Recognition

We walked towards the meeting room, we got a message from my solicitor's secretary that they were here, and she had put them in the meeting room. As we walked down the corridor and I saw Gerald sat outside, what the fuck was he doing here. He didn't look happy, he glared at me. The bruise was colouring up nicely.

We settled ourselves in front of the table, my solicitor said to the others, "You've asked for this meeting, please carry on."

Phillip said. "We have come up with a solution that we think might be acceptable to you to make this go away, and you can get back with your wife. We think our offer to you of employment and an increase in your wife's salary may have been a misguided approach of ours. Once the project is under contract that Gerald and your wife are working on, we will move Gerald to a different section. We will admit that was the plan anyway, so he gets a broad view of the business. We have just had to move it forward several months. Your wife would get Gerald's job, again that was the plan, just moved forward a bit. Her current promotion was to get her ready to take over from Gerald. Would that be acceptable?" I noticed he kept on calling Cheryl 'your wife' and didn't use her name.

I looked at my solicitor and he said, "It's your decision."

I looked at the three of them on the far side of the table. "I will have to think about that, but probably not. The cheaters still get away scot free, in fact get rewarded with promotion. The humiliation I felt at their hands is still there, but I understand the importance of this project and to the lives of many of your employees. And because of that I may, just may make an exception for the company side of stuff. But I still intend to progress with the divorce of my wife. She has shown me little respect, love or affection over the last 2 years since he." Pointing towards the door. "Got here, I'm not playing second fiddle to the company or anyone, so yes that may make my charges against the company go away. I will have to seek advice and think about it, but I'm progressing with the divorce."

Cheryl sat there; she was crying. I'm sure she had more than one handkerchief, she put her hand up like a small child at school. "Can I speak please?" I nodded.

"I have not at any time had sex with Gerald or any other man since we got together. Please sweetheart, I have not cheated on you."

"Yes, you have, perhaps not physically. But emotionally, how do you think I feel seeing those pictures of you holding hands and dancing with him, with his hands on your bum, and you walking arm in arm towards the rooms. If I remember correctly, I wanted to come with you to that conference and make a weekend of it, but you told me spouses were not allowed. I have seen all those other pictures, there are lots of spouses. So you excluded me again, disrespected me and you ignored me and my feelings, so I think it's time that I made a new life. It's your turn to look after the children now. I've done my bit for the last eight years. Over the last year or so any intimacy seems forced, or guilt driven because you'd done something you had to cover up or atone for. You said all those years ago you would never break my heart. Well, you have managed that now by putting him before me. Even if you haven't had sex with him."

I saw her shudder, and I recognised that some of the truth had hit home to her. There were mutterings on the other side of the table between Phillip and the CEO. They weren't used to this. They seemed to be caught off guard.

They thought they had control of this discussion, they just found out they didn't. Phillip asked. "May we have a short break to discuss something please?"

Without asking me my solicitor said. "There is tea and coffee next door. Shall we reconvene in 20 minutes?"

My solicitor asked me what I wanted to do about the company's offer, I was still unsure. The company has a strict moral code and even if it hadn't been broken, the negative publicity wouldn't do them any good. But I still got nothing out of it, there had been no apology and Cheryl and Gerald still got their promotions. There was no offer of compensation. I think my refusal to accept money on their first attempt meant they wouldn't try to buy me off again. I could live with that.

He told me that I had to let my wife have her turn. I agreed it would be interesting to hear what she had to say. It had only been 15 minutes when the others asked if we could return to talking.

Cheryl had dried her tears and she sat down. There was a difference about her. It was like she had gathered herself together. My solicitor asked if she would like to say something. With that she stood up and went behind her chair. I recognised this mode, this is where she preached to me, so here it goes.

"Sweetheart, I'm really very sorry but there are some things I have to correct you on. I never disrespected you, however, there is a good chance I didn't show you the respect you deserved, and that was a mistake on my part. Whilst at company functions, I let others disrespect you. Not openly, but by the way they treated you. You have pointed that out over the last few years. I have ignored you at those functions, and to my shame, you are correct. I concentrated on others and not you and the children. I got it wrong, sorry.

"I have not forgotten about how you supported me through university, in those early years and everything you've done for me and the children these past 8 years. But I let it get pushed to the back of my mind as I concentrated on the job. That was a mistake. I never once forgot our plans for travelling. And I've worked hard to get a decent salary, pension and savings so we could do that earlier.

"But probably my biggest mistake was not listening to your warnings, you told me, I listened, but I did not hear. It's no excuse, but I was wrapped up with the job and I was thinking of our future, and I forgot our here and now."

"I talked to my parents last night, or rather they talked at me, and I now have two holes in my backside that I can shit through. They pointed out to me exactly what you've done for me. How you supported me over the years. How I ignored you recently, even they saw it and warned me, I ignored them too. But I was focused on making things right for our future."

"Yes, you have pictures of me and him holding hands, he told me a sad story, which, although I haven't checked, I suspect it's not true. Dancing with hands on my bum, you didn't see, but I moved them away. Sweetheart, that's the truth."

"I'm sorry sweetheart, this is harsh, very harsh but I have to do it. I'm innocent of adultery until you can prove I've had sex with another man, or woman. I'm innocent until proven guilty. And you cannot prove me guilty because I know in my heart I have never had sex with another person. I'm sorry sweetheart but adultery is off the table. I know it doesn't matter what's on the divorce petition these days, but for my pride I cannot have adultery on it.

"The award ceremony where spouses weren't allowed was a lie. Gerald told me that, and I had no reason to disbelieve him until I got there. It took me a while to realise what had happened, then I realised he'd probably arranged this to try and have sex with me. I can't be sure, but I feel like he did. He has never done anything untoward for the last two years so I felt safe with him. The photographs you saw were taken in the early part of the evening. I don't know if the hotel keeps the CCTV recordings along the corridor, if they do you'll see me go into my room at 9:30 and not leave until eight the next morning, nobody else enters the room or leaves it. I don't know if it's available, but I've asked Philip to try and get them."

"I will admit I could have done things a lot better, I remember you telling me and talking to me. And I look back with fondness at the times you showed me those motorhomes with all the new gadgets. It would be our small home on wheels."

She took a deep breath. "This is personal, but yes, the sex was guilty sex because I'd realised I wasn't giving you enough attention, but honestly sometimes I just didn't have the energy or the inclination, so I tried to make it up to you when I did, sorry for saying this in public.

"And finally, I do not want to divorce."

She seemed to sag where she stood.

"Why didn't you just tell me he lied to you, what were you hiding. If you had just been honest with me and told me he lied to you, most of this shit wouldn't have happened, what did you want to hide?"

"There was nothing to hide. Sorry sweetheart, if I'd told you he lied, you would have asked why and I would have had to tell you that I thought he wanted to have sex with me. I think he tried to do that that evening. I went to my room to get away from him. But it's only my word against his, unless we can get the recordings. And if I had told you, you'd gone all Rambo on him and ended up in prison. And I couldn't risk that." She was probably correct on that point.

She looked at the CEO and the lawyer. "Gerald did help me, a lot. But now I suspect he just wanted to steal my ideas for his own benefit and to have sex with me. That was never going to happen.

"I admit I could not have done half of what I did without Gerald's help and guidance." She pointed at me. "But I could have done none of it, abso-fucking- lutely none of it without that man's support and love. If anyone needs an award, it's him. I can't promote him because he is already number one in my heart." She looked at me. "I am so very sorry sweetheart."

A little late, and to a limited audience, but exactly what I wanted.

With that she took an envelope from her handbag and slid it across the table to the CEO. "If the only way I can save my marriage is to leave your company, then that is what I'll do. Here is my resignation, two weeks' notice. You'll still have Gerald for the project and I will use the time to bring Julie up to speed with everything l can. I'm sorry to leave you in a mess with the project, but my marriage is much more important."

She looked at me and said, "I'm sorry sweetheart, can we rescind the restraining order so I can come home, please."

"I'll think about that, but I have a question. Why did he lie about spouses not being allowed at the conference?" I had an idea what it was. I'm sure most of us did but I wanted to hear it.

Phillip spoke up "Ah, that's the reason Gerald is here, it appears it's something he conjured up. If it's OK with you, we'll invite him in to let him explain." I nodded my assent.

Gerald had obviously been briefed. He started off straight away by saying that he formulated the lie because he wanted to spend some time with Cheryl, so they could work better together if they knew more about each other. It was for the benefit of the project. His intentions were honourable. But that was when he stopped.

He was obviously angry; his livelihood and his marriage were probably in danger if this went sideways. And it was down to a little scribbler like me, someone he looked at as if I was dog shit on the bottom of his shoe and he was not happy being questioned by me.

"But why?" I asked.

"She is smart and intelligent. I wanted to pick her brains so we could formulate a plan to take them forward, and it was the ideal time to do it without interference." He looked a little sheepish. "Ideas that would help both of us." I wasn't sure I believed the last bit, but I let it go.

"That's bollocks! You had plenty of time to do that at work, that's the time for it, not a conference in a swish 5-star hotel. So again, why?" I asked.

"Why what? I've just told you."

"I don't believe you. Why did you want to spend time with my wife? Just to say you want to spend time with my wife is not an excuse enough to lie to her."

"I just thought it would be nice. I like her." He was getting more and more agitated, good.

"But you spend almost every day together, I'm sure it's not always talking about work. So why do you want to spend time with my wife? And let me warn you if I think you lied to me, everything goes back to zero, and the charges against the company will stand. And we will let the investigation that it brings up work it out and that will mess up your prospects."

"I just wanted to get to know her better, that's all."

"So, it wasn't just to spend time with a beautiful woman?"

He was kind of trapped now. "Yes, she is beautiful."

"So, it wasn't a ploy to get her away so you could have sex with her then"

He raised his voice. "No, I wouldn't do that." He was going red in the face.

"So, you don't want to have sex with her then?" I said in a slow calm measured way trying to annoy him.

"No, I'm married."

"So then why did you lie to her then? You lied to her so you could go away and talk about things that you would normally talk about at work. Doesn't seem right to me. Did you have another reason to lie to her?"

He was getting flustered now. His face was getting redder. Apart from the bruise, that was already purple.

"Were you hoping to have sex with her, were you going to drug her, or blackmail her?"

"No, of course not." He was indignant at that.

"OK then again, why did you lie to her?"

"I just wanted her to take on some of my ideas." That was a new one. He was struggling now.

"As I said you don't need to go to a posh hotel, you could have done that at work in your office or hers. I think that's bollocks."

"I didn't want any interruptions, they upset the train of thought."

"Like music and dancing don't upset the train of thought."

He just spluttered at that.

"Or did you want to steal her ideas? Thinking the best place was in a hotel with no witnesses."

"No, it was just a chat about ideas we had, a sharing."

"Sharing like holding hands, dancing close and groping her backside, can't do that at work, can you?"

"I was just being friendly." He felt himself being backed into a corner.

"So, from sharing ideas to being friendly to groping her bum."

"She's from outside the business, she sees things differently. She is unique, she has brilliant ideas."

"And you wanted to steal them."

"No, you don't do that." He looked flustered.

That was when the CEO piped up. "Actually, it does happen, you just don't get caught. And you have been. I had a chat with her team. You've not come up with an original idea in years. The whole of the last campaign came mainly from Cheryl and the two lads. Nothing constructive from you."

His face went bright red. Everyone in that room knew the real reason he had lied to her, it was just getting him to admit it.

"So again, the real reason you lied to her was so you could try to have sex with her, wasn't it?"

"No." He said in a quiet voice.

"You wanted to have sex with her didn't you." The CEO asked.

"YES!" He snapped.

"And you lied to her to get her there alone just so you could have sex with her?" I added.

"YES!" He shouted again. "Who wouldn't, she's sexy, smart, intelligent everything my boring, frumpy old woman isn't. And she's married to a boring bastard like you, sat in your office scribbling away at stuff nobody's interested in."

That was when I noticed Phillip's face turned into a nice puce colour, I think he just lost his argument.

"So, you lied to her to take her away to try and have sex with her?"

He shouted again. "Yes for fucks sake. who wouldn't?" And I think he realised what he had just said.

I turned back to Phillip. "That's a case of sexual harassment. And I think the charge of toxic work environment and sexual harassment is back on the cards don't you."

The colour of his face was still off, he was looking at Gerald, not me. Then he did something I was not expecting, he turned towards Gerald and said quietly. "Your wife is my best friend's daughter."

I think Gerald just realised what he'd admitted to.

Cheryl just sat there looking at him in disgust, she guessed what he wanted, but to hear him say it was different.

Then she started on him. "You told me I had to praise you, and that would look good for both of us if I acknowledged the help you gave me. You said if I mentioned Harold, it would demean you. And yes, you did help me and I appreciate that but that was just an end to a means, wasn't it? You wanted to look good and now it appears you wanted to steal my ideas as well."

He just nodded his head.

I looked at the CEO and Phillip. "May I suggest you go back into his history to see if anybody else has had sexual harassment cases against him brushed under the carpet?"

I looked at my solicitor and asked. "Can we rescind the restraining order?"

He said. "Yes, all you have to do is both sign this agreement. I will get it registered with the courts straight away. It will take 24 hours to get it signed off."

He pulled out a draught he had ready because I was hoping this was the way it was going to go.

It was quiet around the table almost as if no one knew what to do next. Whilst we were sitting there I said to Cheryl. "The gentleman that came to you and gave you the envelopes had two, the buff one with the divorce papers and a red one. Had you recognised my help and not that knob, he would have given you the red one." With that I slipped the red envelope out of my pocket and across the table.

Cheryl opened it to find two tickets for a Caribbean cruise in three months' time. They had 'cancelled' scribbled across them. She burst into tears.

There were still stunned faces around the room, but as far as I was concerned the meeting was over.

As we got up to leave Cheryl said to my solicitor. "Is it alright if I give him a hug, I need to feel him again."

"I can't see a problem with that as long as Harold agrees." I held my arms out and she leapt into them, she put her face next to my ear and whispered. "I love you, I'm so very sorry. But now I'm out of a job. Can you rebook those tickets?"

"I'll see what I can do?" We separated and they left. That was when I noticed Gerald was no longer there. My solicitor shook my hand and said. "I assume you don't want to proceed with the divorce?"

I nodded and added. "Or against the company. Let them sort their own mess out."

He carried on. "By the way, they have offered to pay my fees as recompense to you. But I have to be careful. I don't want to be seen to be taking sides, but now the situation is resolved I can't see a problem, can you?"

I smiled at him. "Now I'm not selling the house, that might be a good idea."

We didn't wait for the courts to get the paperwork, Cheryl slipped into our house and into our bed just after it got dark. I had to tell her to stop saying she was sorry, and I made her promise to heed my warnings in future.

It didn't take as long as I expected. It was Thursday afternoon when I got a phone call from Phillip asking if we could have lunch the next day.

I was invited to a chat with Dennis, the CEO and Phillip, at a local restaurant, we were on first name terms now. But it was on the other side of town. I thought it was away from prying eyes. Lunch was good, I wasn't paying.

Dennis didn't beat around the bush, before the starter arrived, he said. "It hasn't taken us long, just a cursory search into Gerald 's background, whilst there is nothing concrete yet, it was well hidden. There is enough for a full investigation that he approached women for sex, or tried to seduce them. However, the board have already agreed he's to be let go after what he did to your wife, lying to her and trying to entice her into bed and stealing her ideas. We recorded the interview, we asked your man, he has a copy." He paused. "This now gives us a problem as we have nobody to run that section and there is still the big project. The company stands to lose millions. We would like to promote Cheryl directly to her into Gerald's position to complete the project, not have the interim promotion. We have a plan to promote Julie to replace her. There is a lot riding on this. After that she can pick her own hours and tasks if she succeeds in this project. This is a little strange, we shouldn't be asking you, but to be fair, we think we need you on our side to get her to stay with us to finish this project." He seemed to have forgotten she had resigned.