Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87601 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87601 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
I tell myself it’s because he knows how I feel. I’m not the kind of person to bring a man to meet my dad unless it’s serious. That’s why he’s focused on Gideon.
Still, I can’t help but feel excluded. I barely get a word in during appetizers and by the time our small plates are cleared, I’ve drunk so much water to occupy myself during my long silences that I need to hit the ladies’ room.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I say, scooting my chair away from the table.
Gideon looks up with a smile, but before he can speak, Dad asks him about another project somewhere in South Asia and I’m shut out again.
“It’s okay. It’ll be over in an hour. Ninety minutes, tops,” I tell my reflection as I’m washing my hands in the washroom. My dad’s famous for dragging out a meal, but even if we linger over dessert, we’ll be out of here by eight.
That leaves plenty of time to catch a cab back to Gideon’s place and conduct an in-depth postmortem about why my father was being so weird. Maybe Gideon will have a clue. He’s been to far more business dinners than I have.
Maybe this is how Dad is when they chat, and he’s having a hard time transitioning from a professional mindset to a personal one?
I reapply a coat of lipstick and fluff my hair, bracing myself for another hour of trying to break into the shop talk, but when I reach the table, the vibe is very different from when I left for the ladies’ room.
My dad sits in stony-faced silence, while Gideon…
Well, Gideon looks pissed.
I hesitate behind my chair, not certain it’s safe to sit down. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing you need to worry about, honey,” Silas says. “Gideon and I seem to have a difference of opinion, but that’s nothing new. We’ve always seen the world a little differently, but that’s why we’re such complimentary business partners.”
Gideon mutters something beneath his breath before pushing his chair back. “I’m sorry, I can’t do this, Sydney. I wanted to. For you. But I can’t make nice with someone who doesn’t see you the way I do. Or treat you the way you deserve to be treated.”
I frown, my hands beginning to sweat on my small satin clutch. “What?”
“Ridiculous,” Dad cuts in gruffly, his cheeks flushing. “You’ve always been dramatic, Gideon, but this is too much.”
“He suggested our relationship would be great for the companies,” Gideon says, ignoring my father, his gaze locked on mine. “He wants you out. He wants you home, having babies, while he and I build an empire for the son you’ll hopefully have one day. A son, he specified, not a daughter.”
“I didn’t say that,” my father says, his face even redder. “I said I’d rather see my daughter at home, raising children, where she’ll be happy. The business world is hard on women. And the bigger the company, the harder it gets. Men are better suited to the ugly parts of what we do.” He glances up at me. “You know how I feel about that, Sydney. I’ve never hidden that from you. I told you it was going to be harder for you to lead as a woman than it would be if you were a man.”
He’s right. He’s never hidden the way he feels from me.
And even if he’d never said a word, his sexist side comes out loud and clear in a hundred unspoken ways. Like insisting on skirts in the office for women four days a week, though pants have been acceptable office wear for as long as he’s been an adult. Or the way he defaults to promoting men and giving them all the juiciest leadership positions. There’s only one female VP at Watson Global and she’s as hard and competitive as the men, a product of the environment my father has created. And Martha didn’t earn her position until she was in her early forties.
I’m the only woman who’s been given a shot at advancement in her twenties and that’s only because I’m Silas Perry-Watson’s daughter.
I was the exception…one he’s clearly ready to do away with now that he has a shot at passing the torch to a male heir.
It’s disappointing, but far from shocking.
I knew this was a real possibility when I started at Watson Global, that I’d eventually be pushed out if Dad couldn’t wrap his head around ceding control of his empire to a woman. I knew it in my bones, guts, and sinew. It’s part of why I was dreading the move back to the city and why every Monday morning at my new job gets harder and harder.
Watson Global isn’t where I belong.
Hell, this city isn’t where I belong, not anymore. I’ll always love New York and treasure my friends here, but I ache for a quieter life, closer to nature.