Page 14 of Dirty News
One of the ladies up front raised her hand to ask a question, and the professor gave her a nod. “Sir, I’m in wardrobe. This is my first job doing this type of work. Can you clarify what things might make people feel uncomfortable, and how I can make sure I don’t cross any boundaries while I make sure my coworkers are ready to go onair?”
My eyes moved to her right, finding Duke. I didn’t envy the woman asking the question—I knew I would have a hard time looking that man over and not feeling excitement or lust for him. But my job wasn’t to look him over, to fix his clothes, hair, or cover the shiny places on his handsomeface.
Nina and I had made comments about Duke being too sexy for morning television. Would that be considered harassment, even though no one had overheard us? Even though we hadn’t said anything directly toDuke?
I wasn’t paying much attention to the professor as he responded to the question. That wasn’t my department, so I didn’t think I needed to worry aboutthat.
My eyes held fast to Duke’s wide shoulders. He’d forgone the suit and tie, looking casual in a black T-shirt and faded blue jeans. Most of the men had come in casual clothes, ready for a long day of sitting inclass.
I’d only brought nice clothes with me when I’d packed. Lucky for me, the interview with Ted Turner would see me heading to New Mexico. Mom and Dad were packing my things and would bring them to me there. For now though, I had to make do with what I’d packed in the one bag I’d brought withme.
Duke stretched a bit, putting his hands behind his head, linking his thick fingers to give his head a place to rest. My heart raced for some reason. I chided myself for how my body reacted to everything the mandid.
Why did he have to be so damn good looking? Why did he have to affect me so much? Why did we have to work at a place that forbade us from even flirting, never mind acting on any sort of attraction that mightgrow?
And why did he have to be the man standing between me and my ultimate dreamjob?
Even if we hadn’t had all those obstacles standing between us, I had no reason to think he’d be as interested in me as I apparently was in him. He was a man in his early thirties, and I was a young woman of only 22. I was sure I had to be too young for him anyway. So why was I even thinking thatway?
The professor had stopped talking about how to look one over the right way, and was moving on to the next topic. “Now let’s talk about how sexual harassment works. First, it’s important to understand that all advances aren’t harassment. If that were the case, then our species would cease to exist. But your workplace wants there to be no advances whatsoever, so you all will have to avoid falling victim to your owndesires.”
I had to wonder how I’d dothat.
Mr. Wolfe raised his hand then stood up front to face us. “I’d like to take this opportunity to offer a bit of advice. Ashton came up with this idea to help counteract any type of attraction at the workplace, and I thought it was a good idea. Why not simply look for a relationship with someone outside of work? That way you won’t be tempted by anyone you workwith.”
But the professor shut down our boss’s idea. “Mr. Wolfe, while that might seem like a perfectly good idea, not everyone is in the same phase of life, or is looking for the same things. It’s likely that not everyone in this room even desires being in a relationship right now. Even if that were the case, not everyone has the opportunity to do what yousuggest.”
Mr. Wolfe looked a little defeated. “It was just an idea, is all.” He took his seat and began to write notes. Apparently, he hadn’t thought things all the waythrough.
“So, back we go to how harassment works,” Professor Higgins went on. “A casual hello is not harassing. But a hello that includes physical contact, other than a handshake, like even a small hug with a kiss on the cheek, can make some people uncomfortable. It’s best to avoid those kinds of things, especially in the workplace. These are not your close friends. These are people who simply have to show up at the same place you do, and that’sall.”
Nina raised her hand and asked, “So, are we also to avoid forming friendships with our fellowemployees?”
She’d asked a question I hadn’t even thought of. The professor shook his head, telling us that wasn’t the case at all. “Friendships are fine. Even between the opposite sex.” He looked at Mr. Wolfe, as if telling him personally that friendships couldn’t be stopped. “It’s important to have comradery with people you workwith.”
Mr. Wolfe nodded then jotted that down, which made me wonder just how much he’d thought about things before making such demanding rules—rules that would be hard to navigate and stickto.
Nina elbowed me, then whispered, “Seems we can be friends,Lila.”
“Seems so,” I whispered back. “You’re my first one in NewYork.”
“You’re my first one at work.” She wiggled her eyebrows as she grinned atme.
The first few hours passed quickly enough, but then the last few went by slowly. My ass ached from sitting on the hard seat for so long. I’d lost interest in listening to the ongoing lecture. Scenario after scenario was presented to illustrate how to act and how not toact.
Nina and I began to whisper back and forth, wondering about different things. She said, “There are so many different departments. We don’t all work together. What if we like someone we don’t even workwith?”
“Like if they’re in a different department and you never work with them?” I asked, intrigued by thethought.
“Yeah,” she said with a nod. “Like, for instance, you’ll work with the nightly news team, but you won’t really be interacting with the rest of the news teams. Unless you get that morning gig too. But even then, you’ll have only a handful of people you work with on each show. What if you and some guy from one of the other news shows hit it off? Why would that bewrong?”
I couldn’t stop my thoughts from going back to Duke—even though I doubted he’d ever want to date me. But if he and I worked on different shows, then we could if we wanted to. If Mr. Wolfe allowed that, that is. I was skeptical, since he’d said no dating within the entire WOLFstaff.
The professor had shut him down where friendships were concerned, though. Maybe this would be the best place to ask this question, with the professor around to shut Mr. Wolfe down ifneeded.
“I’m going to ask about that, Nina.” I raised my hand and found Professor Higgins giving me a nod. “Sir, I’d like to ask about a hypothetical situation if Imay.”
“Of course,” he told me as henodded.
