Page 12 of Dirty News
“Yeah? What kind of classes?” I tried not to let either of them see how I was straining to see Lila through the tiny windows of the café as she walkedaway.
“Well, tomorrow is a sexual harassment class.” His words definitely grabbed my attention, finally pulling my gaze away fromLila.
“Does Lila have to take that classtoo?”
“Everyone does,” Artimus informed me. “Evenme.”
“Even you?” Now I was intrigued, and I took my seat again. “And why isthat?”
He picked up his paper cup of coffee, blowing across the top, making the steam swirl. “I want this network to set a precedent within the industry. It’s like we told you about with the pay scale—that information is open to the public. Everyone gets equal pay for equal work, and we want to make sure that sense of equality stays intact in every aspect of this network. With the sexual harassment that’s been going on in this industry for far too long, we feel it’s our responsibility to create a different kind of atmosphere for our workers. One where they all feel safe. Men and women need to feel safe in theirworkplaces.”
“I agree.” I shoved my hands into my pockets as I thought about what this meant. “So, you want us all to be clear about what is considered harassment. That’scool.”
He nodded. “And I also expect WOLF’s employees to engage in a high standard of professionalism. I don’t want any officeromances.”
Wait?What?
“What do you mean by that?” Ashton asked, suddenly looking a bit worried for somereason.
“I mean, I don’t want any dating amongst my employees.” Artimus took a sip of hiscoffee.
“No dating,” I mumbled as I thought about what he really meant. “But casual hookups aren’t dating,right?”
Artimus shook his head. “None of that either, Duke. I want a zero-tolerance policy on physical interaction between myemployees.”
“Zero?” Ashton asked as he shook his head. “Is that evenpossible?”
“We’re going to make it possible. We’re going to show the rest of the world that it can be done. Men and women can work together and give each other the respect we all deserve.” The smile he wore told me he thought of himself as some kind of aguru.
I’d gone to work for a crazy man. My boss was a looney-bird. It was one thing to have a zero-harassment policy—obviously everyone should feel comfortable and respected—but expecting everyone to repress all their feelings for the oppositegender?
It was starting to look like Finkelstein had done it again. He’d sent me on an interview for a shit job. Not that the job was shit, but working in a place where I couldn’t exercise my manhood would be impossible. Or next to impossible, at the veryleast.
Ashton looked just about as disappointed as I did. “Man, that’s too damnbad.”
Artimus was dead set though. “It’s not too bad. It’s great, really. This way there won’t be any awkward professional fallout from a relationship going south, as usually happens along with breaking up. It’s a godsend,really.”
His idea of a godsend and mine were very different. “Did you have a breakup like that, Artimus? Is that where this comesfrom?”
“Actually, no. I’ve never had a breakup like that because I’ve never dated anyone I’ve worked with.” He looked at me with a skeptical expression. “You’ve only been with this network for a few hours. Are you going to tell me you’ve already set your sights on one of your femalecoworkers?”
“Hell, no!” My voice went a little too high, and it earned me a frown from my newboss.
“Hmm.” Artimus looked at Ashton. “And you, Ashton? You’ve been working for a week. Have you found anyone you’ve set your sights on in that short amount oftime?”
I watched Ashton carefully as he looked off to one side. “Not me. No,sir.”
The way Artimus had worded the questions would have made any man feel like a fool if he’d answered yes. Ashton and I had no choice but to say no. And with that new knowledge, I really had to get Lila off mymind.
She was just a woman. There were millions of them in the city of New York alone. I’d never had any trouble at all getting any girl I wanted, and I didn’t need to sleep with Lila to satisfy my urges. Iwantedto, but I didn’tneedto.
“So, we’ve got a sexual harassment class to go to tomorrow.” I resigned myself to the fact. I’d already signed a two-year contract with WOLF, so I wasn’t going anywhere. “Is that all we have to goto?”
“No, after that I’ve booked us a class to teach us about physical harassment and bullying.” Artimus tapped his fingers on the tabletop. “And then a class on compassion. That’s all. Three classes in threedays.”
It sounded like he meant they’d last all day. “How long are theseclasses?”
“Eight hours each,” he said, as if it wasn’t that long atall.
