Whisper Network

When they went for drinks, Katherine asked Sloane and Ames about their careers; she told Sloane that she wanted to be just like her.

Sloane stops by Grace’s office to find Katherine. Grace asks Sloane about her daughter Abigail, and Sloane lies that Abigail is doing great. Sloane does not want Grace to judge her daughter or her parenting. They have not seen the spreadsheet everyone is talking about yet and joke that they are too old. Sloane thinks that she needs to check in with Grace more because Grace seems stressed.

Sloane is running late for her personal trainer. The women have a complicated relationship with the gym, pretending to be over their desires for unrealistic bodies. Sloane runs into Ames’s wife Bobbi in the locker room. She is always ashamed talking to her because of her affair with Ames. Sloane thinks about how Ames accuses her of being hormonal or too sensitive whenever she brings up any issue. Bobbi reveals that Ames is on the shortlist to become the next CEO and asks Sloane to help. Sloane starts to freak out and calls her old mentor Elizabeth Moretti to ask about the spreadsheet. Elizabeth explains that the spreadsheet is called BAD Men—“Beware of Asshole Dallas Men.” Sloane wants to know if Ames is on it.

The chapter ends with several Truviv employee statements from April 13. One employee says the BAD Men list was a bad idea, one says that “what happened could have happened to any of us” (72), one wonders about the rights of the people on the list, and another argues that the people on the list should start taking accountability.

The first-person plural narration describes women in the office having to perform authority and belonging. However, their male colleagues never buy their performance.

Grace rarely lies, but she has started to lie more often to her husband. A couple months earlier, her doctor gave Liam a brochure on postpartum depression, but Grace refuses to accept that she has it despite feeling no connection to her daughter Emma Kate. The couple has not had sex since Grace gave birth because she has told Liam that she is not allowed to. A week ago, Liam brought up having a second child, so on March 23, Grace lies that she is working late. Instead, she opened a new credit card to charge an expensive hotel room in secret. Since becoming a mother, she has not gotten good sleep. In the hotel, Grace sees Katherine in the elevator and admits that she does not like being a mom. Katherine claims to be sleeping at the hotel until her condo is ready. Grace is excited to become friends with Katherine.

The chapter concludes with a subpoenaed document that confirms that on January 21, Katherine Bell’s position at a company called Frost Klein was terminated.

Sloane has a morning meeting at Abigail’s school; Abigail will be there, as will Ardie, serving as her lawyer. Principal Clark tells Sloane that they should not need an attorney to check on Abigail’s progress, but Ardie suggests focusing on the school’s progress instead. The school has sent home flyers recommending that parents monitor their children’s social media accounts. When Sloane points out that kids Abigail’s age cannot legally use social media, the principal suggests they change Abigail’s phone number. Sloane objects that it should not be Abigail’s responsibility to change the situation. Principal Clark asks Abigail for updates, and she tells them about a prank some boys pulled. When she realized they were laughing at her, she had screamed as loudly as she could, the way Sloane taught her, and the boys called her crazy. The principal dismisses the bullying as a harmless prank, describing it as something boys do to girls they find cute. Sloane and Ardie tell him that humiliation is not cute, but unsafe.

After the three leave, Abigail asks whether it was ok that Sloane yelled at the principal. Sloane responds, “I spoke up. There’s a difference” (96). Sloane makes sure that Ardie understands that acting as Abigail’s attorney is against Truviv policy and must remain a secret. Sloane remembers again that she needs to tell Ardie something, but just then Ardie’s ride share pulls up.

Rosalita and Ardie have become acquaintances over the years, holding short conversations in Spanish that allow Rosalita to feel truly understood, unlike her interactions in English. Ardie has offered Rosalita pro bono services, but Rosalita does not trust free things and has scraped together as much money as she can offer. Rosalita puts an envelope of cash on Ardie’s desk when Ames blocks the door and asks what she is doing. She tells him she is cleaning; she knows that the people who work here believe she and her coworkers want to steal anything they can. When he asks why she does not have supplies, she responds that she is only emptying the trash can. They both know this is a lie, but Ardie arrives in the nick of time, shutting Ames out of the office. Ardie agrees to take Rosalita’s money as long as she can hire Rosalita’s son Salomon to work at her own son’s birthday party. She offers to pay him $100, which is more than the sum in the envelope, but Rosalita argues for $150. They settle on $125. Rosalita thinks vaguely of another deal she made in the past to survive, one she believes proves that she is mercenary.