Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Sixty-Four

"We're having brunch this weekend," Momma Frampton announced when Maisie answered her call Wednesday morning.

"We are?  What's the occasion?"

"The occasion is that I haven't seen you or your sister since my birthday."

"Oh, well, I'm free, but I know Anabeth is really busy right now.  How about we make it just you and me?"  Maisie finally understood the old cliche about falling on your sword because the prospect of brunch alone with her mother felt like her internal organs had been impaled, and the wound was definitely self-inflicted.

"No, I want to see both of you, and Sean and the kids, and you can bring your boyfriend."

"You know I don't have a boyfriend."

"You've been going on dates practically every night of the week and you don't have a boyfriend yet?"

Maisie remained silent.

"What about the man who posted on your page?  You know what I mean, that huge apology post - he said he was going to make it up to you."

"You saw that? Why are you looking at the page anyway?"

"Oh, so now I can't follow your life on the social media? You don't share anything about your life with me - the Facebook and Instagram are all I have to know what's going on with you."

Maisie rubbed her temples.  Between the traffic and her mother's voice, a migraine was forming.  "Bastian is not my boyfriend, but we've gone out a few times."

"Great, bring him Sunday."

"It's not serious enough to introduce him to the family."

"I don't care.  You're not getting any younger - I thought the whole point of your silly little page was to find a boyfriend."

"It doesn't happen immediately, Mother.  I'm still getting to know him, and I'm still seeing other people."

"Don't be ridiculous.  Bring him Sunday - I don't want to hear any more excuses.  Goodbye."  Momma Frampton hung up and Maisie turned her bluetooth off.

There was an email waiting for her when she got situated at her desk, scheduling a performance review with Mr. Roseberg after lunch.  "What's that about?" she wondered.  Performance reviews typically took place in December or January, depending on the money available for year-end bonuses.  Why would Roseberg schedule one for May?

She opened a chatbox and messaged George, asking if he or anyone else had gotten a similar email.

"Not that I know of.  Do you think it's about the Darcy page?" he answered.

"I guess it could be.  He'll be happy to know I've discussed taking it down with Talia."

"Don't bring it up if he doesn't mention it."

"I wasn't going to.  I'm not stupid."

"Well..."

"Ha. Ha."

She took a shorter lunch than usual, not wanting to be late for her appointment with the boss.  At 1:15, she knocked on his door, entered, and shut it behind her.

"Have a seat Ms. Frampton," Roseberg said from his smug position behind his desk.

She perched on the edge of a chair in front of him and waited.  He fiddled around on his computer for a few minutes, ignoring her, then produced a folder from one of the desk drawers and handed it to her.

"Your sales numbers for the last month," he said as she opened it.

She glanced quickly over the chart.  "Looks right."

"It does?"

"Yeah, I don't see anything amiss."

"Well, I do.  Your numbers have tanked since last month."

"Tanked?  There's a slight dip, but everyone in the sales department had a slight dip last month."

He smirked.  "Statistically, yours was higher."

"Than everyone else's?"

"Yes.  So, let's talk about how to fix this."

Maisie closed the folder and pushed it back towards him. "I'm sorry, Mr. Roseberg, but I fail to see what the issue is.  Everyone has high months and low months.  I consistently outperform everyone else in the department, so if I had one bad month, it's more a fluke than anything else."

Roseberg leaned forward, his mustache twitched as he smiled smugly again.  "I don't think it's a fluke.  I think you've been spending company time more concerned about your love life than your job."

"My love life is completely separate from my work life."

He scoffed.  "You're constantly chatting with George about it, and that stupid Facebook page has been a distraction for over two weeks now.  You took time off to go make a video in New York about how desperately you want a boyfriend."

Despite her boiling blood threatening to spew directly from her nostrils and spray all over his ugly face, Maisie kept her voice even, "I have every right to take time off, for whatever reason I want-"

"This is why I hate hiring women.  Single, and they are more focused on catching a man than working.  Married, and they start popping out babies every year or two."

"Excuse me?" Maisie stood, fists clenched at her side to keep her arms from shaking.

"Improve your numbers this month, or you're on probation."

Without another word, Maisie swept out of his office and went straight to the HR rep, Drew.  She told him everything she could remember from the meeting, then filled out an official complaint.  He promised her Roseberg's immediate supervisor would receive the complaint.  She didn't forsee it producing any results,  but she was glad she'd filed it.  At least she did something.

When she got back to her desk, she opened her resume and began updating it.  She'd been thinking it was time for a change, and if Roseberg faced no consequences for his sexist behavior, then she had no interest in continuing to work for a company that would condone him.