CHAPTER ONE
Promotion

It was a sunny and pleasant day in downtown Chicago; the sun, high in the sky, was warming the busy streets of the city as Summer was just getting underway. Julia sat outside at a busy corner bistro, alone at a table, just off Michigan Avenue, across the street from the Art Institute. Lost in her own thoughts, she idly strummed her long red nails, as the multitude, people and vehicles swirled around her. She took a quick sip of ice tea and was pleased to see her new lipstick was staying in place instead of passing to the straw. It was a small thing, but it was nice that something was working as promised, especially when other, important, things in her life weren't.

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to relax. Waiting for a friend to show up for lunch always unnerved her. She imagined what it might be like to be considered important enough to never have to wait for people. Would she ever be important like that? While waiting, she did get to play, "who's the boss". It was her friend Samantha's people watching game. The key was to watch groups of people walking together to determine who had more formal power in the group. It was almost always the people in front who had the power. Samantha always tallied male versus female lead groups. According to her, women were slowly pulling forward and she predicted that women would eventually outnumber men as "the boss", in her little game. Julia had to admit, it was satisfying to see one or more women walking along with some hapless looking guy humbly shuffling behind them, anxiously hanging on every word.

As she continued scanning for "who's the boss" groups, Julia spotted Samantha getting out of a taxi, across the street, in front of the Art Institute. She was finally here, almost twenty minutes after the last text she'd sent saying she'd be late for lunch.

Julia stood up, smoothed down her skirt and gave a couple of quick tugs on her blouse to make sure it was nice and straight before waving excitedly to her friend. Samantha quickly spotted her and returned a tiny, cute, little wave. She paid the cab driver, and started to walk towards the bistro, plucking her corporate ID badge off her blouse and tossing it in her cute little clutch without missing a step.

Samantha worked in human resources and had been tied up in meetings all morning. Julia was anxious to hear whatever inside news she had on the rumored reorganization from Corporate. Everybody was nervous. Samantha had told her not to worry last time they talked and hinted at something good coming her way. It was all so unnerving.

Both women were in their late twenties, pretty, and dressed in chic, somewhat suggestive, clearly feminine attire. Julia's husband, Eric, called the look "business-professional-sexy" and occasionally quipped that Julia's business attire was "erection-enabling" when he thought one of her outfits was a little over the top.

Samantha wore a short sleeved pink blouse, and an A-line black skirt cut a few inches above the knees with black heels. Her skirt swished appreciably as she moved in three-inch stilettos while making her way to the crosswalk. As she crossed Michigan Avenue, a couple of men locked their eyes on the jiggling under Samantha's blouse. She had ample boobs which always seemed to be in motion, especially as she swayed in heels. Samantha seemed to enjoy flirting with men but it was a pure power trip for her, another game, since, ironically, Samantha hated men.

Samantha was smiling as she entered the bistro, quickly picking her way past the tables to where Julia was. She was beaming with excitement and even stamped her heels and let loose a tiny squeak before sitting down at the table with a wide grin.

"Good news then?," Julia asked nervously as they sat down, trying to stay calm despite her friend's obvious exuberance.

Samantha nodded barely able to contain herself. "You got the promotion," she finally said. "Regional sales manager. Even better, you beat out three men for the job," she added. "This is a real shake up, a lot of restructuring. They're letting go of some of the older men that have been there forever, realigning the teams, and putting in younger talent. And the best thing is, most of the senior promotions, like yours, are going to womyn!" Julia wasn't sure if Samantha was more excited about her promotion or that women had taken so many of the positions. "They're going to make you the offer before the end of the day it looks like. Oh, and you're going to be getting your own office! And..." Samantha stopped and looked at Julia who was sitting there blank faced, as if she was in the third hour of a meeting discussing corporate financials, supply chains, and lost revenues. "Well, aren't you excited?"

"Yes?" Julia said hesitantly.

"What's wrong honey?" Samantha's tone had switched from excitement to concern. She'd thought her friend would be thrilled at the news but instead she seemed distant and preoccupied.

Julia toyed with the bracelet on her left wrist, a thin gold chain, remembering better times. It wasn't especially expensive but Eric had given it to her a couple of years ago when he was still working. Under her shoulder length auburn hair both ears were decorated with earrings he'd bought her too, delicate three inch gold hoops with two small gold balls behind each of them. He'd even pierced her ears for her, adding the two extra holes to each ear so she could wear more earrings. It had been a better time. Eric had money and enjoyed spending it on her, spoiling her, having fun with her. But all of that was before he lost his job to what he called "gender politics".

"It's Eric is all," Julia said.

Samantha frowned.

"He's still out of work," Julia said, pursing her lips in frustration. "It's been over a year and a half now. He's having a really hard time getting a job," she added.

"What's that got to do with you?" Samantha asked peering at Julia intently. "If anything, he should be thrilled that more money will be coming in, excited that you're career is taking off," Samantha said with a sour tone. "He should be happy for you and happy that you're supporting the family. And, if you think about it, I'm sure he wouldn't have any problem at all if you were the one out of work and he was getting a promotion."

"Probably not," Julia admitted reluctantly, conflicted by the whole situation. Even though her argument was sound, Julia knew that Samantha was also a very vocal feminist that had a lot of contempt for men in general and had never had anything good to say about Eric.

"Honey, if he can't embrace his partner's success then he's just stuck in the past, the ancient past. We've talked about some of this before. Most men would be thrilled to bring back the days of male privilege, the glory days of the patriarchy where womyn were expected to be little more then their chattel. If he's struggling with those archaic notions you really need to lay down the law. After all, you're the one supporting the family, not him. You're the one with the power now." Then she added, with a smile, "as it should be."

Julia's eye began to moisten as she fought back tears. "It's just so complicated Sam." She looked away from Samantha to all the people on the sidewalks outside the bistro moving past. The traffic light changed on Michigan Avenue and a flood of traffic sped by in a blur. Life seemed to be moving so fast around her and Julia felt somehow disconnected from all of it, nothing seemed to be going according to plan.

Samantha reached out and gently took Julia's hand in hers. They intertwined fingers. Samantha's nails were short and colored a deep burgundy but they contrasted beautifully next to Julia's brighter, longer nails - a simple expression of feminine beauty performed through a caring touch.

"We were talking about maybe having a baby," Julia spat out, her eyes moistening as she fought back tears. "But we put those plans on hold ever since Eric lost his job. It's been really hard."

Samantha listened on sympathetically, nodding her head, encouraging Julia to go on.

"We wanted both of us working so I could have options, maybe stay at home with the baby for awhile," she said. "Maybe start my own business from home," she added with a shrug. "The important thing was to make sure I could stay at home with the baby early on, as much as I felt I needed. They say the early years are so critical. But I don't know how that's going to happen right now," Julia said as she dabbed her finger tips to the corner of her eyes, keeping tears at bay. "My career keeps moving forward but he's totally stuck and every time I move ahead he just gets more resentful."

Samantha squeezed Julia's hand slightly, trying to be reassuring, not certain what to say to her beautiful friend, a moment of quiet stillness in the bustle of the city. "He can still find a job. Eventually, he will."

"I just don't know anymore. It doesn't feel like that at all," Julia said, sounding defeated. "The way things are going, I'm going to end up being the primary breadwinner forever. He's going to resent it and maybe he'll never get back to work. Or, maybe he'll just take some low paying job and tell me how much he loves it so he never has to compete with me again. Force me to keep working and totally break the agreement we had about me staying home with our baby. My promotion would be like golden-handcuffs if that happened."

"Well, maybe you can still make it work. In fact, it might even be better with him unemployed" Samantha suggested. "You'd have your baby, then, after maternity leave, he'd have to do the care taking while you were at the office. There's nothing wrong with that. More men are doing it all the time. Why should the womon have to give up her career anyway? In fact, since he's already out of work it seems the obvious choice if you ask me. Let him stay at home with the baby."

"Maybe, but I'm not so sure he'd be happy playing Mr. Mom all day long either," Julia said wryly. "Besides, I want to breastfeed my baby as much as I can and for as long as I can. There's just so many benefits to breastfeeding over a bottle, it really is important."

"Okay, maybe he wouldn't like playing Mr. Mom but he could. And as far as the breastmilk goes, he could care for that too. You can pump your own milk and store it in a bottle for Eric to use when you're at work. Womyn do that all the time."

"They do," Julia said drawing the words out slowly. "I never wanted to do that though. It cheats the baby" Julia frowned for a moment. Her face softened next and she looked into the distance, like she was trying to recall something cherished. "My mom told me something once, a long time ago. It was so touching I never forgot. It's really beautiful. She told me there were times, when she was breastfeeding me, that she couldn't tell where she ended and where I began." Julia smiled, lingering on the memory. "That image is so powerful. Mother and daughter together as one. That's how powerful that bond can be for the mother while she's breastfeeding. The baby has to feel that bond too," Julia said, dabbing at the tears in her eyes. "You can't get love like that through a plastic bottle, even if it does have mother's milk inside."

Samantha dabbed at her own tears. "That really is a beautiful image." She slapped Julia's hand playfully. "Look at you, having me crying over a baby that hasn't even been conceived yet." Both women laughed.

The waitress came over to the table and took their lunch order, the same salads they normally had when they lunched there. As their waitress walked away, Julia noticed the hostess sit a couple, a young man and woman, a few tables away. They looked to be so happy, talking, smiling, staring into each other's eyes. They looked like they were in love. She couldn't remember the last time Eric and her had been so happy together. He hadn't even smiled, as far as she knew, since he'd lost his job. It all seemed so sad. He needed a new focus, a new purpose.

"You okay?" Samantha asked.

"Yeah, sorry. Just thinking about how unhappy Eric has been lately," Julia said ruefully. "Anyway, I hope you can see my dilemma. If I take the promotion, Eric could get totally discouraged. Depressed. Maybe hopeless. You have to remember, from his point of view, he lost his job to a woman when his company restructured. The same thing is basically happening with my promotion, except I'm the one getting the job. But, he's still unemployed. He's going to feel terrible. He might even see me as the enemy since I'm a woman."

"Sounds like a typical man to me," Samantha said. "Make womyn the enemy. Try their best to keep us from succeeding. Sabotage our careers," Samantha added with disdain.

Julia rolled her eyes at Samantha. "I think it's a little more complicated then that Sam. I mean, you do have a point but, look at it from his point of view, he's having a really hard time getting a foot in the door while women are succeeding all around him."

Samantha shrugged her shoulders and smiled, clearly not unhappy that womyn were succeeding while men were struggling.

"I'm not unhappy that women are doing well," Julia said. "It's just that some men are having a hard time adapting. Eric is one of them. If I take the promotion, I think there's a good chance he'll just give up looking for work. It's going to make having a baby with him almost impossible unless I give up on the idea of breastfeeding my baby like I wanted to." Julia brought her hands to the side of her head and began rubbing her temples with her fingers trying to ward off an approaching headache. "I'm not sure I should even take the promotion."

Samantha scowled at the suggestion, knitting her eyebrows together. "Julia, don't even say that. You earned that promotion. You deserve it. You outsold most the department, men and womyn. Like I said earlier, Eric should be embracing your success not holding you back. And, I really think he could take care of most of your baby's needs. He may not like it, you might not even think its the best solution, but with him out of work he can care for the baby. All you need is a little role reversal away from the traditional patriarchal family model and to a more modern flexible one," Samantha said confidently and then oddly her mouth dropped open and stayed open, seemingly astonished at her own words.

"Samantha?" Julia asked, bewildered at her friend's expression.

"Role reversal," Samantha said, more to herself than to Julia, the words having some deeper meaning as her expression shifted to satisfaction, almost excitement. "I really think you need to take the promotion Julia. I'm not positive yet, but I think I have a solution that'll fix everything, and I mean everything."

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