“Govno!” Dasha agreed. “Never. Not after what happen with Raheema in Baghdad.”

Natalie spun around to face Dasha. “What happened with Raheema in Baghdad?”

Shaking her head Dasha said. “For sure you have heard this. Raheema had problem with you-know-who whacking off in car on assignment. She report whacking and now she doing weather in Youngstown.”

“Oh right,” Natalie said with a knowing look.

“What? Who? Who did that?” Matt demanded, nearly hysterical.

Dasha scowled at him and, narrowing her eyes, said to Natalie, “Is also bad with Hal.”

“Hal is such a creep,” she agreed. “He stopped by my building the other night and asked to come up at, like, 11 p.m. He’s been punishing me ever since.”

Dasha’s eyes darkened and she looked around the room as if to assure herself that Assad’s forces weren’t lurking in the shadows. “I hear rumor. With the young girls, he presses the wang into the back.”

Matt rocketed forward in his chair. “What did you just say?”

“The assignment girls. When she sit at computer, Hal make the wang hard, stand behind, then push wang into her.” She made a disapproving face. “Wang attack.”

“That’s disgusting.” Natalie wrinkled her nose, remembering how Hal had grazed her body in the editorial meeting. And Bibb had been sitting right there in front of them. Come to think of it. “I bet Bibb knows. She’s an A and A.”

“What’s this? A and A?” asked Dasha.

“Aider and abettor,” Natalie explained. “Enabler. I think there’s one at every place. The senior woman in management who scares the female employees under her into silence and submission.”

“Yes, they make the system working.” Dasha got a faraway look in her eyes. “They punish the women who make the complaint. Too much complaint and they say this girl is crazy. This girl get Abu Fazl killed. This girl is rough.”

“Tough,” Natalie corrected. “They call us tough.”

“Okay, tough,” Dasha agreed. “They like better we say nothing.”

“I don’t understand,” said Matt, exasperated. “If Hal’s so bad and you guys all know, why don’t you turn him in to HR?”

“Haven’t you heard anything we’ve just said?” asked Natalie, indignant. “HR doesn’t care. Why don’t you turn him in? Now you know as much about his creepiness as we do.”

Matt threw his hands up. “Okay, okay! I’m not the enemy.”

“HR worst,” Dasha elaborated. “Like KGB, secret police.”

“Yep, if you complain, they paper your file to show that you’re the problem.” Natalie sighed. “HR exists to protect management from the employees.”

“Yah. Nelly Jones, too,” Dasha said, shaking her head.

Natalie straightened to attention. “What about Nelly?”

“She taping special on harassment. Big show. Six cameras,” Dasha said and gave a hollow laugh. “For sure will not mention problem at ATN.”

“Oh my god, could you even imagine?” Natalie agreed, laughing.