Disclosure

"Phil, I’m telling you. She did everything but rape me." He paced angrily. "Phil: .The harassed me."

Blackburn sighed and sat back in his chair. He tapped his pencil on the corner of his desk. "I have to tell you frankly, Tom. I find that difficult to believe."

"It’s what happened."

"Meredith’s a beautiful woman, Tom. A very vital, sexy woman. I think it’s natural for a man to, uh, lose control."

"Phil, you aren’t hearing me. She harassed me."

Blackburn gave a helpless shrug. "I hear you, Tom. I just . . . I find that difficult to picture."

"Well, she did. You want to hear what really happened last night?"

"Well." Blackburn shifted in his chair. "Of course I want to hear your version. But the thing is, Tom, Meredith Johnson is very well connected in this company. She has impressed a lot of extremely important people."

"You mean Garvin."

"Not only Garvin. Meredith has built a power base in several areas."

"Conley-White?"

Blackburn nodded. "Yes. There, too."

"You don’t want to hear what I say happened?"

"Of course I do," Blackburn said, running his hands through his hair. "Absolutely, I do. And I want to be scrupulously fair. But I’m trying to tell you that no matter what we’re going to have to make some transfers here. And Meredith has important allies."

"So it doesn’t matter what I say."

Blackburn frowned, watching him pace. "I understand that you are upset. I can see that. And you’re a valued person in this company. But what I’m trying to do here Tom is to get you to look at the situation."

"What situation?" Sanders said.

Blackburn sighed. "Were there any witnesses, last night?" No.

"So it’s your word against hers."

"I guess so."

"In other words, it’s a pissing match."

"So? That’s no reason to assume I’m wrong, and she’s right."

"Of course not," Blackburn said. "But look at the situation. A man claiming sexual harassment against a woman is, well, pretty unlikely. I don’t think there’s ever been a case in this company. It doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen. But it does means that it’d be very uphill for you even if Meredith wasn’t so well connected." He paused. "I just don’t want to see you get hurt in this."

"I’ve already been hurt."

"Again, we’re talking about feelings here. Conflicting claims. And unfortunately, Tom, no witnesses." He rubbed his nose, tugged at his lapels.

"You move me out of the APD, and I’m hurt. Because I won’t get to be part of the new company. The company I worked on for twelve years."

"That’s an interesting legal position," Blackburn said.

"I’m not talking about a legal position. I’m talking about-"

"Look. Tom. Let me review this with Garvin. Meanwhile, why don’t you go off and think this Austin offer over. Think about it carefully. Because no one wins in a pissing match. You may hurt Meredith, but you’ll hurt yourself much more. That’s my concern here, as your friend."

"If you were my friend-" Sanders began.

"I am your friend," Blackburn said. "Whether you know it at this moment, or not." He stood up behind his desk. "You don’t need this splashed all over the papers. Your wife doesn’t need to hear about this, or your kids. You don’t need to be the gossip of Bainbridge for the rest of the summer. That isn’t going to do you any good at all."

"I understand that, but-"

"But we have to face reality, Tom," Blackburn said. "The company is faced with conflicting claims. What’s happened has happened. We have to go on from here. And all I’m saying is, I’d like to resolve this quickly. So think it over. Please. And get back to me."

After Sanders left, Blackburn called Garvin. "I just talked with him," he told Garvin.

"And?"

"He says it was the other way around. That she harassed him."

"Christ," Garvin said. "What a mess."

"Yes. But on the other hand, it’s what you’d expect him to say," Blackburn said. "It’s the usual response in these cases. The man always denies it."

"Yeah. Well. This is dangerous, Phil."

"I understand."

"I don’t want this thing to blow up on us."

"No, no."

"There’s nothing more important right now than getting this thing resolved."

"I understand, Bob."

"You made him the Austin offer?"

"Yes. He’s thinking it over."

"Will he take it?"

"My guess is no."

"And did you push it?"

"Well, I tried to convey to him that we weren’t going to back down on Meredith. That we were going to support her through this."

"Damn right we are," Garvin said.

"I think he was clear about that. So let’s see what he says when he comes back to us."

"He wouldn’t go off and file, would he?"

"He’s too smart for that." "We hope," Garvin said irritably, and hung up.

Look at the .situation.

Sanders stood in Pioneer Park and leaned against a pillar, staring at the light drizzle. He was replaying the meeting with Blackburn.

Blackburn hadn’t even been willing to listen to Sanders’s version. He hadn’t let Sanders tell him. Blackburn already knew what had happened.

She’s a very sexy woman. It’s natural for a man to lose control.

That was what everyone at DigiCom would think. Every single person in the company would have that view of what had happened. Blackburn had said he found it difficult to believe that Sanders had been harassed. Others would find it difficult, too.