The voice of Jada’s father rang through her head: “You’re a brilliant young woman, honey. The future is going to be so very bright for you.”

She’d been so nervous about the big move, and her dad, her totally amazing dad, had squashed her fears to a pulp. God, she missed his smile. San Francisco was a lousy substitute for her cozy, albeit tiny, home in Arizona. She had felt welcome, useful, and hell, even important there.

“Are you paying attention, Ms. Phillips? Or are we boring you?”

Jada sat up straighter in her chair and nodded empathically toward her boss. Paul Matheson was glaring at her, and, to be honest, he was right: Jada wasn’t listening. Staff meetings were a complete drag, and she was so over working for all these pompous, self-absorbed businessmen.

Her position at JPH Tech was supposed to have been the “opportunity of a lifetime.” What a load. The software company was a money-hungry beast that fed on the souls of those who worked there and did little to compensate them—even though they could have given everyone 200 percent raises and barely scratched the surface of the dough the head honcho had rolling in.

“Now, as you can see, the projections for these clients are less than spectacular. We’ve been working tirelessly to inject life into their marketing campaigns, but it appears that our best work has not been done. Sales are down, and it’s supposed to be our job to ensure an excellent ROI for them. Jada, this is your department. What do you plan to do better?”

Ah, yes, the age-old clusterfuck that was marketing. Sometimes, Jada created a great campaign, led her team to success, and got a nice big “thank you” for her efforts. On the flip side, if client sales went down—even through no fault of her own—the hammer fell on her. She was just a little mouse running on a giant set of wheels, and it was easier for them to yell at the mouse than act responsibly as a company.

It didn’t really matter what she said. She told them the same thing she always did in situations like this, and they responded in kind. “All right. I expect improvement.” Yeah, she knew.

“That concludes this week’s meeting. Marketing, you have a client meeting next, correct?”

Jada cleared her throat. “Yes. A potential add-on. We’re meeting with the president.”

“See that it goes smoothly.”

Jada nodded her head, and with that everyone began to clear out of the conference room. Matheson excused himself to the restroom and would return after his pre-meeting routine: pep talk to the mirror, quick Prozac, and a casual adjustment of his fly. What a douche.

Jada remained in the conference room and set up the presentation on the projector. As she placed the packets her team had painstakingly created at each of the chairs surrounding the table, Matheson sauntered in and took a seat at the rear head of the table. The office assistant brought in pitchers of water and OJ, and Jada took a deep, steadying breath.

Moments later, the client and his team arrived and shuffled into the medium-sized room. They were from a small country in the south of Asia, and Jada greeted them in the customary manner. When she approached the president, she felt a terrible shiver run down her spine. He seemed cold, aggressive, and impatient.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ka. I’m Jada Phillips. We spoke on the phone.”

The president simply nodded and took his seat at the remaining head of the table, leaving his team to arrange themselves around him. Jada knew that not everyone from the company was as stern as its president, but she swallowed nervously all the same.

Attempting to clear her thoughts and move on, Jada continued with the greetings and started the meeting. She knew they wanted to expand their tech development department and use her company’s ability to produce and market for them. She went over the standard pitch of what the company could do, before going into more detail using the first of her slides.

“That’s all well and good, miss, but can you tell me how this tech service is going to make me money?”

Jada tensed at the sound of the president’s voice, but as she started to answer, he cut her off yet again.

“Matheson, we’ve spoken before. Tell me more about this program.”

As her boss began to describe the exact same services and provisions she had been describing, Jada felt her blood steam inside her veins. I literally just said that. What the hell?

“As you can hear, the services I’ve described are in line with what Matheson is describing,” Jada said, trying to press on with her presentation. “I can provide more detail if I can have your attention back on the presentation.”

The president again looked to Matheson.

“Matheson, give me more detail about the executive service plan.”

Her pseudo-boss described the plan but kept it short, leaving Jada an opportunity to continue. She jumped in and flipped to the slide describing the plan’s premier offerings and what made it stand out from the rest. Boredom yet again graced the wrinkled face of the senior client.

“Is there something specific you’re looking for which I can describe?” Jada’s tone was verging on rude.

“Honestly, I’d like to hear more from your superior. While you have piqued my interest, I think the head of the project would be a better choice to detail its implementation.” The president’s eyes never left Matheson.

Jada pressed on, albeit through gritted teeth. “The head of the project is describing it to you. I oversee your company’s business portfolio. Matheson is knowledgeable about the basics, but the package itself was created by me and my team.”

“You put this woman in charge of my account?” Mr. Ka asked, his voice rising.

Jada felt her heart thud, and the inferno which had been growing in her stomach roared into a full-blown explosion. She clenched her fists and swallowed hard.

“Excuse me?”

“This is not how things are done at my company.”

“Well, it’s how things are done here. We don’t relegate women to serving the president and his friends.”

After a long, tense silence, Mr. Ka finally looked Jada in the eyes.

What followed was a string of words in a language she didn’t understand, along with rapid hand gestures that didn’t take much figuring out. In a raised, flaming voice the president argued with Matheson, who did his best to keep up with Mr. Ka. Jada knew she had totally stepped in it, but, honestly, that jerk had trampled on her last nerve. Who did he think he was?

“I assure you, Mr. Ka, that this is highly unusual. Jada will be removed from the project and will express her deepest apology.”

Jada attempted what she thought was a non-committal nod, but apparently it only worked to piss the guy off even more. It might have had something to do with the fact that she wasn’t sorry, like at all. He was a chauvinist pig.

Mr. Ka gathered up his suit jacket, and the team around him picked up their bags and stood from their chairs. The man was still streaming what were most likely obscenities in his native tongue, and the crowd that had gathered outside the glass wall of the conference room all stood agape. With no lack of dramatic flair, the clients all stormed out of the room, and Jada was left alone in the glass box with Matheson.

He glared at her with enough force to light her on fire. Never one to be pushed around, Jada glared right back.

“Go to your office. I need to speak with Mr. Hays,” he said coolly.

Matheson was taking this all the way to the CEO. Was he serious? It was a single client, who had been more than rude to her in turn, and she’d never had a bad meeting since she’d started working there. Matheson didn’t seem to be budging, though, so Jada stormed off and went to the tiny cube she called her “office.”