War and Peas

Will you become director, Lisa?“
    “Oh, no! I hope not. It wouldn’t suit me at all. I’ve come to really like my job and I do it well, I think. There’s a lot of really boring detail work that goes with the directorship that I’d hate. Correspondence and bookkeeping.“
    “I guess that’s why you have an assistant director, to step in if necessary,“ Shelley said. “Will Derek Delano be given the position, do you think?”
    Lisa didn’t answer right away. Then she said cautiously, “I suppose he might.“
    “I hope he isn’t,“ Shelley said frankly. She drizzled dressing over her salad.
    “Why is that?“ Lisa asked.
    Shelley looked up at her. “Because he’s obnoxious.“
    “Well...“ Lisa began.
    “Look,“ Shelley said, “I realize you have to work with him and I’m not trying to jeopardize your professional relationship, but that man’s a jerk and you must know it. Were you in the trailer yesterday when I returned that box of gift-shop stuff and he called me ‘babe’? That’s just not the way to treat a woman you don’t know, and a volunteer at that. If the museum put him in charge, they’d have a sexual harassment suit on their hands in a week.”
    Lisa looked stunned at Shelley’s bluntness, but acknowledged her remarks with a nod. “I’m afraid you’re right. And I know Regina would have agreed.“
    “Why? Did he try that stuff on her, too? His own boss?“ Jane asked.
    “Yes, ‘tried.’ But it was so blatant—“ Lisa hesitated again.
    Shelley was on a roll and wouldn’t let it go at that. “What was so blatant?“
    “Well, he was after her job. Everybody knew that. He didn’t even bother to disguise it. He was always mentioning how she’d be moving on to bigger and better museums once the Snellen was in its new building and she’d made her name in the profession. At first he flirted with her, which was really inappropriate. Then, when she rejected his requests for dates, he got sulky, and when she became involved with Whitney, he started making remarks that skated awfully close to being sexual innuendos. I’m sure Derek thought Regina found him attractive in spite of all the evidence to the contrary and would push the board to appoint him in her place when she left.“
    “So she was leaving the museum?“ Jane asked.
    “No, she wasn’t. I was saying what Derek thought. He was wrong, but nothing could convince him of it.“
    “I don’t get it,“ Shelley said. “If she was his boss and he was so obnoxious, why didn’t she fire him? Or explain it to the board of directors, if they’re the ones who do the firing?“
    “Pride,“ Lisa answered. “That’s all. Regina could be awfully stiff-necked at times. She’d searched high and low for an assistant, interviewed a mob of candidates. Somehow Derek managed to behave in the interviews and she recommended him to the board. She just couldn’t bring herself to admit to them that she’d made a mistake. And it might have actually been hard to get rid of him. He’s superbly well qualified, academically. More so than either Regina or I when we came here.”
    Jane nibbled at her salad, reflecting that it was interesting how Shelley’s bluntness often encouraged people to talk about things they’d never normally say, especially to strangers. Lisa Quigley hardly knew them, yet Shelley had her “talking shop“ in minutes. Of course, part of it was probably the fact that poor Lisa had unexpectedly lost a good friend as well as a coworker.
    “Don’t you suppose the board knows what he’s like?“ Jane asked. “Babs McDonald strikes me as a sharp woman.”
    Lisa kept poking at her salad as if she really wanted to eat but couldn’t quite bring herself to it. “Yes, Babs must realize. And I imagine Regina talked to Jumper about it. She depended a lot on his judgment.“
    “Then it doesn’t sound like there’s too much danger of Derek being appointed director,“ Shelley said. “Who else is on the board?“
    “Jumper, Babs, Georgia Snellen—do you know her?“
    “We do,“ Shelley said curtly. “We saw her at the Festival. With Derek.”
    Lisa looked for a minute like she was going to question Shelley, but went on instead. “Then there’s an accountant Jumper recommended a few years ago when Miss Snellen died and we suddenly had a large endowment. He’s in Alaska right now, visiting his brother who’s a park ranger or something.“
    “Is that all?“ Jane asked.
    “No, there’s a history