Love Like a Man

Chapter 26 - Leaning In Isn't Easy

It wasn't until her phone vibrated, that Claire realized she'd been starting at the job posting for a solid half hour.  

Claire flipped her phone over in her hand and saw it was a text from Gabe. "Dinner 2nite? I want 2 pick up where we left off at the elevators ;)"

Claire felt a flush of embarrassment when she read the text - She'd been so preoccupied with the job opening that she'd forgotten about Brent catching her with her tongue down Gabe's throat.     As awkward and the whole Brent thing was, she still wanted to see Gabe - thinking of him brought on another flush -  this time it wasn't caused by embarrassment. 

"How about tomorrow?" Claire texted back. Her plan was to spend the evening polishing up her resume to send straight to HR after she met with her boss Marv in the morning to discuss the job.  She didn't need Marv's blessing to apply, but since HR always contacted job candidates' managers when considering them for an internal move, it would be almost impossible for her to get it if he wasn't on board. 

"Perfect. Come to my place at 8. I'm going 2 cook for u."  Gabe replied back.  

Gabe's text make Claire smile, she couldn't help but be charmed by how sweet he was.

***

The next morning, Claire was on pins and needles as she waited for Marv to get off the phone so they could continue their conversation.  The fact that he wasn't entirely supportive of the move when she first brought up the topic the day before, had Claire on edge and she was eager to get their meeting over with.

Marv put down the phone with a click and looked back at Claire. "So the job in M&A.  Why do you want to apply? Don't you like being on our team?" Marv said.

"Uh.. Um.." Claire stammered, flustered by the question.  Was he really asking her why she wanted a promotion? Wasn't the point of taking a junior position to eventually move up to a senior one? Claire took a deep breath and tried to hide the nervousness from her voice. "Marv, being on your team has bee a fantastic experience - I just feel that I'm ready to take on more responsibility." she said truthfully.

Marv barely seemed to consider Claire's answer before responding. "Claire, it's important to make sure you're really good at your job before even thinking about moving on.  Once you get into a client focused role you'll be dealing directly with CEO's. Some of these guys are really tough negotiators, they'll rip you apart."  

Oh man. Was he for real? Claire couldn't believe how condescending her boss' comments were.  Did he really think sweet, little Claire wouldn't be able to handle big, bad CEOs? "Marv, I'd like to think I am really good at my job. I produce more than anyone else on our team, my work requires minimal revisions and I'm the one everyone comes to to troubleshoot the tough stuff."  She countered.

"Claire, that's why our IPO team needs you. It wouldn't make financial sense for us to move someone who is so hard to replace out of our team." Marv answered.

What the hell kind of circular conversation was this? First, he said she had to become better at her job to be considered for the promotion - But then said that they can't afford to promote her because she's so good? This discussion was utter bullshit.

"I'm not going to be able to stay on the team forever.  If you don't feel that I have the skills for the Director job then what do you recommend I do to develop them?"  Claire said, in an attempt to put the ball back in his court.

"Patience is my only recommendation for you Claire." Marv said, in a dismissive tone to signal that the conversation was over.

Claire left Marv's office and went straight to the ladies' room to regroup.  She steadied herself on the laminate counter-top and closed her eyes while she'd counted to ten - it had taken all of her willpower not to tell Marv how ridiculous she thought he was.  Part of his job as her manager was to mentor her and to help her to grow within the company. If he truly felt she wasn't ready for the job then he should've given her more guidance than saying to "be patient".

***

Claire was in a funk the rest of the afternoon.  It was hard to feel motivated when excellent job performance wasn't enough to earn a promotion - or at least enough for your boss to take you seriously when you asked for one.  

She picked up her phone to text Iris for advice and realized she'd missed a message from Gabe a couple of hours before. "I can't stop thinking about tonight."

Crap. That's right. Claire had promised to meet Gabe for dinner. Feeling that she was in too sour of a mood to be good company, she texted him back to reschedule. "I'm not sure I'm up for it Gabe. Can we do it  another night?" 

"You feeling ok?"  He messaged back almost instantly.

"I'm not sick. Just sick of my fucking boss. Awful day at work." 

This time there was a pause before he replied. "Quickie in the bathroom?"

Claire let out a laugh when she read the message, but quickly composed herself not wanting to draw her colleagues' attention.  Leave it to a guy to fix life's problems with a quicky in a public place.

"Just come over 2nite. I promise u'll feel a whole lot better before u leave."

"OK..." Claire relented. "But be aware, you're signing on for an evening of sulking."

"Hey, don't worry about me. If I can't be there for u when ur feeling down then I don't deserve 2 be with u when things r good."

Hi Readers!  I'm sorry for two work related chapters in a row! I promise we will have more of Gabe's sexiness soon.   I felt it was important for the reader to get a little insight into the challenges Claire is facing at work in order to understand why she wouldn't jump into a relationship that she feels would perhaps add another obstacle for her to overcome when trying to be taken seriously by her superiors. Her conversation with her boss is sadly, loosely based on conversations I've had.