Chapter 10 Andrea #3
“Exactly. You can’t use your unwitting employees to research the company you just bought without telling them,” James said.
“At best, it’s unethical,” added Monish.
I looked at them all cautiously. I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but I didn’t like it. “He didn’t use me to research the company,” I said. “I mean, he didn’t know I worked there until after we’d … ah …”
“Shagged, yes, we know.” James waved his hand. “Whatever. He had ample time to tell you who he was before the company meeting. But he didn’t.”
This felt unfair. Liam had thought I worked at Pixel and Grace. And if anything, that was my fault for borrowing Saskia’s card.
“I’m not sure about this,” I said.
“Hon, the fact that you wanted to sleep with him is neither here nor there,” said James. “There was a power imbalance there, that he never disclosed. This is way worse than the lift falling thing. I mean, from a liability perspective, anyway. Do you want to save your job, or not?”
I took a deep breath and nodded.
“Tomorrow, you’ll give me a written statement about what happened. The whole thing, from the assault in the lift that kicked this all off—”
“Assault? But he was literally just trying to save my life when the lift fell,” I said. “You said so yourself!”
“Whatever, it can be interpreted differently if need be. From the lift shenanigans, to the sex, to the failure to disclose his identity. All of it.” James brushed his hands together. “I’ll help you write the statement.”
“I don’t really feel comfortable about this.” It was a complete turnaround from everything they’d said before. “One minute, you want me to date him, the next, I’m preparing to sue him.”
“Well, both are options if you’re after his riches.” James delivered the line casually. I gave him a stern look. I didn’t want Liam’s riches. I just didn’t want to get fired.
“Oh, don’t worry, Andy, we’re just covering your back.
” James waved me away as he strained his neck to look across the bar.
The sun was setting, and the party showed no signs of slowing.
There was no sign of our drinks, either.
“Trust me, it’s the only option, hon. We don’t have to do anything with it …
We’ll just keep the document in your paper file. ”
“I think it’s a good idea.” Monish looked at me earnestly. “It’s just a safety net. If your job is threatened.”
“Correct. If Prima von Donna decides to make you one of his casualties of war when he ‘streamlines’ Novexia”—the scorn was written all over James’s face—“then he’ll have a fight on his hands.
You can’t go around sexually harassing staff and then get rid of them because you decide they’re inconvenient. That’s why we have employment laws.”
“Harassing them?” I asked. “James, that’s just not true.”
“Okay, okay. We don’t have to call it that if you don’t like it.”
“I don’t!”
“We’ll focus on the power imbalance then,” he said. “It’s totally improper, regardless.”
It sounded sneaky. It wasn’t sexual harassment, I knew that.
If anything, it had felt … real. He’d been sweet with me.
Tender, even. He hadn’t been entirely truthful, but he’d seemed genuine apart from that.
It was only after I mentioned that I worked for Novexia that he’d begun his hasty departure.
Prior to that, it had been … easy. Blissful.
Fun. He’d seemed so comfortable with me. I’d loved every minute of it.
Shit. I was doing it again. Making excuses for men. I had to try to think clearly.
“At the very least, you’ll be expensive to get rid of,” James said.
“It’s true,” said Monish. “And von Roth knows it. His legal counsel will have already briefed him. It’s probably why they came over to the table pretending to be friendly.”
“What a snake.” Kelly spat the words out in disgust.
A snake?
No. Not Liam. He’d chugged sherry with me. Kissed me on the head. Talked about his dad …
He was soft. Kind.
Wasn’t he?
“Think of it as insurance.” Monish placed a hand on my arm. “You need to protect yourself, Andrea.”
Were they right? If I lost my job because of what had happened, I’d never forgive myself. I needed the money, for me and my sister.
No. I didn’t have a choice. It was the sensible thing to do.
“Okay,” I said. “I guess if you think—”
“We do. Oh. And I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to apologize to him for the thing at the company meeting,” James added.
“I am?” This just got worse.
“Yes. For this to work, you’ll have to do everything by the book and cover your arse.”
“Just get it over with,” said Kelly. “Say you’re sorry, keep it super professional, job done.”
“Okay.” I was hesitant about even speaking to Liam again, but what option did I have?
“So you’ll do it?” James asked.
“I … yeah, I guess so.”
A fourth tray of cocktails arrived. James nodded at the waiter and pushed one across the table to me.
“Okay,” said Kelly. “So we have a plan.”
“A solid one.” James leaned back in his chair. “If we do this correctly, you’ll have the safest job in the company if this restructure happens.”
I hoped he was right. I didn’t have a plan B.