Part 6 (1/2)
He immediately tensed again.
”What on earth do you mean?”
I regretted the remark but it was out now and I had to limit the damage.
”I know you give good support to your team.”
”Whove you been talking to?” he asked aggressively. ”I thought you were trying to straighten this thing out.”
His defences were up now, but I needed him to calm down if we were to make any progress.
”Mike. Mike. Slow down. Like I say, n.o.bodys accusing you of anything.”
”Then why cant you look me in the eye when you say that?” he retorted.
I looked him in the eye.
”n.o.body is accusing you of anything.”
Inside, I knew the damage had been done.
”Okay,” I said. ”Cards on the table. You are well liked by your team. Clearly you give them excellent support and I can see they appreciate this and it has worked well in the past. But you have got too close to team members before and this has made managing the team complicated. Are you sure youve not overstepped the mark with Elona?”
I could see his anger rising and his face started to go red. I felt uneasy; I did not want this situation to get nasty but experience told me to remain calm and sit in my chair.
He fixed my gaze.
”I did not 'overstep the mark,” he said with some force. ”I did what any good manager would do. I offered personal support for a member of my team who was experiencing personal difficulties at work and at home.”
I struggled to contain my own impatience.
”Then tell me about these things. I cannot manage a situation I dont understand.”
”She spoke to me in confidence and Im not prepared to break that confidence. I gave her my word. Even if it makes my position difficult Im not prepared to break my word.”
He was a stubborn b.u.g.g.e.r and I decided to exert a bit of pressure.
”I dont want to fall out about this Mike, but it is as well you understand how I feel. I think something has taken place between you and Elona, or Elona and a team member. It sounds like one or more of policies have been breached and you have a duty to inform me if this is the case. You have a chance to be open with me now, or later. On the basis of this conversation, I will have to talk to Dave about calling a formal enquiry.”
Mike looked at me. Curiously, he seemed to relax.
”Do that and a can of worms will open so large that you may never recover from it”, he said My patience ended.
”Are you threatening me, Mike?”
It was my turn to fix my eyes on his.
”No. Im saying that you do not know enough about this situation to handle it, and seeing as youve moved me to another department it is no longer my responsibility. Youve made mistakes already, calling an enquiry will just compound things. People will get hurt.”
”Mike, maybe this is one can of worms that needs to be opened,” I argued.
”Penny. There is more at stake here than my job. This is not in your interests trust me. Elona, you and others will be hurt if you pursue this.”
Trust him? I dont think so. This is one situation in which I will trust my own instincts. There is some serious s.h.i.+t going on here and it is my job to find out what it is. I gave him one last chance.
”People have already been hurt. I need your co-operation. Are you going to give it to me?”
He stood thinking. Then, with a more friendly gesture he made a concession.
”If you get Elonas consent, Ill talk,” he replied.
”Okay. Let me think on this and Ill get back to you.”
”Right. Ill await your call.” His tone was slightly sarcastic and that annoyed me, but I let it ride and saw him to the door.
Chapter 13.
Things calmed down over the next few weeks. With all the recruitment issues to deal with, and the new starters, I put the Elona issue on a back burner. John and I continued to e-mail each other in the evenings and steadily got to know each other. We bantered about men and women and I started sending him feminist jokes. He replied with ”masculist” ones. My favourites were: Question: Why does it take 20 million sperm to impregnate an egg?
Answer: Because none of them know how to ask for directions.
...to which he responded....
Question: Why does it take 20 million sperm to impregnate an egg?
Answer: Because the egg is so busy rehearsing a speech about equality it forgot to meet the sperm half-way.
The other one I really liked was: After G.o.d made man, she said to Adam, ”theres some good news and some bad news”.
Adam asked to hear the good news first.
”The good news is that Ive given you a brain and a p.e.n.i.s”.
”So whats the bad news?” asked Adam.
”The bad news is that you can only use one at a time.”
.....to which he replied....
Scientists have, after 20 years of diligent research, and a study involving 2000 women, finally discovered the food that reduces womens s.e.x drive by 90%.....
....its called Wedding Cake.
He added that when both men and women could laugh at both jokes, then perhaps well be approaching the end of the s.e.x war. I responded with a George Burns quote: There will always be a s.e.x war because men and women want different things: men want women and women want men.