My Not So Perfect Life(113)

I try to smile back—but I’m remembering Demeter’s face at the time of The Email. Her white, panicky desperation. And here they all are, assuming that she doesn’t have any feelings at all, toasting her misery in champagne.

They’ve turned her into a monster. I think they have literally forgotten that she’s a human being.

“And did you mess with her calendar?” I say, forcing another bright smile. “Because she used to get so confused….”

“Oh, all the time!” Sarah picks up her phone and imitates Demeter, right down to the swivelly-eyed look. “Shit. Shit. I know that meeting was on Friday…how has this happened? How has this happened?”

She’s so accurate, everyone bursts into laughter. But I’m feeling a kind of burning fury that I’m afraid is going to burst out any minute. How could they be so cruel?

“But what if you got caught?”

“No chance,” says Sarah smugly. “I’d just deny it. There’s no evidence, not one shred. I deleted all the fake emails off everything, as soon as she’d seen them.”

I have a sudden memory of Sarah grabbing Demeter’s phone out of her hand and jabbing at it. Managing everything. Controlling everything.



“As for the calendar stuff…” Sarah shrugs. “Her word against mine. Everyone knows she’s hopeless. Who would believe Demeter?”

“You could write a book!” says Flora to Sarah. “How to Get Back at Your Bully Boss. You are brilliant, you know.”

“Everyone’s been brilliant,” says Sarah firmly. “Rosa, you were great with the Sensiquo deadline. You totally landed her in it. And, Flora, you’ve been feeding me information the whole time….”

“You have no idea, Cat,” says Flora. “It’s been this team effort. It’s been epic.”

“I can see that!” Somehow I’m managing to sound pleasant. “So I suppose the only thing I don’t get is…why?”

“Why?” Flora echoes blankly. “What do you mean, why? We had to get her fired. I mean, it’s a health thing, right?” She looks at the others for affirmation. “I mean, we need therapy after having her as our boss!”

“Demeter is definitely bad for the health,” says Sarah. “She’s a nightmare. Management just couldn’t see it.”

“I know what we did was a bit extreme.” Rosa seems to be the only one to have the slightest qualms. “But it was going to happen anyway. I mean, Demeter can’t run a department. She’s so scatty! She’s all over the place!”

“We only accelerated what was inevitable,” says Sarah crisply. “It always should have been Rosa in that job.”

“But what about Demeter?” I keep the same easy, unthreatening tone. “What if you really messed her up? What if she thought she was getting dementia?”

There’s a slight silence. I can tell this thought has not crossed anyone’s mind.



“Oh for God’s sake,” says Flora at last. “This is Demeter we’re talking about.” As though Demeter counts for nothing, has no rights, no viewpoint, is just some kind of subspecies. I stare at her, feeling chilled.

Don’t say anything, I tell myself, don’t provoke them, just leave….But I already know I can’t do that.

“You called Demeter a bully,” I say lightly. “But actually I never saw her bully anyone.”

“Yes, she did!” Rosa gives a short laugh. “You saw her; she was a nightmare!”

“No, she didn’t. She used to assert herself, yes. And she was tactless, yes. But she didn’t bully anyone.” I draw breath, trying to stay calm. “Yet here you are, rounding up on her like some lynch mob.”

“Lynch mob?” Sarah sounds offended.

“Isn’t that what you are?”

“For God’s sake, Cat,” says Flora, glaring at me. “I thought you were signed up.”

“Signed up to what? Drumming someone out of a job by messing with their mind? Destroying someone’s sanity? Well, sorry if I’m boring, but no thanks.”

“Look, Cat,” snaps Rosa defensively. “With all due respect, you left Cooper Clemmow, you weren’t there, you don’t know what Demeter’s like—”

“I do,” I say curtly. “And I’d take her as a boss over you any day.” I stride to the door, my heart pumping, desperate to get away. But as I open it, I turn back and survey the aggressive, defensive faces. “You know the really sad thing? I admired you all so much. I wanted to be you, more than anything. But now I realize…you’re just a big bunch of bullies.”



“What?” rejoins Flora, sounding outraged.

“You heard me. Bullies.”

I let the word sit in the air for a few seconds, then close the door.

—

And now it’s nearly an hour later. It didn’t take long for Demeter and Alex to arrive in Chiswick. Nor for them to join me in a little café, listen to my playback, and realize the truth. As the recording ended, none of us said a word. I felt quietly vindicated. Alex looked chastened. But Demeter…Demeter looked properly shocked.

In a way, it should have been a sweet victory for her. We should have been whooping. But how can you whoop when you’ve just learned that so many people are out to get you?