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“I don’t think so. I think he sort of leaned over her, intimidated her a bit.”
“What did she do?”
“Tried to laugh it off. She told me not to worry about it. He’s her superior, and I think she’s worried about creating an unpleasant working atmosphere, or even losing her job. He’s well liked at the company, as you know, and he’s been here a lot longer than she has.”
“Stupid question, maybe, but why’s she not interested? He’s young, good looking…”
“Just because he’s good looking doesn’t mean she should drop her knickers as soon as he walks into the room.” Her voice is sharp.
I’m quiet for a moment. Then I say softly, “Of course not. I apologize if I offended you.”
She clears her throat. “No, it’s okay. It… it happened to me, too, that’s all.”
“Jesus, really?”
“Yeah, years ago, when I was a junior in my first job. One of the senior managers there was very handsome, a real ladies’ man. I was in the stationery cupboard one day, and he came in, shut the door, and told me he’d had his eye on me for a while. Said he’d get me promotion if I treated him right. Then he told me to go down on him.”
I blink. “What the fuck?”
“It happens, Damon.”
“Jesus Christ. What did you do?” She hesitates, and immediately I say, “I’m sorry. Don’t answer that. It’s none of my business.”
“It was a long time ago. Things were different back then. Nowadays we have policies and procedures, and employers are a lot more supportive than they were. I mean, officially that kind of thing wasn’t tolerated, but it happened a lot. If you complained, you were ostracized and moved on, or even sacked for a minor grievance.”
I run a hand through my hair. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she says, more gently. “I don’t think this is the same situation. Lewis is just a young guy trying it on. It’s mixed messages. Between you and me, though, she’s gay.”
“Oh. Fuck.”
“Yeah. I told her that’s irrelevant. A woman doesn’t have to be gay to not be interested in a guy.”
“No, of course.”
“She hasn’t told anyone and doesn’t want him or the other girls to know.”
“Sure. I’ll talk to him.”
“You don’t have to do that. She doesn’t want to put in a formal complaint. I just wanted to let you know, that’s all.”
“Helen, I want to talk to him. Can you set up a meeting, please?” My voice brooks no argument. “I’m back on Monday.”
She sighs. “Okay. I’ll book the two of you into the meeting room for eleven a.m. and send him the appointment.”
“No problem. See you Monday.”
“Yeah, see you.”
I end the call and go back inside. The caterers have left, and everyone’s helping themselves to the food. We’ve got a lot to get through, so we’ll work through lunch, but as usual we’re all ravenous, so we’ll take five to pile our plates up.
“Everything all right?” Henry asks as I take my seat again.
I tip my head from side to side. “It was Helen. She’s had a complaint of sexual harassment.”
“Have you been chatting up the interns again?” James asks.
I send him a wry look as the others chuckle. “Not me, thank God, although I did panic at first.”
