Gray Quinn's Baby(20)

Magenta felt even more positive when she entered the office to discover  that the partition around the typing pool had been removed; Quinn had  kept his word. Even if the girls were still sitting in rows typing, at  least they could see what was going on around them now. And, most  importantly, they felt good about the changes, judging by the smiling  faces that greeted her.

Her feelings of elation grew when Quinn invited her and the girls to  join his team in the boardroom that morning. She had suspected he might,  and had briefed the girls beforehand, urging them to speak out and  ignore any slights the men might throw their way. 'We have to be  professional, even if they aren't,' she'd warned. 'If we want Quinn to  involve us in the campaign, it's crucial that we keep emotion out of it.  We have nothing to prove in there other than the fact that our ideas  are better than theirs.'

'You bet they are,' Nancy had agreed. 'We're behind you all the way, Magenta.'

One of the girls still made coffee for everyone, Magenta noticed. But  she told herself she mustn't be greedy. Quinn was right in that lasting  change took time to implement. One small step at a time would suit her,  so long as that step was in the right direction.

She led the way into the boardroom and acknowledged Quinn as if they hadn't spent the night in each other's arms.

'Magenta,' he greeted her in much the same way. 'Would you and your team like to sit down?'

'Thank you.'

Ever the gentleman, Quinn remained standing until he and his team had  seen all the women comfortably settled around the table. Quinn had  clearly briefed his team in advance, as Magenta had, and she took this  as a good sign. Quinn had also recognised that nothing could be achieved  in an atmosphere of taunts and sneering remarks.

'Would you care to begin?' he said. His eyes reflected nothing more than professional interest.

She had to ignore the ache of disappointment inside her and do her job.  'Nancy?' she prompted. 'Would you like to begin by explaining what we  have here on the easels?'                       
       
           



       

Magenta had never wanted to hog the limelight, and couldn't help but be  thrilled by the audible gasp of surprise from the men when Nancy  revealed the team's first idea. Vivid, graphic imagery and clever text  was a winning combination-no one could deny it, not even the men around  the table. The general theme was irony, suggesting men must be catered  for and even spoiled a little so that women were free to do their own  thing.

'You're suggesting we should be pampered and cosseted so we work harder  and stay out of your way?' one of the men queried, glancing at Quinn-who  had remained carefully neutral up to now-to see his reaction.

'With more women in the work place year on year, I'm sure that's a  message that resonates with everyone,' Magenta said, defending her  team's premise good-humouredly.

'I think we can see that Magenta's group is coming up with some sound  ideas,' Quinn observed. 'Not all of them will fly,' he added, 'but I'm  sure we can tailor them to suit our purposes. They will enrich the  project-and we shouldn't close our minds to a new approach,' he added  when there were murmurs of discontent from the men around the table.

What did Quinn mean? Magenta wondered. She didn't want to rain on her  team's parade-the women were all excited that at last they were being  taken seriously-but having their ideas 'tailored' to fit in with those  of the men didn't sound like the end result Magenta had been aiming for.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN




MAGENTA'S worst fears were soon confirmed.

'Jackson, you take the graphics and work on them,' Quinn instructed.  'And Michael, you handle the fashion side of things. You're more in  touch with your feminine side than the rest of us.'

As if a dam had burst, the tension between the men at the table relaxed  and they all burst out laughing; it wasn't kind laughter. It was  laughter directed at the women in their midst, as if to be a woman was  somehow contrary to the laws of business.

Or at least business under Quinn, Magenta thought, feeling betrayed. She  could only watch in impotent horror as one by one the ideas her team  had worked so hard on were handed over to a member of Quinn's team to  progress. The good of the business had to be her only concern if  everyone was going to keep their job, but how was she going to explain  this to the women who had trusted her? She could feel their shock as  well as their disappointment. They would become resigned soon and she  couldn't wait around for that to happen. 'May I have a word with you-in  private?' she asked Quinn when he brought the meeting to a close.

'About business?'

'What else?' Her gaze drilled into him, telling him in pretty blunt  language what she thought of both his question and his manner.

'Won't you sit down?' he said when the last man had left the room.

'I prefer to remain standing, thank you.'

'As you wish.'

Getting up from his chair, Quinn went to stand beside the window,  staring out. It had started snowing, Magenta noticed, but that was  nothing to the sheet of ice that had closed around her heart. 'I thought  we had an agreement.'

Quinn turned to face her. 'And as far as I'm aware,' he said, 'I have fulfilled my obligation to you.'

'I don't understand what you're doing,' Magenta admitted.

'It's clear enough to me.'

'Well, not to me. My ideas and those of my team-I thought you were  prepared to consider them, to incorporate them. I never imagined for one  moment that you, of all people, would steal them.'

'Steal them?' Quinn demanded. 'What are you suggesting?' His eyes turned black.

Her job, her future-everything hung in the balance, Magenta realized.  But this was a battle that had to be fought. 'You took ideas the women  have been working hard to perfect and handed them over to the men when  all the hard work has been done. I wouldn't mind, but those men don't  have an original idea between them. Why should they claim credit for  work that isn't theirs?'

'We all work for the same company.'

'Well, of course we do,' Magenta agreed, trying to remain calm. 'But why  do you trust the men here more than the women? What makes you assume  they have more ability? Quinn, I don't know what's happened to you!' she  exclaimed finally, as exasperation got the better of her.

The expression in Quinn's eyes gave her no hope at all.

'Don't ever make the mistake of thinking that what happens between us in our off-duty moments is a green light in the office.'                       
       
           



       

'I haven't,' Magenta protested. 'I wouldn't-'

'But that's exactly what you're doing,' Quinn cut in. 'Since last night,  you have had expectations that go far beyond the bedroom. Well?' he  demanded harshly. 'Don't you, Magenta?'

'I thought I could trust you, yes.'

'You can trust me. You can trust me to keep a consistent line. You can't  walk in here hours after your promotion and think you can order this  business to your liking. New systems have to be tried and proven first. I  don't operate a business on a whim-not even my own whim, and especially  not yours.'

As each hammer blow landed on her heart, Magenta wished one of them  would be violent enough to wake her up. How could anyone share what  she'd shared with Quinn last night and feel nothing? How could he switch  off from her like this? And, as for the green light, the only light she  was aware of was flashing in her brain, telling her she'd made a fool  of herself. And their 'off-duty moments'? Quinn made their love-making  sound like a useful alternative to counting sheep.

She'd let her team down, and wouldn't make things right by handing in  her resignation. And, even if she waited for this nightmare to pass,  what if it didn't pass? What if this was her life now?

She had to stay and fight. It didn't matter whether this was a dream or  her reality now, her internal dial would remain tuned to the same  setting it was always on, which was survival and the determination to  defend those she cared about.



She couldn't have felt worse when she called the girls together. 'You're  far more supportive than I deserve,' she told them, feeling dreadful  when she noticed the small bunch of flowers someone had arranged in a  vase on her desk. 'I've let you down, misled you. I can't apologise  enough for what happened at the meeting. I had no idea Quinn would take  that line. I really thought he was going to involve all of you in the  steering group for the campaign. But this isn't the end,' she promised.  'I won't allow your ideas to be squandered or diluted by anyone-and  we're not going to sulk or cause a problem,' she added decisively.  'We're going to win this battle by being the very best we can and by  selling direct to the customer.'

'Quinn,' Nancy supplied.

'Yes, that's right, Nancy-Quinn,' Magenta agreed. 'Quinn is the only  person we have to convince.' She exclaimed with shock as a familiar hand  took hold of her arm and firmly moved her aside.