing that the company has a problem. One of his vice-presidents objects, pointing out how good their numbers have been the last several quarters. Obviously, they don't have a problem.
'That, Les, is why I am C. E. O., and you're not. Our problem is with public relations. I know that doesn't seem important when we're making money hand over fist, but it is a silent stalker. The first time you realize it's there is when it sneaks up and bites you in the... in your unprotected hindquarters.
'You're probably asking yourself what our public relations problem is. What it is, is us. Here in this room, and among our entire senior staff, we are all middle-aged White males. Public relations wants to see diversity. With Craig's retirement, we now have an empty chair downstairs. I want it filled as quickly as possible with a minority or a woman. Not just any woman or minority - I want someone who looks like they could be a real future asset.'
'How do you expect to use this person?' Les asked.
'That's not important, now. It's the perception we're aiming for, at the moment. I guess that's all for now.' He started to get up.
'Do you want to review our selection?' One of the vice-presidents asked.
'I don't need to. Just make sure it's somebody who looks good on paper. Oh, one consideration: if you pick a woman, try to get somebody who looks as good in person as she does on paper. We may as well derive some immediate benefit out of our public relations.'
Andy stopped talking. Claire felt stunned. "That didn't happen. It didn't, did it?"
"I don't know. Probably not. Hopefully, not. But it has happened, and I think actually rather frequently.
Now that she was over the surprise, Claire found herself getting very angry, and the anger was aimed at Andy. Maybe he is the meanest man in the world, she thought!
"Why did you tell me that story, Andy? Are you just trying to keep me off balance?"
"I'm so sorry, Claire. I thought I had a good idea. Obviously, I was wrong. I hoped that, by seeing the worst possible situation, it might help you to consider what to do about your present reality. Please try to believe me, Claire, that there is nothing in my mind - or in my heart! - that would ever want to cause you hurt or discomfort. You're too special to me."
There seemed to be nothing else to say. They left the coffee shop soon after, each silently.
Andy thought about his last words: You're too special to me. Why had he said that, and what did he mean by it?
On her way home, Claire found she was asking herself the same questions.
***
Andy made it home, did the usual chores, and settled down to an unhappy evening. Then, the phone rang.
"Andy, I'm really sorry."
"Claire?"
"Were you expecting some other woman to call, saying she was sorry?"
"No, I guess not. It's just a surprise - and I had just decided that I was going to have a long, solitary, morose, self-pitying evening by myself. Now, I have to adjust."
"Well, I apologize for interfering, but I did feel the need to continue our conversation of earlier in the day. Would that be all right?"
"You mean now, over the phone?"
"Well, unless you're committed to your original plan."
"I guess it will be okay. Fire when ready."
"All right. Well, first, I didn't understand why you told me that particular story. Now, that's a revelation, isn't it? Anyway, I don't think you did it particularly well, but when I had a chance to think about it a little longer, I did get an important message out of it."
"I'm glad you could salvage something out of my mess."
"Yes, I did, and here it is. It wouldn't matter what they had in mind when they hired me. What matters to me is that I have a job that could recognize my potential, and be very good for both me and the company. Whatever they thought they were getting, they got me. I don't think they'll be sorry."
Andy didn't respond at once. "So, Andy, what do you think?"
"It sounds like you have been invigorated. That's good."
"So, do you have any advice about where I go from here?"
"I don't give advice. Besides, you wouldn't take it from me because I am a man - a male - despised - distrusted..."
"You're absolutely right. I don't know what I was thinking. But what if I loosened up just a bit, and gave you the impression that I might take seriously something you had to say. Any suggestions?"
"As I said, I don't give advice. However, I do make observations - not to anyone in particular, but just to the Universe. Let she - or he - who has ears, hear it."
"So, if I stood by - well, on the other end of the telephone line - while you were making observations, and I happened to hear something of use to me..."
"Well, I couldn't stop you, could I? So, observation number one: If I was a woman entering what is - to this point - clearly the Domain of Man, I would accept the fact - at least until all the women of the world come together to stage a dramatic coup - that - to reach my own goals - I will have to work with men. I would not give up my integrity to do that, but I would decide what were the things I had to insist on, and what were the things that I could set off to the side, until they became an issue.
"Observation number two: If, as a woman entering the Domain of Man, I felt that I had made any miscues to date, I would seek to start repairing any possible damages to my credibility, or to other people feeling that I was perhaps not a 'team player' I wouldn't make any sweeping changes - those make people suspicious about a person's sincerity, and sometimes get them wondering if something is planned that is not readily apparent. A little bit here, a little bit there, may be the best course."
He seemed to be finished. Claire took a moment to think about what he'd said. "So, those are not recommendations for me?"
"Definitely not. They have nothing to do with you. As I think I said, these are just observations I make, based on my lifetime of experience."
"Lifetime of experience? You're what - 30, tops?"
"Thirty-one, but what does that have to do with anything? Sometimes, it seems like a day lasts a whole lifetime."
Claire couldn't disagree with that. "Well, thank you, Andy, for not helping me. Our relationship is intact. I'm very glad I called."
She had already hung up when Andy replied. "I'm really glad you called, too.”
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