Gerri's mother used to tell her "you'll miss being catcalled when you're older". She wouldn't go that far, but the struggle has changed as she got older, from avoiding unwanted attention to struggling to be noticed at all in a male-dominated world.
She remembers being in her twenties, not long after she joined the company, standing over a bathroom sink in tears after Lester got her alone for five minutes, being approached by another female employee whose name Gerri has long since forgotten. The other woman had handed Gerri a tissue, patted her sympathetically on the back and told her that under no circumstances was she to make a fuss about this.
"He does it to every woman who passes through here," the older woman had told her. "It's just the way it works."
"But if we talk to Logan together—" Gerri had begun.
The other woman had actually laughed. "You think Logan doesn't know?"
On another occasion, when Gerri had been invited over to dinner at Logan's, her first time in the inner sanctum, Caroline had informed her in the kitchen, with the air of someone talking about the weather, "My husband will probably want to sleep with you at some point."
As it turned out, Gerri had avoided the fate of sleeping with Logan Roy, partly by marrying one of Logan's best friends. Not that she hadn't loved Baird, of course she had, but it was also very convenient. Other Waystar men respected the ring on Gerri's finger, especially one that signified ownership by another Waystar employee, more than they did her polite but firm "no"s.
By the time Roman had taken an interest in her, she'd come to accept being invisible to her male peers in that way, respected for her intellect inasmuch as Logan respected anyone.
She'd been flattered by Roman's advances, having a younger man who obviously worshipped the ground she walked on. At the same time the wheels in her head had started turning. How does this advance my position?
By the time she realised that she had fallen for Roman in return, which didn't fully hit her until she had watched him crumble at his father's funeral and been unable to reach out and comfort him, it was too late. She'd lost her position, or so she had thought.
It all worked out for the best, she tells herself. She got her job back and got Roman as a bonus. Still, she has to endure the occasional jab at Waystar about the dick pics or her boy toy.
So she's not too happy when Roman sends her a photo of his genitalia while she's in a meeting with Matsson. She knows why he's doing it, he still hates Matsson and wants her to quit working for him. She's furious by the time she gets home and finds Roman innocently doing sit-ups in his gym outfit.
"Was that supposed to be funny?" She throws the phone at him.
"What?" he asks. "Oh, the dick pic? That was just for old time's sake."
"I got fired for that last time, remember?" She fires back. "Is that what you want? For me to get fired again, by Matsson?"
"No! It was just a joke, that's all."
She shakes her head. "I thought you'd finally grown up."
"Okay, so I miss you. You're working all the time lately. I just wanted…" He trails off at the look on her face.
"I've had a lifetime of sexual harassment, Roman. I don't find it funny or charming."
"Hey. I'm sorry." He gets up and then frowns. "This isn't the sexy kind of telling-off, is it?"
"No. I'm incredibly angry with you." She glares at him.
"Sorry," he says again. "I didn't mean to… sexually harass you. Today or back then."
"It's what you do that matters, not your intentions."
"I would never hurt a hair on your head, Gerr," he says, his face painfully sincere.
"I know," she says. "You just need to rein in your impulses."
"Still wanna marry me?" He avoids her gaze, like he's terrified of her saying no.
She sighs. "Yes. But this is your last warning."
He picks up her phone from where it landed. "I'll delete the pic."
"I already did." She lets him hand her the phone. She's still angry with him, but she has a few ideas about how he can make it up to her later.