The New Employee

“She was qualified!” that’s what I said. Not two minutes after hiring her and I was defending myself before the all male department head meeting. My boss sat at the head of the boardroom table and after his little joke about hiring the sexy girl, I had just interviewed. I had done the most scandalous thing. I had, hired her! Sexy, vibrant, full of life she was defiantly a change from Miss Grubbs! Funny, I can’t remember HER name. Probably a sign that I was truly innocent. You can imagine the comments from the other men in the meeting. It was boys club and here I was defending my honor. I had never been in this situation before. I was known as a choirboy. Married and never even glanced at other women. They were on me like hungry Piranhas! “Ha! What are these Qualifications?” asked Larry. Well, she had worked in our industry before. A real surprise in this small town and considering we were in such a specialized industry. I thought it would stop. It didn’t “So what shade of lipstick was she wearing?” asked frank. I smiled and said I’m not sure Frank what shade do you think it was? Finally, my boss put an end to it. Thank goodness! It was over. At least I thought it was.
After the meeting the boss called me into his office. “Oh, and bring me the application, your notes, and anything else pertaining to your new employee.” In my whole career this had never happened and it’s never happened since. “Well, I can see she is very qualified. But, are you sure you think she’s the best candidate?” Hmmmm Let’s see I said to myself she is just about the most perfect person for the job I could think of, plus the fact that I had already offered her the job. “Well sir I believe she is.” I said. “You know your wife works here too, what is she going to say?” asked my boss. Probably, I thought she’d say, “Thank goodness he’ll be home now and he’ll have someone to help him get the log jam of work caught up.” As I walked out all he said was “Well good luck my boy your going to need it!”
The department head meeting hadn’t swayed me. My boss and his comments hadn’t changed my mind. It was the eyes that worried me. Scared me really, chilled me to the bone. They were all staring at me like wolves circling their pray! I gulped in fear. The women in that office were out there. Watching! I went to my office and sat down. I reviewed my actions. I’d done something wrong. But I hadn’t, she was absolutely without a doubt the person with the skills I needed. Everyone would just have to deal with it. And they would. She was a professional in all her dealings. She’d won over the women first. Then the department heads realized she knew her stuff and it didn’t take long for her to fit right in! She worked for us for about six months, but she had to move back home because of a family emergency. The office threw her a going away party. Unheard of in our office unless you worked there a minimum of five years.
My boss took me aside during the party. Son you’re not out of the woods yet. I looked at him puzzled. “What?” I asked. I asked about your wife that first day. How did she feel about your new employee? I was shocked. He never treated me this way. In fact our relationship was entirely work related and here he was asking about my personal life.
“It’s fine.” I said. My wife and I even chuckled at the thought that anyone would think twice about this being anymore than a business relationship. She trusted me and I never even thought about it. She never mentioned it. The subject never came up again. That is until I asked for a divorce. We spent the next several days talking about one person. Damn it! I couldn’t even remember her name! I hadn’t seen her since the going away party. I was innocent! I only called one person about the divorce. All he said was “Son, I’ve been there and the rumors in this little town were scandalous.”