Disclosure_ A Novel - Michael Crichton [50]
Garvin said, “We’ve scheduled a demo of the video compression just down the hall.”
“Fine. Let’s do that.”
Chairs scraped back. Everyone stood up, and they filed out of the room. Meredith was slower to close up her files. Sanders stayed behind for a moment, too.
When they were alone he said, “What the hell was all that about?”
“All what?”
“All that gobbledygook about controller chips and read heads. You don’t know what you were talking about.”
“Oh yes I do,” she said angrily. “I was fixing the mess that you made.” She leaned over the table and glared at him. “Look, Tom. I decided to take your advice last night, and tell the truth about the drive. This morning I said there were severe problems with it, that you were very knowledgeable, and you would tell them what the problems were. I set it up, for you to say what you told me you wanted to say. But then you came in and announced there were no problems of significance.”
“But I thought we agreed last night—”
“These men aren’t fools, and we’re not going to be able to fool them.” She snapped her briefcase shut. “I reported in good faith what you told me. And then you said I didn’t know what I was talking about.”
He bit his lip, trying to control his anger.
“I don’t know what you think is going on here,” she said. “These men don’t care about technical details. They wouldn’t know a drive head from a dildo. They’re just looking to see if anybody’s in charge, if anybody has a handle on the problems. They want reassurance. And you didn’t reassure them. So I had to jump in and fix it with a lot of techno-bullshit. I had to clean up after you. I did the best I could. But let’s face it, you didn’t inspire confidence today, Tom. Not at all.”
“Goddamn it,” he said. “You’re just talking about appearances. Corporate appearances in a corporate meeting. But in the end somebody has to actually build the damn drive—”
“I’ll say—”
“And I’ve been running this division for eight years, and running it damn well—”
“Meredith.” Garvin stuck his head in the door. They both stopped talking.
“We’re waiting, Meredith,” he said. He turned and looked coldly at Sanders.
She picked up her briefcase and swept out of the room.
Sanders went immediately downstairs to Blackburn’s office. “I need to see Phil.”
Sandra, his assistant, sighed. “He’s pretty busy today.”
“I need to see him now.”
“Let me check, Tom.” She buzzed the inner office. “Phil? It’s Tom Sanders.” She listened a moment. “He says go right in.”
Sanders went into Blackburn’s office and closed the door. Blackburn stood up behind his desk and ran his hands down his chest. “Tom. I’m glad you came down.”
They shook hands briefly. “It isn’t working out with Meredith,” Sanders said at once. He was still angry from his encounter with her.
“Yes, I know.”
“I don’t think I can work with her.”
Blackburn nodded. “I know. She already told me.”
“Oh? What’d she tell you?”
“She told me about the meeting last night, Tom.”
Sanders frowned. He couldn’t imagine that she had discussed that meeting. “Last night?”
“She told me that you sexually harassed her.”
“I what?”
“Now, Tom, don’t get excited. Meredith’s assured me she’s not going to press charges. We can handle it quietly, in house. That will be best for everyone. In fact, I’ve just been going over the organization charts, and—”
“Wait a minute,” Sanders said. “She’s saying I harassed her?”
Blackburn stared at him. “Tom. We’ve been friends a long time. I can assure you, this doesn’t have to be a problem. It doesn’t have to get around the company. Your wife doesn’t need to know. As I said, we can handle this quietly. To the satisfaction of everyone involved.”
“Wait a minute, it’s not true—”
“Tom, just give me a minute here, please. The most important thing now is for us to separate the two of you. So you aren’t reporting to her. I think a lateral promotion for you would be ideal.”
“Lateral promotion?”
“Yes. There’s an opening for technical vice president in the Cellular Division in Austin. I want to transfer you there. You’ll go with the