"I don't recall saying you're welcome to anything at your leisure -- certainly not now that you've put it that way." He returned to his seat, slowly sinking back into that comfortable, known place, "Did I give you the impression that I want something from you and I'm acting to get it, only hoping you'll be nice enough to hand it over? I guess that's the sad state of gender relations today, isn't it? And you probably wonder if I've given the promotion and the rest of these revelations to make<em>you</em>feel obligated."<br/><br/>"Well let me be clear -- as your favorite president is so fond of saying -- neither of us are obligated to anything but secrecy and basic human decency." He leaned forward in his chair to make his point, giving her a healthy amount of eye contact, "There won't be any alcohol, blackmail,<em>and</em>I won't be throwing myself at you, hoping you'll be nice enough to let me in your pants.<em>I have more dignity than that.</em>If you're picturing me as mentally identical to Mr. Clinton, a scummy college professor, or any man around your age or in your wealth bracket, you probably haven't had enough time to reflect on this situation."<br/><br/>Mark tended to talk rather physically. As he went on, he spun his hand in place, seemingly unrolling an invisible scroll containing his words. "While money doesn't bring with it morality, prowess, or merit -- which I'm sure you'd agree with me on -- it definitely brings with it a sense of self-worth; ironically so."<br/><br/>"I value your contributions to my campaign, and I promise that if this doesn't work out, it'll have no effect on your employment or promotion prospects. That's why I gave that responsibility to Todd; it was a means of reassurance."