Falling Down Under (I) #Wattys2016

Part 16

As Zoe had offered to get the kids to school, I was able to leave early for work. Wearing a black vintage pencil skirt with maroon satin blouse, I entered the office. Tanya wasn't at reception to greet me. This must be my lucky day!

For some reason, hardly anyone was in the office. At quarter past nine I started wondering, as people should have been on their desks. Did I miss a meeting? When Parry, who worked in accounts, walked by, I quickly asked him if he knew what was going on.

"Apparently Tanya has been abused by this guy who was here last week," Parry excitedly told me in a hushed voice. I had never really spoken to Parry much, as I always had the feeling he'd preferred to keep to himself.

"Someone said she's even pregnant. They're all in the kitchen." What? My alarm bells were ringing. I thanked him while already on my way to the kitchen. Why hadn't I noticed everyone there when I came in? At least twenty staff members were assembled in the kitchen, pretty much confirming what Parry had told me. I couldn't believe Tanya would go this far. Not one moment did I believe her accusations.

Confused, I made my way back to my desk. I had a lot to do but couldn't concentrate at all. All I wanted was for the Tom topic to disappear. Instead, he kept on popping up everywhere. In saying that, I really didn't want his name to be dragged through the mud, or maybe even worse. He didn't deserve this.

I still hadn't seen Kate anywhere. She also didn't pick up her phone.

Staring at my screen, my thoughts raced wildly. I had to do something. I needed to speak up. Just then, my phone rang and Richard asked me to see him in his office. I crept to Richard's door, trying to think about why he wanted to see me. Unsettled, I knocked.

"Come in!" it echoed from behind the closed door. I stepped into Richard's spacious but moderately furnished office. Michael sat quietly on the sofa in the corner.

"Take a seat, Lisa," Richard offered in a friendly tone. While I was getting seated, he continued. "As you might know, Mr Mayer has left on Monday. We are of course very confident to receive financial contributions over the next days. In the meantime, however, I have learned of accusations from female staff about inappropriate behaviour from his side. As you can imagine, we are very concerned about keeping a strong and positive relationship to him. As CEO, I however have to take accusations as such very seriously and need to follow up on them. I believe you had a chance to meet him. What are your thoughts? Have you noticed anything?"

I couldn't believe my ears. This bitch! Is she trying to destroy him because he wasn't interested in her?

I took a deep breath, leaned forward in my chair, putting my elbows on Richard's desk and explained. "I have only experienced Mr Mayer as a downright gentleman. If these accusations come from Tanya, I have witnessed on several occasions how she huddled against him, trespassing his personal space. I have further witnessed Mr Mayer asking her to leave him alone." I focused on keeping a distance, not handing out too much information but there was no way I would let Tanya ruin his reputation.

"Interesting," Richard answered. "But could it be that he said something or acted in a way that could have been misinterpreted?" When Richard saw my implausible expression, he added "I'm not implying anything. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this."

"No!"

"No?"

"No, he didn't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because Tanya is a liar!"

"But Mr Mayer has a reputation," Michael added. I had completely forgotten that he was also in the room. Usually quite forward, Michael acted very contained.