Page 51 of Dirty News
“Gina from audio and Terrie from wardrobe. Terrie knows this great place that’s really cheap, too. She can get us in since her sister’s sister-in-law owns the place.” Nina winked. “It pays to know people in New York. You’ll find that out the longer you livehere.”
“Thanks for letting me into your little circle, Nina. I appreciate it more than you know.” I smiled at her, feeling as if I’d found my newhome.
Artimus went up to the podium to deliver his speech. He was wearing an expensive suit and tie, looking dapper and handsome as always. I had to wonder why he was still single. He had wealth, a great physique, a personality to match, and a handsome face, so why was he allalone?
Or washe?
Maybe he simply didn’t want to let us in on his love life. I could see that being thecase.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t any of my business, so I pushed the thought out of my head to listen to what the boss had tosay.
“Sexual harassment is no joke, people.” He paused as he scanned the room, looking at each and every single one of us. “I’m sure all of you are aware of what’s happening in the entertainment industry right now, and we sent you to those classes so we could educate you as best we could. Even with that, we’ve already had to let someone go because they refused to abide by the rules here at WOLF. I had high hopes that we wouldn’t lose any team members, but some people just don’t want to follow the rules, and they pay a high price for breakingthem.”
Nina and I exchanged a look as she whispered, “Good riddance toher.”
I nodded in agreement. I’d had no idea she’d been coming on to Duke. If I had, I didn’t know what I would’ve done. Thank goodness Artimus had seen Gretchen in action and had put a stop to it before I’d had the chance to do something stupid that would’ve gotten me firedtoo.
But his words sent a chill through me. If Duke and I were ever found out, I knew Artimus would have no choice but to fire us both. And that scared the hell outme.
Things had felt so wonderful since we’d said we wouldn’t be seeing anyone else. And then there was that fantastic sex we’d had the nightbefore.
That had been mind altering forsure!
I would never want to stop being with that man. But I also didn’t want my career to come to a screeching halt so soon. Being fired never looked good on a résumé, after all. Even as a newbie I knew thatmuch.
Artimus looked around the room again, nodding as he did. “Good. It seems everyone is on board with how we all must conduct ourselves. No hanky-panky, no flirting, no touching at all, please. I don’t want to see any hugging for any reason.” His eyes moved from Duke to me, clearly recalling how we’d jumped up and hugged each other when Artimus had given us the news about the co-anchor positions. He’d reprimanded us then, and it seemed he was reminding us ofthat.
“Can we give each other high fives?” Ashton asked. Light laughter could be heard amongst thestaff.
“I’d rather you not do that,” Artimus said as his eyes wandered over the meeting room, taking in each and every single one of the fifty staff members who filledit.
No highfives?
That was a bit overboard in my opinion. It seemed he wanted no kind of physical contact at all. Which wasimpossible.
I had to say something, so I raised my hand. He gave me a nod, so I said what I thought someone should, “I know this is all very serious, Mr. Wolfe. But I don’t think it’s possible to achieve an environment that completely blocks all physicalcontact.”
Duke was quick to add, “I agree with Lila. Working so closely together will see us all touching from time to time, even if it’s only an accident. Yesterday I saw Ashton and Nina get into an accidental situation where it looked like he was humping her from behind. Granted, he was only showing her how she had to bend over a table to hold the cue cards at the right angle so Lila and I could both seefrom.”
Nina’s cheeks were bright red cheeks from Duke’s little story, but she raised her hand to speak anyway. With a nod, our boss let her have the floor. “I know it may have looked bad, but Mr. Lange didn’t actually touch me. He’s very careful not to, I think. We’re all really nervous about all of this. The girls too, sir. We’ve been talking amongst ourselves, us girls, and we all know it’s only a matter of time before another man comes forward with harassment charges on a woman. None of us want to be thatwoman.”
Ashton raised his hand and Artimus permitted him to speak with yet another nod. “For the record, I would never accuse Nina of any type of harassment. She’s very professional at alltimes.”
Nina sighed heavily and watched Ashton as he stood and looked around at everyone, saying the words that I supposed she wanted to hear. She mouthed, “Thank you,” to him, then smiled. He smiled back at her before taking hisseat.
Artimus nodded. “I know you’re all on edge with these rules, but I think we’ll settle into them just fine. Just mind your Ps and Qs, and I think we’ll all get through this unscathed. It just might take some time to navigate the waters.Okay?”
Artimus looked around as we all nodded in agreement with him, then he turned to Mrs. Baker, who sat in a chair behind him. As he gestured to her, I could see she didn’t look right. She was pale, and her eyes were downcast. Her hands were limp in her lap. She didn’t resemble the poised woman I’d gotten to know over the past fewweeks.
She raised her head slowly as Artimus cleared his throat to draw her attention to him. “Mr. Wolfe, I think I’m having a heartattack.”
The room went silent for a moment before we all burst into action. Artimus yanked his cell out of his pocket. “I’ll call911.”
Some of us staff rushed to her side. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I could feel how cold she was. I looked back at Duke, who wore a suit. “Can you give me your jacket to put around her? She’s verycold.”
He took it off hastily and handed it to me. I draped it over her shoulders. “Everything’s going to be okay, Mrs.Baker.”
Her words were but a whisper, “Make sure Mr. Wolfe calls my husband to let him know, please. I want him there as soon as he can get to me. He’s my world, and I’m his. This is going to be hard for him. Please be there for him if anything happens to me, Lila. You’re so good withpeople.”
