Kailyn #2
“Okay, I could see that. But there’s about a million holes in your theory.” I pause, waiting to see his reaction, and he doesn’t disappoint at all as the color starts to drain from his face. “Hole number one, I’m not the only new employee. Emilia is also new.”
“But she—”
I cut him off, holding my hand up. “I’m gonna stop you right there. You’re about to say that she works in PR, so there’s no way it was her. But it’s possible right? We all work together, and we share a bus and a hotel, so you can’t really claim that it could only be me.”
The smirk is completely wiped from his face, his face becoming more pale by the second. I can see that he’s trying to remain unaffected, but the more I talk, the more he gives away.
“Hole number two, while it’s true that Hannah and I have become friends, I’ve also become friends with the other women on staff, like Alyssa, Grace, and Sarah. I could keep going. Who’s to say that one of them didn’t file it?
And finally, hole number three, and my favorite one of all, how do you know that more than one person filed a complaint?
The complaints are anonymous as are the number of people that filed them.
Even if it was only one, HR will always say it was numerous complaints.
So how do you know it’s more than one person? ”
“Damn, she got you there.” Beckett muses, a laugh escaping him that has us all smiling, well except for Eric that is.
Again, we’re met with silence as Eric tries to grasp around for any explanation that he can.
Before he can try to weasel his way out of this, Mr. Preston intervenes.
“How about I help you answer her questions?” Mr. Preston smooths his hands down the front of his pants before pushing his chair back and standing.
“I might not be as involved as I should be, and like I said before, I regret that. But I always know when things around here happen. And when my staff and players say something, it’s wise that I listen to them.
So I’m going to tell you a story, and you're going to listen.”
“But…”
“And you’re not going to interrupt me again, Eric.” He walks over and stands right next to him as Eric sinks into his seat.
“Here’s what I think happened, and you can correct me if I’m wrong at the end. You’ve spent your entire career thinking that you were the best, that you deserved to be at the top of your field. But you’ve never had to work a day in your life, have you, dear nephew.”
Gasps echo across the room as Mr. Preston reveals this.
“I’m sorry, did they not know that bit of information?” He questions, a smile crossing his lips knowing exactly what he just did.
“You’ve always gotten by just because of your last name, Eric.
With your father being a powerful businessman in town and your mother’s social circle’s, when you messed up, you had them to take care of it.
Given this, I was a bit skeptical about hiring you to the team, but after you reassured me that you were changing your ways and that this is really what you wanted, and showing me your impressive school records, I decided to give you a chance.
” He slowly starts to make his way behind Eric’s chair and toward the door.
“For the first year, it seemed to be working out really well, and when Dr. Sanders offered to mentor you, I was so proud of the changes you’d made.
Fast forward to now, where I receive notice that numerous staff members have filed harassment charges against you, and I’m a little shocked.
I thought to myself, there’s no way this could be about my nephew, could it?
So I decided to do my own digging.” Eric is practically as white as a ghost at this point, and I know that it’s only a matter of time before he gets what’s coming to him.
“I opened my own investigation, looking not just at this team, but every program you’ve ever worked at.
And guess what I found?” He stops his movements and stares directly at Eric who won’t lift his head to look at him.
“Over the past five years, I’ve found dozens of women who have allegedly filed harassment charges against you, only for their complaints to be swept under the rug and told there was not enough evidence and nothing they could do.
Women who were berated, harassed, sexually assaulted, you name it.
Every time it got bad, your parents used their money and influence to buy these girls off so that none of them would speak out against you.
The problem is, they still knew what you did, so you couldn’t stay in one place for long. ”
He shakes his head, a look of disgust crossing his features before he finally makes it to the door and opens it, revealing two police officers followed by Dr. Sanders. They all enter the room and stand by the wall, waiting for Mr. Preston to finish his story.
“You thought by moving around no one would figure out what was really going on. But you forgot that as the GM of the Blaze, I have access to all of HR’s records, whether they were fully investigated or not.
Once I saw a pattern of behavior that quite frankly shocked and horrified me, I made sure to call every program you worked for previously and found out that luckily for us, you made the mistake of not having a single one of them sign an NDA. ”
At this point, I’m not sure if Eric is breathing because he’s so still right now.
“So, to sum it all up, you have been harassing the women here, both verbally and sexually and you threatened the staff who works at HR to tell you who filed the charges and then paid them off to dismiss your case so that no one was the wiser. How am I doing?”
Eric is still as ice, no movement coming from him as he stares blankly ahead. “I don’t need you to answer me to know that I have everything right.” He waves over the officers who walk over and grab Eric, standing him up as they cuff him behind his back.
“Eric Daniels, you’re under arrest for multiple counts of harassment, stalking, bribery, intimidation, and sexual harassment.” The officers continue to read him his rights as they start to drag him from the room.