A Good Little Girl Like You (A Sample)

"Anyway, Mark thinks he knows how to negotiate with

anyone in the world. The big turkey once got a major

project going in Latin America, and that got him promoted

to department head. Now he thinks he's God's gift to

international negotiations. Unfortunately, his attitude

keeps causing trouble for the rest of us.

"Since I know a few Slavic languages, I handle eastern

Europe. But today, Mark ruined a deal I was making with

people in the Czech Republic. He rewrote my cover letter,

offered them a bribe, then sent it out. A bribe! That's so

insulting. I begged him not to do that, but he thinks he

knows better. Now they're going to reject the deal, and I'll

get the blame."

O.E. offered a suggestion. "Competing with you."

Rebecca paused. "Why would he compete with me?

He's the boss already."

"Threatened by you."

"I'm no threat to him."

"Thinks you want his job."

That's ridiculous. Or was it? She couldn't deny that

she'd like to run the department-maybe Mark sensed that,

too. O.E. seemed to have real insight into people. "I

probably should have his job. He sure can't do it."

"He knows that. Wants to make you look bad."

"Damn, O.E. You might be right. How do you know so

much about this stuff?"

"Used to do business. I know people. Is he sexist?"

It's like he comes to work with me every day. Rebecca

exhaled loudly. "The worst. He's a total pig. There's another

woman in our group who had a baby last year. Now she only

works part time. He's always accusing her of slacking off

and threatens to fire her."

"Bet she works plenty hard."

"Yeah, she does." Rebecca laughed. "I think Ultra

Threads needs you to come in and do an evaluation."

"Doing it now. Does he touch you inappropriately?"

"Well. . . He shakes hands with men but hugs women."

"Uh huh. Can I beat him up?"

Rebecca visualized O.E. knocking Mark to the floor,

and it brought out an involuntary giggle. "Maybe you

should." She took a few seconds to calm herself before going

on. "What can I do about this?"

"Document everything. Send him e-mail. Tell him bribe

is wrong."

"I already went to his office and said that."

"Send e-mail too. Then you have a record. Office visits

are off record."

Who is this man who avoids any thought of work yet

knows it so thoroughly? Whoever he was, he certainly was

nothing like the underhanded jerks she encountered so

often at work. She recognized the value of his suggestion

and found herself surprisingly less upset.

"You're right. Thanks, O.E." Rebecca took a few breaths.