All Her Little Secrets, page 11
Chapter 12
A couple hours later, I hustled inside Houghton’s boardroom, a glass-enclosed structure on one end of the twentieth floor affectionately called the Fish Bowl. Not surprisingly, I was the first to arrive. I planned it that way. I always liked to know what goes on before a meeting. Decisions are made in the “premeeting,” the off-site lunches, and the Saturday morning golf rounds.
More luxury. An antique credenza held a huge exotic floral arrangement and an assortment of beverages. A long mahogany conference table and high-back leather chairs stretched across the expanse of the room. Nate’s executive management team was lean in number and wholly disproportionate to the size of this table. Even though I was bathed in all the external trappings of executive leadership, inside I felt like a freshman on the first day of high school. This would be my first Executive Committee meeting. I was pretty sure there was a certain protocol and I didn’t want to run afoul of it. Where should I sit? How did Nate conduct the meeting? I’d craved a place in the executive suite for so long. Now that I’d made it, I wasn’t sure how to behave.
Willow strolled in shortly after me. “Hey, Ellice, honey,” she said, southern drawl dripping. “Your hair sure looks pretty that way.”
“Thanks.” White women usually complimented me on my hair when I wore it straight and Black women complimented me when it was coiled. I’m sure there was a philosophical conversation in there waiting to be unpacked. Since my promotion to the executive suite, I just wore my hair flat-ironed. Another compromise and one less battle to fight. I tried wearing it coiled when I worked in the Legal Department. But it always stirred up an awkward comment, or heaven forbid someone asking to touch it. I envied other women who wore their hair unapologetically natural—coils, curls, kinks, locs—whatever. Women who dared their colleagues to judge them by their worth instead of their crown.
“So I guess we’re it for now,” I said. Willow didn’t acknowledge my comment.
She crossed the room and stood in front of me leaning against the conference table. “Ellice, honey, can I give you a little piece of advice I wish someone had given me when I started up here?”
“Sure.”
“Dealing with these guys can be a delicate dance.”
“What does that mean?” A few seconds later, we heard voices approaching.
She tapped my arm gently and whispered, “Let’s just talk later.”
Jonathan and Max strolled into the room. I noticed Jonathan tap Max’s lapel pin. “Why so formal today, Maxie? Maybe you should take that off.” Jonathan glanced at me and moved toward an empty chair without another word. Max rubbed the pin nervously and took a seat. I lingered near the credenza at the end of the room, fussing over a bottle of Voss and giving everyone else a chance to plant themselves in their usual spots around the conference table. With everyone seated, I slid into an empty chair next to Willow.
Jonathan piped up. “Hey, Ellice. Welcome to the heartbeat of Houghton.”
I nodded in Jonathan’s direction then turned to Max. “Good morning, Max,” I said with a lilt in my voice. He nodded and turned away. I didn’t care whether he liked me or not, but he would have to contend with the fact that I was his equal colleague now. Some people need to remember you long after you’ve left a room. Especially the people who didn’t think you deserved to be there in the first place.
Nate was the last one to enter. He sat at the head of the table with the rest of us tucked around him, side by side, forming a tight little clump at one end of the conference table.
“Let’s get started,” Nate said. He nodded in my direction. “First, let’s all welcome our newest member of the Executive Committee. We’re so pleased that you’re joinin’ my team to keep us on the straight and narrow. When it comes to legal advice, we’ll be sticking to you like a piece of hair on a grilled cheese sandwich.” Someone, I wasn’t exactly sure who, let out a quiet, impatient sigh. “We’re gonna miss Michael, but I’m glad you’re here. Welcome, Ellice.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“Now let’s get after it.” Nate peered down at his notes. “A couple follow-up items from the last meeting before we get into the agenda. First up, the protesters. The crowds have started to pick up again ever since the news cameras showed up after Sayles’s death. So what are we gonna to do about it?”
Max responded first. “Since our crackerjack security team can’t manage to think their way out of a paper bag, much less handle a bunch of thugs in front of the building, I suggest we call in a private security firm.”
Thugs.
“That’s a bit of overkill, Maxie,” Jonathan said. Jonathan grinned then removed his horn-rimmed glasses and tapped one end against his chin like he was mulling through the solution for all Houghton’s problems. “We should just wait them out. Maybe things will slow down like they did before the holidays.”
Wait them out. Was he serious?
“Well, that might work. Ellice, what do you think?” Nate said.
I was still bristling from Max’s thug comment, but I managed to take a deep breath before speaking. “The protesters have every right to be in front of the building. They have been peaceful and there is no need for security or law enforcement to get involved. My recommendation is that we look at those protests within the larger picture of what’s happening at Houghton. Our numbers for minority hiring and promotions do not look stellar.” I heard the sigh again—Max. I ignored him and powered forward. “My advice is that we get in front of this thing and negotiate an amicable settlement on the EEOC charges. We currently have six discrimination claims that the EEOC is actively investigating. From the way the charges are written, we believe the complainants have lawyers. I think we can expect a lawsuit any day now. Things will only get worse if we get a lawsuit and continue to ignore the protesters. Perhaps we should think about engaging with them. Find out what they’re looking for and what it might take to make them use their time in other ways.”
“Well, that’s just ludicrous!” Max’s twang thrummed across the room. “Now why would we negotiate with those people. They’re troublemakers. That’s all. And I for one don’t think engaging troublemakers will lead to anything positive.”
I didn’t just hit a nerve with Max—I split it open. He opened one with me, too. What the hell? I was one of those people. My face went hot. As pissed as I was, I knew I would have to be the “adult” in the room. It was up to me to diffuse the situation if I didn’t want to be labeled the angry Black woman. Another deep breath. “Max, I think you’re missing the larger picture here. Our track record for hiring and promotion is what brings the protesters out every day.”
“Look, I’m sure you mean well, but you’re way off base here. Those people are trying to take Houghton’s good reputation hostage. And we won’t negotiate with kidnappers.”
I wanted to reach across the table and slap that poorly executed comb-over off his head. But I resisted the urge. “Until we show communities of color that we are serious about being inclusive and making Houghton look like what the real world looks like, you can expect protests for a very long time, along with the lawsuits that will come as a result.”
Max shook his head before he leaned in toward Nate and pointed his finger at me. “You see, this kind of thinking. This is what I mean.”
“Excuse me?” I said.
“I just mean . . . I think Michael would have taken a different approach.”
“Well, Michael’s not here. I’m the general counsel and my advice is that you take a more open-minded approach on issues of diversity and inclusion.”
Max glowered at me before he turned to Nate. “Nate?”
We all turned to Nate, who stared out the window without a word.
Jonathan cleared his throat. “It’s certainly something to think about. Don’t you agree, Nate?”
Nate broke his trance from the window. “Oh yes. Of course.”
“So are we on the same page? We’ll engage with the protesters?” I asked. Max sneered at me. I wondered what he would think if he knew his beloved Michael-white-like-me-Sayles had been sleeping with a Black woman.
Jonathan took the reins again. “Not just yet. Let’s just take a wait-and-see approach for another week or so. Don’t you agree, Nate?”
“Sure. That’s fine,” Nate said, his face molded in a blank stare. I thought he might be sick or something, but he shook it off. Nate looked back down at his notes. “Let’s see . . . uh, Max, how are we coming on the new DOT regulations?”
“Fine, Nate. Everything checks out,” Max responded. He avoided making eye contact with me.
“Did you get our new GC to have a look? We’re talking safety here,” said Nate.
“I’m happy to help,” I chimed in.
“Not necessary,” Max said as he glared at me, his lips in a tight little line of anger.
Nate paused, stroked his mustache, then moved on. “Next up . . . Libertad Excursiones.” He drew out the last word, making it sound like “X-curse-e-onez.” Nate gave a self-deprecating little chuckle. “My Spanish isn’t great. I never learned a foreign language. Only the King’s English for me.” Everyone else laughed in unison, everyone except me. “I betta learn how to pronounce it since Libertad is gonna put us on the map for international deals, contracts with the bigger companies. This is the third deal we’ve done in the past twelve months. Each one pumping up the bottom line. Jonathan, are we all set to announce the deal?”
“The deal’s all wrapped up. But I think we ought to keep this one confidential for a bit.” Jonathan grinned broadly and nodded at Willow. “As we discussed before, I don’t think we want to do a loud splash with this deal. It might be better to let this one slide under the business trade magazines without an announcement. Less hype. Less competition.”
“All right. Good.”
Libertad? Where had I heard that name before? The party in Savannah. Jonathan and Max had argued about something called Libertad.
I could either sit quiet or I could find out what was so interesting it set the two men off against each other. I felt compelled to step in again. I cleared my throat and looked around the conference table. “Excuse me.”
“Yes, Ellice?” Nate said.
“The Libertad deal. I’m not familiar with that one and I didn’t see any background materials in the packet you sent out with today’s agenda.” I smiled and eyed Jonathan, hoping to appeal to him directly.
“Oh, sorry, Ellice. I should have mentioned it,” Jonathan said, adjusting his glasses and flashing a grin at me. “Michael and I buttoned this one up already. There’s not much for you to do. I might need you to draft a few contracts. I’ll let you know what needs to be done later.”
White male privilege was alive and kicking between Max’s refusal to work with me and Jonathan’s attempt to dismiss me.
“It seems to be a pretty big deal and I have zero information on—”
“I said I’ve got this covered.” Jonathan brushed me off like he was flicking a piece of lint from his jacket. “Nothing to worry about on this one, Ellice. Michael and his outside lawyer went through this deal with a fine-tooth comb. Like Nate said, we don’t make a move up here without Legal’s blessing. Nate, I can get Ellice up to speed off-line.” Jonathan’s smile melted into a tightened jaw as he stared back at me.
Nate raised a hand in Jonathan’s direction, silencing him. “You good with that, Ellice?”
I scoped the room for a sympathetic face. Every eye was on me. But I was on my own. “Sure. That’s fine. And, Jonathan, perhaps you can get me access to Michael’s emails while you’re getting me up to speed.” I smiled at him to soften the dig.
Jonathan’s nostrils flared and I thought I spotted a hint of a vein sprouting through the center of his forehead. “Uh . . . sure.”
Nate offered me a wink and a slight smile. “All right then, let’s move on.”
At the end of the meeting, I spotted Max patting Jonathan on the back and smiling at him. Apparently, they’d patched things up since Nate’s party. Or maybe they were congratulating each other on successfully shutting down the lone Black woman in the executive suite. Jonathan eased over to Willow and the two of them huddled together in a conversation. I began gathering my things.
Max walked around the conference table and stood beside me. “Ellice, can I speak with you for a minute?” he asked quietly.
I decided his banjo twang was a lot more palatable when he lowered his voice. “Sure.”
“I just want you to know that I’m not the enemy here. I care about Houghton and most especially Nate. His little experiment to do things different is fine by me, but I hope it doesn’t go awry.”
“What do you mean ‘his little experiment’?” I knew exactly what he meant, and his comment slithered under my skin, spiking my blood pressure and my ire. This was the second time for his racist nonsense.
“Just make sure you know what you’re doing when you’re advising folks up here. Michael was always careful to look at all sides of an issue.”
“I think I’m far better equipped to give advice about the protesters. More so than Michael or anyone else on this floor. If you’ve got a problem with my advice, perhaps you should take that up with Nate.”
He scowled. “Like I said, make sure you know what you’re doing. Now that you’re up here, you wouldn’t want to do anything to mess that up, huh? It might be a pretty long and ugly drop back down to Eighteen.”
I matched his scowl. “Is that a threat or are you genuinely concerned about my career?”
Max walked off without another word.
“Ellice, can I speak with you for a minute?” Nate asked.
Willow and Jonathan stopped chatting midsentence and stared at Nate.
“I’d like to take a look at your new office,” Nate said as he smiled back at Jonathan and Willow.
* * *
Nate and I walked in silence down the hall. Neither of us uttered a word until we reached my office and he closed the door behind us.
“Looks like Building Services did a great job with your office. Did you select the furnishings?” Nate asked.
“Yes.” Surely, we didn’t amble over to my office to discuss the decor.
Nate strolled to the window, hands in his pockets. He jingled some coins or keys as he gazed onto the park below. “And of course the view . . . I love this view.” He turned and beamed at me. “How do you like your new space?”
“It’s very nice.”
“It is very nice. I want you to have whatever you need to be successful in this role. You have a tough job handling all the legal issues a company like Houghton can throw at you.” Then he cleared his voice in a “harumph-harumph” sort of way, like what he was about to say would be the most important thing since Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech. I released a deep sigh before slumping into my chair. Nate hadn’t come to my office to see anything. I could smell a lecture coming.
“I sensed a little tension in the room back there with Jonathan.”
“Well, I wasn’t happy with Jonathan. But I’m more troubled by the threat Max just made to me.”
“Max is a cantankerous old goat. Look past him. Now as for Jonathan, he brought the Libertad deal to the table. This is his baby. Of course, I want you to bring your perspective and your particular talents to this team. But first . . . first, you need to get a sense for how things work up here, how we get things done, and how we support one another. If you’re gonna be successful up here on Twenty, you’ve got to build yourself a circle of allies.”
I nodded. He was right. I’d broken the first rule of corporate politics: protect your ass with allies. “It’s just that I have zero information on the Libertad deal. I can’t get access to Michael’s emails. I just want to make sure I’m on top of all Houghton’s legal matters.”
“I can appreciate that. But people like Jonathan require a deft hand. Open confrontations with him aren’t the wisest course.”
I listened, but it pissed me off that I had to adjust my behavior to accommodate what was clearly sexist, probably racist, conduct on their part.
Nate raised an eyebrow and collected a deep breath before he spoke. “You know there’s something my daddy once told me. An old proverb. ‘When elephants fight, the only thing that suffers is the grass.’ When the folks with all the power bicker, innocent folks get hurt in the process. You all try to work things out. Just remember, I’m squarely in your corner. But I want you to work on getting others on board.” Nate sauntered back across the room and eased into one of the linen guest chairs. “You know, some folks weren’t happy with my selection of you as GC. Some folks said they didn’t know enough about you, that I’d plucked an unknown out of the Legal Department. But I know you’re smart and you get things done. So why don’t you work on making ’em see what I see in you. Okay?”
“Okay.” I gave a fragile smile. “Thanks for the support.”
“You’re family, Ellice. All of us are. You know why I treat folks around here like family?” Nate asked. “It’s ’cause this company was started by family. My granddaddy started this company with an old Ford Zephyr he drove around making deliveries down in Henry County. He built this company from nothing. And as long as I’m in charge, I’ll do everything within my power to make sure this company is viable and competitive in the marketplace. I fight every single day for this company.”
Nate shifted his gaze out at the rain thrashing against the window. “My son died when he was just sixteen. My only child. Drunk driver. His momma was never the same after.” Nate gave a long wistful sigh. “I had it all planned out. I’d bring him in here. I’d teach him everything I know, and he’d take over when I stepped down.” Nate went silent.
I stared down at my hands. It was almost like I was listening in on a secret conversation I shouldn’t be privy to.
He finally piped up. “We’re family here at Houghton. You know why I treat folks around here like family?” Nate asked. “It’s ’cause this company was started by family. My granddaddy started this company with an old Ford Zephyr he drove around making deliveries down in Henry County. He built this company from nothing. And as long as I’m in charge, I’ll do everything within my power to make sure this company is viable and competitive in the marketplace. I fight every single day for this company.”
