Doctor Katherine Ding entered the examination room and warmly introduced herself to her patient. She sat down, clipboard in hand, and began asking him a series of generic health questions. She took notes. Without moving her eyes from her clipboard, she felt his gaze on her.
She realized that wearing a blouse with two buttons open was somewhat unprofessional, lab coat or not. However, the summer heat demanded at least some measure of comfort. Hopefully, he didn't mind the tease. And if he was healthy enough to be lusting after his doctor, that was a good sign.
Katherine left him momentarily to go print something for him. She found the printer on a desk in a busy hallway. As she waited for the documents, her cellphone buzzed in her coat pocket. She fished it out and saw a message from an unknown number. She opened it to a thumbnail of a video with several naked men standing around something.
Strange, but ok
. It wouldn't be the first time she took a porn break at work.
She started the video. The camera circled around the crowd of naked men to the center of attention. A young woman was crouched on a table being spitroasted by two men. One man was hammering into her from behind with hard, fast strokes, while the other held the woman's face onto his pelvis. Her mouth was wrapped around his cock, and she gave muffled moans as the other man plowed her. The crowd of men stood stroking their cocks, waiting for their turn with her. The cameraman swept the woman's hair aside, exposing her face to the camera. Katherine recognized her 18-year-old self.
Oh God.
She immediately clacked the phone face-down on the desk. This was THAT video.
Fuck Fuck FUCK!
She had tried to leave her slut days behind when she graduated college about a decade ago. She had told herself that if anyone had footage and wanted to use it against her, they would've done it by now. She had tried to convince herself that this wouldn't be an issue. People make mistakes all the time, right? Nothing happens to
them
. She thought she could slip by like it never happened. And yet...
Her phone buzzed again. Another message from the same sender.
'Does your family know about this?'
This bastard.
She texted back: 'Who is this?'
They responded: 'Conference room. 4pm today. Don't be late.'
She had all of nine seconds to process before another message came through:
'Wear that blouse. It looks good on you.'
She dropped her phone as she instinctively crossed her arms over her chest. She sheepishly looked around--her colleagues were going about their business, seemingly oblivious to her crisis. She didn't notice when her documents had finished printing. She straightened herself, picked up her phone and her documents, and turned to leave right before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She nearly jumped out of her lab coat as she turned to see the young intern looking up at her. Gina stood dressed in a black blazer, matching business skirt, and a cream-colored dress shirt buttoned up to the collar.
"Are you okay, Doctor?" Gina asked her.
"I'm fine," Katherine said. "I just- you startled me."
"You looked like you were having a panic attack. Do you need anything?" Gina asked.
"No, I... I just got some bad news over the phone. I'll be okay," Katherine responded with an involuntary quiver in her voice.
Gina's worried expression did not change.
"If you say so... Let me know if you need to talk."
Gina left Katherine alone to collect herself. She took a deep breath that only partially eased her anxiety, and returned to her patient.
***
Katherine stood outside the door of the conference room at 3:58 pm, hesitating, questioning herself, stalling until someone jumped out and said this was all just a stupid prank. She knew that nobody was coming to save her. It was too late to get the law involved. Even if she did, who would she go after?
She fidgeted, racking her mind for any excuse to not walk through that door into whatever shitstorm awaited her. What if she just walked away? Could she handle being known as a slut by everyone she knew? Would her career survive? Would her family survive?
4:00 pm. She was out of time.
Goddammit.
She turned the knob, slowly opened the door, and stepped inside. The conference room was furnished with five long, rectangular tables that were roughly arranged in a U shape. Behind the table at the opposite end of the room sat three men, watching her. When Katherine recognized the man in the middle, her heart sank and she realized she was in deep shit. David Forsyth, Regional Director of Signal Health Southwest, her boss' boss, was here. He was flanked by two nurses, one on each side. David gestured for her to enter.
"Please have a seat, Doctor," he commanded.
Katherine gently shut the door behind her and sat in the empty chair before the table, directly across from David. She recognized the two nurses flanking David, both dressed in medical scrubs as if plucked from their shifts to attend this meeting. On David's right was Thomas, a dark-skinned man with dark brown eyes and facial stubble. She had worked alongside him a few times--often enough to notice his comforting bedside manner with his patients. He had a way of making people feel safe. She could only hope he was here to mitigate this situation. On David's left was Jack, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man with whom she had worked only once. They had only a passing acquaintance.
The director himself was an older man--in his late 40s by Katherine's estimation--with grizzled, greying facial hair. He wore a grey blazer with polished brass cufflinks, and a white dress shirt unbuttoned at the collar. He studied her with light brown eyes. His gaze weighed on her with an aura of authority that went beyond his job title. Katherine could barely meet his eyes.
"I don't think we've met in person," he began. "David Forsyth. Nice to meet you."
"Katherine Ding," she nodded in response, forcing a smile.
David nodded.
"I've heard good things about you. You receive high marks for the care you provide to your patients. I commend you for that."
"Thank you," Katherine replied. She didn't let herself relax fully--she knew he didn't call her in just to praise her.
"Now, it's come to my attention that there's some... risquΓ© content about you. Can you explain that?" David asked.
Katherine swallowed.
"I... did something stupid in college over a decade ago. I was a dumb, 18-year-old freshman. I don't remember agreeing to being recorded."
David was silent for a moment, and then shrugged.
"Well, you can take legal action if it gets published online. Regardless, the content presents a liability to this branch."
"
If
it gets published online? Are you saying it isn't?" Katherine asked.