Indiscreet Box Set

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3“Brian,” Donald asked. “Tell Ms. Moore what happened. I would also like you to explain to both of us why you never reported either Mrs. Mueller or Mr. Robbins to Human Resources.”

Brian’s face fell, but he squared his shoulders, just like a sub about to be flogged. He seemed to turn inward and finding his center, he cleared his throat and spoke.

“Please, Ms. Moore, I meant no disrespect to you or to Mr. Drummond for what I’m about to say. You had no way of knowing what Mr. Robbins and his friends were doing. I was aware Mr. Robbins and Mrs. Mueller were homophobic, but I had both Mr. Bartolomo and Mr. Blake as a buffer, at least I thought I did. It’s common knowledge Robbins is the bane of every gay and lesbian employee in the company. He does petty things like delaying important mail, knocking over coffee on their papers when delivering packages, and making nasty remarks under his breath. Most ignore him because he does have seniority, and he would be difficult to fire.

“Who’s to say what is an accident or what is deliberate harassment? It would be Robbins’ word against the injured party and even if Drummond is gay-friendly, most of us are a bit gun-shy about taking on the Christian right without backup.

When someone did complain, the harassment would escalate, and maybe a small accident would occur, leading to a potentially larger one. No one was sure. It was all gossip and innuendo to my mind. I knew Mrs. Mueller didn’t like me. I never anticipated what happened. I didn’t think she had any influence with either Mr. Bartolomo or Mr. Blake. They thought she was nasty. Mr. Blake admired my work. I ignored her and did my job, thinking everything would be okay. Then again, so did the Jews, Gypsies, and GLBT folk in Germany until they packed them into trains to travel to Auschwitz,” Brian noted dryly.

“I was fine until Mr. Bartolomo began having problems with his divorce. Mrs. Mueller never deigned to notice me before, but when Mr. Blake began to come in and personally ask for my reports, she had it in for me. She called Robbins and you know the rest. I really don’t know if Zeke Robbins arranged the rumored accidents or if Mrs. Mueller acted in concert with him. I can only attest to what they did to me. If I get hurt, and can’t work, well, I have to worry about my mom. If you need me to file charges, I will. I’m no coward. However, I need to know my mom will be taken care of should something happen to me.

Mom is the only reason I didn’t come forward.”

Donald nodded his head in agreement and said, “Nothing will happen to you, Brian. I will not let it. However, in any case, Drummond Realty will see to your mother’s care and Mavis will put it in writing, won’t you, Mavis?”

Mavis, as if on cue, acted in the exact manner he predicted.

She went over to Brian cooing and clucking like a mother hen. By the time she was done, Brian was looking down to hide the red in his cheeks. Donald also noticed an almost indiscernible shake in his shoulders. Brian was holding back tears of relief.

“Brian, there is a washroom over by my desk if you need it. While you are in there, take a clean shirt from the armoire.”

Donald liked the idea of his shirt caressing Brian’s skin.

Brian nodded and walked to the toilet without looking up.

Donald watched his Brian disappear into the washroom and then stared at Mavis.

“Explanations…” Donald shot.

Mavis all fired up was a sight to see. Mr. Robbins and Mrs. Mueller were about to meet their fate and it would not be pretty.

“I have no explanations, Donald. I screwed up. I need time to make some phone calls. I will take care of Robbins and Mueller immediately, but a full investigation will take a little more time, if I still have a job.”

“You have a job, Mavis, only because you admitted you f****d up,” Donald said, reverting to street speech in temper. “If you hadn’t, I would have personally escorted you from the building. I will expect a preliminary report by four this afternoon.” The tone of Donald’s voice told Mavis he was unyielding on this issue.

Donald closed the file and placed it in his desk drawer. Rising, he said, “We can continue this discussion after I take Mr. Murphy to lunch. I expect this will be enough to rid us of those two?”

“You didn’t even have to ask. They were gone as soon as you had to call me up here. You know I love to visit, Donald, but I’d rather my butt be on the couch than on the carpet.” Donald heard the washroom door click open. Brian’s eyes were puffy, but he looked as if he regained control of his emotions.

“Young man, don’t you worry. I will have it all fixed up by Monday.”

“Thank you, Ms. Moore. I’ll be grateful for whatever help you can provide,” Brian answered in a polite sub-like tone.

“Mavis, wait.”

He bellowed, “Sally…” Brian jumped. He had to be more careful about yelling. Sally popped her head in the doorway.

“Mr. Drummond,” she answered, her voice icy.

Oh hell. He was going to have to apologize to Sally for bellowing. “Modulate your voice, Donald,” she told him time after time. “Roaring does not ensure cooperation.”

“I apologize for my tone, Sally. I am very frustrated. Please schedule Mr. Bartolomo, the Manager of the Junior Accountants, followed by John Blake for after two. Cancel anything else I have scheduled for this afternoon and wipe their schedules as well.

“Mavis, keep your schedule open. I am going to want to see you after I see the others. If one of my employees is having a difficult time, his management should be aware of the problem and have worked around it before it became a crisis.”

Donald escorted Mavis to the door and turned to Brian.

“Brian, why not go get your things and bring them up to Sally and she will hold them?” Brian’s face fell. He needed to work on the kid’s confidence. Donald picked up his hand and ran it down Brian’s soft cheek. The boy did not have much of a beard. “On second thought, Sally, would you be so kind as to call security and have three of the men get Brian’s things. While they are at it, they can escort Zeke Robbins up to the conference room. Get another of the men to roust Mueller out of IT.

“Don’t worry, Brian. You still have your job. I am moving you out of the mailroom and back into Accounting where you belong. Now, come along. I’m taking you to lunch. It’s Friday, we will take a late lunch, and you can have the rest of the afternoon off. I figure Drummond Real Estate owes you at least that much.”

Donald looked Brian over and rolled up the sleeves of the shirt, straightened the collar. The shirt was at least four sizes too big. Donald absently began to tuck in the shirttail and his fingers brushed over the front of Brian’s Dockers. Brian had a hard-on and his long slim c**k almost peeked over the line of his cotton boxers.

Brian jumped back. Donald mumbled an apology. Again, Donald was astounded that the boy had the same instant reaction to Donald’s near proximity as Donald had to his. Resolutely, Donald turned and thumped his hard-on, hoping to control himself at least through lunch.

“If you blouse out the bottom a bit, it will look like one of those medieval shirts,” Donald suggested. Brian immediately began to pull the shirt slightly out of his pants to achieve the desired effect. Donald was delighted. Brian had followed his instructions exactly. This boy would make a wonderful sub.

Donald beamed at Brian. Brian looked up and returned his huge smile.

Donald pushed the intercom button and asked in a well-modulated voice, “Sally, please have my driver ready to take Mr.

Murphy home after lunch.” He turned to Brian and said, “We’ll pick out a nice box of candy for Sally on the way. That should keep the ice out of her voice until the next time I roar at her.”

He watched as Brian suppressed a giggle. Donald wanted to hear more of those giggles. He put his hand underneath Brian’s elbow and guided him out of the room.

Donald returned from lunch at two even more determined to have Brian. The kid was like the Energizer Bunny; whatever life threw at him, he just kept going. Now it looked as if the battery juices were about to run out. How many kids would sacrifice their life to take care of an aging mother whose doctors doubted would see another birthday? All of his Brian’s energy went into caring for his mother. The kid had no stamina left and he suspected Brian was in emotional lockdown. Donald committed himself to bringing smiles to those perfect pink lips and permanent sparkles to Brian’s eyes. He already had the kid’s tentative trust, now Donald must cement the deal. He needed to hold himself back and not overwhelm the kid. It was going to be very difficult. When Donald knew what he wanted, he charged right in to get it. Restraint was going to be hard.

He sent the kid home after lunch with his driver. As soon as he got back to the office, he headed for the washroom, threw cold water on his face, and thumped his c**k so he could give his full concentration to Mavis and her confrontation with Robbins and Mueller.

Back behind his desk, he buzzed Mavis. She was at his door in a snap.

“So, Robbins and Mueller?” he asked her as soon as her foot hit the threshold.

“They lied. I put them in separate rooms and one asshole tried to incriminate the other asshole. In exchange for resignations and not filing discrimination charges with the Feds, they were willing to sign affidavits absolving Drummond from any guilt along with standard non-disclosure forms and non-competitive clauses. I gave them a week’s salary for every year of service, because you told me I had to do it. They were also given prepaid insurance for one year or until gainful employment and coverage of another policy, again, due to your insistence.

“I documented their blatant abuse of the young man and the possible legal ramifications of their behavior. I specifically spelled out to Robbins that the young man could file both criminal and civil suits against him in Federal Court. He had violated Federal Discrimination Laws and assaulted his victims. He just smirked. I informed him he could do time and be forced to pay damages to Brian Murphy and he smirked at me, Donald!”

Donald nodded. His silence infuriated her, just as he knew it would. They were worthy adversaries. Mavis kept Donald Drummond’s ego in check. She also gave him good counsel.

Mavis’ increasing outrage set off warning bells in his brain—the question was why?

“I informed both Robbins and Mueller the company would not file charges, which I think is a serious mistake. Donald, you didn’t hold them accountable for their behavior, that alone belittles Brian Murphy’s courage. I expected both to run out of here with their tails between their legs like the street trash they are, but he shrugged his shoulders and sneered.”

Mavis continued, “Donald, I’m going to dig deeper, make a few calls to former employees and get some more background.

Robbins was running some kind of con under the radar. I need to find out what it was and how to fix it. I will have more for you later, around four.

“Oh, and by the way, since I finished early with the local KKK, I covered the issue with John Blake and chewed on his butt for not knowing Bartolomo’s situation, thereby almost losing Drummond a valuable employee. I also asked if his brains and eyes were up said butt when Iris Mueller started doing her boss’s business. He’s been given the fire and brimstone, you might want to do the come-to-Jesus.”

“Thank you for taking care of that for me, Mavis.”

Mavis continued, “I also let John use the conference room to talk to Bartolomo. We gave him an eight-week leave of absence with mandatory counseling. This will enable him to get himself organized and his head back on straight. John has to find a way to run that department until Bartolomo gets back. After all boss, I do not have an endless budget for temporary workers to cover John’s ass. If he was watching the store, Bartolomo would be in counseling once a week as soon as this mess began and this story, a non-starter.”