Part 4
It had been two days since I had the really hard discussion with Trish, after my dinner with Donna and her friend, but it had to be done. I wasn't being fair to either Trish or myself. I couldn't keep living and sleeping with her without considering what that did to both of us. I knew exactly why she was doing it. She wanted me. She'd wanted me for years and now it was her chance. But it also wasn't fair. She was so much like Nancy that I wasn't sure if what I felt for her was
her
or was my memory of Nancy. The only way to know was to put her in the same place as Donna. I had to date them both. I couldn't be living with one and dating another. It was just confusing my emotions.
She agreed, tearfully, but agreed nonetheless to move out. We'd still talk every day. We had to, and I had to keep her informed on the dates. But I didn't want her there as a backup. If I was going to sort out my feelings for her, I needed to be able to invite her over when I felt it, not just have her there as a fallback. I knew she hoped she knew the eventual outcome, but at that point, I didn't. Hell, right then I was more confused about my feelings than ever in my life. I had very strong feelings for Donna, but had serious problems with how I could integrate into her life, or if that kind of life was even something I wanted. I felt like I had serious feelings for Trish, but did I? She looked and smelled and felt so much like my wife that I wasn't sure I wasn't just transferring what I lost to Trish.
Then there was Elizabeth. I'd gone and seen her Tuesday night and she'd thrown herself at me, literally. She related her story about her extremely difficult marriage, and how her husband had controlled her and used her as a sex toy, not only for himself, but his friends, nearly her whole marriage. The most difficult part though was hearing how he had been having sex with his own daughter for years, long before she was legal age, and how she defended dad when Elizabeth threatened to go to the police. I could see how hard it had been. I could also see how, being her friend, she'd felt like I was the one person she could confide in, seeing how I'd accidently stumbled onto her having sex with several of Donna's friends. It had been a shock to see her there, naked, having a climax at the hands and mouth of another woman. I had no clue that she and Donna even knew each other. What a small world, right?
Now that she and I had shared that little stunning revelation, and her story, it seemed that Lizzy, as she now wanted me to call her, had opened herself up to me in ways I didn't ever expect. In some ways it was anything but professional at work, but despite the under table foot touches and extremely sexy little office visits, we were still managing to maintain some professional decorum, at least in appearance to the others in the office. Or so I thought.
"Michael!" Julia said as she stepped into my office and closed the door behind herself. I looked up at the middle-aged HR specialist that I'd worked with several times over the last few years when filling positions on my engineering staff. The fact she came to see me was unusual, since I didn't have any open positions. The fact she closed the door behind herself made the visit doubly unusual. "Can I sit?" she asked politely.
"Sure," I said with a shrug. "What can I do for you? Do I have a personnel problem?"
"Actually, you do. You have an employee that has been noted as having some kind of personal relationship with another staff member here at the company. While it's not forbidden, since they aren't in the same chain of command, their displays of affection have raised some eyebrows and made a number of other staff uncomfortable."
"I see. Is HR going to take some action? Or am I supposed to sit down with this staff member?"
"Micheal. We know that it has been tough for you the last six months, losing your wife that way. We've given you all the room we can to allow you to heal. It would be enough to shake up any man's life. But two of the ladies in accounting, your secretary and one of the female electrical engineers have complained about the situation. Miss Esper and you are completely welcome to begin a personal relationship, but we would prefer it the two of you would be a little more discrete at work."
"I don't understand," I answered with complete confusion. It had only been a few days and I had done everything I could think of to discourage any displays of affection in any public setting, though I had been completely unable to curb Lizzy's extremely intimate comments and actions when we were in either one's offices.
"I'd hoped I didn't need to be this blunt. Miss Esper has been somewhat vocal about her descriptions of you in various states of undress, as well as discussions about how she, um, how she, uh, what she does when she comes into your office. In addition, on at least three occasions she has been noticed intentionally moving your hand into private places when she thinks no one can see."
"So I'm being reprimanded because she's-"
"She's clearly trying to get you to make sexual advances while at work, drawing your hand under her dress, flashing you her breasts, wearing clothing that can inadvertently flash her private parts at more people than just you."
I leaned back in my chair, stunned. "Have you talked with her about this?"
"That can be my next visit, unless you'd like to handle it yourself. I was somewhat concerned that she may not take it well, given that the direction of the, um, the, uh, um, given that she seems to be putting the moves on you, more than the other way around," she finally said, blushing. "Given the chance, I suspect this could easily escalate to where she was removing clothing or even having sex in one of your two offices."
"Oh lord."
"Yes."
"And someone complained?"
"I shouldn't say this, but yes, one of her engineers, two ladies from Accounting and finance, and, um, your secretary."
To say I was taken aback would be an understatement. These kinds of things at work could be career ending. I looked at her, trying to gauge what kind of trouble I was already in. I finally asked her quietly, "And they're uncomfortable with what has transpired and have filed a harassment complaint?"
"Actually, quite the opposite. I doubt they know that I am here because they have not made a formal complaint."
Now I was confused. If they hadn't complained, what was she doing here? "I definitely don't understand. Am I in some kind of trouble? Or Elizabeth?" I finally managed to ask.
"I'm here trying to head off an uncomfortable situation," she said, blushing again. "All four of these women have been overheard making comments, very suggestive comments, about trying to get their turn. Several gentleman employees have been overheard discussing various body parts that have been inadvertently flashed by Miss Esper. I'm afraid that the situation is going to get out of hand and become very unprofessional."
I looked at Julia for long seconds as she sat in the chair across my desk from me, her hands fidgeting in her lap as she looked down at them. I could still see the pink of her cheeks as she continued to blush in embarrassment at the discussion. "Does your boss know you're here?" I finally asked very quietly.
"Mrs. Wilson? No. I was trying to head this off before it got to her."
I nodded. Beginning to understand a little, or at least I thought I did. "Julia, are you embarrassed for me?"
"What? No."
"Are you embarrassed for Elizabeth?"
