Chapter 10
"I think I just kept saying `Meredith,' trying to get her to stop, you know, but she kept interrupting me, or kissing me."
"Did you say anything else besides `Meredith'?"
"I don't remember."
"How did you feel about what she was doing?"
"I felt uncomfortable."
"Why?"
"I was afraid of getting involved with her, because she was my boss now, and because I was married now and I didn't want any complications in my life.
You know, an office affair."
"Why not?" Fernandez asked.
The question took him aback. "Why not?"
"Yes." She looked at him directly, her eyes cool, appraising. "After all, you're alone with a beautiful woman. Why not have an affair?"
"Jesus."
"It's a question most people would ask."
"I'm married."
"So what? Married people have affairs all the time."
"Well," he said. "For one thing, my wife is a lawyer and very suspicious."
"Do I know her?"
"Her name is Susan Handler. She's with Lyman, King."
Fernandez nodded. "I've heard of her. So. You were afraid that she would find out."
"Sure. I mean, you have an affair in the office, and everybody's going to know. There isn't any way to keep it quiet."
"So you were concerned about this becoming known."
"Yes. But that wasn't the main reason."
"What was the main reason?"
"She was my boss. I didn't like the position I was in. She was, you know . . . well, she had the right to fire me. If she wanted to. So it was like I had to do it. I
was very uncomfortable."
"Did you tell her that?"
"I tried."
"How did you try?"
"Well, I just tried."
"Would you say that you indicated to her that her advances were not welcome?"
"Eventually, yes."
"How is that?"
"Well, eventually, we continued this . . . whatever you call it, foreplay or whatever, and she had her panties off, and"
"I'm sorry. How did she come to have her panties off?"
"I took them off."
"Did she ask you to do that?"
"No. But I got pretty worked up at one point, I was going to do it, or at least I was thinking about doing it."
"You were going to have intercourse." Her voice again cool. The pen scratching.
"Yes."
"You were a willing participant."
"For a while there. Yes."
"In what way were you a willing participant?" she asked. "What I mean is, did you initiate touching her body or breast or genitals without her encouragement?"
"I don't know. She was pretty much encouraging everything."
"I am asking, did you volunteer. Did you do it on your own. Or did she, for example, take your hand and place it on her-"
"No. I did it on my own."
"What about your earlier reservations?"
"I was worked up. Excited. I didn't care at that point."
"All right. Go on."
He wiped his forehead. "I'm being very honest with you."
"That's exactly what you should be. It's the best thing all around. Please go on."
"And she was lying on the couch with her skirt pulled up, and she wanted me to enter her, to . . . and she was sort of moaning, you know, saying, `No, no,' and suddenly I had this feeling again that I didn't want to do this, so I said, `Okay, let's not,' and I got off the couch and started getting dressed."
"You broke off from the encounter yourself."
"Yes."
"Because she had said, `no'?"
"No, that was just an excuse. Because I was feeling uneasy at that point."
"Uh-huh. So you got off the couch and started to get dressed . . ."
"Yes."
"And did you say anything at that time? To explain your actions?"
"Yes. I said that I didn't think this was a good idea, and I didn't feel good about it."
"And how did she respond?"
"She got very angry. She started throwing things at me. Then she started hitting me. And scratching me."
"Do you have any marks?"
"Yes."
"Where are they?"
"On my neck and chest."
"Have they been photographed yet?"
"No."
"All right. Now when she scratched you, how did you respond?"
"I just tried to get dressed and get out of there."
"You didn't respond directly to her attack?"
"Well, at one point I pushed her back, to get her away from me, and she tripped on a table and fell on the floor."
"You make it sound like pushing her was self-defense on your part."
"It was. She was ripping the buttons off my shirt. I had to go home, and I didn't want my wife to see my shirt, so I pushed her away."
"Did you ever do anything that was not self-defense?"
"No."
"Did you hit her at any time?"
"No."
"You're sure about that?"
"Yes."
"All right. What happened then?"
"She threw a wineglass at me. But by then I was pretty much dressed. I went and got my phone from her windowsill, and then I went-"
"I'm sorry. You got your phone? What phone is that?"
"I had a cellular phone." He took it out of his pocket and showed her.
"We all carry them in the company, because we make them. And I had been using the phone to make a call from her office, when she started kissing me."