Doing What You Wouldn’t Normally Do

"Who is this?" Mike asked. He sounded a bit out of breath.

"Memorial Hospital -- Emergency Room Desk -- Nurse Riley; who am I speaking to?"

"Never mind," Mike grunted. Alice got back on the phone.

"I'm on my way."

"Please hurry. I'll meet you at the Emergency Room entrance," Taylor replied. The hospital was two blocks away from him. He paid his tab and took a casual stroll. It helped work of the tension, and the guilt. He had a bad habit of putting women he liked through hell.

When she pulled up, Taylor went with her as she parked and then walked her in.

"What are we doing here?" she whispered.

"I want you to do a Rape Kit," Taylor told her. Alice balked. "It's leverage. You don't say who raped you. You tell them you have to think about it before filing charges. You get the detectives' cards, and I'll take you home."

"I can't charge him with rape," Alice cringed.

"He doesn't have to know that. Alice, rapists get twenty years in prison; employees who embezzle, but end up taking no money have to find a new job. When faced with those facts, what do you think he's going to do?" Alice looked stunned. "I have him on tape raping you. I am about to have physical evidence he's raped you as well. I also have one other gift to put the nail in the coffin."

"What is that?"

"I'm going to stomp on his pride," Taylor nodded grimly.

(Monday morning)

It was early in the morning and Alice was at her desk. She was trying to keep the fear off her face.

"What do we do now?" Alice grinned wildly with relief.

"You call those detectives investigating your rape right now. Breaking some laws, Mike can be home in twenty-two minutes."

"I've arranged for the cops to respond well before then. You tell them you have confronted your rapist and he's on his way home to attack his wife. They will be inside when he arrives and I think we can rely on him to go ballistic," Taylor speculated. "They will put him in jail for assaulting a police officer."

"You seem very confident," Alice commented.

"I do this for a living," Taylor responded dryly.

"Will Mrs. Durbin be okay?" Alice questioned.

"Yes," Taylor sighed, "since the police are already in Lisa Durbin's house expecting your call. As I told you, I do this for a living. I never hurt people more than I need to. As for Mike Durbin, the man is going to go to jail because he is a sadistic, arrogant bastard and his wife has dared to stand up to him and sleep with another man."

"Mrs. Durbin has already decided to contact an excellent divorce lawyer, who will soon be armed with your tape. This will force Mike into a very unfavorable settlement then the tape will be destroyed. When he gets out of prison for the assault, I will be there with a plane ticket to somewhere far away and plus a few thousand dollars. If he doesn't accept, he goes to the hospital. He will of course lose his job here with no trace that could lead back to you."

"All we have to do now is burn all the evidence that you embezzled. You'll be free."

"Is the jail time and divorce going to cost me extra?" She grinned.

"No, but you could help Mrs. Durbin with some of her bills from time to time. Her husband dug quite a big hole," Taylor told her.

"I'm not made of money," she groaned.

"Do what you can. It is all any of us can do. She's helping you bury Mike, and that's should count for something."

"Is this really finally over?" she said with a shake of her head. She couldn't quite believe it.

"It should be," Taylor responded. He went to her desk and pulled off a sticky note. He scrawled down something. "This is my number. My name is Taylor Eden. If Mike somehow ever bothers you again, give me a call. I'll take care of it."

"What will that cost?" Alice asked.

"Nothing; return service is free of charge," he grinned.

"What happens if he does come back?"

"You don't need to know, but I've never had to deal with someone a third time. Let's leave it at that," he assured her.

"Am I ever going to see you again?" she inquired.

"No. Seriously, do you find me at all attractive?" Taylor chuckled. Alice was kind enough to hesitate.

"No."

"Am I in anyway a man you would be interested in?" he continued.

"Sorry, but no."

"Good for you and thank you for your honesty. If you will take this piece of advice, go out socially a bit more. Find someone nice. You don't want to be on the board of directors of this firm at forty-five and realize you are alone. You are a nice person; tough and smart. Any guy would be lucky to be with you. Try to trust enough to let someone in."

"You are not what I expected," she confessed.

"I get that a lot," he laughed. "Bye now."

"Wait. Tell me who hired you, please," Alice pleaded. She couldn't stand not knowing.

"Someone higher up in this firm has been watching your progress. They decided you had made a desperate mistake and deserved a second chance. You are an asset to the firm, so my boss was hired to help you out. I don't have permission to tell you the name of the person who hired him, but I can tell you they've gone through great expense."

"Thank you," Alice told him. Taylor nodded, turned and left quietly.

(Epilogue)

Alice Delacroix sat at the table at the restaurant playing with her lunch. She didn't have much of an appetite and she didn't want to be out of the office with the new account proposals due in two days. Unfortunately when the largest stockholder in the company asked a few of the mid-level managers out to eat, you went out to eat. Finally the ordeal was over; the Gray Lady took the check and paid for the overly expensive unsatisfying meal.

"A moment, Ms. Delacroix," the woman requested in a way that clearly wasn't a request.

"Ma'am," Alice gulped. Had something gone wrong? Was she about to watch her career go down the toilet?

"Please sit for a moment. I would like to show you a token of gratitude for being our number One manager four quarters running. I don't run the company, but I do like to stay on top of things." She slid a ring box over to Alice. Alice opened it and examined the contents.

"I ... don't understand," Alice said quietly looking down at the zip drive.

"It is the final copy of your indiscretion, but I think you already knew that," the Gray Lady smiled predatorily.

"It was you ... I was being rhetorical; I apologize. What I should be asking is why? Why did you do it? How did you it?"

"You are a corporate asset Ms. Delacroix. As you will discover I defend my corporation very zealously. As to the 'how'; let us just say that a good dog is hard to find."

"You must have gone through some expense and I'm only a mid-level manager," Alice responded.

"Seriously Ms. Delacroix, I know you smarter than that," the older woman smirked. Alice stopped being scared and started thinking corporate.

"How long have you been watching me?"

"Since your second internship," was the reply.

"Oh, so you are responsible for my rapid promotions," Alice concluded.

"Which you deserved," the other woman pointed out.

"To what end?"

"One day I want you to run my company, Ms. Delacroix. I don't want the company my late husband I built to become mediocre. I want it to remain in the top of its field."

"I can do that," Alice agreed. The Gray Lady nodded with pleasure now that Alice had caught up. "One thing I would like to know; who did this? It is something I would like to know." The Gray Lady studied her.

"Why? You aren't infatuated with that trollish little man, are you?"

"Oh no," Alice chuckled, "I already have his number -- for business purposes he insists. I want to know who has his leash. As you said, a good dog is hard to find."