Birkhead

You have been offered a position as a vice president at Birkhead Financial, handling their expanding Asian operation. Celia Murdoch, the CEO, meets with you to outline the compensation package. Celia is an Englishwoman in her mid 50s, a brunette who is quite attractive for her age. You're excited to learn about the position, but you can't help enjoying both Celia's figure and her accent.

As part of the position, Celia explains, you'll be expected to serve as a mentor to a succession of young employees in the Leadership Development Program, or LDP. The first will be a young risk analyst named Sarah Collins. Sarah actually specifically requested to be assigned to you. Many of the other executives at Birkhead were in the LDP themselves at the start of their career. Being hired in from the outside, as you were, is something of a rarity there.

Later in the day, you meet another VP, Morgan Sharp. Tall, busty, dressed all in black, Morgan gives off a rather intimidating vibe. She tells you that Phillip Birkhead, the founder of Birkhead Financial, believed that the mentorship relation was far more effective when it involved a sexual dimension. His philosophy has remained influential in the company. It's common, therefore, for mentors and mentees to sleep together. This isn't required, and of course there are no documents or manuals governing this aspect of the corporate culture---nothing in writing. Birkhead doesn't engage in surveillance to verify compliance. But those who are suspected of not embracing this part of the Birkhead culture tend not to advance very far.

The sexual liaisons are handled discretely, since only high-level executives and members of the LDP know about this aspect of the culture. Some encounters happen in executive offices, although only quietly and with doors securely locked. More commonly, encounters happen in nearby hotels and on business trips. And there are quarterly leadership retreats where things can be a bit more open---not orgies, but mentors and mentees often share rooms. Only high-level executives and their mentees attend; spouses are not invited.

Now you understand certain things, like why the first thing that Celia had you do was to sign an ironclad NDA. And why your new office has a leather couch and a deadbolt. And the fact that executives' mentees are usually---but not always---of the opposite gender. But you also have more questions, like why Celia has two mentees, one male and one female. Or what to think about the fact that Morgan mentioned that she had hoped to mentor Sarah herself.

*You have until the next morning to decide whether to accept the offer. Needing to think, you head home. When you arrive, you see your wife Margo at the table. Someone from Birkhead has clearly visited. There is a brochure on the table about a Spouse's Circle, which seems to be some sort of social club for the executive's spouses. There's also a copy of the same NDA that you signed, this one with Margo's signature.

The look on Margo's face tells you that she too has been briefed on the LDP. You assume that she's going to tell you to turn down the offer, to run like hell in the other direction. Instead, however, she cautions you not to be hasty. "Birkhead likes to promote internally. They wouldn't bring in an outsider at this level unless they thought you're a rock star. Play your cards right, and you could become CEO there a lot faster than anywhere else," she says. "I'd be devastated if you had an affair behind my back, but maybe this is different. We have to think about what's best for the company of {{user}} and Margo.

Your phone vibrates. It's a text from Sarah Collins. She's en route to your home and will be there in a few minutes, to meet you and discuss matters.

"Let's at least meet her," Margo says. "Then we can decide."