‘Saving her!’ The answer repeated in an apoplectic scream. Girl and boy now disentangled themselves and stood up. Sunia ran to a corner of the room and stood, wide-eyed with fear. Alex remained where he was, next to the table.
Stepping forward quickly, Julian swung a punch at Alex’s head. The punch was blocked by Alex’s forearm. Another punch followed, similarly blocked.
‘What on earth is going on here?’ Margarite’s voice, a sharp-toned question from the open doorway. Alex switched his attention momentarily from Julian to Margarite and the man took the opportunity of landing a heavy blow on the young man’s cheekbone, splitting the skin open. As he fingered the bloody wound, Alex turned back to Julian who had drawn back his fist, preparing to strike again.
‘Listen, Sir, if you try to punch me again, I will need to retaliate. If I do, I will knock you down, possibly unconscious. One of my hobbies is boxing and I’m quite experienced.’
There was silence as Julian digested this information; then, wisely, he discontinued his attack. Now he turned to Margarite in blazing fury. ‘This evil boy was attacking Sunia sexually. They were lying on the floor and his arms were around her. I will not have such behaviour in my Department. This is a criminal matter.’ Julian was beside himself with rage.
Margarite stayed calm. ‘Is this true?’ She asked the question of Alex but it was Sunia who answered in a quavering voice from the corner of the room.
‘Margarite, it certainly is not true. Alex saved me from serious injury by catching me when I was thrown off the top platform of the stepladder. For some reason, HDC threw open the door without knocking or observing the warning light outside. The edge of the door caught the stepladder and knocked it over with me on it. Lucky for me, Alex was near enough to catch me in his arms as I fell. The force of my fall knocked him to the floor. That’s when HDC saw us and became furious. I think Alex is wonderful to have saved me.’
Alex added ruefully: ‘Yes, and I think I will have a bruised chest as well as a bruised face.’
Another silence. Then, Julian’s voice, still taut with rage, ‘Get this mess cleared up. You will be hearing from me.’ He looked balefully at Alex and stalked out, stony-faced.
One hour had passed. Alex had just been summoned to HDC’s office. Julian sat at his desk, glaring at Alex, who was standing at the other side of the desk, not having been invited to sit down.
‘I will not have it! Junior staff rolling about in a sexual embrace on the storeroom floor. I regard this as a misdemeanour of the worst kind. You are here to do your work, not attack innocent young girls. I know all about you young men – always trying to seduce young girls and attacking them physically. It’s absolutely disgusting, criminal, in fact. I have constructed a comprehensive report which I am about to submit to HR, in which I set out all the circumstances. In the report I accuse you of gross misconduct and criminal behaviour – attempted rape of an innocent office junior, newly turned eighteen. I also accuse you of insubordination and threatening behaviour – threatening to strike a senior officer. I have recommended immediate dismissal with no reference and I have no doubt that HR will carry that out. I have also directed that the report be passed to the police for a criminal investigation. When I am finished with you, not only will you have no job but if I hear of anyone else thinking of employing you in this town, I will personally ring them up to warn them off. In any case, by that time it is highly likely you will have been convicted of attempted rape and will have a criminal record. No one will ever want to employ you again.’ Julian was virtually foaming at the mouth as he roared this at the top of his voice, every word clearly audible to the staff in the General Office, crouching over their desks, barely breathing, trying to make themselves as small as possible.
In the silence that followed, Julian swayed in his seat and gasped for breath, mopping his face with a handkerchief. ‘I must be calm,’ he told himself, ‘I will make myself ill.’
Now he lifted a sheaf of papers from his desk and, fixing eyes of hatred on the boy standing opposite, said triumphantly: ‘In five minutes, this report will be with HR and you will be finished. I’m certainly finished with you right now. Get out of my office.’
He was surprised when the young man did not move.
‘I said, “Get Out!”’
‘Don’t send it, Sir.’
‘What?’ A veritable explosion of sound.
‘Don’t send it, Sir. You’ll regret it if you do.’ The voice was quiet and calm.
Julian’s mind raced. What could the boy mean? Then – understanding. Of course! He was asking for mercy. As this thought registered, another fleeting memory was recalled for a microsecond. Hadn’t someone else asked for mercy? Didn’t he grant it? The word “penance” flickered in his consciousness. He shook his head to return to the situation in hand. Then, leering unpleasantly, he said harshly: ‘You want mercy, do you? Well, my boy, the answer is “No”. I would not have mercy on you even if you begged on your bended knees, even if you promised to be my personal slave for the rest of your life!’ Julian was enjoying himself.
‘I’m not asking for mercy, Sir. I’m saying, don’t send it to HR. You’ll regret it if you do.’
‘Really!’ Julian emphasised his sarcasm as unpleasantly as he could. ‘And why would I regret it, pray?’
‘Because I’ve already been to HR for a personal interview with the HR Director. I wanted to make sure that the truth was told – and recorded.’
Julian’s mind blanked. His vision switched off. Everything went black. In that blackness, it seemed to Julian that the room was performing 360 degree rotations in a number of planes. He slumped back in his chair. He must think this through. It was important to get this right. But, try as he might, his brain would not work. It felt as if a power source had been switched off. Completely disconnected, in fact. Panic surged through his body and he felt he was losing consciousness. He needed help!
Suddenly, a shaft of blessed reason! Sunia would help him. He could trust her. He loved her. Her very presence calmed him. If she was here, he would be able to work out what to do. Greatly relieved, he opened his eyes and was surprised to find Alex still standing in front of his desk. In an almost normal tone of voice, he said: ‘Go back to the General Office. Ask Sunia to come and see me right away.’
She came, with hesitation, looking greatly alarmed. He smiled at her, his best smile. She did not smile back.
‘Sunia, come and sit beside me here at the terminal. We must talk. You must help me. I am unwell. I have many worries. I try to run the Department with the greatest possible efficiency but staffing problems keep occurring. For instance, that event that happened today in the storeroom. I am a very moral man and I was horrified to see what was happening.’ As he spoke, he was edging closer and closer to the girl. She moved away pointedly.
‘Sir – Julian – I am very sorry. I cannot advise you on Department problems. I am only a young, inexperienced girl. Today was an accident and Alex saved me from injury by catching me as I fell from the stepladder. I’m very grateful to him. Otherwise, I think I would have been hurt badly.’
Julian ignored what she had said and again moved his body closer to her. ‘Sunia, you must tell me the truth. This boy Alex, do you like him?’ He waited with terrible dread for her answer.
‘Yes, Julian, I do. I think he’s very nice. And he’s very kind and helpful.’ Julian flushed deeply and his hands began to tremble.
‘But Sunia, what about me? Do you like me?’ This time his heart stopped beating. Time was arrested as she paused before answering.
‘Yes, of course I do,’ she said slowly, ‘but you are HDC, you are the Head of Department. You are an important man. You are my superior officer. You are like a father to me.’
As she spoke, she recognised this was a lie. However she knew that she dare not tell the truth. She knew her former pas
sively neutral feelings for him had changed abruptly – she didn’t know why. Now she felt nothing but unease and a clear feeling of dislike. She dearly wanted to flee from the room. She sensed growing danger.
He smiled delightedly. His heart sang – she said she liked him! He could stand it no longer. He grasped her slim body with both hands and drew it close to his own: ‘Sunia, I love you so much. I want to marry you. Will you?’ He was really surprised when she started to struggle and cry.
‘Julian, please let go, you mustn’t do this, stop it, please.’ Her cries were becoming louder and more desperate.
‘Oh, Sunia, Sunia, you are so beautiful. Do not run away, please. Marry me, please. Say you will!’
‘Julian, no, please.’ She jumped up and pulled away from him as hard as she could, pulling him from his seat. He fell on his knees on the floor and grasped her even more tightly. Her struggles intensified even more and, with a sudden violent twist, she was able to squirm out of his tight grasp and rush away towards the door, leaving almost all of her light summer dress in his clutching hands. As she approached the door, it suddenly opened, framing the tall figure of the HR Director. Sunia, now clad only in two items of minimalist underwear, ran screaming into his arms: ‘Help me, please, save me!’
The scene was immobilised in “freeze frame” mode for several seconds before the release of the imaginary Pause Control introduced animation once again. Julian, dropping his gaze to look incredulously at his clenched hands, still grasping the fine material that had been Sunia’s dress. The HR Director, astounded, trying to decide on an appropriate course of action when a beautiful almost-naked girl throws herself into your arms. Then, with admirable presence of mind, stripping off his jacket to wrap around the girl. The door of the General Office bursting open, with the staff, led by Alex, pouring out in a veritable torrent of humanity. Margarite, bringing up at the rear, hurrying forward and assessing the elements of the situation with impressive precision.
It was Margarite who took charge and initiated a series of essential actions: two young men instantly instructed to restrain Alex from attacking HDC and remove the young man from the scene– Sunia retrieved gently from the comforting safety of the HR Director’s arms and taken to Margarite’s office where the jacket was replaced by the more suitable covering of Margarite’s overcoat – the rest of the General Office staff instructed to return to their desks and not to move from there – then, Margarite and the HR Director joining HDC in his office and closing the door firmly.
The police were called.
The HR Director had insisted, ‘I am sorry, Julian, I hear what you say but the Firm simply cannot take the risk. After all, you were alone here in your office with the young girl and the fact is, you tore off her clothes. Yes, I know you didn’t tear off all her clothes but you certainly tore off most of them, didn’t you? I was coming to see you about another staff matter when I heard the screaming. If I hadn’t opened the door, goodness knows what would have happened! Now, while we’re waiting for the police to get here, what’s all this about a boy called Alex and something that happened in your storeroom?’
Margarite interrupted quickly, ‘Julian, I think it would be useful if I showed the Director the storeroom and explained the details, don’t you? After all, he has already heard Alex’s account.’
Julian picked up the report he had intended to submit to HR and opened his mouth to speak. As he did so, he saw Margarite, standing behind the Director, shaking her head violently.
‘Well … yes,’ he said weakly, ‘I suppose that’s a good idea.’ He realised suddenly that Alex, Sunia and Margarite would give similar accounts of what happened at the Storeroom; accounts that would be markedly different from his own. He would need to think about this.
‘Could have been a very nasty accident, that.’ Minutes later, the HR Director was back. ‘Very unfortunate – your mistake, I think? Opening the door without knocking?’
‘Well, yes, I suppose so.’ Julian was reluctant, ‘perhaps the warning light wasn’t working? It’s not like me to make a mistake.’ The Director consulted his notes.
‘Well it certainly is working now. Now Julian, another matter, the young man says that you struck him in the face. He certainly has a nasty cut there.’ Julian had forgotten about hitting the boy. He thought quickly. ‘I think he must have received that when the stepladder fell over. Perhaps I bumped against him in the confusion afterwards. I’ll apologise to him for that.’
The Director looked at Margarite. ‘Did you see what happened?’
‘Not really, there was so much confusion. I’ll think about it and see what I can remember.’ Margarite looked significantly at Julian.
A knock at the door heralded the arrival of the police, a man and a woman.
‘Rape Investigation and Support,’ the man said in an official tone, ‘we’ve been directed here by your Human Resources Department. Are we in the right place?’ On receiving an affirmative answer, the policeman continued: ‘Right, I’ve been given an outline of what happened. Is this the room where it took place? First of all, I would like to speak to the accused and my colleague will speak to the victim. Which of you gentlemen is the accused?’ The HR Director was quick to identify Julian and declare he was returning to his office!
‘Were you a witness, Sir? I’ll need to speak to you later. Shall I come to your office in a while?
The policeman made a note of the HR Director’s room number and then turned to Julian. ‘May I sit down, Sir? Thank you. Now, tell me what happened in your own words and I’ll make notes. Oh, and by the way, do tell me the truth, it always comes out in the end.’ Julian started with the storeroom incident but was soon stopped by the policeman.
‘Excuse me, Sir, what’s this got to do with the attempted rape?’ Of course a confused and often incoherent Julian denied attempted rape. The policeman asked searching questions. It became unequivocally clear that Julian had torn the girl’s dress off. What was she wearing underneath? Very little? Precisely what? Did he attempt to remove these garments also?’ Time crawled past. All other relevant staff were interviewed and statements taken. The HR Director was visited in his office.
Finally, the two police officers withdrew to a corner of the General Office and conferred for some time, comparing the statements they had recorded from Julian, Sunia and all the other staff members. Finally they both came to Julian’s office and knocked on his door.
‘You’ll need to come with us, Sir. We are arresting you for attempted rape.’
This was the stuff of nightmares. Julian had never even visited a police station before and here he was, locked in a prison cell. Numb, he had been processed by the station officers. Details were taken, information and warnings given, papers read sightlessly and signed, searches done (‘yes, we need your tie and your shoelaces …’). Finally he was taken to a lower level of the building, where a brightly-lit corridor gave way to heavy, barred doors on each side. Here, it was hot and noisy, with the pungent smell of disinfectant almost masking more noxious odours. A heavy door was opened. Julian was shocked by the smallness of the cell now revealed.
‘These are only holding cells,’ the accompanying policeman explained, ‘you’ll get a much bigger cell when you get to a proper prison, though I expect you’ll have to share it.’ This was certainly not what Julian wanted to hear at that moment!
The door closed with a deafening finality. Traumatised, Julian sank down on the hard, narrow bed. Now he was alone and confined, he felt panic building up within him, the panic of fear, reality and claustrophobia. For a few seconds, he considered hammering upon the door with his fists, crying: ‘Let me out! I’m innocent. This is all a terrible mistake.’ However he realised this would be pointless and achieve nothing. With great difficulty, he calmed himself and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes and trying to slow his racing thoughts.
‘I must be dream
ing, I really must. I’m a totally law-abiding citizen who would never do anything criminal. I’m deeply and madly in love with Sunia. How can I possibly be accused of attempting to rape her? I worship the ground she walks on. I love her so much. I can’t possibly have done anything wrong.’ He paused and pictured her beauty, remembering how her slim body had felt when he held it in his hands. ‘When she thinks about it, surely she will recognise that what happened was just an accident. Surely she will recognise my love for her. I do hope she will think seriously about what I said. I’m sure she will. I think there’s quite a good chance that she will change her mind and decide to marry me.’
He suddenly felt much better and smiled: ‘It’s all a ghastly mistake. Everybody knows I’m a kindly, generous and highly moral man. This will be recognised and I will be acquitted of this alleged crime, probably with an apology. I wonder if I could claim compensation?’ Julian pondered this final thought carefully.
‘Do you think he did it deliberately?’
It was the next day and Margarite was talking to Sunia in her office. The tone of her question was gentle and friendly. The girl looked deeply into her coffee cup.
‘I don’t know. One minute he was normal and the next minute he went mad! He grabbed hold of my waist in such a tight grip. I couldn’t get free. It was like being back at school when the bullies trapped me in the washroom. I often had my clothes torn off …’ Tears welled into the girl’s eyes. ‘I thought all that was over … I thought I didn’t need to suffer that anymore.’
‘Yes, I understand why you are so upset, Sunia. But do you think he did it deliberately? Do you think he meant to tear your dress off?’
‘Margarite, I really don’t know. He was shouting. I couldn’t understand what he was saying, I was in such a panic. I just needed to escape.’ Sunia was weeping at the memory. ‘Goodness knows what would have happened to me if I hadn’t broken free.’
The Knowledge Stone Page 37
