Glimpses of the Island

Board Meeting

Inspection over, the dorm supervisor dismissed them to go to work. Luisa hung back as the rest headed for the elevators. This particular Monday morning she wasn't in a hurry to get to the office, even though one of those countless company rules did not allow for tardiness. The office work she enjoyed, but today she would have to see him again. All weekend she had gone over last Friday night in her head, trying to figure out what had happened and what it all meant. Most of all she dreaded having to face Kurt. Not because of what he did, but because I don't know how to handle it , she told herself. Something had changed inside her, but she couldn't put words to what it was. Her attempts to sort it out over the last two days had only left her more confused.

She should have been outraged at his behavior. At the very least she ought to have reported everything to the dorm supervisor immediately. There were company policies about how she should be treated too. It included a respect for her personal space. She had every right to file a complaint. That's what she should have done, but it wasn't what happened. Instead she had spent a sleepless night with images of Kurt stuck in her head. His position in the company may have given him broad authority over her, something she still wasn't certain of, but she was positive he went over the line with the handcuffs. And then there was the incident in the elevator. No question he had crossed the bounds when he had, under any definition, attacked her.

The problem was she didn't want to report him. In some way she still couldn't fathom he had gotten inside her head. In the restaurant she had submitted to being handcuffed without a word of protest. The rest of that evening she had been in some kind of trance, willing to do whatever he wanted and eager to please him in any way she could. Then, in the elevator, far from resisting she had been disappointed when he stopped.

In retrospect, at the restaurant she should have refused immediately when he took out the handcuffs and announced his intentions. In the elevator she should have tried to push him away with a loud "No!" Except , she thought, except I didn't . If she did file a complaint, she would have to explain why she cooperated when there was no coercion. That question she had tried unsuccessfully to answer all weekend.

The crowd waiting for the elevators thinned out. Reluctantly, Luisa headed toward one, checking the hour on the wall clock. She could still make it on time. That was something else she still had to justify to herself. When the list of company rules had been presented to her, she had been determined to ignore as many as she could get away with, as a personal show of defiance. In her articles she had written several scathing essays on how ridiculous they were. But now she found herself unconsciously following those same rules in spirit and to the letter, even when no one would have known if she cheated. And why wasn't she going crazy in this environment? The first week had been occupied with non-stop plots to escape, but she didn't think in those terms anymore. The secret articles and the undercover spying were losing their attraction. She loved the work she was doing for Kurt, and the dorm wasn't that bad. Heck , she thought ruefully, I'm even getting used to these clothes . She reached down and brushed away an imaginary piece of lint off her skirt.

Inside the elevator she pressed the button for her floor and stood back. She could see her reflection in the mirror tiles that decorated the upper part of the elevator car. Her face was framed by her loose hair, as it fell around her shoulders. Luisa's eyes widened as she realized she had forgotten to tie back her hair this morning. No one had said anything to her, but then there was no restriction on wearing one's hair loose. Cutting it or changing color required approval but otherwise hairstyle was unregulated. She remembered that Kurt had mentioned he liked to see a woman wear her hair loose.

The elevator stopped on her floor. Luisa stepped out into the hall and walked toward the open office door. Naturally, Kurt would already be there, working on a project. When she passed through the doorway she saw him at his desk in the inner office, reading some papers. He looked up as she came in, issued his perfunctory good morning greeting as usual and returned to his reading. She stopped at her workstation to turn it on and pick up her coffee cup, before heading to the pot on a table against the back wall. At Kurt's door she stopped and asked if he would like his mug filled. He looked in it before nodding and handing it to her. "Yes. I put a fresh pot on half an hour ago. It should be done now," he told her.

She poured out the dregs into their tiny sink before rinsing his cup out. She poured his coffee, put in the one spoonful of sugar and swirled it with a stirring stick. Kneeling down she opened the door of their mini-refrigerator and took out two chilled creamer servings. She set his mug on a saucer and arranged the small creamer containers and a clean stirrer on the edge. Then she brought it back to him, placing a napkin on his desk before she put the saucer down. He had a habit of slowly adding the creamer as he drank his coffee, but he always put the sugar in first. She went back to the pot to pour a cup for herself.

Sitting down at her workstation she brought up the morning's mail on her screen. She shook her head in amazement as she deleted the offers to get rich with pyramid schemes and the cryptic ads for Chinese cellular phones. Like cockroaches , she thought, you clean and clean, but they still manage to sneak in. The person who invents a way to get rid of this junk will win the Nobel Prize and the gratitude of the entire world . A few items remained after garbage collection. The first was a list of her assignments for the week from the dorm supervisor. Luisa groaned when she saw she had general housekeeping on two days. The next item was a surprise. The name was unfamiliar until she opened it and saw it was a thank you note for the effort they had put into the report. It was signed by the company president. His comments were gracious and made her feel appreciated. A good feeling immediately brought to an end by the last item. It was a summons from her oversight board to appear before them in one hour.

Everyone in the training program dreaded when they were called in to their oversight board. Luisa had met hers once before, when she had first arrived. The board consisted of three individuals who were charged with evaluating each trainee and determining what was best for her. From listening and talking to the other women in the dorm she knew it was rarely good news when they wanted a talk. She read the terse message several times. No clue as to why, merely the time and place she should be present. They had a nasty habit of issuing short notices; there would be no time to prepare a defense even if she knew the reason behind their order. She would have to tell Kurt.

Standing up, she turned to see if he was busy. He was stirring creamer into his coffee, looking at her with a thoughtful expression on his face. Walking over to his doorway she stopped, "Kurt, I just received an e-mail. I have to report to my oversight board this morning, at ten. I don't know what it's about."

"I'm sure you will be informed of their intentions at the meeting. You should have received a note from the company president too. The initial sales presentation was earlier this morning in Dushanbe, in Tajikistan. Representatives from all countries involved in the pipeline were present. Preliminary indications are that our proposal was received well by the government negotiators. Your detail work with the pipeline route costs played a crucial role. I have a note from the team in Dushanbe that your cost increase justifications to bypass a mosque made quite an impression. We are not the only bidder, nor were we the lowest, but we were the only ones invited back next week." Kurt leaned back in his chair, looking up at her while sipping his coffee.

I don't care about the presentation or some mosque in a place I've never heard of. I'm worried about the summons . That's what she wanted to say. Kurt had dismissed it with one sentence. That was typical of his approach. He never speculated without knowing the facts. She wanted to talk about it, even if there was nothing to say. And Kurt was the only one available. She continued to stand in his doorway, unsure of how to bring up the subject.

He solved that by pointing at the other chair. "Sit down and tell me what's bothering you." His abruptly direct manner never ceased to take her by surprise, but she pulled out the extra chair by his desk and sat down.

"This summons makes me apprehensive, Kurt. I can't believe it has anything to do with work, even with that nice letter from the company president. It's much too soon. I've been told the meetings are almost always planned a week in advance. It has to be something else, but I don't know what. I think I'm in trouble." And why am I so scared? The worst they can do is fire me and kick me off the Island. At least she hoped that was the worst.

Kurt took another drink from his cup, brow furrowed in thought. "Is there any reason for you to be in trouble? A serious infraction of the rules, perhaps trouble in your dorm, personality conflict with one of the supervisors or another one of the trainees? I can assure you there are no complaints about your work from this office."

"No, I get along with everyone. I've had some minor problems with the rules in the beginning, but no more than the others." She thought back. The worst had been one Sunday afternoon in the dorm lounge area. A small group of them had been watching a video of a new movie. Without thinking Luisa had crossed her legs while sitting on the couch. The dorm supervisor saw it and got on her case immediately. Rather than apologize, Luisa had argued the merits of such a ridiculous rule. The supervisor had been unimpressed and simply cancelled all her free time. Spending every night for a week cleaning toilets and mopping floors had shown Luisa the wisdom of respecting rules even if she didn't agree with them. Compared to some of the other trainees, that had been a minor flare-up, hardly a justification for an oversight board meeting. And since that incident she had a nearly perfect record, with only minor verbal reminders when she made well-intentioned mistakes.

Unless they knew about her real purpose on the island, and then the meeting would be to confront her with the evidence. If they had discovered her false identity that would certainly justify being called to explain it. Luisa was getting tired of living in constant fear of discovery. Her articles had already slowed to a trickle, mostly because she found less and less to write about.

Her reporting was to have been a catalog of exploitation. There was no lack of blatant male-dominated authority; it was ingrained in Island society at every level. Her difficulty was that it was becoming less objectionable by the day. The passionate appeals she had written in the first few weeks, a list of humiliating abuses coupled with strident demands that international authorities shut down the Island and rescue the women trapped in an endless cycles of degradation, now sounded like mindless rants. None of it had proven to be accurate. If she could turn back the clock she never would have written the stories. When they were published it would hurt a lot of decent people; people she now thought of as friends. People like Kurt.

Lost in thought she hadn't noticed the silence in the room. Looking up she saw Kurt watching her, genuine concern showing in his expression. "If you have done as you have been told in an honest and sincere manner then you have no need to fear this meeting. Put your mind at ease.

"You need a distraction. Before you leave, I need you to initialize a new area in the documents repository for the pipeline project. You will find the template and guidelines in the boilerplate section. I would like you to begin immediately." He dismissed her by turning back to his computer.

Luisa stood up and headed back to her own chair. Just like that, don't worry about it, get back to work , she thought to herself, afraid to say anything out loud. She wanted to empty her coffee cup over his head then claim it was honest and sincere. Clicking on the icons she brought up the procedural manual on new project setup. One Kurt had written, she noted as she read the title page.

She was still busy diagramming the workflow when the reminder popped up about her meeting. She looked up at the wall clock, fifteen minutes to go. She had to give Kurt some credit, concentrating on the document management assignment had kept her from brooding on her impending doom.

At ten till the hour, she switched off her monitor and glanced over to Kurt. He acknowledged her leaving with a wave of his hand. Standing up, she gathered her courage and walked out into the hall, heading to the elevators. She passed by a fire alarm switch, but resisted the temptation to pull it. It would only put off the inevitable. In any case, there were other people in the hall who would see her.

She got off the elevator at her dorm floor. The supervisor directed her to the meeting room where she was expected. The room had a small waiting area outside the door, so per the posted procedure on the wall she sat down until she was called. At ten o'clock the door opened, and Anna Leeds asked her to come in.

All three members of her oversight board were present. The first one was Mrs. Dornier, one of the senior dorm supervisors. Luisa had gotten to know her better from the "charm school" lectures the first week. She had a well-deserved reputation for dedication to the company. Nothing less than perfection would do for her, and any slacking off was met with a minimum of a sharp-tongued lecture. Luisa had earned her share, though no more than anyone else.

The second was the mandatory member from outside the company, a volunteer with the Island's immigration agency, Anna Leeds. Luisa had her pegged as the most conservative of the three. Anna Leeds wasn't as strident as Mrs. Dornier, but to Luisa it seemed that she was actually less tolerant of any woman who did not know her place on the Island.

The third was the board chairman, a man from the Human Resources department, first introduced to her as Rupert Townsend. She still had no impression of him, and no one else in the company had much to say about him either. In the first meeting he had spoken little, seemingly content to have the women do the work while he presided in near silence. She might have dismissed him as a non-entity except for the deference Anna Leeds and Mrs. Dornier showed to him.

Together they were supposed to monitor her progress at the company while ensuring she was not harmed or neglected. They had the power to make changes in her training program, alter work assignments, or even dissolve her work contract. In theory the board rarely interfered with trainees, but when they did they operated with virtually unrestricted power.

The chairman, Mr. Townsend, got right to business as soon as Luisa sat down at the conference table. "The issue before us today is in regards to your supervisor, one Mr. Kurt Goeren. I am sure you are aware there is a strict code of conduct for employees of this company. Just as you have been given guidelines to follow, so Mr. Goeren has directives in how he may interact with employees entrusted to his supervision. We have some questions regarding your working relationship with Mr. Goeren, in particular the events last Friday night."

They were after Kurt! Relief at not being the target was instantly replaced with feelings of hostility. For some reason they were trying to get him. What had he done? Would he lose his job? The last thing she wanted was to cause him any trouble.

Mrs. Dornier began. "The attendance records show that last Friday Mr. Goeren requested that you work overtime. What was the nature of the work, were you really needed to complete it, and was all the overtime spent working on the project?"

Luisa knew they must have the records, including the sign-out sheet from the lobby. This was a trick question to test her honesty. "The project was the documentation for a sales presentation held earlier this morning. Since I had worked closely with Mr. Goeren on the project from the very beginning it was necessary that I be there to finish it. It was essential that the material be ready early Saturday morning when the report would be sent to the sales team in Tajikistan. I believe the project is critical to the company. In fact I received a note from the company president this morning, thanking me for the effort while stressing its importance.

"We did not spend all evening working in the office. There was a break for dinner while the documents were printing. When we returned Mr. Goeren proofed the copy while I waited, in case last minute changes were needed."

Anna Leeds asked the next question. "Do you believe it was necessary to work late last Friday? Had you been working steadily on the project before then? Do you think you might not have been given enough time deliberately, so you would have to stay after normal working hours?"

Luisa's respect for Anna Leeds went up. Her questions showed a keen perception echoing Luisa's own suspicions. She had to be very careful about the answer. Any careless implication could reflect badly on Kurt. "We had been working on the presentation all week long. It is a very complex project, and we did not have all the information in place at the beginning. I believe that additional unforeseen factors which came up late in the week forced us to continue past our expected completion date." All that was true enough; they even had to bring in a translator one day.

She hadn't heard of some of the countries when they started two weeks ago. Kurt had been very patient when he got out a map and pointed out the proposed route through western Asia, pronouncing all the exotic names with ease. She remembered her own hidden embarrassment when she learned Samarkand was a real city, not a mythical place from a poem. It made her realize how little she had actually learned about the rest of the world while in college, knowledge Kurt seemed to possess in abundance.

Mr. Townsend checked something on a printout before he asked a question. "The security guard in the lobby noted that you returned from dinner wearing handcuffs. Was there any improper conduct on your part that would justify Mr. Goeren placing you in restraints?"

I knew he should have taken them off before we went in the door. Luisa thought quickly, trying to find some way to justify Kurt's action. There was no way to explain it though. If they had interviewed the restaurant owner then they already knew nothing happened. She might have admitted to a sudden attack of irrational anger or fear, but if they knew about the restaurant then they would know she was lying. "No sir, to the best of my knowledge I did not behave in a way that would require him to physically subdue me." She knew that wasn't a good answer.

Mrs. Dornier didn't think so either, as Luisa could tell from the next question. "The hallway security camera shows you still in cuffs when the two of you left your office and entered the elevator, just before he returned you to the dorm. Were you forced to wear the handcuffs all that time?"

That was a question Luisa didn't know how to answer. It was true she had the handcuffs on, but she didn't like the way Mrs. Dornier stressed the word "forced". Anna Leeds must have sensed her hesitation because she interrupted before Luisa could answer the prior question. "Were you made to wear the handcuffs against your will? Did you ask him at any time to take them off? This is important." She paused for effect. "Did you willingly cooperate when he restrained you?"

She knows , Luisa realized. "Yes, I cooperated, and no, I wasn't forced. I never asked him to release me." Luisa's voice was so low they could barely hear her. She hung her head, staring at her hands carefully folded on her lap. One of Mrs. Dornier's rules from charm school, never fidget. She had to concentrate to hold her hands still.

"Does anyone have any more questions?" Mr. Townsend asked. Luisa looked up in surprise. Was that all? Maybe they didn't know what happened in the elevator. She certainly wasn't going to volunteer it. "I believe that concludes the first item on the agenda then." Luisa started to stand, thinking the meeting was over.

Mrs. Dornier made it clear they weren't finished with her. "Sit down, girl. We aren't done yet. Stay there until you are dismissed."

Mr. Townsend continued, looking at Luisa as he spoke. "Now on to the second item. Mr. Goeren has filed a request with the company, stating his intent to acquire you and asking the company to determine the financial requirements necessary to accomplish a transfer. Given your statement on the first matter I see no reason to reject his request. Any questions?" He looked to either side to see if the two women had a comment. Neither spoke up. "Then it's the unanimous opinion of your oversight board that Mr. Goeren's request be honored. The accounting department will prepare a statement for him. The meeting is concluded." He looked up at a very puzzled Luisa. "I believe Mrs. Leeds wishes to have a few words with you, if you would be so good as to remain behind."

Intent to acquire? What was that? Luisa felt like she had just dropped into a Wonderland where she was the only one who didn't understand what was going on. Anna remained seated while Mr. Townsend and Mrs. Dornier stood to leave. Luisa watched as the two filed out the door.

"Do you have any idea what we were discussing?" Luisa turned back to Anna in response to the question.

"Not a clue. Something about Kurt, I mean Mr. Goeren, and a financial statement. I didn't get any of it."

Anna leaned forward, arms on the table. "There were two points we had to look at, both regarding your welfare. An oversight board is chartered to act in what we consider to be your best interests, as I'm sure you know. It's not always obvious what the definition of best interest is. You see the here and now; we try to look ahead to the longer term. The first item was of immediate concern; the second far longer, perhaps a lifetime.

"The questions about Mr. Goeren were to determine if he had exceeded his discretionary authority as your supervisor. That's not entirely an objective judgment; your view of the events had much to do with how we interpreted them. Mrs. Dornier and I had a pretty good idea of what went on that evening, but Mr. Townsend wanted to hear it for himself. Once you made it plain that you welcomed Mr. Goeren's attention there was nothing more to talk about. Personally, I suspect a lot more happened than what was in the report. Am I right?"

Luisa had to look down as she felt her cheeks blush. She nodded in answer to Anna's question, afraid to say anything.

"Don't worry about your Kurt. You are from New York?" Luisa nodded again. "Well, remember laws here on the Island are very different from what you are used to. You probably think Mr. Goeren was in danger of losing his job over some kind of sexual harassment case?"

Luisa looked up, "I don't want him to get into any trouble. I know how it is in big companies; even a hint of scandal can ruin a career."

Anna laughed. "It doesn't work quite like that here. See, we all knew he was after you. We've known it for a while, probably even before you did. I'll get to that in a minute. What he did, and what you left out, is acceptable providing you do not object. No black mark, no scandal. Tell me, was it on the street before you got to the building, back in the office that night, or was it in the elevator?"

"The elevator." Then Luisa realized what she had just blurted out. "I mean, umm, I didn't leave anything out."

Anna laughed again. "Of course not. You know, in a way I envy you. But I wouldn't trade places with you either. I know a little about the type of man your Kurt is. Imagine a glacier, slow and deliberate, but unstoppable. He's decided he wants you. Nothing is going to stop him." Anna fingered her collar. "I hope you don't have any problems with one of these, because he's not going to stop until you are wearing his collar. That's what I really wanted to talk to you about. You better get used to the idea he is going to own you."

Luisa stared at Anna, eyes wide. "What do you mean? Own me ? No man owns me. He hasn't said anything about it anyway. I think you are jumping to conclusions." She was indignant at the idea she could be the property of a man, especially someone as arrogant as Kurt.

Anna sighed and shook her head. "No, you have no idea what you are up against. I'm not guessing. Mr. Goeren filed a request with the company stating his intentions to acquire you. That's how we knew the motivation for what he did. His request, in simple terms, means he wants to own you, and will compensate the company for the expenses incurred in bringing you here and training costs since your arrival. Between the lines it's also a request that the company, meaning us, your board, endorse his actions toward you. That was the second item we approved. The company will determine the amount required in order to release you from your work contract. Once your company obligations are discharged you can sign the ownership agreement. His ownership agreement. At that point your status as a ward of the company will end."

Luisa stood up. "This is ridiculous. The company is selling me to him? I think I should have something to say about it. I am not a sack of potatoes, traded on speculation. I like working with Kurt, he's bright and well educated. If he would work on his manners and try to add a little sensitivity I'd probably find him attractive. But the idea of me being the starry-eyed slave girl devoted to a caveman like him? It's not going to happen."

Anna said nothing but stared silently at Luisa. She sat back down, confusion whirling around in her head. Kurt wants me? Why? He was intelligent, good looking, tall and handsome. But his attitude left a lot to be desired. He just orders me around. Like he owns me. Suddenly the events of the past week all made sense. Like he already owns me!

Anna gave Luisa a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing. "You did have something to say about it, just now. You defended him, quite passionately in case you hadn't noticed. That was all we needed to hear. Didn't you wonder why the questions stopped so abruptly?" She stood up and came over to Luisa's side of the table.

"I'd like for you to think about participating in the ownership program. It is a series of seminars the Island sponsors. It's all about how the process works, what it means for each of you, and you can meet others who have gone through the same sort of thing you are experiencing now. You don't have to answer right this minute, think it over and leave word with your dorm supervisor to contact me.

"One last point before I go. If you wish, you can be transferred to another work assignment. We can even arrange it so you have no further contact with Mr. Goeren."