"Alice, I suppose I don't need to explain to you why I have asked you in here," I said despairingly.
Alice looked worried about what was coming. Normally when she came in to my office she was smiling, enthusiastic, delighted to tell me about how she was getting on or to receive praise from me for her latest work.
Alice was one of our brightest and best employees, our first graduate trainee. At 22, she was our youngest employee, and also our first female employee. An attractive blonde, she received a lot of attention from the six guys who worked for the firm, and didn't seem to mind.
I had been a bit concerned before she came to work at the firm, how she would fit in with an all male team, but she got on fine with everyone, and the fact that she had a boyfriend meant there was no danger of any work-based relationship starting up.
However, this was the third time over the past couple of months that I had had to invite her into my office over a slightly awkward situation. As three of the guys cycled to work, the previous year we had had a shower room installed, so that they could shower and get changed when they arrived at work.
As Alice didn't cycle to work, this hadn't posed a problem when she originally started at the firm. However, a couple of months ago she had been to the gym before work, then got a call about an urgent meeting, and had to hurry back without having time to shower at the gym. Later on that day she'd asked me if it would be OK for her to use the shower room at work; as all our cyclists had already showered for the day, I said it was fine.
After that, she had started using our shower room quite regularly, enjoying the privacy of that room over the communal showers at the gym. The room had a couple of open showers in it, and no lock on the door, as there had been no privacy issue when it was built and was only being used by guys. Now that Alice was using it too, we'd implemented a system where anyone wanting to use the room had to knock before entering.
Unfortunately this morning, for the third time, Alice had managed to walk in on one of the guys showering. She had already walked in on Derek, about six weeks ago, and on Rob about a month ago. And this morning it had been Chris who had been in my office complaining that she had got an eyeful of his naked body.
The first time, she admitted to me slightly red faced that she had totally forgotten to knock; she usually went in a bit later than the guys, so had got used to the room being empty. The second, she swore that she had knocked, though Rob insisted that she had not.
After Alice walked in on Rob, I installed a lock on the door, which had solved the problem up until now. However, my handiwork had been a bit shoddy, and the lock had started to stick. Therefore the previous day I had removed the lock, and called a professional, who was due to come over the next few days. I'd told Alice and the guys what I'd done, and reminded them that they should knock before they entered.
"I'm really, really sorry," Alice said. "I just totally forgot that the lock wasn't working. I just pushed the door like normal, it was unlocked, so I walked in."
"Alice, I did tell you yesterday," I said, not wanting to upset her, but keen to convey the seriousness of the situation.
"I know, I know, I just wasn't thinking," she replied.
"Listen, Alice, I don't want this to become a big problem, because you've done a great job here," I said. "But Chris was really upset this morning. I tried to calm him down, but he knows that you walked in on Derek and Rob as well, and he feels like you don't take it very seriously. He even said he thinks you might do it deliberately."
Alice looked genuinely shocked.
"I walked in on him on purpose?!" she exclaimed. "I've got a boyfriend! I don't want to see Chris naked!"
When Alice had walked in on Derek and Rob, I'd never thought for a second that it was deliberate. Both were much older than her, and hardly had film star good looks. But Chris was in his late 20s, and had even done a bit of modelling work in his spare time. Whilst I could see that the experience of walking in on overweight fifty-something Derek might have been as unpleasant an experience for Alice as it was for Derek, I wasn't sure that she would be all that upset at this morning's error. Besides...
"Chris says..." I wondered how to put it tactfully. "That you looked at his... penis."
Now Alice went bright red.
"I... well..."
I raised my eyebrows. Perhaps I was right.
"It was just... an instinctive reaction... you know..." she stuttered. "Just automatic - I didn't... want to see it!"
"Just to be clear, Alice," I said, starting to enjoy this a little bit now. "You admit that you looked at Chris' genitals?"
"Yes, but..."
"Yes or no?"
"Yes," she conceded.
"Alice, I have to tell you that Chris has made an official complaint about you," I continued.
"I'm... what does that mean?" she asked.
"I have to start our formal disciplinary procedures," I said.
"Will I... be fired?"
"I don't know," I conceded. "I really should have already passed the complaint to the CEO. It's his decision."
***
Later on that day, Alice was back in my office.
"Alec... if... is there any way I can stop this complaint going to the CEO?" she asked.
"No, I'm sorry," I said. "I really don't want to have to pass it on, but Chris is insisting."
"What if... what if Chris withdrew the complaint?" she asked.