AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I was grateful to Mario and Anthony for the job, but I never felt obligated to do anything with them to keep it,” I said, hoping to shut him up.
“What about with Jared Crawford? Was your position threatened at the company? Did you sleep with him to save your job?” His questions were rapid, and it felt like they were coming at my face, trying to knock me out.
“No! My position wasn’t always secure with Jared, sure, but he never even seemed to like me, much less want to sleep with me. He never brought it up. It just kind of happened one day. We were both into it, and we both went for it,” I said in defense. “Never once did I feel as if my job would be jeopardized if I didn’t sleep with him.”
“Hm.” That was all he said for a few agonizing seconds before he spoke again. “What can you tell me about the sexual harassment claim that was filed against Jared Crawford? And him firing you from his company.”
There was the second bomb. We knew it was coming.
“I never filed a sexual harassment claim against Jared,” I said.
“No. You didn’t. A coworker filed it for you on your behalf, didn’t they?” he asked.
“Yes,” I responded.
“Is that because you were terrified of filing the charges yourself?” he asked.
“Objection, speculation.” Jared’s voice pounded the mic, bouncing off the walls.
“No, it was a misunderstanding,” I said.
“Wouldn’t be the first time we heard that, would it, Ms. Levine? A victim claiming that it was a misunderstanding to protect her attacker?” Mr. Levine said.
“Objection, argumentative, badgering the witness, speculation,” Jared said.
“Overruled,” the judge said.
My nostrils flared, and I clenched my teeth together, staring my father down. Enough was enough, damn it.
“Do you want to know what really happened, Dad? It was the same day we’d slept together for the first time and when he called me into his office, I thought it was because he couldn’t get enough of me. I couldn’t get enough of him. I wanted more of him, and I started to seduce him, but he stopped me. He didn’t want to go for a second round, then. Called what we did a mistake. Turns out that he had called me into his office to fire me instead of another rendezvous, which was cold, I’ll admit, but it was hardly a crime. My feelings were hurt, and my hate for him returned. We had an argument, and I stormed out of the office crying. With all the blinds down, my buttons were undone from my failed attempt to seduce him, and tears were streaming down my face, people jumped to the wrong conclusions.
“When I found out they’d jumped to the wrong conclusions, I knew it was my duty to clear up the misunderstanding. While I may not have liked him in that moment, I didn’t have the heart to let him go down for something he didn’t do. Unlike some people, I care about the truth,” I said.
“And the truth is that Jared Crawford stands for integrity. He stands for earning your place through your merit, by pulling up your bootstraps and getting to work, not by sleeping your way to the top. He’s slow to trust, which might make him come across cold when you just meet him. When you get to know him, he’s so warm, and he cares so much. He cares for his friends, it’s his love for his father that caused him to pull Crawford & Beam out of the gutter and make it what it is known for today, and he cares for me. Jared Crawford wouldn’t have stooped so low to get me to sleep with him to secure a place in his company because quite frankly, that’s beneath him. And I wouldn’t defend him if he were a creep because that’s beneath me.”
Pressing my lips together, I looked at my parents who seemed to experience several emotions all at once: shock, disgust, fear, and shame.
My body shook from the buzz beneath my skin, and my chest burned with the boiling blood inside my veins. My father swallowed, and I saw him look at his notes before raising his head and looking into my eyes. “I have no further questions, Your Honor,” he said, and my mother’s mouth fell open. As he made his way back to her, I could see her mouth the words, “What?”
Ooh, she wasn’t pleased. My guess was that he had a lot more questions to ask, and my answer just rendered them pointless. Great.
Chapter 25
Jared
Well,thatwashonest.My cheeks hurt from smiling. It was crazy to think about our first interactions with each other. The fact that I ever doubted her brilliance was confounding. She was nothing short of perfection.
Even if her parents thought otherwise.
If that’s what they called imperfection, well imperfection had never looked so exquisite.
She was strong and held her own in a situation that would’ve driven others mad. It probably was driving her mad, but she was fighting it. She was fighting them, and we were right there with her. We were all helping each other remain sane and stable. Without her or Mario by my side, I would’ve surely been closer to the edge.
‘You should see Tiffany in court, man. She’s a star. Where are you?’I sent that text to Anthony, but he hadn’t read it yet. It would’ve been great to have his support as well, but it was my guess that this hit him hard, harder than any of us would have thought. It was driving him a little crazy. Not that he wasn’t slightly already there to begin with. In a world like this one, who didn’t have a screw loose? If only he would choose to lean on us.
Anthony was the type to play it cool when deep down, he was spiraling. When he was spiraling, it was best to leave him to it. Anthony couldn’t be made to do anything he didn’t want to do. If we were to push him, he’d push back even harder, and it would only make things worse. It was one of the reasons why I was so easy on him at work, for the hardass everyone said I was. While somehow, he always managed to turn things around for his clients and bring in incredible billable hours, he also didn’t set the best example for our associates. He came in whenever he wanted to, he’d drink on the job, with the decency, thank goodness, to have the drink off the property. He’d show up to work hungover, and I’d caught him several times before Tiffany came here, having a bit too much fun at work with some of our employees.
And no, I wasn’t cutting him slack because he was my best friend. If his work was as lousy as his attendance, I couldn’t justify him working at my company. We’d have to figure out another way to help him work through his wounds. But I knew those wounds made him do the things he did, and I didn’t judge him for it. Though I was sure he thought I did. So, I’d check in on him later if he didn’t show up.
