My boss Justin wasn't a beautiful man. He was short with a badly trimmed moustache, a thatch of white hair, huge sweet patched under his armpits & rather a large beer belly. But he was my boss so I treated him with a certain amount of respect. After a few too many glasses of champagne at the Christmas party I'd let it slip that before I'd married my wife I had in fact had a boyfriend.
It wasn't exactly a secret. My wife & my friends knew all about my past. However it wasn't something that I wanted to discuss with my colleagues at the conservative finance company.
So, it was with trepidation at I sat across the desk from him in my first performance review. "Well, that's great. Thanks Dillon. You do good work." He paused but made no move that would indicate he was done talking to me. "So you're not married, right Dillon?"
"Yeah, Krystal & I got married in February. It's been almost twelve months now," I answered softly, wondering where this was heading.
"Oh yeah. That was just after you started working here. No kids, Right? "He said with a nervous laugh. I knew that Justin was married and had three young children. He was about forty and I'd seen his wife a number of times in the office and at social functions. She was attractive and pleasant but not an overly friendly person. "After the third kid, things just haven't been the same between Julia and I. We put up a good front but I haven't been too happy with things for a few years now." I wondered why he was spilling his guts to me about this stuff but I sat patiently and nodded in agreement where it seemed appropriate.
He noticed my hesitation and said, "Would you join me for a drink? I think this situation is a little stressful for both of us." He uncrossed his legs to stand, and in the process his foot brushed the side of my leg nearest to him, he said "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to kick you," he said as he patted my shoulder as he moved over to the set of drawers a few meters away.
"That's ok, I'm not fragile." I said as I started to get up and follow him.
"Don't get up," he said, "We'll need the table for some things I want to show you."
I stayed seated but swivelled in the chair so I could see him without twisting my neck. His tone was neutral, but I wondered if what he wanted to show me was a letter of termination.
"I'm having Bourbon. What can I get you?" He asked as he poured just a splash into a tumbler.
"That's good for me too, but I'm somewhat of a lightweight when it comes to the hard stuff." I answered.
He ignored my "light weight" comment and poured two fingers into another tumbler, came back to the desk and handed it to me. "To the enjoyment of life!" he said as he raised his glass to me. I raised mine to clink his, and then took a swig, thinking to myself it was odd to offer me a drink, and odd to make such a lame toast while deciding if he was going to fire me. And I noticed he merely sipped his drink.
He set his glass on the table
"You mentioned at the Christmas party that you had been with a man before you were married?" he said nervously.
"Ummm....yeah....I guess." I wasn't sure how to respond. This was totally inappropriate. Whilst I didn't want to get into any trouble but I didn't want to lie to him either.
"How long ago?" he asked with a curious tone to his voice.
"a few years," I looked down and felt my face turning red with embarrassment.
"did you have a boyfriend?"
"Not really, no" I said with a shrug of my shoulders.
"So if you didn't have a boyfriend.....what kind of relationship did you have?"
"He...uh....well...he....uh...well friends with benefits mainly. And there was a guy who liked me to service him," I stammered as I looked down at the floor, ashamed of myself.
"Service him? You mean, like, you suck him off when he wants you to?"
"Yeah, I guess. And other stuff."