Whisper Network

Ardie promises herself to work hard today, after a mopey Sunday. She has not cleaned up any of the party detritus, saddened that Michael went to stay with Tony and that she has no one to debrief the party with. Ardie still loves Tony; the previous night, she anonymously called Tony twice just to hear his voice.

The school district calls Ardie to set up an interview with Abigail; they are following up on the memorandum that Sloane signed Ardie’s name to on without telling her. Ardie is furious—first, the weekend's revelation that Sloane has been hanging out with Tony, and now this. Ardie brings Sloane the callback information for the school district and Sloane apologizes more. Sloane asks Ardie if she’s ever done something regrettable and Ardie thinks of one thing that she will never tell Sloane about. Ardie knows they will have to make up; Sloane is her boss, after all. Ardie stops by Katherine’s office to ask her to keep secret the conversation they had about Sloane at the party.

The first-person plural narrator discusses the different rhetoric used to insult women who sleep with male colleagues.

Sloane is late for her personal trainer when she runs into Chrissy, a senior accountant that she’s always liked. Chrissy tells Sloane that the women on her floor wondered when Sloane would finally add Ames to the BAD Men List. The board of directors met that morning and Ames is basically guaranteed to become CEO. Both of these things surprise Sloane. Her life suddenly feels very precarious. As Sloane’s personal trainer Oksana guides Sloane, she asks Oksana if male clients ever bother her. Oksana says that the men are terrible, but that she and her coworkers have a method for dealing with them: The trainers’ female receptionists highlight the names of troublesome men in yellow or red, depending on how bad they are.

The chapter ends with employee statements about Ames from April 13, all from men. Four of the statements are incredulous, claiming that the list is sexist nonsense and that someone probably paid the women to add Ames’s name to steal his job. Only one statement believes everything claimed on the list.

The first-person plural narrator wonders why, if people do not whisper “fire” when a building is on fire, women whisper about harassment, allowing only some people to hear in time to evacuate.

Rosalita is thinking about how Salomon can only hear in one ear as she vacuums the office. She has to arrive two hours earlier on vacuuming days. Rosalita is annoyed that Crystal is a no-show today—Rosalita will not get paid more for doing double the work. She is tired of doing brainless labor, though she knows she should theoretically be grateful to have a job.

Ames walks in quickly, secure in his self-worth, and asks her to empty his trash bin in a way that gives the illusion of choice. In his office, she listens to hear if he closes the door. Ames explains that he is going to become the new CEO and asks Rosalita if he should “expect any problems from the cleaning staff” (248). She says no. She asks if he is still married. As he says yes, she notices he still wears the watch that once left a large scratch on her.

The chapter concludes with a transcript of an interview with Ardie about April 12. When the detectives ask her when she last saw the victim, she asks, “[W]ho exactly are you referring to as the victim here?” (251). 

Ardie has never been one to socialize unnecessarily. As she rides the elevator to get lunch, Ames joins her. The two are silent in their distaste for one another. Ames seems anxious and fidgety. Suddenly, he presses the button for floor eight and exits, saying, “You’re all fucking crazy. You know that?“ (254). Returning from lunch, Ardie enters the office kitchen, where a startled Katherine overreacts, shaken up because she thought Ardie was Ames.