I double-checked the date and time. I couldn’t afford to fuck up this job. Dad would strangle me. While I was going through my calendar for the following week, there was a knock on my door.
“Come in,” I said.
I looked up to see my father open the door and step into my office. Dread instantly hit me because he only ever came here to bitch. He took me in for a moment before closing the door behind him. Dad wore one of those looks that said we needed a talk. It was a face I’d seen often growing up whenever I fucked up, and it was a lot. I was a handful as a teen and while in college.
His hair was now more gray than brown, which he kept cropped short. He wasn’t quite as tall as I was, and he was stockier and fit. At sixty-seven, he could give me a run for my money when it came to fitness.
“Morning,” I said.
Dad said nothing as he came to stand in front of my desk, then he dropped a manila folder in front of me with a plop.
“What’s this?”
“That is us being sued, Hugh.”
If he was bringing this to my attention, then it must either involve me or my department. I slid the folder closer to me and opened it. I winced at seeing Tamara Marshall’s name at the top of the legal document.
“Fuck,” I mumbled.
“Yes… fuck.”
God, it was too early in the morning for this.
“Please tell me why Tamara, one of your project managers, is suing us for five hundred and fifty thousand dollars for sexual harassment.”
That was my fault. I didn’t take her threats seriously when we broke up. She told me she would make me pay if I broke up with her. Her obsession was the main reason for dumping her, and a reminder that I didn’t enjoy relationships, as short as it was.
That conniving, fucking…
I sighed, rubbing my face, before taking another sip of coffee. My relationship with Tamara had been a secret. No one knew about us. I hadn’t even intended to date her, but it sort of happened at the Christmas party last year.
“Tamara and I were dating for a few months, and I definitely didn’t fucking sexually harass her, Dad. She’s lying. We started dating… it just happened. It wasn’t even that long. I broke up with her because she was being… problematic.”
Dad sat down, crossed his leg over his knee, and looked out the window thoughtfully. “Dammit, Hugh…” he breathed. “Problematic how?”
“She was getting more and more clingy, and she wanted me to buy everything for her, like a new car, take her to the nicest restaurant. Hell, after a few months, she was demanding that I move in with her. I tried to stop it before things spiraled out of control, but… When we broke up, she threatened to sue. That was several months ago. I didn’t take her seriously.”
“Can you prove any of this?”
My elbows sat on my desk as I rested my face in my hands. Fuck me. “No. No one knew about us.” Linden knew, but I wasn’t about to drag his ass through the mud. He wouldn’t have anything to add anyway.
The news wasnota good way to start my morning.
Dad stood and walked toward the windows, while I leaned back in my leather office chair, running through ideas on how to get out of this.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve been in trouble with one of your lovers, Hugh. I’ve been patient with your sexual… proclivities, but now it’s affected business.”
“This wasn’t… that. We were dating. Anyway, I know. You’re right. I’ll… handle this.”
He turned to face me with a deep frown on his face, making him appear older than he was. “No. The lawyers will handle this. Maybe they can put pressure on her to back off. I’ll share what you’ve told me with them. Perhaps they can use it to their advantage.”
“Give me a chance to talk to her.”
“No, that’s the last thing you need to be doing. You’ll only make the situation worse.”
“Dad…”
“I said no!” he boomed. My stomach and heart lurched.
