The P.U.R.E. Read online

  “Alright, I guess,” she said.

  A woman I didn’t recognize awaited us in the conference room. She sat at the table, a brand new memo pad and freshly sharpened pencil in front of her. Sandy introduced the other woman as Lisa Fulbright, Anderson-Blakely’s in-house attorney. Yikes. I hadn’t expected Legal’s attendance, but I guess it made some sense if they thought I might file a lawsuit. I had no doubt they’d try to manipulate me into some sort of settlement or browbeat me into withdrawing my claim if the meeting got nasty.

  “Gayle,” Sandy began, “We will be taking notes throughout and recording the conversation. Our procedure is to take down all of your accusations as well as any proof you can offer. We’ll then conduct our own investigation. Does that sound alright to you?”

  “Yes. That’s about what I expected,” I said.

  “Please begin then. Tell us about the incidents that prompted your complaint. And be as specific as possible.”

  I reached into my briefcase and pulled out the notebook in which I had logged all my encounters with Doug. I’d also transcribed all his text messages before he deleted them from my phone. Sandy glanced at Lisa, her brows lifted. Their wordless exchange told me they hadn’t expected me to be quite so prepared. I opened to page one.

  “All the incidents happened at the offices of our client, Aphrodite, unless stated otherwise.”

  “On August twenty-ninth, I met Doug Martin at a pre-audit meeting for Aphrodite in a conference room at Anderson-Blakely. After that meeting he collected all of audit team members’ landline and cell phone numbers and told us we were on call twenty-four seven. Before I left, he called me a PURE—previously undetected recruiting error.” The two women nodded. “He told me Aphrodite wasn’t a place to get a makeover. As I left the room, he moved into my path and brushed his body against mine.”

  “On September fourth, we were alone in the audit room, and he asked me my bra size.”

  “On September ninth, he told me his penis was eight inches long and offered to show me.”

  “On September fifteenth, he passed me in the hall, said no one was in the file room and asked if I wanted to engage in a quickie.”

  “On September sixteenth, Doug said: quote, ‘your ass is looking sweet today, Gayle,’ then he reached out as if to touch me on the butt as I passed him.”

  I looked up from my notes to assess reactions. All the faces except for Jon’s were unreadable. Jon’s was pale, his expression murderous. He needed to simmer down because what I had written in my notes only got worse.

  “On September seventeenth, Doug said women often sought him out for his sexual prowess, but lucky me, he wouldn’t even make me beg.” I couldn’t help but heave a weary sigh and roll my eyes after reading that one.

  “On October third, Doug asked me why I played so hard to get. He said he wanted to fuck me, and he knew I wanted it too.” I kept my eyes down but heard Sandy groan.

  “On October twenty-fifth, Doug came into the client’s file room and told me he needed me run an errand for him. When I set my work down on a table, he came up behind me and dry humped me.”

  “On October twenty-sixth, Doug asked if I wanted to mend fences and invited me to dinner with him the following Saturday. He said afterward I could get naked and wrap my legs around him. He said I’d be screaming his name and God’s in the same breath. He also said he’d go down on me afterwards, if I liked.” I paused and muttered under my breath, “As if.”

  I looked around the room to gauge the facial expressions. Sandy and Lisa had begun to crack. Jon had calmed down, probably because I’d told him about the incidents from October on.

  “You obviously have a thoroughly documented journal of your encounters, Gayle,” Sandy said. “Please make copies of your notes for Lisa and myself. Let’s skip ahead to the events of last night, please, unless there are other more egregious events to report.”

  “I need to mention two other things before I get to last night. Over the past two months, someone sent fifty-one text messages to my cell phone from a series of anonymous Internet websites. All the messages were sexually explicit. I don’t have the actual texts anymore because Doug told me last night he’d erased them from my phone. I had logged them all into my journal, however, and will provide you copies of those texts as well.

  “Two nights ago, on November ninth, someone ransacked my apartment and texted me a photo of his handiwork. Whoever did it wrote a series of derogatory words about me on my bathroom mirror and walls. He used a carving knife to shred the suit I’d worn that day and ejaculated on my skirt. Here’s a copy of the police report I filed and pictures of my apartment. They have the DNA evidence, but I’m still waiting for the police to obtain a sample from Doug in order to run a comparison.”

  I let Sandy and Lisa finish writing before I launched into the prior night’s events.

  “Last night, I went to the office around nine o’clock per Doug’s instructions. He told me he wanted me to prepare a referencer’s aid for Aphrodite but said I wouldn’t be able to access the files until then. When I arrived, he was still using them, so I went to the library to give him more time to finish. At nine thirty, when I returned to check on his status, he’d left, so I began to prepare the aid. Jon arrived sometime around ten o’clock and offered to assist me.”

  “Why did Jon come to the office?” Sandy asked.

  “Are you asking me or Jon?”

  “You, Gayle,” Lisa clarified on Sandy’s behalf.

  “He said he was worried Doug might have lured me to the office after hours in order to harass me or worse. He also offered to help me with my work.”

  “Are you and Jon romantically involved?” Sandy asked.

  To his credit, Jon did an outstanding job holding on to his poker face. In stark contrast, mine blazed.

  “Why is that relevant?”

  “Because Jon was dismissed this morning for attacking Doug and for inappropriate fraternization with you.”

  “I’m aware of why he was fired. Why is that relevant to my sexual harassment complaint against Doug?”

  Lisa piped in. “Alright, Gayle, let’s skip that question for now. Please continue with your story of the events of last night.”

  “When Jon and I finished the aid, we took a walk around the office. I returned to my cubicle alone. I caught Doug holding my driver’s license and my wallet. I told him to stay out of my personal things and to put my stuff down, which he did. He bumped my shoulder when he walked past. While I was returning my license and wallet to my purse, he doubled back and pressed up against me from behind. It was then he asked why I hadn’t answered any of his text messages. He said he erased them from my phone because he didn’t want HR to get the wrong idea.”

  Lisa and Sandy exchanged looks I couldn’t read. Jon gave me a tiny but encouraging smile.

  “Excuse me, but I need some water.” I wanted to give them an opportunity to think about the scenario I’d painted—about Doug’s confession he’d been sending me texts and erased them, too.

  As I sipped, Lisa jotted down notes, underscoring a word near the end. I wished she’d written in larger letters. I set my glass down.

  “I told Doug to get away from me and to stop sending me text messages. He said he liked feisty women and did I talk dirty when I was being fucked? He grabbed my breast. I slapped him, kneed him in the crotch, and he fell to the floor.

  “While he was down, I began to collect my things, but he recovered and trapped me in a cubicle. When I turned to confront him and defend myself, he said he didn’t have time to tame me because he had other issues to take care of that evening. Jon returned about then and pulled Doug off.”

  “Did you witness Jon punching Doug?”

  “Yes.”

  I looked at Jon and hoped he read the ‘I’m sorry’ in my eyes. He shrugged as if to say ‘No harm done.’ They hadn’t bothered to interview me prior to firing him because he had admitted attacking Doug. I did wonder why nobody sought my side of the story first.<
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  “Gayle,” Sandy began, “Thank you for your information. Did you know the firm has a policy against staff fraternization?”

  “I do now.”

  “Did you know the physical inventories at Aphrodite had to be redone at great cost to the firm because of your and Jon’s incompetence?”

  “No. I’m aware we did a second count, but it wasn’t because of either Jon’s or my incompetence.”

  “Both Doug Martin and Bob Turner believe it was.”

  “I have documentary evidence the physical inventory counts Jon and I took were not poorly executed. My evidence shows Aphrodite was attempting to commit fraud by misstating the August inventory counts.” I went on to explain in layman’s terms what I’d discovered. “Neither Jon nor I have had a chance to defend our work.”

  Jon and I had agreed on the drive over to keep mum about what Kenneth had done with the money and why. We only had theories that could be very dangerous if divulged to the wrong people at the wrong time.

  I handed both Lisa and Sandy copies of the phony Dalrymple and Elizabethan sales invoices, explained the relationship of the two companies to Aphrodite and how the numbers supported the fraud.

  “When did you make this new discovery?” Lisa asked.

  “About the phony sales, missing cash and inventory overstatement? Today. Aphrodite’s controller provided me with the documentation you’re holding. I learned about the stock ownership and misclassification several weeks ago.”

  “Did you report your finding to your supervisors?” Lisa asked.

  “I did. I reported it to Bob Turner a few days ago—the same day I reported the harassment to him. Bob asked me to keep the information confidential until he had a chance to investigate.”

  Lisa frowned. “Did he say why?”

  “Yes. Bob’s wife, Leslie Dalrymple Turner, is the sole owner of Elizabethan. Bob said he was unaware of this and needed to investigate but said he would remove himself from the audit if it were indeed true.”

  “Has he investigated or removed himself?” Sandy asked. Lisa cleared her throat, and Sandy twitched in her seat as if she had been kicked or pinched.

  “Not to my knowledge. Bob was also in the office last night. Jon and I overheard a conversation he and Doug had about Aphrodite and the need to destroy a few particular audit files.”

  Lisa raised her eyebrows. “Are you implying a highly respected partner in this firm is not only impaired independence-wise but has engaged in a cover-up?”

  “Yes, I believe so. I also overheard him telling Doug to stop sending me text messages, that he was tired of bailing Doug out. Bob said if he got even one whiff of a sexual harassment claim against Doug, he would be out on the street.”

  “Jon, what did you hear Bob and Doug say last night?” Lisa asked.

  “I heard exactly what Gayle just stated. Neither Bob nor Doug knew Gayle and I overheard them because we were in the conference room near Bob’s office.”

  “I see.” A grave expression took hold of Lisa’s face.

  “What were you two doing in the conference room?” Proving fraternization seemed to be Sandy’s primary mission.

  “Hiding,” Jon said in what was clearly a “duh” tone of voice.

  I stifled my laugh. Anyone in the firm could have rattled off a list of at least four “fraternizing” couples, including one partner and his secretary. I didn’t know why it seemed to matter so much to her.

  Jon cleared his throat. “In consideration of what Gayle discovered at Aphrodite, I would like to be reinstated. I believe I was railroaded into a confession without having been able to present all the facts. It’s obvious to me, based on what we now know, that Doug did intend to harm Gayle, and I was not wrong to defend her. His actions weren’t based solely in sexual harassment. He meant to intimidate her to prevent her from discovering the fraud at Aphrodite that he and Bob Turner participated in. Absent reinstatement, I plan to file a wrongful discharge claim, and I’ll report Gayle’s and my findings to the Texas Board of Public Accountancy’s Ethical Standards Committee as well as to the public practice section of the AICPA. Gayle’s still waiting on the DNA evidence from her apartment, but I have no doubt it will match Doug Martin.”

  Lisa narrowed her eyes at Jon. “Would you and Gayle please step outside for a moment while Sandy and I discuss what you’ve both shared?”

  “Of course.” Jon flashed one of his melt-them-in-their-tracks smiles.

  He and I rose, and after I gathered all my paperwork and returned it to my briefcase, we stepped outside. Once we closed the door behind us, I jumped up and down as silently as possible. Jon swept me into a huge hug.

  “Oh my God, Gayle, you were so awesome!” We pulled away from each other.

  “I blew the whistle! Me. I did it. I not only reported Doug, I reported Bob and the whole Aphrodite fraud. I ain’t going down with this ship no more! They might still fire me, but at least I’ll go with a clear conscience and my CPA license out of jeopardy.”

  “You’re an amazing woman, Gayle. You did and said all the right things every step of the way. You didn’t let them bully you.”

  “You were awesome, too. I was so proud of the way you demanded your job back, or you’d file suit and report the firm. Ha! So cool. So collected.” I looked around to make sure we didn’t have an audience. I lowered my voice. “I wish we were alone so I could show you how turned on I was by your little speech.” I wiggled my eyebrows at him.

  He wiggled his back for a wordless ‘ditto’.

  “Stay with me tonight, Gayle.” His big brown eyes worked their magic. At that moment, I knew exactly how Nicky felt. “No matter what happens,” he added.

  “You couldn’t keep me away.” Sheesh, I was turning into a sappy romantic plummeting down a slippery slope, but I was too giddy to worry about what lay at the bottom.

  24

  When we returned, I handed Sandy copies of my harassment log. A folder labeled ‘Gayle Lindley’ lay on top of her paperwork stack. A couple of photos tried to escape when she slipped the copies inside.

  The voyeur in me wanted to see the pictures, but Sandy never showed them. Who had taken them and why?

  Doug was the logical choice, depending on what they were, but for him to have staked out my apartment at such an early hour solely to take pictures seemed unlikely. His calls and texts came in the dead of night.

  Turned out we were naïve to believe Jon would get his job back so quickly. Sandy and Lisa deferred action on his behalf until Friday, when they would meet with the head of HR, who had already left for the day.

  Lisa concluded our meeting by telling me they would thoroughly investigate my harassment claims, and they would also re-evaluate Jon’s termination in light of the latest evidence after they’d done their due diligence. His “excessive use of force” on Doug remained the most serious offense and justified his termination on its own. Jon’s salvation lay on the credibility of my accusations against Doug.

  As to the Aphrodite misdeeds, HR and Legal arranged for me to meet with Jeff Hardinger, Aphrodite’s advisory partner, first thing in the morning. They also removed me from the Aphrodite project—as I expected and wanted.

  I kept the files I’d taken from Doug, however, and ignored all of his increasingly venomous voice mails to return them. He’d get them back after I met with Jeff. Until then, he could stew in his juices.

  My watch read four thirty, close enough to normal quitting time for me to leave without attracting attention. Jon, however, ran the gauntlet of curious and sympathetic co-workers who’d heard the rumors and wondered if they were true, and if so, why he was still at the office.

  The huge boulder I’d been carrying on my shoulders no longer threatened to crush me. As I walked into my apartment, however, the remnants of Doug’s vandalism recalled its heaviness. I hadn’t cleaned up all the mess. My kitchen smelled like sour milk and rotten eggs. Glass shards riddled my carpet. Refrigerator magnets and Chip Clips tentatively held my shower curtain in plac
e.

  After filing the police report, I had spent the rest of that evening washing my clothes at my apartment’s laundromat. The next morning, I’d dropped off a massive dry cleaning order. I kept my least dusty suit so I’d have something to wear despite the heeby-jeebies it gave me. Though I promised to spend the night with Jon, I couldn’t tolerate the state of my home for another evening.

  My doorbell rang just as I pulled out the sponges and Lysol.

  Jon!

  I opened the door and smiled. He stood on my threshold with an overnight duffel and three bags of groceries. On his delectable body, he wore a ratty T-shirt and torn jeans.

  “I was about to call you. Come in. The place is still a mess, but I’m making progress.”

  “It occurred to me as I drove home that you hadn’t had much of an opportunity to clean up. I figured four hands would make for light work. Plus, you probably have no food. So, tonight, I’ll be your chef and your assistant housekeeper.”

  I smirked and looked heavenward, my hands in prayer, and mouthed, “Thank you!”

  “I work for free, but I accept tips.” He winked before gazing down at me in a manner that made me tingle. There was no confusing his meaning or expectations. I predicted a generous tip, but I wouldn’t share my intentions because he still needed to earn it. If only I could keep the giggly schoolgirl in me at bay.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” He walked past me into my apartment, straight to the kitchen. “Sadly, this needs mucho attention before it’s usable.”

  “Sorry. My priorities were bedroom, bathroom and clothing before kitchen, and I haven’t even finished those yet.”

  “I’d prioritize kitchen and bathroom before clothing and bedroom.”

  “Yeah, but you’re a man. I doubt it’s the same sort of feeling of violation.”

  “Any word from the police yet?” He swept the dry goods off the counters and into my garbage can as we spoke. I picked up the larger pieces of glass on the carpet near the television.

  “No, nor have I had a chance to call them. But here’s something that’s been nagging me all day.” I dumped the glass in the trash and leaned against the vacuum cleaner as I spoke.