even before I had risen to the top job. Now it
I was both relieved and dismayed to find Eric already at his desk, looking all shiny bright and eager. On the plus side, I could get this discussion over with quickly; on the minus side, it might ruin his day, or week, or life.
“Hi, Eric, you’re in early. Can I talk to you for a minute, in my office?”
“Sure. Coffee first?”
“No, let’s wait on that. Come on in, and shut the door.”
He did, looking mystified and apprehensive. I hung up my coat and sat behind my desk, facing him. “Eric, I won’t beat around the bush. Someone I trust said that not long ago you were seen outside a club, apparently involved with the police. Is there something you need to tell me?”
Eric’s face fell, and his eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. He waited a moment, then cleared his throat. “A few months ago I was arrested. The charges were dropped. It was the first and only time it happened.”
Could I believe him? I knew I wanted to. “Eric, I’m counting on you to be honest with me. Can you tell me a bit more about what happened?”
“I’m not proud of it. Look, I didn’t tell you that part of why I moved to Philadelphia was because my folks didn’t want to have anything to do with me when they found out I was gay. I figured I might as well move somewhere new, and after college I ended up in Philadelphia over a year ago. I tried really hard to find steady work when I got here, but I didn’t know the place, and the economy sucks, so I ended up temping. Which meant I didn’t stay in one place long enough to make friends, and I was pretty lonely. When I had some money to spare, I’d do a little clubbing, but I wasn’t into the party scene in college, and I wasn’t looking to get into anything here. I was just trying to get out of my crappy apartment, you know?” He looked at me like a puppy, hoping for approval.
“Go on. How did you end up being arrested?”
“I guess I just read the signals wrong one night. I mean, I wasn’t doing anything illegal, as far as I know. I thought I’d connected with this guy, and he said, why not come to my place? We’d both been drinking, so I said, sure, why not? And after that I’m not sure who said what. I swear to God, I never asked for money or anything like that. Heck, I even paid for our drinks. But when we got outside on the pavement, he told me he was an undercover cop and I was under arrest for solicitation.”
I’d heard about such sweeps in the city, although I would have thought the local police had enough to keep themselves busy dealing with real crime without hassling harmless hookups between consenting adults. “Why did they drop the charges?”
“Apparently the arresting officer had a history of jumping the gun. He’s a real homophobe, plus he’d been drinking-lots of people saw him. I was turned loose after a couple of miserable hours, and I don’t think I’ve been out after dark since.”
“So no criminal record?” I asked.
“No, ma’am.” He swallowed. “Look, Nell, if this is a problem for you, you can let me go, no hard feelings. I don’t hide what I am, and I know that makes some people uncomfortable…”
I stopped him there. “And I’m not one of them. Eric, you’ve done a good job for me so far, and I don’t care what you do in your personal life. But I do need you, and anyone else I hire, to be honest with me, because I’m responsible for this whole place. If you say this was just a misunderstanding, and there’s nothing else like it lurking in your past, then we’re good. Does that work for you?”
Eric broke out in a big grin. “It sure does. I like it here, and I enjoy working for you. You ready for coffee now?”
“I am.” I watched his retreating back and sighed with relief. I did like Eric, and I didn’t want to start hunting for another assistant. But this little tempest in a teapot had definitely put me on notice: check everything and everyone, twice. Like it or not, I was accountable for all things great and small at the Society.
I settled down at my desk to get something accomplished. Mondays were usually so peaceful, since we weren’t open to the public-not that the patrons of the reading room downstairs were exactly a rowdy bunch. But there was something soothing about the silence of the place.
Until Eric came back with coffee-and with Shelby. She looked worried. My heart sank into my stomach. What now?
Before they could speak, I said, “Do I want to hear this?” I took the coffee that Eric handed me. He looked at Shelby.
“Probably not, but you should,” Shelby said.
I took a sip of coffee, sighed, and said, “What?”
“Eric just told me what you just talked about. About his arrest and all.”
“Did you know?” I wasn’t sure what answer I wanted from her.
Shelby shrugged. “Not in so many words, but I knew there’d been some trouble. That’s why I wanted to help him if I could, and I figured this job would be a great solution for everyone.”
So far I didn’t see any issues. “Then what’s the problem?”
Shelby looked away. “I figured this was as good a time as any to come clean. You know that resume of mine? It’s kind of a fairy tale.”
Great. Another imposter. “You told me you didn’t have a criminal record. I remember distinctly asking you that.”
“I don’t! I’m as pure as the driven snow-at least as far as the police are concerned.”
“But Melanie checked out your references, right?”
“She did. But… I kind of, uh, enhanced some of my experience, and then I told my friends back in Virginia to back me up. Melanie did her job, so don’t blame her.”
This day just kept getting better. I slumped back in my chair. “Tell me.”
“Well, the general outlines are true. I didn’t even lie about my age! I’ve lived here for two years, and I’m married to John and I have a daughter, Melissa. But a year ago John got laid off, and we spent a whole lot on Melissa’s education, and now she wants this no-holds-barred wedding, so I’m really, really hard up for money. So when I saw this job listing, it sounded perfect.”
“Do I dare ask what real experience you have?”
“Back in Virginia, I was a society wife-lots of parties and good works. I helped raise money for a lot of things, and I did a good job of it. Except I didn’t get paid for it.”
“So you’re saying you have no professional experience in development?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, Nell. I
Great. I’d made a total of two new hires, and both had turned out to be keeping secrets. What was I supposed to do now? One part of me said I should boot them both out because they hadn’t been completely honest with me. Another part said that I didn’t have time at the moment to dump them and try to find two replacements. Still another part of me told me that I didn’t want to fire them because I liked them both, and my gut said they were decent people who’d happened to get themselves into difficult situations and were just doing the best they could. Which sounded rather familiar.
Shelby and Eric were watching me like two cats keeping their eye on a large dog. I didn’t want to be a dog; I wanted to be on the side of the cats. But I’d given up that option when I’d said yes to the board last month.
I laid both hands flat on the surface of my desk. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m angry at both of you for misrepresenting yourselves to me, even though I understand the circumstances. I appreciate your coming forward, even though you might have been forced into it. To be honest, I need you both. Let’s just leave things the way they are for now, okay? And if either one of you has forgotten to mention some other big black hole in your past, or if I catch you taking any shortcuts now, or lying to me or to anyone else, you’ll be out of here so fast you won’t know what hit you. With no severance and no recommendations. Got it?”
Eric nodded.
“Thank you, Nell,” Shelby said softly. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s all we need to say. Now go get some work done, will you?” I said, trying to sound both benevolent and authoritative at the same time. It wasn’t easy.
They left, contrite. I looked at my watch: it was barely nine o’clock. What else was this day going to bring?
