Levin glanced at Fernandez's plate. "Uh . . . do you want that?"
Fernandez shook her head, and walked away.
Levin grinned. "Waste not, want not," he said, and pulled the plate in front of him. He began to eat. "So Tom, are you in shit or what?"
"Deep shit," Sanders said. He stirred a cappuccino. He hadn't been able to eat lunch. He watched Levin wolf down great bites of mashed potatoes.
"I figured that," Levin said. "Jack Kerry over at Aldus called me this morning and said you were suing the company because you refused to jump some woman.
"Kerry is an asshole."
"The worst," Levin nodded. "The absolute worst. But what can you do? After Connie Walsh's column this morning, everybody's been trying to figure out who Mr. Piggy is." Levin took another huge bite of food. "But how'd she get the story in the first place? I mean, she's the one who broke it."
Sanders said, "Maybe you told her, John."
"Are you kidding?" Levin said.
"You had the tape."
Levin frowned. "You keep this up, Tom, you're going to piss me off" He shook his head. "No, you ask me, it was a woman who told her."
"What woman knew? Only Meredith, and she wouldn't tell."
"I'll bet you anything it'll turn out to be a woman," Levin said. "If you ever find out-which I doubt." He chewed thoughtfully. "Swordfish is a little rubbery. I think we should tell the waiter." He looked around the room. "Uh, Tom."
"Yes?"
"There's a guy standing over there, hopping from one foot to the other. I think maybe you know him."
Sanders looked over his shoulder. Bob Garvin was standing by the bar, looking at him expectantly. Phil Blackburn stood a few paces behind.
"Excuse me," Sanders said, and he got up from the table.
Garvin shook hands with Sanders. "Tom. Good to see you. How are you holding up with all this?"
"I'm okay," Sanders said.
"Good, good." Garvin placed his hand in a fatherly way on Sanders's shoulder. "It's nice to see you again."
"Nice to see you too, Bob."
Garvin said, "There's a quiet place in the corner over there. I asked them for a couple of cappuccinos. We can talk for a minute. Is that okay?"
"That's fine," Sanders said. He was well acquainted with the profane, angry Garvin. This cautious, polite Garvin made him uneasy.
They sat in the corner of the bar. Garvin settled into his chair and faced him.
"Well, Tom. We go way back, you and I"
"Yes, we do."
"Those damn trips to Seoul, eating that crappy food, and your ass hurting like hell. You remember all that."
"Yes, I do."
"Yeah, those were the days," Garvin said. He was watching Sanders carefully. "Anyway, Tom, we know each other, so I'm not going to bullshit you. Let me just put all the cards on the table," Garvin said. "We've got a problem here, and it's got to be solved before it turns into a real mess for everybody. I want to appeal to your better judgment about how we proceed from here."
"My better judgment?" Sanders said.
"Yes," Garvin said. "I'd like to look at this thing from all sides."
"How many sides are there?"
"There are at least two," Garvin said, with a smile. "Look, Tom. I'm sure it's no secret that I've supported Meredith inside our company. I've always believed that she's got talent and the kind of executive vision that we want for the future. I've never seen her do anything before that would suggest otherwise. I know she's only human, but she's very talented and I support her."
"Uh-huh . . ."
"Now perhaps in this case . . . perhaps it is true that she's made a mistake. I don't know."
Sanders said nothing. He just waited, staring at Garvin's face. Garvin was doing a convincing impression of an open-minded man. Sanders didn't buy it.
"In fact, let's say she has," Garvin said. "Let's say she did make a mistake."
"She did, Bob," Sanders said, firmly.
"All right. Let's say she did. An error of judgment, let's call it. An overstepping of bounds. The point is, Tom, faced with a situation like this, I still strongly support her."
"Why?"
"Because she's a woman."
"What does that have to do with it?"
"Well, women in business have traditionally been excluded from executive positions, Tom."
"Meredith hasn't been excluded," Sanders said.
"And after all," Garvin said, "she's young."
"She's not that young," Sanders said.
"Sure she is. She's practically a college kid. She just got her MBA a couple of years ago."
"Bob," Sanders said. "Meredith Johnson's thirty-five. She's not a kid at all."
Garvin did not seem to hear that. He looked at Sanders sympathetically. "Tom, I can understand that you were disappointed about the job," he said. "And I can understand that in your eyes, Meredith made a mistake in the way she approached you."
"She didn't approach me, Bob. She jumped me."
Garvin showed a flash of irritation. "You're no kid either, you know."
"That's right, I'm not," Sanders said. "But I am her employee."
"And I know she holds you in the highest regard," Garvin said, settling back in his chair. "As does everybody in the company, Tom. You're vital to our future. You know it, I know it. I want to keep our team together. And I keep coming back to the idea that we have to make allowances for women. We have to cut them a little slack."