Maddie wondered if she’d pushed too hard when Elena’s expression darkened. There was a long silence.
“I asked her for more information,” Elena said, voice tight. “Felicity contacted that odious photographer and asked for further details of the events from last night. Nothing more.” She waved her hand as though it was of little consequence.
“But why?” Maddie asked again before she could stop herself. She bit her lip.
Elena gave her the same acidic look she usually reserved for Emmanuelle Lecoq. “Why you kissed that Duchamp woman is a far better question.”
“Not from my perspective,” Maddie whispered.
“I can see you plan to take liberties with this bet. You know where the door is.”
“What? That’s cheating! You…” She petered out under a glare so frosty it would have re-iced the polar caps.
“Be very careful what you say to me next, Madeleine. I may have indulged this silly bet of yours, but I am still your employer. You are easily replaced. There are always others desperate to take your job. Never forget that.”
Shock rocked through Maddie at the callous words. Easily replaced. How could she say that? Maddie had put up with a lot from her demanding boss since she’d become her PA, and she’d taken it because she remembered the other side of her, the things they never talked about. Shared moments, laughing or challenging each other in New York in the middle of the night, when they were alone. And while those moments were never far from her mind, much as she wished they were, she’d been the perfect assistant in Sydney. Maddie had made sure nothing of her real thoughts had ever glimmered through the cracks.
Until now.
As her anger rose, she allowed it to show at Elena’s heartless words. Telling Maddie she was nothing. That’s really what she’d said, wasn’t it? She’d just admitted Maddie didn’t matter. You are easily replaced. There are always others desperate to take your job. Did Elena even believe that? Maybe she did. She shook her head at Elena’s closed face and felt her teeth bare. “They wouldn’t be so desperate for it if they knew exactly what it entails.”
Elena went still and stared at her. Every part of her expression radiated danger. “Oh?” So soft. “And what is it you think is so terribly onerous that an assistant of mine has to endure?”
Common sense and self-preservation caught up with Maddie, who squelched down her anger. “No. You really don’t want to know.”
“As it turns out, I do,” Elena said. “And leave no whimper of injustice or tragic complaint unaired. I’m sure this will be most enlightening.” She leaned back in her executive chair, studying her.
“You don’t want to know the answer,” Maddie tried again. “Trust me.” She scrambled out of her chair and edged to the door. “I have some filing to do, calls to make…”
“Stop. Sit. Proceed.” Elena pointed at the chair Maddie had just vacated. “You did agree to be honest with me.”
Maddie froze. She just had to open her big mouth. Her anger had leaked and now, here she was, about to shatter Elena’s world. She swallowed. Then sat. And began.
“Your PAs have to do the impossible,” she said, wondering if she could distract her with the smaller stuff. “That’s okay if we could actually also get five minutes for food. Trying to dodge city traffic with low blood sugar is…not fun.”
She tried to smile, but Elena stared back at her stony-faced.
“That’s it? How very terrible for you. Pack snacks. Harden up.”
“We also get paid a crappy wage,” Maddie said, “and work hours that are so long it’s hard to remember what sunlight is some days.”
“But you get invaluable experience,” Elena said with a curt tone. “You are seeing the world of publishing from the very highest levels and gaining insights that many at your age would never hope to. Your objections are ridiculous. When I started out, I worked seventy-hour weeks and never once complained. I stepped up and took advantage of the opportunity.”
Maddie folded her arms. “Well, fine. But then there’s the harassment.”
She had vowed never to share this secret, but Elena’s challenging, mocking look pressed all of her buttons. The shock on Elena’s face was almost worth it. At her stunned silence, a new, sinking feeling warred with Maddie’s anger.
“What?” Elena’s tone was incredulous.
Maddie forced herself to continue, her throat tightening at the thought of what was to come. “Some of your executives, associates, and friends act inappropriately around your PAs. They do it because they think we’re disposable. They’re right.”
“Who?” Elena’s voice was barely audible.
“Some big names try it on. We have been propositioned…”
Elena snorted, and her shoulders relaxed. “Propositioned? Is that all? You can’t work out how to say no, so it’s all my fault? If you knew what it was like when I was starting out… My God, the things that—”
“I haven’t finished!” When Elena’s jaw clamped shut, Maddie continued. “If it was just the endless come-ons, it’d be something your assistants could handle, but hands wander. A few do much worse. These men think they can grope your assistants, shove hands up our skirts, say disgusting things. The ones who are the worst of the worst and a serious threat to safety make the list.”
“List?”
“The assistants’ blacklist. It’s a list that all the previous assistants leave in the bottom of the drawer in a handbook, to warn the next PA. It’s a safety list. Any name on that list—we should never be alone with them, and never get cornered. Ever.”
“I want the names on your little list.” Elena’s lips pressed firmly together as though she was trying not to say something else. Her eyes flashed and fixed on Maddie with a scary intensity.
“Why? Would you really cut off world-famous photographers who helped put your magazine on the map to see justice done for your lowly assistants—some of whom weren’t with you for longer than a week? What about the sleazy board member? How could our feelings matter next to his importance to your company?”
Elena hissed in a breath. “You…all of you thought that I wouldn’t care?” Hurt seared her face. “All of you involved in this conspiracy of silence thought I would have forgotten what it’s like to be a young woman in business? I dealt with misogyny every single day!” Her glare was furious.
“Frankly, Elena, your assistants thought you wouldn’t want to be put in the position to have to choose. Based on the comments on the list, I get the impression most didn’t actually want to know which side you’d have picked if you’d been told. Others thought you knew and had turned a blind eye. More than a few feared being fired. Either way, they thought silence the safest option—they all know that, for you, Bartell Corp always comes first.”
Elena’s gaze drilled into her. She looked about ready to fire an entire department, and Maddie hunched over. And she hadn’t revealed the worst of it. Not by any means.
“Their names.” She stabbed her desk with her manicured index finger. “And there will be repercussions. I don’t care who these harassers are.”
“But it’s not just names of people who work with you. A few others outside of Bartell Corp also see your assistants as easy targets, because everyone knows they don’t last long.”
“I’m not going to ask again.”
