“Hello, Christy,” Katherine said sweetly across the table.
Does she know that I know she’s a traitor? Christy wondered. Yes, she has to. Never underestimate a smiling cobra, she told herself.
“Did everyone see that we made the cover of this week’s Wall Street Week?” Katherine asked the group, batting her eyes. She pulled a stack of magazines out of her bag and passed them around. The directors flipped through the articles as if they’d never read them, which of course they all had.
Niles Raines slipped in the door at the last minute, waving away the magazine Katherine offered him. He whispered in Christy’s ear, “Bender, Thomas, and Lehmann are with Katherine; Maslin, Heider, and Shah haven’t decided, and I’m with you.”
“Thanks, Niles,” she whispered. Christy stood up and addressed the group. “Thank you all for coming on short notice. I felt it was critical that we meet and discuss some of the press that’s come our way lately. I know you’re all concerned, as am I, that investors are losing confidence. We can’t let it continue. It’s time to take action.”
Warren Heider interrupted. “Who is responsible for PR?”
“That would be Rick Slotnik,” Christy said.
“He’s not doing his job,” Warren said. “He needs to be replaced.”
“I agree,” Christy said. “In fact, he’s being terminated as we speak.”
“Ex-cuse me,” Katherine said. “Rick reports to me. I should have been consulted, don’t you think?”
“Normally, I’d say yes. However, it’s also my recommendation that Katherine be relieved of her duties as COO.”
“Why?” Katherine said.
Because you’re a double-crossing, lying bitch who drove our stock price down by spreading vicious rumors…Christy cleared her throat. “It has come to my attention that Katherine and Rick have been planting negative stories about me in an effort to harm my image so she can steal my job. By undermining me, Katherine has damaged investor and analyst confidence, causing the stock to drop. As proof, I have in my hands telephone logs that show phone calls from Katherine and Rick’s lines to each reporter who filed a damaging story beginning weeks before each article was published. I’ve spoken with the reporters in question. They revealed that Katherine and Rick were the sources of their stories and that they continued to provide damaging details throughout their investigations.” The last part was a lie, but Christy was hoping to inspire a boardroom confession.
“None of that is true,” Katherine said. “Rick and I have never done anything to hurt you or this company. These are paranoid accusations.”
“Really,” Christy said, slapping a stack of telephone records in front of Katherine. “Then how do you explain these?”
“Excuse me, but last time I checked, this wasn’t a court of law,” Dick Bender said. “It seems to me that, whatever the source, our stock is down as a result of the negative press. The Wall Street Week article says that you don’t have the education or experience to take us to the next level. Investors and analysts will be reading this. Many already have. The stock dropped a point and a half this morning.”
“I have to agree,” Karl Lehmann said. “If we want to turn the stock around, we have to show ourselves to be an assertive board. The market is sending a message that it lacks confidence in our leadership.”
“Not necessarily,” Niles said. “Prices are down across the board in this industry. So are profits. But Christy’s managed to increase our sales by eight percent.”
“Exactly,” Karl said. “Logically, we should see a bump because of that, but we aren’t seeing it—because of negative perception about Christy.”
“I think we all know the time has come for Christy to step aside,” Rami Shah declared. “I’m sorry, Christy, but we need more professional management. You could remain chairman and handle our big-picture issues.”
“And our special projects,” Karl added enthusiastically.
“But is Kathy capable of handling the CEO job? Maybe we should conduct an external search and make the transition over the next six months,” Niles suggested.
“My name is Katherine, not Kathy,” Katherine said.
Christy jumped in. “If you think it’s time for me to give up the top job, I’ll accept that. But for God’s sake, don’t give the position to Katherine. She’s shown herself to be loyal to no one but herself. That’s not who we want running the company.”
“That’s not true,” Katherine said. “I stood behind you for twelve years while this business was built. If it wasn’t for me, Baby G would be a two-bit company that manufactured running shoes. I’m the one who pushed us to expand our product lines. I’m the one who should lead us into the future.”
“Katherine makes a point,” Rami said. “I do seem to recall that she always reported to us on expansion plans.”
“Yes, because I gave her that part of the presentation to do. That doesn’t mean she was responsible for it,” Christy said. “And there’s one more thing I have to say, something that reflects badly on Katherine’s character. The article in the Financial Journal that accused me of trading sex—”
“Enough,” Karl Lehman said. “We’re not here to sling mud at each other. I have a motion. I move that Christy Hayes be promoted to chairman taking responsibility for special projects and corporate vision while Katherine Kilborn be given the job of CEO responsible for all daily operations of Baby G.”
Special projects? Corporate vision? Right. Just take me behind the building and shoot me, Christy thought. That would be more humane.
Someone seconded the motion, and there was discussion about whether or not Christy and Katherine should leave the room.
Christy tried to pay attention, but instead she thought of the night Renata massaged her back when she felt so blue. What was it the girl had
