Chapter 44 Georgina
GEORGINA
“What happened with Stephanie Moreland?” I ask. “You settled it. So, that means there was some truth to her claims... or you thought a jury would believe her... right?”
Reed drags his palm down his face. He takes a long sip of his beer.
Puts down his bottle. And exhales. “If I tell you about this, Georgina, you have to promise me this conversation will be off the record. I know what you said about me being able to nix anything I don’t like in your article.
But this particular thing...” He shakes his head.
“It’s the most humiliating thing that’s ever happened to me, besides my father’s arrest and conviction.
And I don’t want to have to read about it, or think about it, or see it reflected back to me through your eyes.
I’ll talk about it with you, to ease whatever doubts I’m assuming you’re now having about me.
But I’m only going to tell the woman I’m sleeping with this story.
Not the reporter who’s trying to get herself a permanent position at Dig a Little Deeper. ”
I feel short of breath. Sick to my stomach. What choice do I have?
I exhale. “Okay.”
“Off the record?”
I nod. “Yes.”
Reed takes another long swig of beer. Takes another deep breath.
“Stephanie was my first full-time hire at River Records. A marketing manager I hired right after RCR’s debut rocketed up the charts.
Early on, I could tell we had chemistry.
But I never made a move on her because I was her boss.
But then one night, Stephanie comes into my office and closes the door.
This was right before RCR’s second album was set to come out, and I was totally stressed out.
Sophomore albums are notoriously dicey, and I was determined to catch lightning in a bottle again.
So, I was working round the clock. Sleeping on a couch in my office. Doing way too much coke.”
My eyebrows ride up.
“I don’t do that anymore. Ever. But I was a big fan back then, especially in times of extreme stress. So, anyway, Stephanie comes in and says she knows I’ve been stressed out, and she wants to help me relax.”
I cringe.
“Yeah, it’s what you’re thinking. I was sitting in my desk chair at the time, and she kneels in front of me and gets busy.
I hadn’t come on to her in the slightest before then, so it was totally out of the blue.
And I was shocked. I knew I should say, ‘No, Stephanie. Bad idea.’ But I didn’t.
She was hot, and I was high as a kite. And I thought, ‘Fuck it. She’s the one coming on to me.
What could go wrong?’” He rolls his eyes at himself.
“Well, from that moment on, she owned my ass, although I didn’t know it at the time.
” He shakes his head, rolling his eyes at himself.
“For the next few months after that first BJ in my office, we’d fucked around at the office.
I never saw her outside of work. Never took her on a date.
Never took her to my place or went to hers.
But we had some fun, now and again, after everyone else had gone home.
But then things got out of control. Every time I turned around, even during normal working hours, she was unzipping my pants, or begging me to fuck her over the copy machine.
It was like she wanted us to get caught.
Like she wanted everyone to know she was fucking the boss.
And then, boom. RCR’s second album comes out and it’s a global smash.
I mean, holy shit, Georgie. I’d thought their first album was big, but that sophomore album took things to another level.
And then came the debut of Danger Doctor Jones, which hit top ten.
And then 2Real hit number one with ‘Crash.’ And I swear to God, I thought I must have made a deal with the devil, without remembering it.
Which, it turns out, I did. Thanks to my coked-out pecker. A devil named Stephanie Moreland.”
“Oh, Reed.”
“She comes into my office and closes the door. She wants to give me a blowjob to celebrate 2Real’s number one.
But by then, I was sick to death of her.
Sick of messing around. Sick of the distraction.
Sick of myself. I wasn’t even physically attracted to her anymore.
Just disgusted. So I told her it was over.
That we had to go back to being completely professional.
And, to my shock, she said, ‘You think you can get rid of me that easily? Guess what, asshole? I own your fucking ass now.’ So, I said, ‘I’m not getting rid of you, Stephanie.
You’re good at your job. I just mean I’m done fucking you.
I’ve been an idiot to mess around with an employee, a coked-out idiot, and I’ve decided to clean up my act and never do it again.
’” He shakes his head. “It turned out, she was recording that conversation, and a whole lot of others. Plus, every sex act. Every bit of dirty talk.”
I grimace with him. “No wonder you settled the case.”
“No, the recordings weren’t the reason I settled, actually.
I knew they were illegal. Both parties have to consent to recording in California, thank God.
But what they made me realize was she’d totally set me up.
From day one, I’d been her mark. She came into my office to give me that BJ, knowing she was ultimately going to come after me.
And that freaked me out. I knew it was going to be her word against mine, if she accused me of something.
And normally, I’d take on that challenge.
But what would someone like that be willing to say about me? ”
“Why didn’t you turn her in for making those illegal recordings? That’s a crime, right?”
“And let the police hear all that shit? Ha! No, thanks. Plus, I knew I was guilty as shit. I was her boss, and I’d fucked her. No getting around that.”
“So what happened? Did she demand hush money?”
“Not at first. Instead, she decided her job duties had become ‘optional.’ For a couple months, she came and went as she pleased. Never made deadlines. Took days off, without calling in. I knew she was daring me to fire her, so she could sue me. Obviously, I didn’t want a lawsuit.
I just wanted to move past the sex thing and have her do her job, as required.
But then she went MIA for a week, without a word, so I fired her, and she sued my ass a day later, making me sound like a monster.
But guess what? Under California law, I was a monster, and I fully acknowledge that.
When you’re the boss, you can’t fuck your employees.
Period. There’s no gray area. It’s a strict liability state, meaning there’s no defense.
No saying, ‘Hey, it was consensual.’ No saying, ‘Hey, she came onto me.’ If you’re the boss, and you’ve fucked an employee, then you’ve committed sexual harassment. ”
“Oh, Reed.”
“It’s actually a fair system, ninety-nine percent of the time. Sociopaths like Stephanie are rare. I’ve thought about this quite a bit.”
“I’m sure you have.”
“And I’ve realized something big. As the boss, I can never know, for sure, if an employee genuinely wants to sleep with me, or if she’s only saying yes because she’s afraid of losing her job if she says no.
She could say yes. She could even come on to me.
But I’ve realized there’s no way to separate the fact that I hold all the power, when it comes to my employees.
So, in the end, I’ve got no quarrel with the way the laws are written.
The rules are clear and there for a reason.
Just because I’m an idiot who let myself get played by a con artist, doesn’t mean the laws aren’t fair.
Which is exactly what Stephanie was, by the way: a con artist. Leonard’s investigator did some digging and found out she’d done the exact same thing twice before. ”
“No way.”
“Yep. She’d slept with her boss, made secret recordings, and then threatened a sexual harassment lawsuit to get herself paid. I was the only one who didn’t pay her off right away, so she’d never filed anything before. But, still, it was the same MO.”
“Why the heck did you settle when you realized she’s a con artist? Surely, the jury would have believed you, when they found out she’d done it before!”
“That’s exactly what I said to Leonard. But he and his team convinced me those other instances wouldn’t get into evidence, and I’d get reamed at trial.
He said, even without the recordings being admissible against me, any jury would hate my guts for fucking around with an employee.
Leonard said my cocaine use would come out.
And that would make them believe Stephanie’s version of events.
He said I could get hit for ten million or more in punitive damages, given how my company had just skyrocketed.
So, I caved.” He rubs his forehead, looking distraught.
“I paid her off in a confidential settlement that required her to destroy all the illegal recordings she’d made of me, got my ass to rehab, and tried not to think about Stephanie fucking Moreland, ever again. ”
My heart is physically aching at the expression on Reed’s face. “You haven’t done coke since then?”
“No. Never.”
“How much did you wind up paying her?”
Reed pauses. “It was a confidential settlement, so I’m technically not allowed to talk about it, any more than she is.
I’ll tell you the number, but only if you swear you’re just Georgie right now.
Not the Intrepid Reporter. Not playing me, in any way.
Look me in the eye, and promise this will stay between you and me, forever, and I’ll tell you. ”
My heart is thumping. “I promise, Reed. I’ll never tell a soul.”
“You’re not recording this conversation?”
Oh, my heart. This poor man. “I’m not. I’ll never record anything you say without your knowledge and express permission. I promise.”
He looks down at his hands on the kitchen table. “I paid that bitch a cool million.”
“Wow. An expensive life lesson.”
“Yeah. Honestly, the whole thing screwed with my head. Before Stephanie, I’d already had a hard time trusting people.
Women, especially. I was always positive they were out to get something from me.
But after Stephanie, my paranoia with women went to a whole new level.
Ever since then, I’m just super careful. Always on guard.”
Oh, my heart. I rise from my chair and go to him. I slide into his lap and touch his cheek. “I’m sorry she messed with your head.”
“I’ve never told anyone about her,” he whispers. “Well, other than my lawyers.”
I press my forehead against his. “Not even Josh and Henn?”
“No. I was too embarrassed to tell them. I fucked up. Royally. In the end, it was my fault for being so stupid and reckless.”
My heart feels like it’s going to burst from my chest. I feel so close to him right now, so connected.
So much so, I feel the need to reciprocate.
To tell him something I’ve never told anyone, as well.
“I’ve got my own Stephanie Moreland,” I whisper, my heartbeat increasing.
“I’ve never told anyone this story. But it’s something that’s made it really hard for me to trust. Something I can’t stand thinking about.
Something I want to forget.” I swallow hard.
“But I want to tell you about it. I want to tell you, because I feel really close to you right now.”
He strokes my hair and looks deeply into my eyes. “You can tell me anything, Georgie.”
I open my mouth... determined to tell him the thing I’ve never told anyone. Ever. But I close my mouth, too nervous to begin my story. “I think I’m gonna need some liquid courage to do this.” I motion to my beer. “Something a bit stronger than that.”