Chapter Seventeen
Jennifer and Robert were in the small meeting room when Katherine arrived at Aero TV. After a long talk with her father, she had called them requesting a meeting asap.
She was done being disrespected, had enough of her career being weaponised to control her.
It ended now. Her heart pounded because she knew if this meeting went badly, it would be the end for her at the Alpha One official broadcaster.
It would be a step backwards. The thought made her feel ill but enough was enough.
‘What’s this about, Kat?’ Robert asked.
Katherine took her time pulling out a seat at the round table, ensuring she was visibly calm, then looked at him and Jennifer.
‘We have some issues to discuss.’ She placed her hands on the table. Fingers loosely knitted together.
‘You’re not still upset about the article, are you?’ Jennifer asked. ‘Do you want to see the traffic stats since it went live? It was great for you.’
‘No, I don’t.’ Anger blazed through her. ‘And it was great for you. Aero. Not me. Not Lukas.’
‘What does Lukas J?ger matter? You were faking a relationship, badly I might add. Our needs are more important than any driver’s.’
Katherine never wanted to work with Jennifer again. ‘You have no respect for people’s lives, Jennifer. No respect for my work or reputation. For that reason, I am quitting the column.’
Jennifer threw herself back in her chair with a huff. ‘Don’t be so dramatic, Kat.’
She battled for calm with all her might because she wanted to rage at these people.
‘Let’s look at the facts, shall we? With no concern for our well-being after being stuck in a snowstorm, Aero forced Lukas and me to pose as a couple purely for publicity.
Threatened our careers, threatened my reputation by blackmailing me with the article that we both knew contained false information, but still you used it to control me. ’
‘Control is a bit harsh, don’t you think?’ Robert said.
‘What would you call it?’ She cast her glare on him.
‘Either I was fired if I didn’t comply or the article was released which would call into question my ethics and integrity, my ability to be impartial and truthful.
It would paint me as ruthless to the point of unscrupulousness.
Who would hire me after that? That is control, Robert.
’ She wanted to throw herself out of her chair and pace the room, but she couldn’t be emotional here.
‘Tell me, if I was a male journalist would either of you have demanded this of me? Toyed with my career like this? I suspect the answer is no.’
Robert looked away while Jennifer refused to say anything.
‘So here’s how things are going to go. First, you’re going to pull the article and issue a retraction—’
‘Absolutely not!’ Jennifer all but yelled.
‘I’m not done.’ Katherine stared her down.
‘Second, the manipulation of me and my career stops now. You told me about the trip to Lapland at the last possible moment, Robert, when you would have known long enough to acquire service providers to carve a literal track in the snow. I’m not a pawn to be used, I am a journalist and deserve to be treated with the same respect you give my male colleagues.
Third, in the place of the column, I will be added to the panel on Track Talk every Tuesday night.
I know this sport, have great insights and bloody good access to information. ’
‘Kat—’ Robert tried but Katherine was on a roll.
‘A producer who treated me abominably once told me to go complain on a talk show, and you know what? He was right. If you don’t comply, I will tell the world what happened.
How you must have been planning to capitalize off our experience in Lapland before you’d even checked that I was okay, how you forced Lukas and me into a public relationship for clicks.
’ Katherine could see Robert turning paler with every word.
‘How I asked you, Jennifer, to kill the article and why and how you blackmailed me with it. How Scott Courteney threatened my job. You think Alpha One will want to remain bound to Aero TV after that? They’ll find another network.
And I will never stop talking about this.
Never stop talking about the institutionalised misogyny.
I refuse to be treated how you have treated me. ’
Robert swallowed thickly. ‘I’m sure we can come to an understanding.’
Katherine stood firm. ‘I want your agreement and nothing less or I will walk out of here and into another network because you know I’m great at my job. My fan base will come with me. We all know that would be a substantial audience. How many people do you think will believe my story?’
‘Fine,’ he acceded. ‘We have an agreement.’