He is such an asshole. If I didn't need this job, I'd quit...right after I kicked him in the balls, but I can't quit unless I can find something else and nobody is hiring. You'd think the owner of the company would see that we're not doing as well as before and fire him, but I guess being the owner's son in law means more than making a profit.
These were the thoughts Abigail had that afternoon. She had the same thoughts every day, usually all day long. So did the three other women in the office, well, except probably Wanda.
None of the women knew Wanda very well. She had only worked at the firm for a couple of months, and was a quiet woman who never joined in their conversations at lunch. Abigail supposed that was because Wanda felt a little inferior.
Wanda had no figure to speak of and she never used any makeup or did much with her hair. Mark never looked at her like he did the rest of the women in the office. He never talked to Wanda either except to assign her some particular task. Abigail didn't know which would be worse, being totally ignored every day or being stared at like she was a piece of meat.
It had started when Jerome retired. Jerome still owned the small accounting firm, but he'd put his son in law, Mark, in charge of Martin Accounting. Mark was a tall, handsome man and when Jerome introduced Mark to them they thought he might be a great boss. The second day they changed their minds.
Mark would come up to their desks with a question. He'd always stand behind them and lean over their shoulders when they showed him the reports. Beth was the first to figure it out.
"Mandy, you better button a couple more buttons. He's looking down your top at your boobs when he talks to you. "
Word got around then and Abigail saw it as well. It was winter then, so it was easy to wear a buttoned up sweater to keep Mark from seeing anything. When summer came, he fixed it so they would either let him look or die of the heat. He issued a memo saying he was setting the office thermostat to seventy-eight as a cost savings measure. It was either wear tops that bared a lot of skin or sweat through anything with sleeves or was buttoned to the neck.
That was also when the touching started. He'd be leaning over Abigail asking her something about a particular account. She'd feel his hand touch her shoulder, just for a second. A minute later he would reach over her shoulder to point to something on the report, and his elbow or upper arm would press into her breast. It wasn't an accident. Mark had to hold his arm at a weird angle to do it. She started watching him and realized he was doing the same thing to all the other women except Wanda.
They couldn't believe it when he started making suggestive statements. He usually apologized, as if that fixed anything, but they knew what he was doing. At lunch one day, they'd compared his last suggestive comments.
"He asked me if I'd bring my boobs to his office so he could look at them. I said, Mr. West, did you just say boobs? He just grinned at me and said he was sorry and that he meant to say books, but must have been thinking about something else. I know what he was thinking about."
"Well, this morning he asked if I liked double entry. I asked if he meant double entry bookkeeping. He said that's what he meant, and then he laughed and said unless it meant something else to me."
"I about died when he asked me if I had a clit he could use. I looked at him because I couldn't believe he'd actually said that. He just grinned and said, 'Did I say that? I'm sure I said clip, you know like in paper clip.'"
Abigail spoke up then.
"What he's doing is sexual harassment and it's illegal. We need to find a lawyer and sue him."
"You go right ahead, Abby, but leave me out of it", said Beth. "I'm not getting my name in the paper for something like that. I know a woman who did. Sue quit and sued the company. Now she can't find another job. There's always some reason like her qualifications aren't exactly what they're looking for or she doesn't have enough experience, but she has a CPA and she's worked as an accountant for ten years. The real reason is all the employers in town know her name. They're afraid if they hire her she'll sue them too. She's getting ready to move to another state."
Mandy sighed.
"We have to do something. I can't take much more of this."
"Much more of what?"
Wanda had just walked in with her lunch. That was a little strange, because Wanda always ate her lunch at her desk.
"Much more of being treated like his personal plaything. I've been stroked, had my boobs touched, and had him ask if I'd ride his dick for him. He didn't just come right out and say it that way. He just asked me if since I looked so good in jeans, had I ever thought about being a cowgirl. He said I looked like I'd be able to ride really well."
Wanda frowned.
"He can't say things like that, can he?"
"No, he can't, but he does it all the time to us", said Abigail. Doesn't he do it to you?"
Wanda smiled.
"Well, no...but then, I'm not ...I'm not sexy like you all are. He never says anything to me. It's like he doesn't even know I work here most of the time. I'm getting tired of that too."
Mandy sighed.
"Wanda, you should feel lucky. I don't feel sexy when he's saying stuff like that. I feel like a whore."
"Well don't let him hear that", chuckled Beth. "He'd probably like it."
About then, Mark walked into the break room, looked at the vending machine, and then turned to the women and grinned.
"I need to eat something. Any of you girls have any suggestions? I'll bet what you've got would taste great." Then, he bought a candy bar and walked back out chuckling to himself.
Beth rolled her eyes.
"Even when we're eating lunch. I wish there was a way fix him without having to file a lawsuit."
She grinned wickedly.
"Maybe we could tie him up and cut off his dick."
Mandy laughed.
"You'd actually touch his dick? Ugh."
They all giggled until Abigail interrupted them.
"As much fun as I'd get out of doing that, we can't do something like that to him. He'd just have us arrested for assault. All we could hope to do is get him to do something that would get him fired, and it would have to be something he agreed to do. We'd have to be able to prove he agreed to do it too or he'd just tell Jerome we tricked him. Then we'd get fired."
"Maybe we don't have to get him to agree", said Mandy. "We could record what he does on our cell phones and then show the videos to his wife. Maybe his wife would be mad enough she'd tell Jerome. The jerk might get divorced and fired at the same time. If I was married and found out my husband was doing what Mark does, I'd divorce him."
Abigail frowned.
"No, that won't work. I met his wife at the Christmas party. She thinks Mark is the salt of the earth. I've never seen a woman so infatuated with a man in my life. I sort of understand that though. His wife is skinny as a rail, no boobs and her butt is about the same size as her waist, and she's pretty plain in the face. She was probably amazed that he asked her to marry him and wouldn't believe he could do anything wrong.
"God, she'd have to be really dumb if she couldn't see through that", chuckled Beth. "I wonder how he treats her."
"Well, she didn't seem to be very bright, but then she was a little drunk, so I don't know for sure."
"She drinks?", asked Mandy.
Beth giggled.
"If you were married to him, wouldn't you?"
Abigail interrupted.
"She'd had a few, but she went on and on about what a great guy he is. He probably treats her like a queen. She's his ticket to owning this firm one of these days. He's an ass, but he's not stupid. He wouldn't want to mess that up."
Mark walked back into the break room then like he always did five minutes before their lunch break was over. It was his way of telling them to get back to work. The four women put away what was left of their lunches and went back to their desks.
