Chapter 21
WOMAN TALK
"Sarah, if it’s about that memo, I’m sorry; I’ll get it done within the next hour. I’ve just had so many---" Heather stopped; Sarah was shaking her head.
"No, it’s not about the memo. Sit down, Heather." Sarah shut the door and sat down beside her at the big conference table. "It’s about Johner."
Heather’s face paled dramatically. She looked up at Sarah, then down at her hands clasped tightly together, then back at Sarah. "What---what?" Her eyes were terrified.
"I’m not mad; don’t be scared. But we need to talk about it." She took the girl’s cold hands in hers. "It’s no secret how you feel about him, Heather; your face gives you away every time you look at him. And I understand, I think we feel just about the same way. I’m absolutely nuts about him too." She smiled, and saw with satisfaction that the terror in Heather’s eyes was subsiding a little. "He’s hard to resist, isn’t he? I’ve been crazy about him almost from the moment I first saw him."
Tears slowly welled up in Heather’s
beautiful blue eyes, and began to roll down her cheeks. "I know he
belongs to you. I
know that. I just---I just can’t help it!"
"I don’t think you can help it. I’m not blaming you for this in any way." Sarah reached over with a tissue and wiped tears from her cheeks. "He doesn’t ‘belong’ to me, Heather, that’s not the way we see it; but he and I have a lifetime commitment to each other, a very deep and serious one. You don’t need to feel any guilt about your feelings; this is not going to cause any trouble between us."
"I don’t know what I can do! How can I just stop l-loving him? I can’t leave my job, my mother---" She began to cry again.
"No, no, I understand that you can’t just leave your job to get away from the problem. And you feel the way you feel; it’s not something any of us have a lot of control over. But something needs to change, Heather." She smiled. "For one thing, Johner is just miserable. He’s so embarrassed about the whole thing!"
"Embarrassed?" Heather looked nonplused. "I don’t understand."
"Well, you know he’s old enough to be your grandfather, and you haven’t exactly made a secret of the way you feel. What do you think the other guys in the office are saying to him about now?"
"Oh." Heather’s face turned slowly red, then redder. "Oh. They’re teasing him."
"That’s putting it very mildly."
"Oh, Sarah, I never meant to make any trouble for him!"
"Of course you didn’t. Who can understand the sense of humor of men when they get in a group? It’s beyond belief! He probably deserves it, at that. He’s just as bad as the rest of them; when they get on someone they can really make life a burden."
"---Uh, what---what are they saying, Sarah?"
"There is a great deal of talk about warming bottles, and changing diapers is right up there. Yesterday there was some discussion of roller skates, and what you could do on them. You understand that these remarks all have a double meaning, and the second one is not repeatable. Your uncle George overheard just one remark. Someone nearly got fired; they’ve been a lot more careful since then. They watch for him."
"What does Johner say?"
"He gives back as good as he gets. You can’t let them think they’re getting to you. But he’s getting damn tired of it."
Oh, Sarah, I didn’t know. I feel so bad that I’ve made trouble for him; I wouldn’t do that for---for anything!"
"Well, what we need to do now is figure out how to rectify the situation."
"How to what---?"
"Um---make things better."
Heather brightened slightly. "Can I do something?"
"You can change the way you’re acting, even if you can’t change the way you feel. Do you know how you look at him? It’s sort of---soulful, I guess. Try a cheerful smile when you see him, instead. And for Pete’s sake, laugh a little! The guys are always joking, laugh at them! You could be having a pretty good time at this job if you give yourself a chance, Heather."
"OK, I’ll try." She sounded doubtful. "But---could I come talk to you sometimes? You’re so easy to talk to."
"Sure, Heather, any time at all. It’s a deal."
********
"So I told her she could come and talk to me, any time at all. Jesus, Johner, the things I do for you! She is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier!"
"You are a wonderful person, and you are my angel." His arms came around her, and he began to kiss her neck and her ears.
"Johner, we are not at home. Johner! At least shut the door!"
But she was too late. Heather
appeared in the open doorway, and stood rooted there, watching Johner make
laughing, intimate love to Sarah. His back was to the door, but when
Sarah saw her she put her hands on Johner’s shoulders to push him away.
He only laughed and grabbed her hands, taking them behind her back, holding
her prisoner while he kissed her. 
He
murmured against her mouth, "My babe---I want you; I want you under
me." His voice was low and throaty with desire, his hips moved against
Sarah’s. Heather’s face turned bright red, then white.
It was over in a few seconds. Heather disappeared from the doorway, Johner still unaware that she had been there. Sarah relaxed suddenly, practically falling out of Johner’s arms. "Well, now you’ve done it!"
"Done what? Got you going? I sure hope so."
"Johner, Heather was standing in the doorway for that whole performance you just put on."
"Woops."
Sarah looked thoughtful. "Now that I think about it, maybe that was just what she needed. Or maybe not, depending on how far her daydreams had gone with you. If she had progressed as far as going to bed with you, this may have made her crush worse; but I’ll bet she hadn’t gotten any further than a romantic kiss. She’s so young. If romance was her ideal, the scene she just saw may have been earthy enough to turn her off. Let’s keep our fingers crossed."
Johner was totally mystified. "What? Would you say that again in English?" When she began to laugh, he shook his head. "If I live to be five hundred, it won’t be long enough to understand the first thing about women."
*******
By the time three days had passed, it appeared that either Sarah’s talk or Johner’s demonstration, or perhaps the combination, had done the job. Heather’s attention had turned to three young men who were more than willing to take up her time. By the fifth day, when Johner walked by her desk she didn’t notice him.
She never did come to Sarah for that
talk.