"There have been times when he would keep staring at my face when I was working… and sometimes after my shift ends, he would tell me to stay behind and he'd talk to me about things like my future plans and, um, marriage and… offer to 'tutor' me on things like how to talk to nobles. He calls me by my first name and keeps patting my shoulder and back. I know he does the same with the others in my group but I asked him to stop but he wouldn't. And at times he'd tell other people to leave us alone in a room and I just don't feel all that comfortable with him."
Travis felt the comings of a very severe frown and quickly relaxed his face with meditational exercises.
"Ms Imni," he said, slowly and gently. "May I call you Darla?"
A nod.
"Darla. I must confess, I did not know that such sexual harassment was happening to you in your workplace."
Her head, slightly lowered to meet with the desk instead of Travis, quickly shot up. "It's not harassment! It's not… I don't think…"
"I have thoroughly reviewed the minutes of every harassment and abuse seminar session attended by the employees of this guild, Ms Darla. One thing was made very clear very consistently; if it is making someone uncomfortable, it is harassment. You have made it clear to him several times that you do not feel comfortable yet he persists in his behaviour. That is harassment. If being alone with him in a room is enough to discomfort you, then it is a very serious matter."
Darla took a moment to glance down at her hands, clenching each other tightly on her lap. Before she knew it, a sniffle escaped her. Her body shivered, as if cold, and her shoulders lightly jumped once. Then another. Eventually, her jumping shoulders quivered uncontrollably and she began to let loose tears.
Travis pushed a box of soft disposable cloth, slightly dampened by a small exotic crystal inside, towards her and looked away. In this situation, there was little to do. Travis tuned out all the knocks on his door through the exotic-attuned knobs on his desk to provide what solitude and confidence that he could, but he could not hug her. It was that sort of uninvited behaviour that led to this.
He had suspected, of course, that a young, intelligent and female employee may have to face such issues. Her guarded look when she entered the office, her eyes darting around like she was afraid someone else was in the room, the way her head shot around to see who came in when Susanna opened the door with tea and biscuits. He wanted to believe they were circumstantial, but there was little denying it now.
It had been about ten minutes before Darla calmed down enough to speak. Even so, he allowed another few minutes to let her get her thoughts in order.
"Would you like to resume our conference at another date and time?" he offered. "I understand if this is too much for you to handle. We must press forth with this case to resolve the harassment, but it would be best that you are in the perfect shape of mind to do so. Our next point of discussion will be regarding how you wish to proceed and what I may do to help you."
"Why do you even care?" she whispered, not unkindly. "Don't you have more important work to do?"
So she finally came out and said it.
"This work can all be pushed aside. Your health, safety and wellbeing are more important to me as Guild Master than anything else that I do."
That was technically the truth. The work he did oversees the livelihood of all employees, and as such could not just be 'pushed aside,' but he was not lying in that an employee's health, safety and wellbeing are more important than anything else. A signature may be given tomorrow or the day after, but Darla's mental state may deteriorate if the support she needed wasn't given now.
"…You're the first to care," she whispered. "You're the only one who does."
That did not speak well for her family situation. He'd have to touch on the subject another time.
"Then help me help you. Tell me what you want to do, how you want to go forward, where you want to go and how I can help you. I promise you, I will do all I can to resolve this as quickly, confidentially and effectively as possible."
She looked up at him, daring to hope. "Will you? Will you really?"
He repaid her hope with as much resolve as he could muster into his eyes. "I will."