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FOURTEEN
ARIS
Sasha isin rare form today. As soon as we step through the elevator doors and into the reception area, she starts loosening her top buttons. She doesn’t show her full cleavage, since she knows I’ll send her home for that infraction, but she shows just a hint of her endowment.
“Sasha,” I growl in warning. “Attire, now. You’re not in dress code compliance. Fix it or go home.”
We run a practice based on integrity. We like our staff to dress classy even though we cater to those in all walks of life who can’t always afford a business suit. We don’t judge based on your income—all we care about is making sure the legal system works the way it’s supposed to. And Sasha, she’s been teetering on the edge of dressing like a hooker on some days. Most assuredly on the days I’m due to be in the office. I guess she thinks loosening a few buttons and wearing shorter skirts is tempting, but it’s not, not to me anyway.
I’ve talked to her until I’m blue in the face, it’s time I address this with my dad so he can set some boundaries that I haven’t been able to accomplish when it comes to Sasha and her flirting. We may need to let her go. She’s more interested in bagging me than doing the job we pay her to do.
“Desperate much,” Berlynn mumbles underneath her breath, trying to stay quiet but I hear her and I’m pretty sure Sasha did too if the sneer she sends in Berlynn’s direction is an apt clue that she most definitely did. I don’t know my secretary well enough to say for certain, but as a man who she’s been attempting to seduce, I’d say it’s evident.
Taking the bull by the horns and saying something that may get me in hot water, I say, “Sasha, meet my woman, Berlynn.” Then turning to Berlynn, I explain, “This is my secretary, she takes care of my filing, appointments, and gets things for me throughout the day that I need.”
“Oh, Aris. Don’t simplify my role,” Sasha purrs, trying to sound alluring. “I’m your right hand, you can’t do anything around here without me. I butter your bread.” The theatrical fluttering of her eyelashes gives me pause, that’s a new one. Yeah, in the past she’s done it, but not to this extreme. And that whole buttering my bread thing, that pisses me off.
“Sasha, go to the conference room. Wait there for me and my dad to come in,” I order, grabbing Berlynn’s hand and dragging her toward my office. “The nerve.” I toss my briefcase onto my desk and begin pacing, not letting go of her hand. “She just blatantly lied, made it sound like she and I were having some sort of torrid affair. I’ve never even touched her outside of handing her files.”
“Umm, Aris. Could you let go of me now? Your legs are long and my thighs are starting to burn trying to keep up with your strides.” She sounds more amused than disgusted. Why isn’t she just as repulsed by the lies spewed from Sasha’s mouth as I am?
“You know she and I have never… right?” I ask for clarification. It’s important to me that she knows nothing has ever happened between Sasha and me. I’ve never crossed that line. It’s forbidden in my mind.
“You were a manwhore back in the day, Aris. But with that being said, I know you would never touch your secretary. And that whole buttering your bread line, that was wretched and she poorly executed her importance here and in your life,” she says, snickering.
“It’s crazy. Isn’t it? I can’t believe she went to that extreme. I’ve warned her time and time again, yet she never stops,” I grumble. “We have boundaries in place for a reason, yet she constantly tries to eradicate them, but she’s gone too far now.”
“Now it’s time to pull in the big guns, huh?” she teases. “Are you going to tell Ross about it before you blindside him in the conference room?”
Shaking my head, I acknowledge, “I think it’ll be more effective if she gets his real time, authentic reaction. So no, I’m not going to tell him ahead of time.” Loosening my hand from hers, I walk around my desk and grab the telephone, dialing the number that is his direct line. “Dad. Can you meet me in the conference room, immediately? I need your help,” I state as soon as he picks up.
“I’m free. Everything alright, son?”
“No. Not at all. I’ll let you in on what I’ve been going through as soon as you get there. I’m heading that way now. Please getthere as fast as you possibly can. The less time I’m in there alone, the better.” With that ominous statement, I place the receiver back into its cradle and walk over to Berlynn, kissing her on her forehead. “The password to my laptop is your birthday followed by mine.”
“Okay. Where is this laptop?” she asks, well aware that I’m at my wits end so she doesn’t expand on the questions I can tell are swirling through her brain. Which I’m appreciative of because it shows she can still read me as clearly as I can read her. Until this matter has been resolved, I won’t be able to have a calm, rational discussion.
“Bottom right drawer. I gotta go, the break room is down the hall, last room on the left. Make yourself at home and get comfortable, I’m not sure how long I’ll be but I’ll try to make it fast. I already ordered our lunch to be delivered around noon. There are pastries, drinks, and fruit stocked in the fridge, in the cabinets, and on the counters in the break area. It’s communal so take anything that catches your eye.” As I start heading for the door, a thought occurs to me. “Maybe.” I stop, licking my lips before suggesting, “You could call Addy back, explain things to her in further detail and make plans for her to come over.”
“Yeah,” she says, eyes trained on my lips. “Maybe I’ll do that.”
Dad shuffles into the conference room directly on my heels. Sasha sits up taller when she realizes that she’s not meeting with me alone, and a look of desperation coats her eyes. I know she’s fixing to pull out all the stops to try and keep her job, but once my dad hears about her lack of professionalism, and the wayshe’s been treating me, the crocodile tears I see forming in her eyes won’t do her any good.
“Son, what’s going on here?” Dad asks as he takes the seat on my left. We’re sitting across the large, wooden oak table from Sasha because I want to see her face when I open up and lay it all out for him in all its gory detail.
“Sasha has been cautioned on multiple occasions to cease her flirting with me. I’ve given her verbal warnings about unbuttoning her blouse anytime I walk into a room. She’s been incessant in her flirtatiousness, and I don’t feel like I can work with her or be in the same environment with her any longer. She hasn’t heeded my countless notices and just now, she told Berlynn that she’s the butter to my bread,” I hiss. “That I can’t do anything for myself unless I have her around.”
“How long has this been going on for, Aris?” Dad inquires, his eyesight staying glued to Sasha, trying to take in her reactions to my accusations.
“Since I made partner,” I answer, not holding anything back. “I’ve tried to steer clear of her, help her keep her job, but with what just happened, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I’ve done everything I can to remind her that our relationship isn’t personal, it’s professional but she’s dismissed me at every turn. You need to relocate her to a different division or let her go. It’s now hit the stage of harassment.”
“Sasha, you went to the sexual harassment seminar we paid for you to attend, didn’t you?” he asks her.
“Yes, sir. I did,” she answers, swallowing deeply. Outside of that, she keeps quiet.
“Then you know the severity of the claims. That mark on your employment record will follow you to any job you apply for in the future,” Dad explains. “Son, call Tim from human resources. We need him in on this meeting and we need it on record.”
I show him my phone that’s been sitting before us so he can see that I’ve been recording. “I thought that due to this being a legal issue for the firm, you’d like it documented so it could be logged,” I inform him.
