Hita - Anita Claire Page 0,51
who liked this woman, Samantha, but Terri liked Thor so Terri started this insidious whisper campaign against Samantha.”
Juliette face gets surprised “What? Wait…you think the negative comments about me are coming from Terri? I’ve never even spoken to the woman. I’ve never worked with her. I think I’ve been in a room with her a few times and each time maybe I said ten words to someone else. Why would she do something like that to me?”
Crossing my arms and feeling angry, I explain, “Because in Terri’s world you stand between her and Flint.”
“I’m seeing Nate, I have no interest in Flint.”
“This isn’t about you. This is about Terri.”
“What?” she says, still perplexed.
“Terri likes Flint, Flint likes you. So of course Terri hates you.”
“Really, we’re back in high school?” She rolls her eyes, “Elizabeth Wilder, here we go again.”
Now it’s my turn, “Who’s Elizabeth Wilder?”
“Never mind, she’s my high school mean girl.”
“Well, Terri’s your work mean girl.”
“What do I do? The only way I got away from Elizabeth Wilder was when I graduated.”
I shake my head as I try to contemplate, finally saying, “It can’t be up front. If we go to HR or anyone else, they can’t do anything. They’ll think we’re the nasty ones. We either have to catch her in the process of spreading rumors, or we need to do something to counter it.”
“Like what?” Juliette asks.
“If it was game pieces on a board with rules I would be great at this. Damn, I wish I had an answer.”
“I’ve never been good at the mean girl thing. My only recourse has been to disengage.”
“Yeah, I know what you’re saying. Who is good at that?”
We both ponder for awhile. Juliette shakes her head. “Are you sure it’s her?”
“No, of course not, but she’s done this before. I know it’s none of the guys in our group. You’ve never worked with anyone outside of our group. Also, the comments are behind the back nasty. When guys don’t like someone they call them a dick, this is definitely from a woman. Terri is the only one with the MO and the history. Hey, it sort of worked for her the first time. She did get rid of Samantha.”
We both stand there staring at the small lawn.
“Let’s go in. We’re not going to come up with a plan today. Now that I know the enemy I can be better prepared for the battle.”
On the way in I say, “Maybe your mom would know what to do. She’s fought a lot of work battles.”
Juliette gives me a grim look and shakes her head, “I’m not brining my mom into this.”
As we reach our desks she gets a big smile on her face, “But Kelly….”
“What?” I question.
“Not my mom, Kelly is the best person to talk to. Nate’s coming over tonight so I don’t have time. What are you doing after work tomorrow?”
Chapter 37 - Revenge
After work I head over to Juliette’s. She greets me at the door, and as I walk in I see Kelly’s made herself comfortable on the couch. I sit down at the other end.
Kelly says, “What’s the big political thing you need my help with?”
I shoot Juliette a look still wondering why, out of all the people in the world, she thinks Kelly can help us. She’s the only princess who’s never held a real job.
Juliette looks at me. “Hita, you’re the one who put together the pieces. You should tell Kelly.”
Taking a deep breath, I gather my thoughts as I tell Kelly the basics. “Our office mean girl has been spreading rumors about Juliette. I think she has a thing for one of our executives and Nate thinks the executive has a thing for Juliette. Also, the office mean girl has done this before. That is, spread nasty rumors about a woman she thinks is her competition.”
Kelly looks at Juliette appraisingly. “Snow, it hasn’t taken you long to develop enemies.”
“Me? I’m an innocent bystander. I don’t want Flint, and I have never even spoken to Terri.” I can see Juliette’s frustration rising. “You’re a biology major, what drugs can we use to kill her without leaving a trace?”
Kelly chortles before answering, “Yeah, murder is a great way to deal with mean girls.”
“Yeah, but what do you do? It’s like politics; one side throws out something that undermines the other side, it’s a win-win for them. Either the accusation sticks, or the target responds giving the accuser the perfect sound bite.” She grimly shakes her head. “Anything I