Monday morning after the farewell party for Janet, Mr. Wilson invited Ruby into his office to have a coffee with him. “How was Janet’s send-off?” he asked.
Ruby was taken aback by the question. She responded with caution, “It was okay. I’m not really in a partying mood these days. I’m still adjusting to my new status,” she lied.
“I hear you and Jack from sales put on a bit of a show.”
“Did I do something wrong?”
“No. I guess I didn’t know you could dance like that.”
“I’m separated. I didn’t join a nunnery.”
“Now that you’re separated, I don’t want to see or hear that you’re seeing one of our male employees socially. You know how I feel about office relationships,” he stated, reinforcing his previous warning.
“Understood,” she responded with an inquisitive frown.
“Mr. Fischer told me this morning that he thought you were a little chummy with one of the male managers in accounting. He also noticed that you totally ignored George in purchasing. Now we all know with George’s extrovert personality, that’s hard to do,” he continued, closely observing her for a hint of a reaction. “The boss man thinks that could be a sign that something is brewing.”
“You mean that wonderful man who came to wish the staff in our department happy holidays and shoved his tongue down my throat? Is that the perfect Mr. President you’re saying is judging me and my behaviour?” She got angry every time she thought about their president. More than that, she wanted to change the direction in which their conversation was headed.
“What are you saying? He did that to you? Why didn’t you tell me?” Mr. Wilson declared in a very angry voice. With great force, he slammed down his ceramic coffee cup on his desk. The hot coffee spilled onto the glass protector. Much to Ruby’s surprise, he was genuinely infuriated and taken aback. She was positive by his reaction he had no idea about his boss’s behaviour. Why didn’t he know? Everyone else did!
“If I had told you, we would have been having this conversation many months ago.” She knew she had said too much. It didn’t matter; it was clear to her that she was on her way out.
A few weeks passed. She felt the tenseness growing around her. Ruby was not sure what to expect, but something was in the wind. She was sure of it.
Ruby was careful to not add to the negative mood by telling Mr. Wilson about their president and the vice president of marketing telling a secretary a crude joke. Just as Ruby passed by, she heard “rape,” and then they laughed. She stopped in her tracks and interrupted. “Both of you fellas have wives and daughters. What is so funny about rape? Would you still find it amusing if a female in your family was raped?” She didn’t wait for a response. She just left the comment hanging.
Andre, the vice president of marketing, didn’t speak to Ruby for months after that. He always put on a Santa suit and handed out the gifts under the Christmas tree at the office party. Ruby overheard him asking her assistant if she would perform the task this year. Ruby walked out of her office and said, “I will.”
Sometime after she had left for the day, Santa’s suit and accessories were dropped on her desk. “Perfect.” She had a plan.
The day of the office Christmas party, Ruby dressed in her version of Santa. She appeared at the party in costume.
Andre was taken aback when he saw her and asked with a wrinkled nose and disdain in his voice, “Who are you supposed to be?”
Ruby stood tall and proudly declared. “Mrs. Claus.” She wore the red hat and fur trimmed red jacket with a wide shiny black belt. Instead of pants, she wore a black skirt with the faux boots. She observed his slow burn and enjoyed every second.
Most of the employees applauded. Point made.
From then on, he called her a feminist. He thought it was a negative or insulting comment. Ruby didn’t. She took it as a compliment.