Whisper Network

The first-person plural narrator describes women checking the BAD Men List compulsively. Some of the behaviors listed can be dismissed, while others are awful. Women are comforted to find out they are not alone.

On March 28, Sloane asks Ardie’s advice on her dilemma: How to make sure Katherine doesn’t fall prey to Ames, while also getting the position as General Counsel. Should Sloane warn Katherine about Ames, get him fired, or maybe just kill him? Ardie tried to warn Sloane about Ames many years earlier, so both women know that time is ticking to warn Katherine. Sloane suggests putting Ames on the list. Ardie thought the list was sophomoric at first, but now she wonders whether she was being “close-minded in her middle-aged years” (125). They think about what could go wrong if they put Ames on the list, but while they consider, Ames passes the office and the mere sight of him convinces Ardie.

In her deposition transcript, Sloane says that she did not create the BAD Men List. Mrs. Sharpe counters that Sloane sabotaged Ames with the list, calling adding his name the “proximate cause” and asking “Would someone be dead but for your actions?” (129). 

Grace, Sloane, and Ardie convince Katherine to go out to a work lunch. Sloane encourages everyone to get margaritas, which she hopes will loosen Katherine up, but Grace cannot drink because she has to pump soon. When Katherine calls Grace’s baby a buzzkill, Sloane tells Katherine how cute Grace’s baby is. Sloane catches a knowing glance between Katherine and Grace, but they deny having a secret. They make small talk about motherhood until Grace reminds them that this lunch is about getting to know Katherine. Katherine talks about her career path, but Sloane interrupts her to say that they want to know about her as a person. They find out that she has five siblings and no boyfriend. Ardie and Katherine bond over baseball. Finally, Sloane asks Katherine if she’s received the BAD Men List.

Truviv is mandated to give Grace a private space to pump breast milk for a year after birth. Lately, she has gotten into the habit of using the space to nap after lunch, keeping pajamas, hand cream, and a sleeping mask on hand. She feels naughty; she knows that no one would suspect her of lying about maternal duties.

In the deposition transcript, Ms. Sharpe asks Sloane why, if sexual harassment was so widespread at Truviv, there are no complaints on record. Sloane claims that she feared losing her job. Ms. Sharpe suggests that Sloane coming forward just as Ames was about to become CEO seems like suspicious timing. Sloan counters that she believed Katherine was being targeted by Ames. When Ms. Sharpe points out that closed-door meetings are not against Truviv policy, Sloane says that things got much worse.

On March 29, Sloane enters Ames’s office after knocking. The shades are down and Katherine is behind his desk, looking at his computer. This is not inherently weird, as many people have been trained at the job this way. After Katherine excuses herself, Sloane asks Ames what Katherine is working on. Sloane knows Katherine’s project is something that Grace would normally do, so why is Ames assigning projects to Katherine, when she technically works under Sloane? When Sloane points out, “You can’t keep your hands off the new merchandise” (145), Ames makes a sexist remark about taking Midol—a joke that is extra aggravating considering that Sloane actually is on her period.

Ames tells her that Bobbi thinks they are having an affair; if Sloane does anything to confirm this, he will ruin her. She agrees, so long as he meets her demands: a bigger office and a pay stub from when he had her job. Ames believes they have managed to work together well for the last 12 years, which makes Sloane wonder about his version of reality. She used to think that he might not understand the consequences of his actions, but now she knows that he is an adult and should be able to. When Sloane stopped sleeping with Ames, he accused her of using him to climb the corporate ladder. He brought her into his office and started touching her until she pushed him off and escaped. Only Ardie’s presence made him back off.

The first-person plural narrator says that women rarely cry at work, but when they do, it is usually about work. They live in fear of messing something up. They play the role of mom and pretend to be carefree.

On March 30, Grace has just spent an hour pumping milk when she notices it spilling. She runs to the office kitchen, tears welling in her eyes, abandoning her milk-stained bag in the hall. Ames finds the bag and tells Grace that she needs a smoke. She cannot because she is breastfeeding, but he talks her into it. On the balcony, Grace has her first cigarette. Ames tells her that Bobbi once did not talk to his mother for two weeks after she wasted Bobbi’s milk. Grace likes that Ames speaks kindly about his wife, unlike the other men in the office, who act as if they did not choose their own wives. Grace works not to make money, but so she doesn’t become the kind of wife that husbands complain about.

Grace feels bad that Ames does not know about the BAD Men List. She knows that many people, including her friends, hate Ames, but she does not. In fact, she feels special spending one-on-one time with him. He talks about Bobbi’s postpartum depression, subtly suggesting that Grace might suffer from the same thing. Grace denies this. She asks him a question she knows he will like: “Is there anything you wish you’d done differently here at Truviv?” (163). He says no. She asks for help advancing her career and he tells her to pick harder assignments and forward him any compliments written about her. He shows Grace a photo of his kids and asks her to do him a favor.