Kate walked into Alex Cullen's office.
"Close the door Kate"
She closed the door and sat on the chair in front of Alex
"Kate I think both you and I know why you are here"
In her mind Kate had already decided that this was her battle to fight and no one was else should get involved
"No sir I don't know why I am here. Have I done something wrong with my work or something"
She raised her head and tried to put n a mask of ignorance on her face
"No no Kate you are doing fine. I called you in here because earlier when I saw you in Chandlers office you seemed upset."
Kate looked up and saw his face was full of concern. She felt herself thinking that maybe she could spill all her troubles to this man, he looked so trustworthy but her mouth had other thoughts.
"No sir I wasn't upset at all sir I just went to drop off some reports to the superintendent and then you came"
Alex looked at her critically
"Kate" he said softly
"You were crying. That isn't a usual sign of happiness"
There was a silence in the room and Kate looked hard a bit of dirt sitting on the carpet at her feet
"You can trust me Kate. Anything you say in this room remains in this room"
When she looked up Alex noticed her eyes were hard and no emotion was showing through. He felt repulsed at what man could do to a girl, what he knew chandler had done and was probably going to do again.
"I wasn't crying sir. Now if you don't mind I have much work that I need to complete before I will allow myself to go home"
She stood up and walked out, leaving Alex speechless and uncomfortable. Her eyes filled with tears but she quickly wiped them away.
She was angry with herself for not taking up the offer of someone she knew she could trust. But then again chandler was the first to comfort her when she was nearly raped and look where that got here.
Alex watched as Kate walked away. Her demeanour showed him that he had been right in his assumptions about chandler and his use or misuse of women.
Kate sat at her desk and watched everyone else around her. They saw nothing of what just happened and Kate was silent as she went on with her work.