“Christy?” Niles said.
“What? Sorry.”
“The board’s voting. You and Katherine need to step out.”
Christy walked into the anteroom and sat down across from Katherine, who put on lipstick.
Neither woman spoke for several minutes. “Nice outfit you’re wearing,” Katherine finally said.
Christy looked at Katherine. She should have wanted to rip her apart, limb by limb, then drag her lifeless body to the city dump and gnaw on her bones. But instead she felt nothing. Could this be shock? “You know, Katherine, if you wanted my job, why didn’t you talk to me about it? Maybe we could have worked something out and stayed friends.”
“It’s not that I want your job. I’m just the obvious candidate. They’re drafting me.”
“Right.”
“Really, I would be just as happy to stay COO.”
“Of course you would,” Christy said.
“Christy, I’m as tough as they come. The board understands that no matter what happens to Baby G, I can handle it. And if it’s bad news, I can turn it around and come out smelling like a rose.”
Dick Bender stuck his head in the doorway and asked the women to step back inside. As they walked into the boardroom, Katherine turned to Christy and whispered, “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”
Christy carefully shut the door behind her, making sure it didn’t hit her on the ass. She felt that would be a bad omen. As she took her seat, she noticed that no one looked her in the eye.
Karl Lehmann stood up and cleared his throat. “The votes are in and the resolution passes six to one. Katherine Kilborn is our new CEO. Christy Hayes has been promoted to chairman. Congratulations to both of you.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Katherine said, fanning herself, her eyes misting. “Thank you all for the vote of confidence.”
Christy stood up and looked at everyone. “I appreciate your offer of a promotion. But we all know what this is and what it means. So I’ll save you the trouble of easing me out in six months. As of today, I am resigning my position with Baby G. If you prefer a CEO who puts herself above the good of the company, that’s your prerogative. But it’s my prerogative not to continue to work with such a person. I wish you all the best.”
Christy was about to walk out when Katherine spoke up. “Christy, you may want to rethink that. If you resign, your options vest immediately. The exercise price is two points higher than today’s stock price. You’ll lose just about everything.” Katherine was trying to keep a neutral expression on her face, but Christy could tell that she couldn’t contain her glee.
Christy smiled and said the one thing that she knew would eat at her ex-partner as nothing else would. “I know that, Katherine. But unlike you, I wasn’t just dumped by my second husband. No, I’m happily married to my one and only husband who’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And what’s his…is mine.”
Katherine flinched as though she had been slapped in the face.
Christy knew she should say something to the rest of the board, something that she had been stopped from saying before, something that would restore a tiny shred of her dignity. “Oh, and by the way, I think you should be aware,” Christy added, “that those men the media reported I slept with to get investors? Those were men Katherine slept with. But I guess you know this already, because she promised me she’d come clean about her unprofessional behavior.”
The board members looked at each other blankly.
Christy moved on. “It has been a privilege to work with each of you. You’ve been terrific advisers and boosters of the company, and I know you’re doing what you believe is right.” She looked around the room one last time, making eye contact with each director. Then she stood very tall, with more conviction than she felt, and walked out.
Closing the door quietly behind her, Christy paused to take a breath. She shook herself. What had just taken place? Why hadn’t she looked into what would happen to her options if she resigned? She had simply assumed that she would win today’s battle. It never occurred to her to plan for defeat. She’d committed one of the cardinal sins of business that was expressed in the childish aphorism: Never assume—it makes an “ass” out of “u” and “me.” How many times had she irritated Katherine by chanting that line? Could she have been this careless? Had she made an unconscious choice?
No. Never. Ridiculous.
And yet, in moments, she had transformed herself from a wealthy, independent, and powerful woman into a dependent with no identity outside her own home. After all she’d been through to build the company, it was pathetic to have to rely on Michael’s money when the time came to hit the road. Oh well, she told herself. It is what it is. There’s no way I could have stayed with Katherine running the show. And anyway, maybe there are more important things in life than running a company. Love, career, children. Pick two.
After the Fat Lady Sings
Carrying herself with the dignity of Mary, Queen of Scots on the way to her beheading, Christy walked through the open offices of Baby G for the last time. Some people stared; others pretended to be hard at
