Categories > Original > Romance > Just You and Me
Chapter 27 Meeting with Ms. Holmes
When the interns finished their shift Aina and Joe headed to Ms. Holmes office. After knocking they heard a soft, "Come in," from the other side. When they entered they saw two men with Ms. Holmes.
"Oh, you're busy, we'll just wait outside," Aina said.
"No, no. Come on in you two. I believe you know Peter and this is Henry Gilbert, Mrs. Gilbert's husband," Joe swallowed the lump in his throat after seeing that Mr. Gilbert could easily bench three fourths his weight. "Henry this is Joe Jonas and Aina Andrada, they're the interns in the in-studio."
"Well, it's nice to meet the two of you," Mr. Gilbert said as he gave a little nod.
"Now Mr. Jonas, what is it that you'd like to talk to me about?" Ms. Holmes asked.
"Umm... well there's a few things that I wanted to talk to you about," Joe said earning a peculiar look from Ms. Holmes. "And I'm not sure if we want to say them in front of these two gentlemen."
"Oh yes, I see. Gentlemen, if you please," Ms. Holmes said standing up.
"We'll be waiting outside, Ms. Holmes," Peter said before closing the door behind him.
"Now, you were saying?"
"Well, I believe there are some questionable things that Alden has taken part in," Joe said in a business-like tone.
"Would you like to elaborate please?"
Joe looked at Aina and she said, "Well, I was out with Alden the other night. I wanted to show him a song Joe wrote, you know get his opinion since Joe didn't want to do it himself. After dinner... I don't know, I guess I was leading him on or something because he started to kiss me..." Aina continued to tell Ms. Holmes about the situation that happened with Alden, explaining his new black eye as well as the new song that he supposedly wrote.
"Well this is something to discuss with Mr. Seller, Mrs. Gilbert, and the band," Ms. Holmes said heaving a sigh. "Did you want proper authorities involved Ms. Andrada?"
"Umm... well, no, not really. I just feel uncomfortable around him that's all."
"Okay, we'll be holding a meeting about this soon. Is there anything else?"
Aina shook her head and looked over at Joe. He just sat there before saying, "Uhh... no."
"Are you sure Mr. Jonas?" Ms. Holmes asked with a light push in her tone.
"Is there something you want us to tell you Ms. Holmes?" Aina asked after getting a weird feeling.
"Want you to? No," Ms. Holmes said. "But if there is something you need to tell me, then yes."
Joe looked down at his hands before saying, "I think Mr. Gilbert should hear what I have to say."
Aina looked at Joe questioningly as Mr. Gilbert and Peter came back into the room, but he didn't look up from his hands.
"So Mr. Jonas, what would you like to tell us?" Ms. Holmes asked.
"Well, Mrs. Gilbert... she's been... somewhat physical around me," Joe said.
"We know," Mr. Gilbert said sensing Joe's discomfort and deciding that he needn't go on any more.
Joe and Aina both looked up at the three adults in front of them.
"You knew?" Joe asked shocked.
"Wait," Aina said before anyone could say anything else. "What do you mean by physical?"
"I believe Mrs. Gilbert has been very unprofessional when left alone with Mr. Jonas," Ms. Holmes said.
"She had sex with you?" Aina asked shocked.
"No!" Joe said. "It wasn't like that. At least not really, I'm still a virgin, but..."
"There's no need to explain anymore Mr. Jonas. We understand," Ms. Holmes said.
I knew she'd hate me when she found out, Joe thought to himself as he went back to looking at his hands.
"And you all knew about it? Why didn't you do anything?" Aina asked getting upset.
"Well, you see, I've been suspecting my wife of cheating. So I hired Peter here to spy a little for me and document whatever he's observed," Mr. Gilbert started to explain. "See, he was already a part of the company and he'd always drive her around whenever Arthur wasn't available to. And of course I had to have Ms. Holmes permission since Peter is technically her driver."
"You know that first night when you stayed back with Mrs. Gilbert?" Peter asked. "It wasn't a coincident that Arthur got a 'stomach flu.'"
"Arthur? You mean the driver that took us home whenever you didn't?" Aina asked.
"Yes. Once you all told me that Mrs. Gilbert asked Joe to stay back I thought that I had a chance, so I took it. Unfortunately, I was right. So I did the same thing every time that you stayed behind."
"So, you knew, you've 'documented' it, whatever that means, and you didn't do anything to stop it yet?" Joe asked getting angry.
"You need to understand something Mr. Jonas, we did this not only so that Mr. Gilbert could have the proof he needs to divorce Mrs. Gilbert, but also to get proof so that we could get rid of her all together. What she's been doing to you is uncalled for as well as illegal. Unfortunately, the law here is different from the law in America," Ms. Holmes said. "We didn't realize these differences until after we had enough proof."
"What do you mean?" Joe asked with his eyes burning from tears threatening to come out.
"Well, for one thing, you are an American student interning in a European based company, but you are still subject to American law."
"That's why we still can't drink, even though the legal drinking age here is 18," Aina said.
"Exactly," Mr. Gilbert said. "Now, about the pictures Peter took. They're no good too us. According to American law it is illegal to take pictures of people in such acts without at least on person in the photograph knowing about it. Since neither of you knew about it we had to get rid of them, otherwise we would be in trouble."
"I was going to talk to you about this today, but luckily you came to me first. I thought you'd feel too uncomfortable if I had approached you," Ms. Holmes explained.
"So what exactly are you going to do?" Aina asked.
"Well, we were thinking of having Mr. Gilbert 'leave' for a business meeting, but actually he'll just stay in a hotel for a couple of days and possibly keeping a wire on you, Mr. Jonas. Peter would continue with taking you to the loft and take pictures... legally this time," Ms. Holmes said.
"I don't know if I can," Joe said as his voice quivered.
Aina could feel the tears coming when she heard the pain in his voice.
"Is there another way to do this?" Aina asked.
"Well, you could simply press charges on sexual harassment in the work place, but that would be a long and tedious process," Ms. Holmes suggested.
"Well, that's not gonna do any good. Without any useful pictures it's just his word against hers. Those are the hardest kinds of lawsuits to win," Aina said.
"This is true, but that's the only other solution. If we get the pictures you'll only have to do it this one time and you're done with her. It's over. She'll be gone and you wouldn't have to deal with her or see her ever again," Ms. Holmes said.
"It's completely up to you Mr. Jonas. Whatever you're comfortable with," Mr. Gilbert said.
"I'll..." Joe sighed. "I'll go with the pictures."
"Are you sure about this Mr. Jonas?" Ms. Holmes asked.
"Positive."
Author's Note: I totally don't know if all that law stuff is 100 percent true. I've heard some of that somewhere. I think the American student in another country thing is true. I think the picture thing is only illegal if you post it publicly, like on the internet or something. Not sure if you just show a few selected people lol and I totally don't know what the law is in London.
When the interns finished their shift Aina and Joe headed to Ms. Holmes office. After knocking they heard a soft, "Come in," from the other side. When they entered they saw two men with Ms. Holmes.
"Oh, you're busy, we'll just wait outside," Aina said.
"No, no. Come on in you two. I believe you know Peter and this is Henry Gilbert, Mrs. Gilbert's husband," Joe swallowed the lump in his throat after seeing that Mr. Gilbert could easily bench three fourths his weight. "Henry this is Joe Jonas and Aina Andrada, they're the interns in the in-studio."
"Well, it's nice to meet the two of you," Mr. Gilbert said as he gave a little nod.
"Now Mr. Jonas, what is it that you'd like to talk to me about?" Ms. Holmes asked.
"Umm... well there's a few things that I wanted to talk to you about," Joe said earning a peculiar look from Ms. Holmes. "And I'm not sure if we want to say them in front of these two gentlemen."
"Oh yes, I see. Gentlemen, if you please," Ms. Holmes said standing up.
"We'll be waiting outside, Ms. Holmes," Peter said before closing the door behind him.
"Now, you were saying?"
"Well, I believe there are some questionable things that Alden has taken part in," Joe said in a business-like tone.
"Would you like to elaborate please?"
Joe looked at Aina and she said, "Well, I was out with Alden the other night. I wanted to show him a song Joe wrote, you know get his opinion since Joe didn't want to do it himself. After dinner... I don't know, I guess I was leading him on or something because he started to kiss me..." Aina continued to tell Ms. Holmes about the situation that happened with Alden, explaining his new black eye as well as the new song that he supposedly wrote.
"Well this is something to discuss with Mr. Seller, Mrs. Gilbert, and the band," Ms. Holmes said heaving a sigh. "Did you want proper authorities involved Ms. Andrada?"
"Umm... well, no, not really. I just feel uncomfortable around him that's all."
"Okay, we'll be holding a meeting about this soon. Is there anything else?"
Aina shook her head and looked over at Joe. He just sat there before saying, "Uhh... no."
"Are you sure Mr. Jonas?" Ms. Holmes asked with a light push in her tone.
"Is there something you want us to tell you Ms. Holmes?" Aina asked after getting a weird feeling.
"Want you to? No," Ms. Holmes said. "But if there is something you need to tell me, then yes."
Joe looked down at his hands before saying, "I think Mr. Gilbert should hear what I have to say."
Aina looked at Joe questioningly as Mr. Gilbert and Peter came back into the room, but he didn't look up from his hands.
"So Mr. Jonas, what would you like to tell us?" Ms. Holmes asked.
"Well, Mrs. Gilbert... she's been... somewhat physical around me," Joe said.
"We know," Mr. Gilbert said sensing Joe's discomfort and deciding that he needn't go on any more.
Joe and Aina both looked up at the three adults in front of them.
"You knew?" Joe asked shocked.
"Wait," Aina said before anyone could say anything else. "What do you mean by physical?"
"I believe Mrs. Gilbert has been very unprofessional when left alone with Mr. Jonas," Ms. Holmes said.
"She had sex with you?" Aina asked shocked.
"No!" Joe said. "It wasn't like that. At least not really, I'm still a virgin, but..."
"There's no need to explain anymore Mr. Jonas. We understand," Ms. Holmes said.
I knew she'd hate me when she found out, Joe thought to himself as he went back to looking at his hands.
"And you all knew about it? Why didn't you do anything?" Aina asked getting upset.
"Well, you see, I've been suspecting my wife of cheating. So I hired Peter here to spy a little for me and document whatever he's observed," Mr. Gilbert started to explain. "See, he was already a part of the company and he'd always drive her around whenever Arthur wasn't available to. And of course I had to have Ms. Holmes permission since Peter is technically her driver."
"You know that first night when you stayed back with Mrs. Gilbert?" Peter asked. "It wasn't a coincident that Arthur got a 'stomach flu.'"
"Arthur? You mean the driver that took us home whenever you didn't?" Aina asked.
"Yes. Once you all told me that Mrs. Gilbert asked Joe to stay back I thought that I had a chance, so I took it. Unfortunately, I was right. So I did the same thing every time that you stayed behind."
"So, you knew, you've 'documented' it, whatever that means, and you didn't do anything to stop it yet?" Joe asked getting angry.
"You need to understand something Mr. Jonas, we did this not only so that Mr. Gilbert could have the proof he needs to divorce Mrs. Gilbert, but also to get proof so that we could get rid of her all together. What she's been doing to you is uncalled for as well as illegal. Unfortunately, the law here is different from the law in America," Ms. Holmes said. "We didn't realize these differences until after we had enough proof."
"What do you mean?" Joe asked with his eyes burning from tears threatening to come out.
"Well, for one thing, you are an American student interning in a European based company, but you are still subject to American law."
"That's why we still can't drink, even though the legal drinking age here is 18," Aina said.
"Exactly," Mr. Gilbert said. "Now, about the pictures Peter took. They're no good too us. According to American law it is illegal to take pictures of people in such acts without at least on person in the photograph knowing about it. Since neither of you knew about it we had to get rid of them, otherwise we would be in trouble."
"I was going to talk to you about this today, but luckily you came to me first. I thought you'd feel too uncomfortable if I had approached you," Ms. Holmes explained.
"So what exactly are you going to do?" Aina asked.
"Well, we were thinking of having Mr. Gilbert 'leave' for a business meeting, but actually he'll just stay in a hotel for a couple of days and possibly keeping a wire on you, Mr. Jonas. Peter would continue with taking you to the loft and take pictures... legally this time," Ms. Holmes said.
"I don't know if I can," Joe said as his voice quivered.
Aina could feel the tears coming when she heard the pain in his voice.
"Is there another way to do this?" Aina asked.
"Well, you could simply press charges on sexual harassment in the work place, but that would be a long and tedious process," Ms. Holmes suggested.
"Well, that's not gonna do any good. Without any useful pictures it's just his word against hers. Those are the hardest kinds of lawsuits to win," Aina said.
"This is true, but that's the only other solution. If we get the pictures you'll only have to do it this one time and you're done with her. It's over. She'll be gone and you wouldn't have to deal with her or see her ever again," Ms. Holmes said.
"It's completely up to you Mr. Jonas. Whatever you're comfortable with," Mr. Gilbert said.
"I'll..." Joe sighed. "I'll go with the pictures."
"Are you sure about this Mr. Jonas?" Ms. Holmes asked.
"Positive."
Author's Note: I totally don't know if all that law stuff is 100 percent true. I've heard some of that somewhere. I think the American student in another country thing is true. I think the picture thing is only illegal if you post it publicly, like on the internet or something. Not sure if you just show a few selected people lol and I totally don't know what the law is in London.
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