She stopped far short of her explicit confession to James, but offered some telling details of Eric's harassment that finally led her to call the police the night of their breakup. She told him of Eric's refusal to accept their breakup, including his attempts to bring her back into his control by finagling a job here at the bank a second time.
As she talked, she glimpsed a sheen of sweat rising beneath the pale strands of Cadwallader Jones's thinning hair.
By the time she finished with Eric's attempt to rape her in the conference room down the hall the day before, the secretary was no longer taking notes but simply staring at her. Finally, she reported the threats Eric had made against her employer if she told anyone about his actions yesterday.
When she was done, Cadwallader Jones steepled his fingers, elbows locked by his sides, and asked her three questions.
"Can you corroborate your statements?"
"Do you understand the seriousness of what you have revealed, because some of it could be considered criminal?"
"What do you expect in return for your reportage?"
She answered without hesitation.
Yes, she pulled from her purse itineraries of their trips, with ticket information for the flights with Eric, and even receipts for some of the gifts he'd bought. But he need not take only her word for it. "Ask Doris Butler. I overheard her say last week that I'm not the first woman Mr. Coates has taken on his trips.
"And yes, I understand I have implicated Mr. Coates, and possibly myself, in what could be criminal offenses. But I did not understand that what Eric was doing was illegal until recently. He always said the trips were our little secret, so other employees wouldn't be jealous. But last night when I pulled out the paperwork I'd kept I noticed Eric never paid for a single thing. It was always charged to this bank, or a customer. I never handled or took any funds from the bank, or Eric.
"Finally, I don't want Logital Solutions to suffer for my actions. I take full responsibility. I do want the harassment to stop and for everyone to know what an asshole Eric Coates is. And, though you didn't ask, it's important for me to say it. I didn't know Mr. Coates had a fiancée. Poor woman."
"Amen," the secretary murmured under her breath.
* * *
The elevator doors whooshed open onto the main floor. Ahead of Shay three men were trying to wedge a twenty-foot live Christmas tree through the double doors of the lobby. There was already a stand erected for it in the center of the marble floor. It smelled heavenly of deep woods growth and the tarry turpentine that reminded her of the holidays. It would be lit Thanksgiving week, she had been informed in the Monday-morning bulletin. She wouldn't be around to see it.
She took her seat and picked up her earphones. Only then did she glance at the clock. It was 10:17 A.M. Cadwallader Jones had directed her to resume her job until further notice. How long would it take until others knew what she'd done?
It did not take long.
At twenty minutes to eleven, Doris Butler, Eric's executive assistant, came up to Shay's desk, clutching a cardboard box of belongings. Her face bore a hectic complexion of anger barely contained. "Spreading lies that cost me my job. How dare you!"
Shay looked up slowly in answer to the angry whisper. "You covered for your boss, didn't you? You made all his arrangements. Knew what was going on. I only told the truth."
"Shut up! You, you just shut your vicious mouth!" Doris raised her hand as if to deliver a blow.
Shay stood up, narrowing her eyes. "You touch me and I'll take you to the floor."
The older woman's eyes widened and she began to back away. She turned, her shoulders hunched as if expecting a blow from behind, and hurried toward the exit.
Laughter gurgled up out of her that Shay couldn't completely still with the hand she pressed to her lips. She was close to seriously losing it. There was nothing remotely funny about what she'd done, or what might happen to her as a result.
You won't get away with this. Eric will see to that.
Shay sat down, fear trickling in behind her amusement. What had she set in motion?
Exactly nineteen minutes later, Eric burst out of the elevator.
He came straight toward her, nearly knocking over one of the men who was gauging whether the Christmas tree was straight in its stand.
"Excuse me. I need to put you on hold for a moment." Not waiting for a reply from her customer, Shay pushed the hold button and rose to her feet just as Eric reached her.
His eyes were half crazy with rage. His lips were bloodless. He came right up to her, skirting the desk until they were a foot apart.
"You calculating little slut!" His voice was low but his eyes were bloodshot with the strain of containing his rage. "You're trying to fuck me over. I won't let that happen."
Shay flinched with every word. It was as awful as if she had not tried to prepare herself for his reaction. She grabbed the edge of the desk with both hands to steady herself.
"You should have listened to me when I said we were over. You gave me no choice."
His eyes widened way past pissed off. For a second she thought he would, unlike Doris, actually try to strike her. But then he seemed to realize where he was. He was a senior bank official. Customers were watching, even if they couldn't hear the exchange.
"You think you've won? You have no idea of the size of the shitstorm that's about to dump on you. Cadwallader Jones and my father are fraternity brothers. I fucked up bad, but that isn't how it's going to end. I won't be bested by a little bitch with a GED and secrets that make her cry at night. I will find a way to destroy you."
Shay blinked back the insult. "Fuck off, Eric."
He leaned in but Shay refused to back up. "This isn't over," he breathed in her ear. And then he swung away and left through the main doors.
Shay sat down hard, her breath coming in little gasps.
Doris's threat hadn't moved her. But the anger in Eric's voice had chilled her in a way no sweater could insulate against.
DIE CUNT.
The crude, ugly words carved into her car door seemed etched in her mind.
Did his latest threat mean he would ratchet up the harassment? No, he couldn't afford to be caught doing that now that she'd gone public with his treatment of her. Even if he didn't totally believe her side of it, Cadwallader Jones would be bound to look into the story she'd told him this morning. She only had to ride out the storm. The lightning and thunder couldn't touch her now because she'd taken shelter in the truth.
It took a few more seconds for the stares of the customers in the lobby to penetrate her awareness. Eric was gone, blown through the exit like an expensively clothed tornado. Every person in the lobby was staring at her.
For an instant the world swooped down to pinpoint size, a prick of light in a black field.
She was sixteen, in the bleachers. Everyone was laughing …
And then the scope of her vision widened again, the room brighter than before.
She was twenty-six years old. In a bank building where she worked. Everyone who wanted to judge her for standing up for herself could go straight to hell.
Shay sat back down, picked up her earphones, and pushed the answer button on the next call.
Ten minutes later, Cadwallader Jones came into the lobby with one of the bank's security personnel. Together they watched as she gathered her things, picked up her purse, and then escorted her to the door.
* * *
"I don't know what to say, Shay."
Perry Deshezer stared at his employee as if a whole new being had emerged through her skin.
"I don't expect you to forgive me. What I did was unprofessional and unethical. But Eric put me through hell this last year. I couldn't let him get away with it anymore."
Perry rubbed his bald head absently. "I've known for some time you weren't happy but I, none of us, ever guessed the cause. Why didn't you say something?"
She shrugged. "At first I thought it was all my fault. Later, I didn't think anyone would believe me."
"What will you do now? Do you think Mr. Cadwallader Jones will press the issue with you?"
"The last thing he said to me was that my services, professional and otherwise, were no longer required. And that he hoped I would find other opportunities for employment soon. I hope that means he plans to take care of things himself."
Perry raised his brows. "In that case, it's my turn."
Shay bit her lip. She knew what was coming. That's why she'd come here instead of going home to sulk. "I'm fired."
"That's not even remotely on my mind. I think what you did was a brave thing. I wish you had told me what was going on sooner. I'd have backed you up, Shay."