Editor's note: this story contains scenes of non-consensual or reluctant sex.
Brendon had decided that he and Eleanor should not remarry but he had to formulate a plan for what their relationship should be. To do this required serious discussion between them. Eleanor's happiness at their renewed relationship made it difficult for Brendon to introduce the subject. Despite their romantic re-acquaintance Brendon's lack of trust due to the infidelity that drove them apart was probably justified.
He darkly dwelt upon what he needed to do but he had a dilemma. Now that they were back together he discovered he loved to make her smile. When Eleanor smiled his heart leapt. Conversely he hated to see her miserable. This was the crux of his uncharacteristic indecision about their future. Eleanor's happiness brought joy to Brendon. He could not bring himself to burst that bubble.
It was a turn of events that forced Brendon's hand but not in the direction he had been thinking.
There seemed to Brendon that Eleanor was becoming increasingly stressed about her work. When they met after work there was an intense relief in her manner. Her wish to immerse herself in her family and Brendon was manifested with a certain puzzling desperation.
Detecting a problem, Brendon's thoughts turned from how to extricate himself from the partnership to genuine concern for Eleanor's well-being. Something was up. Whether he was conscious of it or not, he felt it in his heart, his instinctive duty was to be Eleanor's protector. A threat to Eleanor was a threat to his family.
Eleanor's recruitment to the position at the hospital had rested on two particular positions she had previously held.
The first was the one that Brendon had secretly helped procure for her. It allowed her to complete her MBA while working on the job with a mentor at the top of his game. But more importantly it exposed her to dealing with structural change and ethical conduct in the workplace. She was largely thrown in the deep end and it forced her to innovate. Her pioneering work in the commercial sector lead her back to university as visiting lecturer and tutor based on her own published papers.
The second position was that she held immediately prior to her joining the hospital. The success of her work resulted in a degree of publicity in the commercial press culminating on her achieving a business award.
On top of this, her personal motivation was driven by two other experiences that supported her confidence and self-belief leading ultimately to her approach. One was the lecture Brendon gave her when he kicked her out of home. Eleanor remembered every detail of that lecture and had taken it to heart.
The other was Brendon's Mother Grace who had supported her all the way, was her collaborator and sounding board, her agony aunt and cheer leader, if not her lover.
The hospital board had appointed a new CEO, Laetitia Dillon. There had been a series of scandals and negative publicity about sexual harassment and bullying. The pressure was on the CEO to clean up the act. With restructuring already underway there was a lot of nervousness and angst among the staff. Sackings and layoffs had threatened the whole process.
The restructuring had not been popular and the board was split to whether what was being done was tackling the root cause of the culture that the Board were publically accused of.
The Letitia Dillon was apparently aware of Eleanor's reputation. She promoted Eleanor to the Board as someone with the ability to tackle the hospitals challenges. She was head hunted and enticed onto the staff with an exceedingly generous package. With the package came the expectations of a favourable result.
However tensions still existed between the board, and particularly its chairman, Sir Jason Sutherland, and the executive. Eleanor quickly gathered that there was an uneasy relationship between Laetitia and Sutherland. It was known that the Chairman was not in favour of recruiting Eleanor. Although he had strong supporters on the board he was narrowly outvoted largely due to the advice of the executive. It was said that the chairman hated Eleanor from the start.
Sutherland, along with his allies on the board, were part of a block of political appointees. The split was between them and the group who were on the board as a result of the public vote.
Sutherland was a product of a hardnosed commercial world. He was known as a 'hard man' of business. His knighthood was to services to the commercial sector.
Sutherland was aggressive and dictatorial. His mode of operation was restructuring and splitting enterprises, selling assets and moving on. Although not normally associated with healthcare he had achieved some success with a restructure of a private healthcare group and his reputation gained him appointment as chairman of the public hospital Board.
To his peers in business it was generally considered that Sutherland was past his prime. Business ventures of late had not been successful. His type of business approach was not as successful as it had once been. On top of this he was an alcoholic which was beginning to affect his acumen. The board position seemed an ideal sinecure, but it was not in Sutherland's nature to idly treat it as such. Given the reigns of possible power he was going to use it.
That said, he retained powerful friends and had considerable resources at his disposal. He could not be taken lightly. He was competitive, even with his own staff and peers. He regarded Eleanor's recruitment as a personal defeat and Eleanor as a threat. He regarded her presence as unfinished business which he was determined to resolve.
He had an even darker side. He was a well-known philanderer. He liked to describe himself as a ladies man and he was also onto his fourth all-suffering wife. Curiously his wives stuck by him even when they were cast aside. Perhaps he took care of their needs. There were rumours of scandals but he was protected by his friends and the resources he could bring to bear.
The elected group on the board were aware of his reputation but could not prove anything tangible. They regarded him as central to the culture of sexual harassment and corruption they were trying to turn around. In the business world there were signs of winds of change. Sutherland was emerging as a dinosaur to the new generation and the attitudes of his ilk were no longer tolerated as they once were. Others on the board and executive were afraid of the political fall-out if he was to be exposed, yet they were obliged to somehow remove his influence and the culture it fostered.
This was the nature of the person that hated Eleanor and was determined to do what he could to fail her cause.
For six months Sutherland seemed to ignore her. Knowing she came with a reputation he was using the time to size her up. Then it came a time that Sutherland began to take an interest in Eleanor; in fact he became uncharacteristically friendly. Prior to this he had been quietly blocking her initiatives where he could but it was clear she was having some success at grass root levels. He had decided it was time to act.
He was not only being friendly but Eleanor was conscious of him beginning to subtly hit on her. Eleanor was aware of Sutherland's reputation with women. It was reckoned that some of those laid off had been given generous soft redundancy packages to get them out of the way. She also suspected that there were women she was working with that would have some kind of relationship with him that could undermine her position.
Wherever Sutherland's new found interest in Eleanor was leading, she was adamant that this should not derail her recovering relationship with Brendon. Brendon on becoming conscious of her work stress quizzed her on what had been happening. He guessed that Sutherland might have a part to play in this. He knew why Eleanor had been appointed and he knew what Sutherland's views were on that.
She knew by hard experience that courage, trust and integrity were the biggest issues that motivated Brendon and was his expectation of others including Eleanor. Although nothing overt had happened to date there was a line she must hold. Drawing on what Brendon had told her in the past, she wanted him as ally-in-chief, advisor and closest confidante. Eleanor opened up on this new ominous direction being taken by Sutherland.
Her candour impressed Brendon. Furthermore she was willing to accept Brendon's help in tackling the issue. Eleanor's cause became their shared cause.
From then on Brendon was Eleanor's. No thought was given from that time to Brendon extricating himself from their reconciliation.
* * * * *
It was within the next couple of weeks that Sutherland began to up the tempo. He began dropping hints about maybe going to dinner or for drinks. Eleanor would sidestep these. Eleanor's smart move was to create a diary of such events and share this with Brendon so that he was fully apprised of developments. Eleanor was sure that his behaviour was leading to something bigger. She knew he wanted her out of the way and the leopard would not have changed his spots.
To keep the issue out of the home Brendon and Eleanor decided to meet each Wednesday at lunch to discuss developments.
A surprise development occurred when she publically received roses at her desk from him on her birthday. This was definitely out of character. He began giving her little gifts especially when he returned from travelling. Considering what Eleanor was employed to do, Sutherland was using this tactic to force her into an apparent compromised position. This could only have been strategically deliberate.
