The glass walls gave me a perfect view of the bustlingoffice where a dozen employees scurried about their business. Never in a thousand years had I imagined he would make a move on me in plain sight of our coworkers, but he’d done a masterful job keeping his actions unseen. To all the world, we looked as though we were simply examining a document—his wandering hand only visible to the New York skyline out our tenth-floor windows.
“Um … we decided … to subcontract the welding work,” I sputtered out. “Our guys will be busy on the Merchant project. Outsourcing will enable us to keep the six-month timeline the client requested.” As I said the words, I frantically debated what to do. If I allowed him to continue touching me, it would no doubt encourage the asshole to take more liberties. If I confronted him or in any way made a scene, the entire office would know in seconds. Before I had a chance to decide, the intercom in his office crackled to life.
“Mr. Coleman, your flight leaves in two hours.”
The instant his assistant, Beverly, began to speak, I pulled out of his grasp and fled the office. Bypassing my own office, I hurried to the restrooms and locked myself in a stall. Leaning against the door, head back and eyes closed, I tried to regulate my erratic heartrate.
Did that really just happen?
Could I have imagined the whole thing? Surely, my boss hadn’t assaulted me in front of the entire office. As much as I wished it had been a nightmare, it wasn’t. Each agonizing second had played out in living color, and I had stood immobile like a squirrel starring down an approaching car. What was wrong with me? Why hadn’t I pulled away instantly? Why hadn’t I swallowed my pride and told my father the truth months ago or just turned Roger’s balding ass into HR? I’d had my reasons at the time, but they seemedless and less valid with each new day. My conflict and self-doubt brought on a barrage of guilt and blame that bowed my shoulders with their oppressive weight.
I needed to get out of the building.
I exited the stall and went through the motions of washing my hands before walking to my office with my eyes lowered to the geometric patterns of the grey commercial carpeting. Grabbing my phone, I texted my cousin to move up our lunch date, then snagged my purse and scurried out of my office. Normally, I would inform a coworker if I was leaving early, but I couldn’t do it. I felt exposed—like anyone who looked at me would know what I had allowed to happen. I couldn’t force myself to take that chance—to let them see the shame in my eyes. Instead, I kept my head down and hurried out the closest exit.
I couldn’t allow my boss’s behavior to continue.
The realization was daunting.
Now, I just had to figure out what I was going to do about it. Would I confront Roger myself? Would I file a complaint with HR or go straight to my father? If I told my dad, would he believe me or think I was overreacting? Roger was his friend, after all. And if Roger wasn’t immediately fired, would he know I’d reported him? How would a man with such little moral character respond when he found out I’d put his job in jeopardy?
The possibilities paralyzed me.
You have the rest of the week to figure it out, Les. Try not to panic.
I wasn’t normally the type to procrastinate, but in this case, I needed time to process. I needed to talk through everything and make sure I took the proper steps, because once I started that ball rolling, there would be no stopping it.
Fortunately for me, I already had lunch scheduled with my cousin, Giada. She would be the perfect sounding board. Until then, I would ignore all thoughts of Roger to protect my sanity. I shoved the incident into a dark corner of my mind—somewhere next to the misery of my first period and getting lost as a child in the subway—and prayed my dramatic morning had no more surprises in store for me.
CHAPTER 2
ALESSIA
Giada wasa firework laced with gasoline—her presence electrified a room and enchanted everyone she came into contact with. Where I was cautious and a touch introverted, she was bold and always the life of the party. She’d been my best friend for as long as I could remember. Our mothers were sisters-in-law, and we were born one month apart. Where she was the oldest of three girls, I was the middle, but we might as well have been twins we were so close. Yin to my yang, the opposite nature of our personalities kept us perfect in balance.
It was as if we were born to be close friends—soul sisters.
We ate lunch together at least once aweek, often at the same deli where I was currently headed. It was close to my office and had the best Kaiser rolls around. I reached the place first after moving up our lunch so unexpectedly. Grabbing one of the four tiny tables inside, I played a game on my phone while I waited.
I’d never been big on social media. My parents didn’t let us girls get on Myspace or Facebook when we were younger, and now that I was on my own, it had never felt all that necessary. Outside of Giada, I didn’t have a ton of friends, which was fine with me. I had two sisters and three female cousins—that was plenty of girl drama in my life.
“Hey cuz, what’s going on? Hope you didn’t have to wait long. I got here as quickly as I could.” Giada plopped down in the seat across from me, impeccably dressed, as always, long auburn hair falling in thick waves down her back.
“Hey G! Not long at all. Sorry to spring the time change on you.”
“Not a problem. I hope everything’s okay.”
“Yes and no. Let’s grab our sandwiches, and I’ll tell you about it over lunch.”
“Please tell me it’s not your dickhead of a boss again.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed her hand. “Food first, then talk.”
We ordered and took our food back to the table as the deli slowly began to fill with people on their lunch hour. I quietly relayed the events of the morning, attempting to keep the conversation just between us in a restaurant the size of a shoebox. I started easy with my sultry elevator encounter, and once I had her distracted with lust-filled ideas of romantic rendezvous, I quietly recounted what had happened with Roger.
As I suspected, Giada was fuming by the time I finished. Ihad hoped the elevator story would take the edge off her anger, but no luck. G was a mama bear ready to throw down on my behalf. “Al, I know you don’t like conflict, but you can’t let that man keep doing this shit.”
“I know. I realize it’s not going to stop if I don’t do something about it. You know how hard I’ve worked to make a name for myself at Triton and for Dad to see me as an equal. I wanted to handle the situation discretely, but it’s not working.”
