“Emily, don’t give this folder to anyone.”
Or,
“Don’t log this call.”
At first, I assumed it was just normal executive secrecy.
But after the fifth month, things started to change.
He began keeping me at the office later.
The other employees would leave.
The hallway lights would switch off.
And I would be left alone in his large office with a man old enough to be my grandfather.
One evening, he looked at me for a long moment and asked,
“Are you married?”
I didn’t like the question.
“No.”
“Do you have family in this city?”
“My mother lives in another state.”
He nodded.
“So no one is waiting for you here.”
That sentence made me uncomfortable.
The following week, he ordered dinner for me from an expensive restaurant. I refused it He simply said,
“I wasn’t asking your permission.”
That night, while driving home, I promised myself that if he crossed another line, I would quit.
