Before I Let You In Read Online Free PDF Page A

ever uttered. What was the word for someone who wore too much gel for a man of his age and still referred to his car as a female? She made a mental note to ask Bea later.
    Karen knew that Robert didn’t like Travis, but she also knew that Travis had impressed the right people, said and done everything that was expected of him. Karen didn’t like the implication that she hadn’t. She knew she wasn’t always as diplomatic as she could be; she wasn’t the yes man she was expected to be, but she’d always hoped that when it came to the crunch, Robert would stick his neck out for her. It wasn’t enough, he’d told her, and then added, as if sealing her fate as a junior psychiatrist for the rest of her life, ‘You wouldn’t be happy on the top floor anyway: too much politics, not enough hands-on work. You’d suffocate.’ Travis, he’d said, was exactly the kind of political schmuck they wanted upstairs. What does that make you? she’d wanted to ask, but he was still her boss, and anyhow, she hadn’t wanted him to know how much it pained her not to get the job.
    Jonathan was now doing the talking – some long-drawn-out speech about the years of experience Ken would be taking with him, and how much he’d learned from his colleague. Karen must have been frowning in anticipation of Travis’s coronation, because Robert was looking at her now, mouthing, ‘You okay?’
    She flicked her eyes down to her lap, ignoring his concern – childish, she knew, but this whole charade was causing anxiety and irritation to flare up inside her. She might have to sit there and congratulate Yapp, smile and say he was the best man for the job, but she didn’t have to make Robert feel better about what a coward he’d been. She hadn’t really believed in the whole glass-ceiling thing when she was at university, but the doubt she’d held so strongly about its existence was beginning to wane.
    ‘… and that’s why we’re very excited to invite Karen to join us as a member of the senior consulting team. What do you say, Karen?’
    Karen shook her head slightly, convinced she’d misheard. ‘Sorry, what?’
    Robert laughed, saving her embarrassment, as the rest of the team gauged each other’s reactions. Clearly they’d all been expecting this to be Travis’s coronation too.
    ‘Well, shock and disbelief is as good a reaction as any, I suppose.’ Robert grinned. ‘I’m sure you’ll all join me in congratulating Karen – assuming of course that she wants the position?’
    Karen composed herself, smiled and nodded graciously. ‘Of course, I’m thrilled and honoured. Thank you both for the opportunity. I hope I live up to your expectations.’
    Her colleagues all recovered as quickly as she did, none more so than Travis Yapp, who plastered a white-toothed poster-boy grin to his face and held up an invisible glass in toast. ‘Congratulations, Karen – it must be great to see all your hard work paying off.’
    ‘Congratulations, Karen – it must be great to see all your hard work paying off,’ Karen mimicked in a childish voice. ‘What a … a …’ She searched for a suitable word and remembered Bea’s creative command of the English language from just a couple of hours before. ‘What a cockblanket.’
    Robert let out a laugh so spontaneous and genuine that Karen couldn’t help smiling through her fury.
    ‘I don’t know what you’re laughing at,’ she chided, her anger dissipating. ‘You realise he was insinuating that I’ve been sleeping with you to get a promotion?’
    ‘It’s standard Misogyny 101 – if a man gets a promotion it’s because he worked for it; if a woman gets one it’s because she slept with someone for it. They teach it on the first day of the “Aren’t You Glad You Have a Penis” course.’
    ‘Hmm, quite the feminist, aren’t we?’ Karen checked her watch. ‘I really have to get home. I just wanted to catch you to say thank you for the opportunity. I won’t let you down.’
    ‘I