After a lot of deliberation, Brenda could not come up with a solution. She had been thinking a lot about this issue, wondering if quitting her job was the best choice she had because the other option that Victor gave as conditions for her to work in that organization did not sit well with her. He wanted an affair, and he made it clear that if she declined it would have some serious repercussions.
“You know what you have to do, you are smart.” He said these words with seriousness and without any shame.
It left Brenda wondering if it was necessary to go through such a challenge to enjoy her dream job.
“I don’t think there’s anything else I can do, Victor. I have already done what I needed to do to get here. ” She said, fearlessly.
This was not her first encounter with Victor. They were together in campus. They were in the same faculty but he was ahead of her by two years. When she joined campus, he was in his third year and it was just a year before he left. Victor had tried to get her to date him but Brenda was not interested so she turned him down.
Something that she thought had not been an issue because they continued socializing like normal. Were it not for this new opportunity to work in the same organization with Victor as her new boss, she could never have known that her declining his advances had not sat well with him.
“This time round I have something that you can’t afford to lose so you only have one option,” he said with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
This statement took her so many years back. She remembered the exact day Vic had popped the question of them being together. They had gone hiking as a group of friends, something that had been the norm. They had been acquaintances and Victor thought that they might make a serious item.
“I like you and would love to have something more than just friendship with you.” He said as they sat having drinks after a long walk over hilly terrain.
Brenda was dating at that time. Her boyfriend was in another university and everything was going on pretty well with them. She declined and of course, with a very good reason. Vic was a catch back then and a fun guy, but even with that fact, it was not the right time for her to even give him a chance.
That had been one thing that Brenda never thought would come to affect her life many years later. She wondered why Vic never even mentioned it later on, like how one can just mention something subtly and talk about it casually to remove that feeling that has now become a reason for revenge. Revenge at a very sensitive point in her life. If she swapped places with him, she could not have done that to him.
“Oh! So this is coming from that campus incident, Vic?” She asked, sounding very surprised. She had not expected it.
“Not really, we are in a different space right now. As you can see we have a boss and a subordinate here situation here. Dynamics are different.” He said arrogantly.
The conversation had been so uncomfortable and condescending. Brenda felt small and powerless.
For a moment, she started blaming herself for what was happening to her. She felt like she was to blame for that development. What if she had accepted his advances? Would she be in this same predicament?
Yet again, when she went through all the details of that time and whatever she had done was the best option she had.
“Plus, you have the right to accept or decline any advance made to you by anyone without any fear of repercussions.” Her friend Immaculate told her as they were talking about the issue.
“I don’t think this is fair, Imma. I think this is sexual harassment rooted in revenge.” She told Imma.
“I think so too. So what’s your plan?” Immaculate asked.
“I don’t know what to do. I want this job but I am not willing to keep it as per Vic’s manipulations.” She said.
When one has hoped for a long time to get such a job as Brenda’s, meeting such an obstacle could be devastating. It left her with a lot to think about. If it had been a position where she had gotten on a silver platter, she could have just declined the blackmail, quit, and gone looking from another place. But it had not come easily.
Brenda had dreamt of pivoting from HR to communication. She had gone back to school, and done an internship and this was her first actual job in the field of communication. It was just what she had wanted, it was also well-paying. She was comfortable and only needed focus to grow. But now, Victor was here. The only stumbling block standing between her and her dream life.
The next day, she went to work as usual. She did not know what to expect or what to do because the previous cases of sexual harassment had not been handled fairly. A woman had reported how she was being harassed by a certain senior official and the next thing she had received a suspension. If she took that route, she’d end up fired and of course with a bad recommendation. Something that could alter her job search endeavours.
“So, what did you decide after deliberating on this issue?” Victor asked sarcastically.
“I still stick to what I had told you earlier. That I can’t do what you are asking me.” She said sternly.
“Maybe I should give you more time. Because I was serious about what would happen if you said anything other than a yes.” Vic said this arrogantly as he walked out of the office. He did not even wait to hear what she’d say in return.
She stayed there sorting papers she had been working on before he came in to spoil her morning. She knew if she had to stay, she had to think hard because the easy route would be Vic’s and that wasn’t what she would want.
He seemed very confident about the whole thing. She knew for sure this couldn’t be the first time he was doing it. If it was the first time, she could have smelt fear in his request. There must be someone who knew about this part of him at work she just needed to find out who that person was.
As she was going for a lunch break, she found that people were crowded and talking in low tones in their common lunch joint. She wondered what was up, and before she could order her meal, she went and sat at a table that wasn’t full and joined the conversation.
“She declined his advances, and like everyone who does so, she got fired.” One colleague said.
“Whose advances,” she asked.
“You must be the new communication officer?” The young lady telling the story asked.
“Yes, I am one week old in here.” She admitted,
“That’s why you have no clue. I won’t tell you who it is. Pray that he doesn’t make any advances on you because if he does, you won’t have a chance. But just to keep you in the know, if he makes an advance on you, just quit. You’d at least leave with dignity. The lady we are talking about tried to report him and she got fired with a very bad recommendation,” she told Brenda.
Brenda realized that she needed to start mourning her yet-to-start career journey in that company. She knew that the earlier she sent her resignation letter, the better. She’d say that she got another job somewhere else or just something other than mentioning that man. Anyone who had mentioned his name in any bad light had it rough finding a good place to work in the city.
That afternoon, after a depressing hour of hearing how invincible that man was in his harassment ordeals, and how it was better to quit than fight him if one was not willing to give in, she spent the better part of the afternoon drafting a resignation letter.
In the middle of the drafting process, she called Imma, to tell her how she was going back to the jobless corner.
“I have no chance here. Anyone who has tried reporting him ended up fired and with no chance of working in the city.” She said.
“How about those that decline through quitting?” She asked Brenda back.
“Things were better for them, so I heard,” she said.
Immaculate was encouraging and lent her support and told her things would work out in the end when she left. It was calming which worked because she needed to hear that it was not the end of it all. She finished writing the letter and dropped it at HR. She would serve out her notice and look for a job while serving the notice. She knew she would not regret her decision.
Related to this check out
How Companies Can Protect Their Workers From Sexual Harassment
Sexual Harassment: When He Tries To Sleep With You In Order To Hire You For A Job
How To Deal With Harassment At Work: A Guide
How To Deal With Sexual Harassment In The Workplace
6 Ways To Support A Sexual Assault Victim
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