“Good so far. I’m sure you’ve seen him out there training. The Horse Patrol Unit will be at next Tuesday’s game for their photo op. The event staff is making a whole night of it.” He steeples his fingers under his chin, staring at me instead of responding. Choosing to wait him out, I stare back.
Looking at him now in his three-piece blue suit with a starched light blue button-down shirt, it’s hard to believe Grant Davenport was an up-and-coming pitcher-to-watch in New York for several seasons before a Tommy John injury ended his career. He’s close to forty now and one of the youngest team owners, maybe the youngest ever to be a principal owner.
He finally breaks our silent standoff and asks, “Why didn’t you say anything about the way Mark and Ricardo were treating you?” He holds my gaze while my brain scrambles to formulate a response to the unexpected question.
“I didn’t want to cause issues.” It’s a weak reason if there ever was one, but it’s all I can come up with.
“Myissue,” he laces his fingers together, resting his hands in his lap, “is you felt their behavior was something you had to put up with. That it was normal. It may be tolerated other places.Not here.” His face hardens as he speaks in a sharp tone, the edge cutting in intensity.
My anxiety spikes.
Am I in trouble right now?
Because I didn’t say anything and just dealt with it?
“They’re barely ever here. It’s not an everyday occurrence by any means.” I attempt to defend myself just in case, but it only ends up sounding like I’m defending them.
“It won’t be an any day occurrence any longer,” he says matter-of-factly, like he didn’t just come into my office and drop a glitter bomb. That’s what it is, because inside I’m celebrating, but outside I’m shocked.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” He needs to say the words directly, otherwise, I don’t think I’ll believe it.
“Mark and Ricardo have been relieved of their duties. I wanted to fire them on the spot after their behavior in the conference room. Well done, by the way. I don’t think I’ve actually said that, but I was impressed with you.”
“Wow, um, thank you. Just doing my job.”
“It was more than that. I shouldn’t be surprised. Taylor told me you’re a—” he raises his hands in quotes “— boss ass bitch.” He shakes his head, laughing lightly at her word choice.
I smile thinking of my equally boss ass bitch of a best friend.
“What you did—jumping in to solve this issue in the quickest way with the best possible outcome for this organization, the team, and Bennett—it was truly remarkable work. That was all before you were forced to endure the antagonism and blatant harassment from those two asshats during the meeting. Had I known you were dealing with it all this time, perhaps we could have resolved this sooner.”
“Grant, I mean, I appreciate what you did or are trying to do, but you didn’t have to fire them.” Truthfully, I’ve been waiting on him to fire them for over a year. Grant didn’t seem like the type to put up with their boy’s club mentality, so I was surprised it took him this long to do something about it. Their behavior inthe conference room being the reason they finally got what was coming to them gives me immense pleasure.
“It wasn’t just you, Gabrielle. There were others. We have no room for their type in our organization. I have a zero-tolerance policy for their behavior. I’m just sorry it took me this long to see it. It was long overdue, and unfortunately it took me longer than I would have liked to get everything sorted, which is why I’m only now coming to talk to you.”
“Oh.” I hate that others were subjected to their misogyny and toxicity.
“I wanted to be the one to tell you before any official announcements were made. We’ve put them both under strict confidentiality restrictions and provided severance packages to keep things quiet. I hope you don’t take offense, but I couldn’t have anyone in house handle the details.”
“Of course, I understand. Thank you for letting me know. Is there anything I can do in the interim while you search for Mark’s replacement?” If Taylor and Ivory were here, they would kick me under the desk for not tossing my hat in the ring for the job.
“Glad you asked. I was hoping you would be the interim general counsel, potentially our new general counsel. What would you think about that?”
Taken aback, I hesitate. This is all so unexpected. First, Ricardo and Mark are gone. Not just gone but fired. And now he’s asking me to fill Mark’s role. It’s too much. I don’t know what to think.
On the one hand, this is everything I should want. On the other, I’m not sure. Am I qualified to be the general counsel of a baseball club? I’m only thirty-four. I’ve been practicing for almost ten years at this point, but this is a lot of responsibility. More than I anticipated so soon. But is it soon?
Grant must sense my hesitancy because he says, “You don’t have to respond right now.”
Shit, what a great first impression as a potential lead counsel.He needs someone decisive. In charge. Not someone that panics at the mere thought of the role.
“Sorry, you’ve just surprised me.”
“Why are you surprised? You’re clearly qualified. If my gut is correct, I’d say you’ve been the real person in charge for quite some time now.” He’s right. Mark was barely around, especially during the season. All the work fell to me.
“I would be honored to step into the role in the interim. As for long term, can I think about it?” I try to infuse confidence and assertiveness into my tone. I’ve never allowed myself to hope for this promotion. With Mark at the helm, I knew it was never going to happen. To the point where I’ve debated leaving the organization altogether. Sometimes, even the sport. I hate that he’s ruined that for me. Maybe this way, I can get some of that joy back into my career and be the boss ass bitch my friends think I am.
When he smiles and nods, I breathe a sigh of relief.
