Bitch Known as a Ballbreaker

Susanna said coolly, "Exactly what is meant by the 'term to meet', Brandon?"

"Um, well initially to have a couple of drinks and a chat."

"I'll be willing to meet once for lunch, and that's all."

He sighed and said that he was hoping..."

"No, stop right there. I don't want to hear any more. We'll just meet as friends and I'll be interested in catching up about your social progress."

"Oh, okay."

"Just text me the time you'll be here and I'll reply with lunch times when I'd be available. And I am interested in having that short catch-up Brandon."

"Oh, right," said the veterinarian who Susanna had earlier counselled as a favour for his father, chairman of the group that owned Cascade Fashions.

But Brandon never did text Susanna, who had anticipated he might possess the thought of sleeping with her.

She was occasionally having a romp since joining the city's Chamber of Commerce, having little trouble targeting a guy and if he were interested, accepting an offer to meet at a bar at the completion of a working day for 'a friendly drink'. Sex at arm's length suited Susanna just fine as she believed she may never find a guy who could put up with her long-term as males tend to believe they were born to be the dominant partner.

* * *

One of the first to arrive for the free barbecue lunch next day, Libby Greenfield, went up to one of the two bars for lunch-goers to take the alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink of their choice and said fearlessly, "Hi, Susanna."

"Oh hi, Libby."

Libby said in surprise, "You remembered meeting me?"

"Yes, you wore orange and had a gold pendant that one would assume was a gift to mark a significant time in your life, I guess your graduation. You set the computerised equipment to the machines cutting stacks of fabric precisely to the designer's approved specifications."

"Omigod, you possess a photographic memory."

"Something like that," Susanna shrugged. "Do you have any ambition to join our IT department? I noticed that it is dominated by males."

"Yes, but therein is the problem. It probably has the thickest glass ceilings of all departments in this entire establishment designed to thwart ambitious women."

"Really? Then when you apply for a position in IT, drop in and see me when you make your application and if I'm impressed by your application, I shall endeavour to find time to sit on the selection panel as I'm entitled to do. I'm impressed by your confidence and openness, Libby. In my opinion, glass ceilings are an unwanted relic of our past."

"Omigod, Susanna, you have the qualities of a ballbreaker," Libby whispered and smiling, the CEO invited her to select her drink.

Sam Gardiner, having waited 15 minutes for his turn to speak to the CEO, said unhappily he was concerned about how Susanna was casting a cloud of uncertainty over the workforce.

"I'm only telling personal how it is, Sam um..."

"You remember meeting me?"

"Yes, you are a member of the internal audit team. Ah, it's Sam Gardiner. How are the twins?"

Sam looked astonished and asked how did she know he and his wife were the parents of 13-month old twins?"

"I remember thinking about three weeks ago reading your personal file and noting you had twin girls."

"Three weeks ago, and during rapid reads of a host of personal files of employees?"

"Yes Sam, and when I met you the other day, I thought the twins appeared to have a well-manner father. Just give it a couple of weeks from today for the dust to settle and you just may notice a lift in the present prevailing atmosphere around here. That's just my expectation, I'm no oracle."

"In only two weeks, you say?"

"Yes, I believe I know people and their ability to be discerning."

"You may be totally wrong."

"Don't bet on it, but if you are correct, so be it?"

Shelia Young was next up.

"My daughter Rachel was at university with you. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself, probably because I've just heard you have a photographic memory and..."

"Is that so, Shelia. You train our office juniors, I believe."

"Omigod, you remember my name and my role in this company. You're incredible."

"No, it's because I don't have my own family and so I focus on becoming good at something, Shelia and somehow I sense you are not talking to me to bitch about something."

"Omigod, there you go ago. Rachel will be home staying with Eric and me this coming weekend while her husband takes our two grandchildren to stay with his parents who give me..."

Shelia paused, as if desiring to reconsider her wording.

"Who give you a pain in the butt?"

"Omigod, that's exactly the appropriate phrase that I was groping for. May I invite you for dinner at our home on Saturday evening at 7.00?"

"Accepted with thanks, Shelia. Rachel and I were regular study mates in our final year and I managed to organise a date for her with Frank Evans, one of university sports heroes that I used to coach at table tennis to improve his hand-and-eye coordination. I suspect you are about to say that Rachel married Frank and they now are the parents of two youngsters."

Shelia gasped and began choking and the so-called bitch and ballbreaker leaped forward, grabbed a glass of iced-water and handed it to Shelia who began drinking it gratefully as soon as she had the choking under control.

"Th-thanks."

"No problem, Shelia. Take care and I'll see you on Saturday. Please email me address details and my PA will diary that info."

The two sittings for lunch went well. At the beginning of each sitting, Susanna welcomed everyone and said, "This little treat is our company's way of thanking you for cooperating so well with me and my associates in conducting our comprehensive internal survey of our admin and workroom departments and our service departments plus internal catering and inward goods delivery and despatch sections. I can say the cooperation and frankness of employees were magnificent and provided a ton of valuable feedback for me to process. No that's all, no speeches. Enjoy your lunch."

The supervisor in charge of the outside catering contract team expressed surprise how orderly the guests were and the early assessment of breakages and missing cutlery were surprisingly low. After 45 minutes of each hour-long sitting, the two bars were closed without prior-warning and the most of the few complaints about those early closures came from managers.

Two days later, Paula called, "A guy on an outside line wishes to talk to you. He declined to give his name."

"Okay, put him through."

"Hi, Susana. "You might not remember me."

"The huskiness is a give-away, I suspect. You married one of my closest girlfriends and you are Frank Evans."

"Wow, my mum-in-law is correct, you have an uncanny recognition factor that is almost as good as radar."

"Perhaps Frank, glad to be in contact again and I read somewhere you are the prime shareholder of South City Gym in your city and you often host American sports coaches who visit this country looking on behalf of American professional sports clubs for emerging talented young people to send to America to be assessed and with the top ones being offered lucrative a college scholarships."

"Yeah, impressive reading, I have to say. You were a champion 400 and 800 metre swimmer and a stupendous right-wing hockey player in our time at university and thanks to my wife, we're about to be reunited."

"Yes, on Saturday evening and I'm looking forward to it."

"Shelia told me quietly that you are the new CEO at one of New Zealand's fashion manufacturers and arrived with the reputation of being a ballbreaker. That seems so unfair."

"I'm still at times the hardnose bitch that you knew at university, sweetie. I learned as a young teen that males really take notice of a female if she acts fearlessly and kicks balls whenever necessary."

"Yeah, well I can report confidentially that Shelia was blown-away at how nice you were to her and that you put on a complimentary lunch for the entire staff and personally paid for the liquor, blowing away many of the fellow workers she knew. Apparently, some of your opponents failed in their attempt to launch a rumour that the food would be poisoned."

"Omigod, now I know why a few people looked at me suspiciously when offering to get me something to eat and I declined their offers."

Susanna and Frank laughed.

"Look, why I'm calling is that I've been speaking to Johnny Butcher, you'll remember him?"

"Yes, a blond country boy who played outside of you at centre in our Varsity Senior A rugby team."

"That's him. I'm thinking of inviting him on Saturday night to even up numbers because none of Rachel's siblings will be there."

"That's fine with me, Frank."

"Um, I need to warn you he's being divorced by his glad-fly wife and he told me he hasn't had a sex for almost six weeks."

"Well, if he hits on me, I'll have to decide whether to knee him in the balls or to offer what he wants. Single women have needs too."

"Great, Susanna but I guess I'll be kneed in the balls if I tell him or even hint that you could be hanging out for a good dicking?"

"Frank, I remember you were always careful about your behaviour to avoid giving offence. I trust little has changed."

"Quiet right, I won't even hint to Frank that he's already in with more than half a chance of getting lucky with you."

"Good boy, Frank. I'm glad that you and Rachel married and have settled. Bye.

"Bye Miss Untouchable."

Susanna put down her phone laughing. If only Frank at university had been convinced that she was not truly a lesbian.

* * *

Saturday night with the senior Youngs was a lively and at times outrageous evening that served as a long overdue reunion for Rachel, Susanna, Frank and at times including Johnny who mostly had been in a different social group.

Their hostess Rachel's mom Shelia and husband Eric joined in the laughter during the reminiscing by the former students and at time were aghast at some of the wanton behaviour described in detail. Altogether it was a memorable evening, enhanced by the serving of a superb 4-course meal.

When Susanna was leaving with Johnny and kissing their hostess goodnight, Shelia said earnestly, "Susanna, why don't you reveal, as discussed here tonight that you were lead female in two musicals staged at your university and publicly in a city theatre for two weeks during your four years at university. Also, we would have been interested to read on your CV on the company's website that you received that national award for organising and establishing as a permanent Students' Council community service activity to specifically support widows with children in our city and in your final two years at university you were president of the Students' Council?"

"I see no need to do that, Shelia."

"But if those activities were included in your personal page on our company's website, it would encourage your critics of your apparent hard-nose attitudes to perhaps temper the passion of their criticism of you."

"And that, Shelia, would castrate my desire to be seen as a bitch with the power over them, holding their job future in my hands. Unless they fear what I might do to them and their jobs, I would be robbed of my power to force them to accept changes that I deem necessary for the survival of our company."

"Omigod, I now see what you mean with clarity. You explained yourself with gloves off to senior managers but not to us working at the so-called coal face."

"That's one way of looking at it, Shelia but if you attempt to drive cattle into new pasture would you do best by working on each cattle beast individually or attempt to push along the herd as a whole?"

"Omigod, after listening to that, I understand what you are about with even greater clarity."

"Thanks, Shelia and understand that I have been educated and trained through experience on the techniques that I'm steadily introducing to shift our company into dealing with a faster changing market place and to deal with end-customers, as individuals, with their ever-changing preferences. It's a science, Shelia."

"Omigod, yes its application of modern science as the old ways crumble."

"Wow, Shelia, I couldn't put it more succinctly myself. Thanks," said the so-called ballbreaker, kissing her hostess for the evening, gently and affectionately.

As Susanna and Johnny left the home, he asked had she arrived by car or cab.

"I came by taxi, knowing I'd be drinking alcohol."

"Good for you. Um, what now? I have my car here."

"Are you interested in having sex tonight, Johnny?"

Appearing a little shocked, he asked goofily, "Are you asking me"?

"There's no one near us Johnny."

"Apologies, I've never been asked outright do I want sex. Um, yes, it appears desirable but first I should explain my position."

"I know sufficient to know your present position is immaterial to us having sex tonight, Johnny."

"Oh great, your place or do we take a hotel room?"

"My place is fine and there we won't experience coitus interruptus."

He laughed and asked was she familiar with Latin?

"Only insofar as being rather widely read. Are you a doctor or a lawyer?"

The latter, I work in company law and lecture on law to first-year students at a medical school.

"How interesting, and I can imagine you demonstrating at med school with one of your students, also undressed, the actual meaning of coitus interruptus by having a senior med student bursting into after the point of insertion and yelling what were you doing to his daughter."

Johnny laughed and said, "After hearing your contributions earlier tonight and then following your discussion with Shelia when leaving, I have to say you are a complex character, Susanna."

"Thanks, I appreciate your opinion but perhaps more so later this evening when you pass judgement on my about my ability to sexually treat you delightfully."

"Yes, a complex character with the ability to be very full on without embarrassment," murmured Johnny, as he held the front passenger door open and patted her arse as she bent to climb into the low-slung vehicle.

* * *

Susanna was happy. Insofar as her work at Cascade Fashion was proceeding, it would be a long haul but importantly, the workforce was beginning to turn her way, as opposed to away from her.

She still had some weeding to execute, thinning out the dissenters and troublemakers who always were present in any enterprise. But importantly, with the workforce at Cascade Fashions beginning to come onside, that would allow everything about the company's way of doing business, internal reorganisation and the nature of internal culture to be changed to perform strongly against a changing marketplace and the ever-growing intrusion from international competitors into Cascade's traditional local and overseas supply chain.

Currently, people were favouring free trade and the increasing pressure of competition and demise of domestic providers that employed local people were the inevitable consequences of that. People working in company resuscitation and reform roles were figuratively, potentially worth their weight in gold.

In her personal life, she would remain on the look-out for a compatible divorced male left with one of two small children to bless her with a ready-made family. Oh yes, having a family that she adored and challenging new roles in business were the goals she'd set for herself when nearing the end of her time as a teenager.

The End