Page 64 of About that Fling
“I see,” he said, looking down at the image. “I understand.”
“If you’ll meet me in my office, we can take care of that paperwork.”
Brett nodded as Kendall reached across the table and snatched the photo. She folded it in two, creasing it sharply down the middle. Brett looked a little forlorn, but he turned and walked out of the room. Kendall watched the door close, then turned to Adam and Jenna.
“Thank you for being a part of the discussion.”
“I appreciate you including us,” Jenna said. “Your instincts were spot on. This is the sort of scandal that could derail the whole negotiation process. Probably worse than if the nurses went on strike.”
“That was my thought,” Kendall agreed. “The last thing this organization needs right now is bad PR with the community or the staff. Even a small scandal like this could make everything implode.”
Jenna nodded, swallowing hard. The words hung there between them like bubbles, and she fought the urge to reach out and pop them. She thought of her secret liaisons with Adam, of Gertie’s book.
Adam stood up and pushed in his chair. “You know, at some point, this organization is going to need to review some of its more antiquated policies.”
Kendall blinked at him. “Are you suggesting employees should have free rein to use company email to send photos of their genitalia?”
“Of course not. But the policy manual hasn’t been updated for six years, back when the old CEO was still here. From what I’ve learned in my short time with Belmont, the company culture has shifted significantly since then.”
Jenna stood up, not sure where Adam was headed with this. Was he talking about the fraternization policy, or puritanical views in general? Either way, she couldn’t risk Kendall catching on.
“This is certainly a valuable discussion,” Jenna said, straightening her chair with a little more force than she intended. “Perhaps we should table it until we’ve gotten through some of the meatier topics we’re covering in the negotiations?”
Kendall nodded. “Agreed. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to Mr. Lombard.”
She hustled out the door, the poster-sized dick pic still gripped in her hand. The instant the door closed behind her, Adam turned to look at Jenna. “There’s a photo worth adding to the family album.”
Jenna groaned and shook her head. “Good Lord, this is not what we need right now. Scandal on the bargaining team? Dick pics and co-workers bumping uglies? The news would have a heyday with this.”
Adam regarded her curiously for a moment. “But you’re making sure they don’t.”
“That’s right.” Jenna swallowed hard. “Everything’s under control.” She’d already said that, hadn’t she? “Making sure of that is my job.”
“You’re very good at it.”
“I know.”
Neither of them said anything else right away. Jenna glanced around the room, wondering if they were being watched or recorded. She doubted it—was that even legal?—but she couldn’t be too careful. She could never be too careful.
“Well,” she said, meeting Adam’s eyes at last. “Thank you for being here. I think it helped give Brett a better sense of how this whole thing fits with the big picture.”
“Big picture,” Adam repeated. “Could Kendall have printed that thing any larger?”
Jenna snort-laughed. “I couldn’t look away.”
“If she was trying to make a point, I think she succeeded.”
“You mean like keep your pants zipped at Belmont or else?”
“Something like that.” Adam’s eyes softened as he looked into hers. “We should use that in the company mission statement when we work on that next week.”
“Along with ‘thou shalt not use company e-mail to transmit porn.’” Jenna felt her phone buzz and glanced at it, expecting an alert about her next meeting. Instead, she saw a text message from Shawn wishing her a good afternoon.
“Bad news?”
She glanced up at Adam. “What?”
“You looked at your phone and scowled. Just making sure it wasn’t bad news on the Belmont negotiation front.”
