I knocked on the door to the conference room, dreading the coming meeting.
"Come in."
I opened the door and stepped into the room. Mr. Turner was alone at the table. He looked up from the paper he was holding and frowned at me. "Sit down, Ms. Hunter."
I sat across the table from him, not saying a word. He went back to studying the paper before him.
Mr. Turner was an operating partner at one of the most prestigious advertising firms in the country. It was the kind of place everyone in the field was dying to work at but few ever got the chance--at least, not until amassing years of experience. The firm hired only the best and the brightest, and only a VERY lucky few were picked fresh out of college. I had been one of those lucky few. But now, I was afraid that paper was going to bring it all to an end.
Finally Mr. Turner placed the paper atop the table and stared at me, still not saying a word. He was in his mid-forties but could've passed for a decade younger. He was tall, lean, awesomely fit; he was rumored to spend two to three hours a day in the private gym the executives had on the top floor of the building, even after grueling 12-14 hour work days. He studied me with his gray-green eyes, and I grew more and more nervous. As the silence dragged on, I tried not to let him see how terrified I was growing; I was sure I wouldn't be returning to work here tomorrow.
"Ms. Hunter, I'll get right to the point," he said finally. "I have here a memo from Evelyn Rider, your project manager on the Hendricks project. She goes into great detail about your performance on that project. The Hendricks Corporation is a very important client for us, and they demand excellence in all the projects we create for them. Of course we deliver; anything less would not meet the very high standards we have created for ourselves. It is Ms. Rider's opinion that your work was far from excellent."
I nodded, unable to speak. As he began detailing examples of my incompetence, I was mentally trying to decide how I was going to tell my parents I had been fired from the greatest job in the world. They had been so proud of me! How could I have let them down?
"You came to us with an impressive academic record and showing great promise," Mr. Turner was saying. "Your design portfolio was quite impressive, as were your faculty recommendations. You showed a tremendous amount of potential that has, frankly, been unrealized."
I was fighting back tears. I couldn't bear to meet his gaze. I had been so proud, so cocky, bragging of my new job to all my friends and family. Now I would be humiliated.
He remained silent for several moments. Then, finally, "Ms. Hunter, while your work has been far from acceptable, your position here may be salvagable."
I could hardly believe my ears. Did I really hear that?
"As I said, you show great potential. I, for one, believe that potential could be brought out...but only with a lot of very hard work."
He stopped speaking, and just stared at me expectantly. Somehow I found my voice. "I'll do anything it takes to work here, Mr. Taylor," I said slowly.
Those eyes bored into me. Finally he stood and motioned toward the window. "Step over here, Ms. Hunter."
I rose and followed him over to the glass. The view was magnificent, looking out over the city from the 33rd floor. "Look out there, Ms. Hunter," Mr. Taylor said from behind me. "There are thousands of people out there who want to work here. They are just begging for a chance. Why should I keep you around here and not try someone else?"
I swallowed hard. "I'll do whatever it takes, Mr. Taylor."
"Will you?" he said, his voice suddenly cold. Suddenly I felt his hand rubbing slowly across my ass.
I froze. I couldn't say a thing; I didn't dare. His hand rubbed back and forth across my ass, rhythmically moving. His other hand touched my left shoulder and began rubbing there. He leaned closer to me, his lips right by my ear. "Anything?"
There was a lump in my throat; I couldn't make a sound. Instead I nodded.
"Say it!" he hissed.
"Anything," I managed.
His right hand left my ass and reached around the front of me. He reached downward until he came to the hem of my knee-length skirt; then he reached under it and began rubbing my thigh. His other hand reached around in front of me and began rubbing across my breast. I could only stand there while he rubbed up and down for several long moments. Then abruptly he released me and stepped back.
"We'll see just how much work you are willing to do."
I just stood there, still with my back to him. At that moment I couldn't bear to face him.
"Go to my office," he ordered. "Don't let anyone see you go in. Get under the desk. I'll be in there in a few minutes, and I won't be alone. In fact, I'll have a candidate for your job with me. I'll be interviewing her. You stay under the desk; don't make a sound. Then we can see just what you can do to convince me to not fire you and hire her. Get going."
Without a word I hurried out of the conference room. My mind reeled. What the hell was I going to do? Was this job worth debasing myself with whatever Mr. Turner had in mind?
I thought back to my hometown, a little coal town high in the mountains of West Virginia. It was the kind of town where , if you were a boy, you were going to grow up to work in the mines or log the thickly forested hills and ravines. If you were a girl you were going to grow up to marry one of those boys and have five kids by the time you were 22 or 23 (if it took THAT long). I had hated the place. I knew I was better than that. My scholarships to college were my ticket out. When I graduated and got this job in the city, I vowed I would never go back there; in fact, I had told everyone pretty much that very thing. I made no secret of how I detested that place and everything about it. of how I was headed to the city, far away from the hicks and the rubes back "home".
I couldn't afford to stay in the city if I was unemployed. If I lost this job, I'd have to go back.
I reached Mr. Turner's office. There was not a soul in sight; Emily, his executive assistant who was normally stationed in her own office just next to his, was nowhere to be found. I knocked on Mr. Turner's door, just to be sure. When there was no answer from within, I slipped inside.
The office was quite spacious, lavishly decorated with dark polished wood and leather trim and expensive art. Mr. Turner's desk was huge, a mahogany mountain in the center of the room. I went around behind it and moved his chair aside. The kneehole was large and deep, hidden in shadow; at least two people could easily have fit in there. I squatted down, then crawled inside.
I didn't have long to wait. The door opened, and I heard two people enter. "Have a seat, Ms. Brinkley," I heard Mr. turner say. I saw his legs as he came around his side of the desk. He leaned forward a bit as he sat down, and his eyes met mine. The corner of his mouth curled in a slight smile. Then he sat down, but didn't slide forward to the desk.