by Tabke, Karin
As she toweled off, Katy wondered what the protocol was, if there was one at all, for the morning after sexting and/or phone sex. Did one simply text a thank-you or did one call? Did one do both? Did one wait a day or two or did one send an immediate thank-you so as not to appear rude and ungrateful? Did one say thank you at all? Did one text for more sex or was that considered rude?
An hour later, still contemplating this bold new world she had stumbled into, Katy strode into her office. As she set her briefcase and purse down on her desk, her cell phone rang. Like Pavlov’s dog, she started to internally drool. Her hot-to-trotness came to an abrupt halt when she realized the call was from HR. What could they possibly want?
“Dr. Winslow,” Katy said, matter-of-factly.
“Good morning, Dr. Winslow, this is Ted Biel, HR Director at Genomtec—” the voice began. Genomtec was the pharmaceutical company that not only wrote her a hefty paycheck each month but funded her research grants.
“I know who you are, Mr. Biel, what can I do for you?” Katy had a mound of analysis reports to go through before lunch. If she started now, she’d be lucky to have them completed by lunch tomorrow.
“It’s imperative I speak to you in my office immediately.”
“Regarding?”
“It’s of a very sensitive nature, Dr. Winslow. Please, come immediately.”
A little warning bell began to ring in Katy’s belly. “Are you still located on the fifth floor?”
“Yes, room five-twenty-six. Just see yourself in, please.”
Katy tapped her phone to end the call. An unsettling feeling of doom skittered through her. If this had anything to do with Evan Scott, she was going to—what? Ruin him? If she did that, she’d reveal her bad behavior at the conference and stain her professional reputation. Kick his ass? Hardly. Tell his wife? It would serve him right, but it was not her business. Leaving her briefcase on her desk, she slid on her lab jacket, put her cell phone in the right-hand pocket, shut her office door, and proceeded to the appointed room.
The first person she saw when she opened the door was Dr. Veejay Shah, the brilliant CEO of Genomtec. Sitting next to him at the round table was a stern-faced wasp of a man, Ted Beil. Beside him was another man, dressed in a sober black suit, who didn’t make eye contact with her but instead raked her from head to toe with a withering stare as if appraising her mental assets by her physical ones. She immediately disliked him. But it was the man sitting on his left, Evan Scott, who gave her cause for pause. Venom radiated from him. He was a man on a mission to see her ruined.
Not one of them stood as a show of respect nor did any one of them offer her a chair. That feeling of doom intensified. Whatever she was there for, her fate was already determined, and it wasn’t looking good.
The word ambush occurred to her as she extended a hand to Dr. Shah. “Dr. Shah,” she said firmly, keeping her tone light but businesslike. Instead of trembling in her Louboutins, the same ones she’d fucked Simon and had her first orgasm in, Katy felt like she could take on the world. Smiling inwardly as if the shoes had the same power as Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Katy extended her hand to Mr. Biel while meeting him eye to eye. That took some nerve, considering what Biel probably knew about her.
“Dr. Winslow,” Biel said, turning to the suit. “This is Mr. Osborne, counsel for Genomtec.”
“Since when is an attorney required for an HR meeting?” Katy asked. “And why was I not afforded the same courtesy?” Damn if she was going to give them anything.
“Take a seat, Dr. Winslow,” Osborne said, disdain dripping from each of his words, “and I’ll explain.”
Katy eyed Evan coolly before moving past him and purposefully taking the seat directly beside him. It made everyone in the room uncomfortable, especially Evan. Good.
“What is so urgent that my work is interrupted?”
Mr. Biel looked at Osborne, cleared his throat, and opened a rather ominous looking black folder in front of him.
“Dr. Winslow, it has come to our attention that there has been a serious breach of contract on your part, and before we proceed with any action regarding the accusation, we wanted to speak to you first.”
Katy’s gut roiled, not in fear, but in anger. And embarrassment. The heat rising in her cheeks bore testament to that and it bothered her more than any blight on her record ever could. “By all means, explain.”
Mr. Biel cleared his throat again and began, “Dr. Scott has filed a complaint in which he claims you have repeatedly sexually harassed him, not only here in the workplace but also at the gym where you are both members, as well as at the symposium last week in San Diego.”
Katy smiled, causing the four sets of eyebrows around her to rise. She turned to the distinguished Dr. Scott. “Really, Evan?”
He nodded and instead of looking at her, he looked to the ceiling. “I warned you, Dr. Winslow, that if you didn’t stop, I would be forced to take action.”
“Hmm, and are you being forced to take action because I kicked your lying ass to the curb?”
The CEO coughed.
Completely composed on the outside, nerves churning on the inside, Katy nodded and, ignoring the smarmy attorney, looked first at the HR director and then to her boss. “Dr. Scott and I had a brief affair. It was mutual, and until he informed me in San Diego last week that he was married, I was under the impression I might marry the ass. Take that any way you want to. And for the record, Mr. Biel and Dr. Shah,” she looked at the contemptuous attorney with an equally contemptuous glare, “I have e-mails, texts, and yes, a few very explicit photos from and of Dr. Scott to support my claim that the relationship was not only consensual but that he was the one who pursued me.” She looked at Evan. “The best thing you ever did for me was man up and tell me you were married.” She stood. “Now, if you’re going to fire me, please do it posthaste. Otherwise, I have work to get back to.”
As Katy turned to exit, Evan stood. “She ‘borrowed’ my cell phone months ago. When I asked for it back, she said she lost it. The texts from that number were not from me. But from her trying to make it look like me.”
Katy’s gut clenched nervously. She had plenty of texts and e-mails. As she turned, he continued, “She hacked into my e-mail accounts and did the same thing.”
Turning fully around, Katy narrowed her eyes. “Why would I do that, Evan?”
“Because I shunned you.”
“Do you always ‘lend’ your cell phone to a stalker you want nothing to do with?”
Undaunted, Evan pled his case. He looked first at Dr. Shah, then Biel and Osborne, all three rapt spectators. “She threatened me. Told me she would tell my wife. So I gave her the damn phone.”
“If I didn’t know better myself, Evan, I’d believe you,” Katy said. He was convincing as hell. “You’re one hell of an actor. I suppose you acted like you really cared, too?”
That got to him. She saw it in the way his eyes softened for just a minute. He cared, as in past tense cared. Now he wanted blood and she didn’t know why.
She turned to leave the room, very much over the drama she did not create.
“Not so fast,” Osborne said, stopping her in her heels. “There’s more.”
Katy whirled around. “No, there isn’t more. He’s lying, I can prove it.”
Osborne opened his briefcase and took out a file folder. Opening it, he handed it to her. Not wanting to see what salacious photos they might have of her and Evan, Katy forced herself to look at the contents. As she read the document dated months ago, a US Patent issued to BioGen, her former employer, for the coding process she developed, the hair on the back of her neck rose.
“What is this?” she demanded looking angrily at Osborne and Evan, who refused to meet her stare.
“A patent for the coding process you stole from BioGen and tried to pass off as your own re
search and development here at Genomtec.”
“That’s a lie! When I left BioGen five years ago, I hadn’t even begun my research on the gene coding.” She speared Evan with a glare. “You were with me every step of the way, Evan. You know when I started.”
Osborne took the file from her. “Your former research partner at BioGen says otherwise. He says he broke through the coding, you tried to say it was your breakthrough, and because of your duplicity you were let go. Then you came here and tried to pass his research off as your own.”
“That’s bull! My research partner was a smarmy, frustrated old man who spent more time looking at my legs than focusing on our work, that is why I left BioGen, not because I stole his brilliant research.”
“Corporate espionage is a federal offense, Dr. Winslow.”
“I didn’t steal anything! That’s my research. I developed the coding process. I left BioGen because Dr. Lockford could not keep his hands to himself.”
Osborne slid another paper from his file of horrors and handed it to her. “That’s not what he said. He swore under oath that you sexually harassed him.” He handed her another document, this one accusing her of the same predatory act, but her accuser on this one was Evan Scott.
Utterly shocked, she stared at them slack-jawed. “Are you actually serious? You’re accusing me of stealing my own coding research and sexually harassing two men I worked closely with?”
“We intend to see you prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Osborne said. “You have cost Genomtec billions in future earnings with your duplicity. Not to mention your deplorable predatory sexual practices.”
Speechless, Katy stood unmoving. This was ludicrous.
“There is a security guard waiting to escort you to your desk. Please do not cause a scene and make this situation more uncomfortable than it has to be. Take only your personal belongings and turn in your keys,” Osborne instructed.
“That’s my work in my lab. I’ll be damned if I’m going to walk away from it because of some false claims against me.”
“I can head Dr. Winslow’s team,” Evan said, stepping up beside their boss.
“The hell you will!” Katy interjected. “That work has my name on it, and that team will be handpicked by me to do the follow-up research.” She looked pointedly at Dr. Shah. “I didn’t do what they are accusing me of. The only thing I’m guilty of is being susceptible to Dr. Scott’s lies.”
“I’m afraid, Dr. Winslow,” Dr. Shah said, “your affiliation with Genomtec has come to an end.”
“I will not allow you or anyone else to steal my research. So be forewarned, when I prove that it was my research that was stolen and sold to BioGen, not the other way around, and when I prove that Dr. Scott and that disgusting Lockford made fraudulent claims against me based on vindictiveness, you’d better bring out the biggest legal guns you can buy, because when I’m done exhausting every legal avenue there is for retribution?” She looked at Dr. Shah, then at Biel, Osborne, and finally Evan. “All four of you will be looking for new jobs.”
Katy shut the door quietly behind her and nearly ran into the brawny security guard waiting for her. Her anger was so complete she shook. Once again, men betrayed her! Hot tears welled up in her eyes. Barely composed, on shaky legs, she was escorted to her office by security. This was not happening. This was her life! She had created an amazing team. She loved her work. She lived for her work, spending more lab hours here than two full-time researchers combined. What would she do if she couldn’t do what she loved?
Head down to hide her teary eyes, Katy felt as if she were walking the walk of shame. From her peripheral, she could see the curious glances her colleagues cast her way but they were never ones to get personal. They didn’t ask why it looked as if she was crying or why she was being escorted by a big bad security guard to her office, and they watched silently as she cleared out her desk, grabbed her briefcase and purse, and almost ran from the building.
It wasn’t until she was securely behind the locked door of the town car that she broke down and cried.
ormally, Katy used a car service as her ride to and from work. Other times, she’d take the car to the club and, weather permitting, walk or jog home. Today she had planned to hit the club but instead asked the driver to simply drive around the city. For nearly an hour, she thought about what the hell had just happened in Room 526 of the Genomtec building.
She didn’t know what hurt more—being accused of being a thief or a sexual predator. It was too surreal to be happening. Attempting to compartmentalize one over the other was proving to be too emotionally taxing. Other than the patent, and the two sexual harassment documents, she had no idea of what, if any, evidence there was against her. The only thing that kept her from completely losing it was the truth. And she would rely on the truth to set her free, but to do that she needed a sharp attorney, a woman. A barracuda. A woman who despised men as much as she was beginning to. Every damn man in her life had screwed her. Every. Single. One.
Angry frustrated tears welled again. As she opened her briefcase to get the little packet of tissues she kept in there, Katy caught her breath.
A small black velvet box with a sleek red silk bow was nestled amongst her papers. As she touched it, there was no denying the familiar scent of person who had last touched it and therefore placed it there. How would she categorize him? Her sexting partner? The man who made her come? AKA the sex guru, Captain Simon, the green-eyed cop.
How did it get into her briefcase? She caught her breath again when she realized there was only one window of opportunity between last night and now—when she had left her office to face the four henchmen. Had he come by to see her? Her heart thumped against her chest. He had come to see her!
She pulled the box from the case and slowly untied the red silk ribbon. Opening the lid, she stared perplexed at the two golden balls nestled side by side in black velvet. She picked one up and saw that they were attached by a silk string no more than six inches long. Okay, what were they, and why would Simon give these to her?
She put them back in the box and closed it.
Stupid questions to be asking herself. Instinctively she knew those balls had a sexual purpose and that Simon must have charmed his way into her office. She straightened.
She’d told herself she wasn’t going to be the one to text first, but she should thank him for the golden balls. That’s what she told herself anyway. In reality, she was at the bottom of her emotional well and she needed a friend right now, and aside from Rosie—who she would eventually confide in—she had no one. Except Simon, who wasn’t really a friend. Not even a friend with benefits; he was just a benefit. But oddly, it was Simon’s comfort she yearned for at the moment, not his dick.
Sliding her phone from her pocket, she texted, Hey.
It wasn’t until the town car pulled up to her building that her phone pinged with a return text. Good morning.
Hardly, yet her body responded warmly to Simon’s greeting. Depressed or not, she’d probably always respond to him. Despite her gloom-and-doom mood, Simon made Katy smile.
It was on the tip of her fingers to spill the beans about what had happened in Room 526, but she didn’t. Simon wasn’t interested in her life, her career, or her feelings; he was only interested in what was beneath her lab coat and how he could get his hands on it.
The driver opened her door, then ushered her to the front of her apartment building. “Thank you, Charlie,” she said.
“Pick up same time tomorrow, Dr. Winslow?” he asked.
“No, I’ll call you when I need you.” She turned to swipe her key card, and as she did, the enormity of the morning’s events hit her. She was out of a job, and quite possibly out of a career. Tears stung her eyes. “Thank you.” She sniffled and made her way into the building and to her apartment. Just as she was opening her door, she heard Rosie’
s open. Quickly, she slithered inside her apartment and shut the door. She didn’t want company—she wanted to suffer silently.
Dropping her briefcase and purse on the kitchen table, she dragged her feet back to her bedroom and flung herself on her bed.
Staring at the molded ceiling, she fought to keep her breathing normal and the tears from falling. What was wrong with her that every man she had been intimate with kicked her to the curb? Why was Evan and even Lockford, whom she had not seen in five years, being so vindictive? Lockford aside, Evan was the married one, not her! Did he think she was going to tell his wife? If she were, she would have done it by now. Should she reach out and swear that she had no plans to out him, not even now? Not even to save her job?
And what about the patent? How had BioGen gotten their grubby hands on her research? She was the only one with access to her computer files, and she was manic about the security codes. Had Evan used her to somehow get that information? As much as she racked her brain for a way he could have sabotaged her, she couldn’t think straight. But there was no doubt he had used her not only for sex, but to weasel his way into her research project. She was simply a means to an end.
“You’re a fool, Katy. A fool.”
Her cell phone pinged, immediately yanking her out of one conundrum into another much more complex but pleasurable one. And that was all it took. Just that one little sound caused her nipples to tingle and her womb to constrict, completely changing the trajectory of her mood. Wild, crazy, rolling-off-the-bed sex with Simon would be the perfect panacea for her current woes. Of course it wouldn’t change anything, but it would sure as hell make her feel better and get her mind off the devastation of the HR meeting.
I want to see you tonight.
