The next day Julie reported to Mr. Halstrom and told him that her meeting with Hall had gone about as well as it could have under the circumstances. Obviously, she didn’t mention anything that had gone on between them. Nor did she tell her boss that Hall had called her that morning and told her that he didn’t want her wearing a bra or panties whenever they met. Mr. Halstrom mentioned to Julie that he and Hall would be meeting this very morning to discuss the submission. He wanted Julie to be available in case Hall wanted to meet with her.
Julie went back to her office in a bit of a frazzle. She didn’t expect that Hall would be in the office that day, but she was too afraid of Hall’s reputation as a cut throat to not abide by his wishes. On the way back to her office she stopped off at the ladies room and took off her bra and panties. She looked in the bathroom mirror and saw that the sheer blouse was not made to be worn without a bra. Her big melons swayed and jiggled with her every move and the nipples stuck right through the thin material. Carrying the two pieces of underwear in her hand, Julie made her way quickly back to the safety of her office avoiding any hall or aisle that had any employees of Halstrom and Gray. Once safely within the confines of her office, she put on her suit coat to cover her nearly naked breasts.
Julie tried to work as the morning progressed, but she found herself unable to concentrate. She found that the meeting between Halstrom and Hall had already started and she wondered what Hall had told Halstrom about their meeting the day before. After what seemed an eternity, Halstrom called Julie on the intercom and told her that Hall wanted to meet with her in her office. Of course, Julie told him to come right over.
Julie sat nervously behind her oversized desk, trying to look as calm as possible. Soon enough there was a knock at the door and Julie’s secretary showed Hall into the office. To Julie’s relief, there was another man who followed Hall into Julie’s office. Hall told the man to shut the door to Julie’s office and then introduced the man as George Meyers, a friend of his that worked with the regulating body that had found the problems with the submission. Now Julie wished that she had kept her bra on, but nevertheless, she smiled nicely at the man and extended her hand to shake his.
He looked to be the typical government nerd, poorly dressed and poorly groomed, but holding a great deal of sway because of his position. His greasy hair was a bit too long and his glasses were about a decade out of style. Julie also noticed that his pants were probably purchased when his waist was a 34 instead of the 40 that he now required. As a result, his belly hung over his belt in a gross manner. He was probably in his mid fifties and looking forward to a government pension after his retirement.
Hall politely told Julie that he wanted to take a bit of her time.
Julie buzzed her secretary. “Hold my calls until after my meeting with Mr. Hall and Mr. Meyers.”
Hall began the meeting.
“George here suggested that we meet completely off the record and informally to gauge just what our position is and where we stand with the submission.”
The bureaucrat nodded seriously.
“I told him that since the submission was entirely your work that we should include you in the meeting.”
Julie recognized Hall’s subtle placement of responsibility. She wondered whether she should even be talking to Meyers if they were considering criminal charges, but she decided that not talking to him would be viewed as an admission of concern on her part about her work. She decided that the best course of action was to go ahead and meet as if nothing was wrong.
The three people discussed the situation for about half an hour. At that point, Julie was nearly sick to her stomach. Hall’s companies could lose millions of dollars if the submission was delayed and the result would be catastrophic if it was denied. And if there were criminal charges made, the financial problems would look like a minor problem in comparison.
George was so mealy mouthed about the prospects of remedying the submission that Julie’s heart dropped. According to the fat bureaucrat, it wasn’t up to only him. Even if he agreed to try and fix the problem, he’d have to get others to agree as well. And his merely approaching the others involved might raise a red flag that he was trying to circumvent the rules. It could mean a loss of his job, even if he agreed to try. Julie’s heart beat rapidly as her hopes sank with his every word.
During the meeting, Julie was aware that Hall shifted in his chair constantly and that he appeared to grow more and more agitated with the meeting. Clearly this was not what he wanted to hear from Meyers. Finally, as if he could stand it no longer, Hall appeared to abruptly end the meeting.
“George, Julie here knows how bad our situation is. She knows it’s her fault. She knows that Halstrom and Gray could fold if this serious breach of her obligations as a lawyer is exposed. What I’ve got to find out is how the fuck we get your folks to allow us to resubmit or reapply or whatever the fuck we need to do. How do we get to your folks? As far as Julie goes, she’s on board to do whatever we need done to remedy this, aren’t you, Julie?”
