Michael Crichton - Disclosure

"Basically. Yes." She shook her head. "You make it sound so… crude."

"But that was the situation at that moment, was it not?"

"Yes. It was."

"Now, at that moment, did you say, `No, no, please,' and did Mr. Sanders reply, `You're right, we shouldn't be doing this,' and then get off the couch?"

"Yes," she said. "That's what he said."

"Then what was the misunderstanding?"

"When I said, `No, no,' I meant, `No, don't wait.' Because he was waiting, sort of teasing me, and I wanted him to go ahead. Instead, he got off the couch, which made me very angry."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted him to do it."

"But Ms. Johnson, you said, `No, no.'"

"I know what I said," she replied irritably, "but in that situation, it's perfectly clear what I was really saying to him."

"Is it?"

"Of course. He knew exactly what I was saying to him, but he chose to ignore it."

"Ms. Johnson, have you ever heard the phrase, `No means no'?"

"Of course, but in this situation-"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Johnson. Does no mean no, or not?"

"Not in this case. Because at that time, lying on that couch, it was absolutely clear what I was really saying to him."

"You mean it was clear to you."

Johnson became openly angry. "It was clear to him, too," she snapped.

"Ms. Johnson. When men are told that `no means no,' what does that mean?"

"I don't know." She threw up her hands in irritation. "I don't know what you're trying to say."

"I'm trying to say that men are being told that they must take women at their literal word. That no means no. That men cannot assume that no means maybe or yes."

"But in this particular situation, with all our clothes off, when things had gone so far-"

"What does that have to do with it?" Fernandez said.

"Oh, come off it,"Johnson said. "When people are getting together, they begin with little touches, then little kisses, then a little petting, then some more petting. Then the clothes come off, and you're touching various private parts, and so on. And pretty soon you have an expectation about what's going to happen. And you don't turn back. To turn back is a hostile act. That's what he did. He set me up."

"Ms. Johnson. Isn't it true that women claim the right to turn back at any point, up to the moment of actual penetration? Don't women claim the unequivocal right to change their minds?"

"Yes, but in this instance"

"Ms. Johnson. If women have the right to change their minds, don't men as well? Can't Mr. Sanders change his mind?"

"It was a hostile act." Her face had a fixed, stubborn look. "He set me up."

"I'm asking whether Mr, Sanders has the same rights as a woman in this situation. Whether he has the right to withdraw, even at the last moment."

“No.”

"Why?"

"Because men are different."

"How are they different?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake," Johnson said angrily. "What are we talking about here? This is Alice in Wonderland. Men and women aredifferent.Everybody knows that. Men can't control their impulses."

"Apparently Mr. Sanders could."

"Yes. As a hostile act. Out of his desire to humiliate me."

"But what Mr. Sanders actually said at the time was, `I don't feel good about this.' Isn't that true?"

"I don't remember his exact words. But his behavior was very hostile and degrading toward me as a woman."

"Let's consider," Fernandez said, "who was hostile and degrading toward whom. Didn't Mr. Sanders protest the way things were going earlier in the evening?"

"Not really. No."

"I thought he had." Fernandez looked at her notes. "Early on, did you say to Mr. Sanders, `You look good' and `You always had a nice hard tush'?"

"I don't know. I might have. I don't remember."

"And what did he reply?"

"I don't remember."

Fernandez said, "Now, when Mr. Sanders was talking on the phone, did you come up, push it out of his hand, and say, `Forget that phone'?"

"I might have. I don't really remember."

"And did you initiate kissing at that point?"

"I'm not really sure. I don't think so."

"Well, let's see. How else could it have occurred? Mr. Sanders was talking on his cellular phone, over by the window. You were on another phone at your desk. Did he interrupt his call, set down his phone, come over, and start kissing you?"

She paused for a moment. "No."

"Then who initiated the kissing?"

"I guess I did."

"And when he protested and said, `Meredith,' did you ignore him, press on, and say, `God, I've wanted you all day. I'm so hot, I haven't had a decent fuck'?" Fernandez repeated these statements in a flat uninflected monotone, as if reading from a transcript.

"I may have… I think that might be accurate. Yes."

Fernandez looked again at her notes. "And then, when he said, `Meredith, wait,' again clearly speaking in a tone of protest, did you say, `Oh, don't talk, no, no, oh Jesus'?"

"I think… possibly I did."

"On reflection, would you say these comments by Mr. Sanders were protests that you ignored?"

"If they were, they were not very clear protests. No."

"Ms. Johnson. Would you characterize Mr. Sanders as fully enthusiastic throughout the encounter?"

Johnson hesitated a moment. Sanders could almost see her thinking, trying to decide how much the tape would reveal. Finally she said, "He was enthusiastic sometimes, not so much at other times. That's my point."

"Would you say he was ambivalent?"

"Possibly. Somewhat."

"Is that a yes or a no, Ms. Johnson?" Yes.

"All right. So Mr. Sanders was ambivalent throughout the session. He's told us why: because he was being asked to embark on an office affair with an old girlfriend who was now his boss. And because he was now married. Would you consider those valid reasons for ambivalence?"

"I suppose so."

"And in this state of ambivalence, Mr. Sanders was overwhelmed at the last moment with the feeling that he didn't want to go forward. And he told you how he felt, simply and directly. So, why would you characterize that as a `setup'? I think we have ample evidence that it is just the opposite an uncalculated, rather desperate human response to a situation which you entirely controlled. This was not a reunion of old lovers, Ms. Johnson, though you prefer to think it was. This was not a meeting of equals at all. The fact is, you are his superior and you controlled every aspect of the meeting. You arranged the time, bought the wine, bought the condoms, locked the door-and then you blamed your employee when he failed to please you. That is how you continue to behave now."

"And you're trying to put his behavior in a good light," Johnson said. "But what I'm saying is that as a practical matter, waiting to the last minute to stop makes people very angry."

"Yes," Fernandez said. "That's how many men feel, when women withdraw at the last minute. But women say a man has no right to be angry, because a woman can withdraw at any time. Isn't that true?"

Johnson rapped her fingers on the table irritably. "Look," she said. "You're trying to make some kind of federal case here, by trying to obscure basic facts. What did I do that was so wrong? I made him an offer, that's all. If Mr. Sanders wasn't interested, all he had to do was say, `No.' But he never said that. Not once. Because he intended toset me up.He's angry he didn't get the job and he's retaliating the only way he can-by smearing me. This is nothing but guerrilla warfare and character assassination. I'm a successful woman in business, and he resents my success and he's out to get me. You're saying all kinds of things to avoid that central and unavoidable fact."

"Ms. Johnson. The central and unavoidable fact is that you're Mr. Sanders's superior. And your behavior toward him was illegal. And it is in fact a federal case."