The bar was a good place to talk; the physical barrier between them and the fact that Colin was working kept the conversation from becoming too serious too quickly. Colin briefed her on the fight with Reese and Evan’s insistence that the whole thing had been rigged. Maria told him about the dog they’d helped their parents adopt, along with the crisis at the firm and her new career opportunity with Jill.
As was typical, he listened without interruption; as always, she had to draw out his explanations and thoughts; but when the time came for her to leave, he asked a waiter to cover for him for a few minutes so he could walk her to her car.
He didn’t try to kiss her, and when she realized he wasn’t going to, she leaned in and kissed him. As she tasted the familiar warmth of his mouth, she found herself wondering why she’d felt it necessary to take a break from him in the first place.
At home, the exhaustion of the day finally taking its toll, she fell asleep quickly. She woke to a text from Colin that thanked her for coming by and told her that he’d missed her.
Tuesday, the mood at the office was worse than it had been on Monday. While the partners seemed determined to act in a business-as-usual kind of way, the withholding of information was wearing on everyone else. There was little question that most of the office had begun to imagine the worst, and rumors began to fly. Maria heard whispers about layoffs – many of the employees had families and mortgages, which meant that their lives might just become a lot more complicated.
Maria did her best to keep her head down and concentrate on work; Barney remained quiet and distracted. The necessity for focus made the hours pass quickly, and when she finally left the office, she realized she hadn’t thought about the stalker at all.
She wondered whether that was good or bad.
On Wednesday, the lunch with Leslie and Jill went even better than Maria could have hoped. Leslie was in many respects a perfect complement to her best friend in the office – just as lively and irreverent, but also nurturing and thoughtful. The idea of working side by side with them began to seem too good to be true. After lunch, when Jill popped over to report that Leslie had been equally enthusiastic about the meeting, Maria felt a wave of relief. Jill also walked her through their basic offer, including her salary, which was significantly lower, but at this point Maria didn’t care. She would adjust her lifestyle accordingly.
“I’m excited,” she told Jill. She wondered what – if anything – she should reveal about her stalker or the fact that she and Colin were tentatively back together, and then she realized that she hadn’t even mentioned the fact that they’d been broken up.
Too much happening all at once.
Meanwhile, at Martenson, Hertzberg & Holdman, the black cloud that had descended on the office grew steadily darker, and as she and Jill approached her office, Jill leaned toward her.
“Don’t be surprised if you hear something major tomorrow,” she warned.
Indeed, on Thursday morning, word raced through the office that Lynn had filed with the EEOC. Ken again was a no-show. Though the report was supposed to be confidential, in an office of high-powered attorneys with favors to call in, it was soon on virtually everyone’s computer. Joining the crowd, Maria read through the EEOC charges, which spelled out all the lurid details. The report recounted in blunt and highly specific, often sexual language Ken’s numerous and unwanted advances, including his promises of career advancement and a higher salary in exchange for specific sexual favors. Employees, their worst fears now confirmed, were moving around in a daze.