Subservience, that was the word, that was what they demanded from Laurie, from women, but also from Jamie. Maybe he wasn’t disgracefully cocky; maybe he’d simply not felt the need to tone down his self-assurance in order to be liked. Which was quite likable in itself—to thine own self be true. Laurie combed her memory for any example of Jamie’s arrogance and could only come up with instances of him being hardworking, and unapologetic about the fact. Which irked people, and to Laurie’s chagrin, had irked her too. The culture here depended so much on playing the game, they’d all ceased to notice
...more
I hate those stupid rules and this stupid culture
