Page 88 of At Her Will

He shook his head. “I know that was bad behavior on my part. But for her to take that and claim I was sexually harassing her… I didn’t think I’d hurt her that badly. I didn’t mean to do that. Maybe I should have asked for a leave of absence, but work helps to keep me sane.”

Vera had told Watt she was good at detecting lies, and she was. The key was setting aside bias and listening. Then asking the right questions and assessing reactions.

When she’d interviewed Henrietta, the woman had spoken of Watt cornering her in the supply closet, stopping her at her car after work. He’d pushed against her in the open car door, grabbed her hand and put it on his crotch. He’d told her, “We’ve hooked up before. Fucking is no big deal. Let’s keep scratching one another’s itch.”

“I told him no, that I wasn’t interested,” Henrietta had told her. Her body language projected the expected combination of embarrassment and anger. “I told him I didn’t want to do the casual thing anymore. He won’t take no for an answer, and he waits for when I’m by myself to…ambush me. My nerves…it’s making it terrible to come to work.”

Her hands had been shaking as she wrung them in her lap. “Maybe I should just give my notice. I don’t want to cause any problems, and maybe this is my fault, because I went to bed with him to begin with…”

Which was where Vera’s flags had gone up, because Watt was correct. Henrietta was aggressive in her job. Forthright in meetings. She neither possessed nor showed any empathy for the insecurities that dragged many women into a victim mentality, or the guilt trap when it came to sexual harassment or abuse. She also had excellent skills with clients, and knew how to work a room. Not insincerely, not exactly, but she knew the right buttons to push, how to read someone. How to get the result she wanted.

Except in this case.

“Watt, what’s your mother’s chemo schedule?”

“Six more weeks, twice a week.”

Vera tapped the note into her computer. “All right. For those six weeks, we’ll put you on a flex schedule, so you can workremotely as much as you need. If you have a face-to-face client meeting which conflicts with your mother’s needs, let Cyn know. She’ll get it covered.”

“You’ll tell her?”

“She already knows.” Cyn missed nothing about her people, and had been digging into all this a day ahead of when Henrietta brought her complaint to Vera.

Watt was correct. Him not coming to Vera right away meant Henrietta had had time to cover her tracks. Watt had assumed in a female-led company where the staff was eighty percent women, and he was one of only three male account managers, he wouldn’t have an ally or sympathetic ear. Vera was about to fix that impression.

“But…I…you’re not letting me go?”

“No. Henrietta’s employment will be terminated this afternoon, which is why I want you to leave this office and go straight home. Focus on your mother. When you next come into this office, your five minutes with your coffee will be undisturbed.” Vera’s lips twitched. “Unless Cyn needs something from you right away, and pounces on you as soon as you hit the parking lot.”

“Yeah, she can be like that.” His lips twitched, but he ran a hand over his face, his eyes suddenly suspiciously wet. “Jesus. Sorry…just…sorry.”

Vera nudged her tissue box to the edge of her desk, letting him grab one to swipe at his eyes.

“Watt…she’s your mother. You’re under a lot of stress. You have a demanding job and now a difficult family situation. Henrietta exacerbated it to the breaking point, and we all have one. That’s why we watch out for one another.”

“Yeah.” He pulled himself together and gave her a wry look. “When I took this job, a buddy told me I’d never advance my career, ‘working in a hen house.’ His words, not mine. But TRAhas made such a name for itself in marketing, I figured hell, even if I can only work there a few years and then have to go elsewhere to make a vertical move, it'll look good on my resume. But then Cyn promoted me to account team manager, and I’m doing work I love. The idea of leaving here because of something like this, it felt like the straw that broke the camel’s back. Henrietta…”

An unhappy look crossed his face. “I didn’t want to hurt her, Vera. I mean, we had some good times. I just didn’t expect her to turn on me like this. I know I was an idiot for hooking up with someone at work, but we head up different teams, and I thought we understood each other.”

“Your judgment might have taken a hit, but you tried to resolve it the right way. You explained your situation to her, and she kept pushing. You apologized for snapping at her, and she chose revenge instead of accepting the apology. You bear no blame for her behavior, which was reprehensible.”

“She’s not…” He sighed. “I want to make excuses for her now that I know I’m not going to be canned as an accused sexual harasser. I don’t like thinking I got her fired.”

“You didn’t. She did.” Vera locked gazes with him, so he understood how much she meant it. “Keep that in mind. As I’m sure you’re aware, this situation shouldn’t be shared with other staff members. You can communicate further concerns with me or Cyn.”

“Yes ma’am.” He rose, and gave her a grateful nod. “Thank you, Vera.”

“You’re welcome.”

After he left, Vera took a breath.Well, shit.This was going to derail today’s schedule. She’d need to meet with Cyn, and let Cyn vent her desire to kick Henrietta’s yoga-toned ass all the way out to the parking lot. Then they’d review the proper exit interview process, which would include how to handle Henrietta if shethreatened to bring a lawsuit against TRA for her firing. Vera thought it very likely the woman would react that way.

Companies often headed off such a situation with severance pay and a written agreement that the reasons for her firing would never be disclosed to another employer, but Ros didn’t play that way. Which meant the CEO might need to attend that exit interview.

Ros didn’t respond well to blackmail. As unpleasant as it would be, Vera had no doubt about the meeting’s outcome. No matter how aggressive and tough Henrietta was, she was no match for Ros. She’d make it clear to Henrietta if she went that way, she’d be incurring a lot of legal fees…and TRA had deeper pockets.

Vera pushed back from her desk. Before she got started on all that, she’d give herself five minutes to dwell on something far better.

It had been an amazing weekend. She’d accompanied Rev to church on Sunday, ignoring and mostly shutting out the effect of Tisha and Witford’s baleful looks. Instead, she immersed herself in the joy of Rev’s singing. When they shared a pew together afterward, she basked in the warmth of his hand around hers, the press of his shoulder and thigh against hers.

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