Friends Or Lovers Part 12

"Elona. Before Phil comes back, is there anything you want to share with me privately?"

She glanced at me and shook her head quickly in denial.

Phil entered the room with two cups of tea and a gla.s.s of water. He put one cup on my desk, keeping the other for himself. Although Elona had declined the tea, she immediately picked up the gla.s.s of water and drank half of it. As she put the gla.s.s down, she summoned up a slight smile and I felt ready to begin.

"Thanks for coming in again," I began, and she looked a little more relaxed. "As I was saying earlier, we are grateful that you made a complaint and raised some important issues. Phils talked to others in your team and they admit they behaved inappropriately to you. Ill be talking to them in due course."

Elona seemed to relax when I told her this.

"What they say is that they flirted with you, you ignored them, and they stopped. Would you agree with that?"

Elona said nothing but nodded her agreement.

"Thanks for that," I said rea.s.suringly.

"There is one thing, however."

"Whats that?" she asked, finally finding her voice.

I looked squarely at her.

"Well, the lads in the team said that one of them, called Nathan, gave you some attention and that you did not seem to mind."

At the mention of Nathans name, Elona immediately went bright red and got extremely agitated.

"Elona. Elona. It is alright. If you like Nathans attention, n.o.body minds."

She looked down at the table in front of her, saying nothing. I tried to calm the atmosphere further, but clearly this was a sensitive matter and she was deeply embarra.s.sed. Phil chipped in too.

"Elona. n.o.body is judging you, love. We just need to understand whether there is any link between this and the incident with Mike? Is there?"

Elona seemed to be petrified by this suggestion and started to shake. I remembered that Mike said he would talk if Elona gave her permission. I tried a new tack.

"Mike mentioned that you confided some information in him. He has refused to talk about it because he gave you his word that he wouldnt."

At this, Elona looked up at me and her mouth dropped open. She was clearly fighting back tears but to my surprise she started to nod.

"Yes? You did confide in Mike?"

She nodded again.

"Something about Nathan?" Phil asked.

She nodded again.

"Mike wont speak about it without your permission. Would you give your permission?"

At this suggestion, her face went red again and her eyes filled with moisture. Her shaking got more acute and suddenly she exploded.

"No! No! No! I dont want to talk to anyone about any of this. Leave me alone!" She got up and ran out of the room in tears. Phil got up to follow her, but I shot him a look that he should let her go.

"Not now," I said. "Let her calm down. We can always go and see her later."

"f.u.c.k!" offered Phil. "Some serious s.h.i.t has happened to her. Thats for sure!"

I felt angry that Elona was still so distressed. It fuelled my desire to find out more.

"Go get Nathan!" I commanded Phil.

"Now?" he asked.

"Yes! Now!" I said raising my voice. Phil held up both his hands as if to hold me at bay and quietly made his way out of the room.

My mind was spinning again. What had Nathan done to her? Had he raped her? Had she confided this in Mike? Had Mike done nothing? Had Mike tried to take advantage? Why was she later upset with Mike and not Nathan? None of this seemed to make any sense. As I was running over all these things in my mind, Phil returned with suspect in hand. I was in no mood to be pushed around any more.

"Nathan. Come on in. Take a seat."

He sat down, looking as puzzled as he was concerned.

"Ive just had Elona in here and clearly something has happened between you and her. She is extremely distressed. Can you explain?"

Nathan seemed to go completely white and started reeling in his chair.

"f.u.c.k!" he said as his eyes seemed to look everywhere in the room except at Phil or myself. But no more words came forth. I started to get angry again.

"Nathan," I said. "Look at me!"

Nathan looked pale and distressed but finally looked me in the eye.

"Tell me what happened."

"What has Elona said?" he asked.

"Nothing. That is why I am asking you."

Nathan held my gaze and did not flinch for even a fraction of a second.

"I would like to leave, please," he asked.

Phil, who was sitting in the corner, seemed to get agitated and looked at me and if to indicate that he should be allowed to go. That did not satisfy me, however.

"Nathan," I said, "Let me be completely open with you....."

I saw Nathans lips go tight and the whites of his teeth show.

Phil was gently moving his head from side to side to indicate 'no, but my anger got the better of me and I let rip.

"We have a situation here. Someone in Elonas team has made a s.e.xual advance. She is seriously distressed and will not talk. She confided something to Mike, but he will not talk either. You can either give me an account of your behaviour or Ill call a disciplinary hearing. You can give a full account to your line manager and myself. What is it to be?"

I imagine that while I said this, the whites of my teeth were showing too. With Phil in the room I felt a bit bolder.

Nathan, still calm and unflinching, gave me a look of absolute disgust. Phil, in the corner, was looking down at the floor as if he could not bear to watch what was happening.

"You dont have a f.u.c.king clue, do you?" Nathan started.

"About what?" I fired back.

"A f.u.c.king clue about anything...." he added.

"If you use that type of language once more, Ill suspend you here and now. Do you understand?"

"I would like to leave, please," he asked again.

"No!" I shouted. "You tell me what happened, or I will have to take this to your line manager first thing in the morning."

Phil looked as white as a sheet. What on earth was going on here? Nathan kept looking at me and was unmoved.

"I would like to leave, please," he repeated without showing any anger.

"Okay, you have made your choice. I would like you here at 10am tomorrow morning with your line manager. You may go."

Holding my gaze, he slowly left the room with hatred burning in his eyes. I could feel them pierce me right through. I was glad that Phil was in the room. Shaken as I was, I held myself together and summoned Phil over. The situation felt like it was getting out of control, but I had one more card to play.

"Right. Firstly, go immediately to Nathans manager and inform him of the meeting at 10am."

Phil nodded.

"Is Mike still in the building?"

"Sorry?" asked Phil, who seemed taken aback at this question.

"Is Mike still in the building?"

Phil looked unsure. If hed been more experienced, perhaps he would have suggested that I sleep on this, but he was too intimidated. Still looking shaken himself, Phil nodded a 'yes.

"Okay, I want you to get Mike and bring him here immediately. Do not take no for an answer. Is that clear?"

Phil obediently did as I asked while I made myself another cup of tea. I felt on a roll, as if everything was coming together. Nathan must have made a pa.s.s at Elona. Maybe she didnt reciprocate and got upset. I imagine she tried to confide this in Mike. Then again, what if Elona did want Nathan to make a pa.s.s? Perhaps he seduced her, then dumped her. Whichever is true, she tried to confide in Mike and he tried to handle it 'within the team. Idiot. What a b.l.o.o.d.y amateur. He must have suggested they go out for a drink and then said something that upset her. Whatever he said made Elona mad. This kind of stuff really makes my blood boil. Always the woman who gets hurt; always the man who gets away with it.

Phil returned with Mike, who stormed into my office with an irritated look on his face.

"What the h.e.l.l is this? I was in a meeting with my team and Phil tells me that you have an emergency. What is so urgent it cannot wait until morning?"

"Sit down, Mike. It has come to light that there is a relationship problem between Elona and Nathan and that she reported this to you. I want to know what she said and how you handled it."

Mike raised his hands and grabbed his head in despair.

"I told you to back off this. What on earth are you doing?"

"Dont p.i.s.s me around, Mike."

Phil had again retreated to the corner of the room and was looking uncomfortable.

"Okay, okay. Sit down and lets talk about this," he said ushering me into my chair with his open palm.

"So where dyou want to start?" he asked.

"Whats the relationship problem between Elona and Nathan?" I asked.

"Have you talked to Elona?" he responded.

"Yes. She got so upset that she left the room in tears. She wont talk about it."

Mike, surprisingly, seemed to slow down and take this in. He looked away as he thought for a moment, and then he rubbed his cheek.

"Im not surprised," he finally said.

"Why?" I asked.

He looked me calmly in the eye.

"Because this situation is probably the most upsetting thing that has ever happened to her."

"Are you going to tell me about it?" I asked again.

"Did you ask her if shed mind me talking?" he asked.

"I did and she confirmed that she had confided in you," I replied.

"Did you ask her if she was okay about you talking to me?" he repeated.

"Yes, but she did not answer," I confessed.

"They why dont you respect her wishes?" he asked.

I began to wonder who was conducting this enquiry, him or me.

"There may have been a breach of the law and I have a duty of care towards her."

"A duty of care! You call this a duty of care?" he asked accusingly.

"Shes distressed. I cannot help her unless I understand the cause of the distress," I responded keeping my calm.

"Did it ever occur to you this witch-hunt is the cause of her distress?"

His words inflamed me.

"How dare you! If people told me what the f.u.c.k is going on then we could sort this mess out. Im trying to help her. Why cant you see that?"