In the afternoon, Lynch met with members of a women’s rights association at an outdoor café, a man in his thirties and a woman around thirty.
"Lynch..." Lynch introduced himself while shaking hands with them. These two visitors didn’t show strong feelings of hate or love but were rather polite, shaking hands with Lynch and then sitting down at the table.
The economic downturn had significantly reduced the patrons of the outdoor café. In the past, the place was often full, but now, there were only two tables occupied in the entire roadside garden.
One table was theirs, and the other was occupied by a young couple who didn’t seem like a typical family.
"I’ve heard from other sources that there might be some misunderstandings between us..." He stopped there, leading to the purpose of this meeting—the rest was communication.
The two people sitting across from him exchanged a glance, and the man nodded, "It’s possible. Mr. Lynch, do you know a lady named Julie?"
The visitor didn’t avoid the issue and directly brought up the core of the matter.
Julie was considered a somewhat significant member of the Sabin City Women’s Rights Association. In earlier years, when the Sabin City Rugby Club was popular, Julie wielded considerable influence and could express views using the club’s reputation, either alone or with some players, which people would patiently listen to as she spoke on behalf of the association.
However, in recent years, her influence in the eyes of the media and public in Sabin City had gradually declined, and her status in the association had also begun to wane. However, given her previous hard work, some people still valued her highly.
One cannot show one face when influential and a different face when not; that’s not appropriate.
After Julie was dismissed yesterday, she went to the association, talked to a few friends about it, and after a short closed-door meeting, the association decided to help Julie seek justice.
In reality, what justice is there to seek?
In bad economic times, every sector was at risk of decline, and the association also faced such issues—difficulties in collecting membership fees, funding applications not being approved, and social sponsorships becoming scarcer. If nothing is done to stir things up a bit, the Sabin City branch might be dissolved.
Whether causing trouble for Lynch to make companies with many female workers realize their value and importance, or securing maintenance funds from the superior associations, both are important, but it must start with some commotion.
As for why Lynch, it’s because he was caught in the crossfire.
Lynch didn’t evade the topic. He nodded, "Ms. Julie and I had differences at work, and it was hard to find balance, so I dismissed her..." He paused with an ironic smile, "I recall compensating her with an extra month’s salary. Did I break the law?"
According to the current laws of Bail Federal, if there’s no advance dismissal notice, the employer needs to compensate one month’s salary to allow the employee a one-month buffer, preventing immediate living difficulties due to sudden unemployment.
Lynch hadn’t committed any illegal acts, and the association wouldn’t bring this up, even if it reached the Federal Supreme Court, Lynch had done nothing wrong.
The woman sitting beside, who introduced herself as "Taylor," had a subtly serious expression, emitting something special that gave Lynch the impression she held a certain status within the association, often referred to as the quality of someone in a leading position.
"Mr. Lynch, Ms. Julie talked about the reason for your differences. She said you wanted to start a sports initiative focused on female athletes, with elements suspect of pleasing males, and when she advocated for the rights women should enjoy, you dismissed her. Is this true?"
The man sitting next to her glanced at Taylor, feeling she was a little too impatient to conclude the matter, but he said nothing since Taylor was the vice president of the association here and held some power and position.
Their purpose was to stir things up, create public opinion, and put pressure on Lynch, making people see their strength.
"If having male spectators for a sport means humiliating women, Ms. Taylor, do you think I’m humiliating you right now?"
Taylor was momentarily taken aback; her mind processing the first half of Lynch’s sentence, feeling this statement somewhat confused the concepts, then having to face the latter part.
A strong woman shouldn’t be put in a difficult position. Her expression changed subtlely, and she shook her head slightly but said nothing. That way, even if there were any follow-up situations, she could always adjust what she wanted to express after clarifying Lynch’s intentions.
The head shake could indicate affirmation or negation; how it was interpreted depended entirely on her.
Lynch laughed several times, a mocking tone lightly evident in his laughter, "No, Ms. Taylor, I’ve been humiliating you, harshly humiliating you..."
"Mr. Lynch..." The male companion interjected, trying to cut off the conversation between the two, realizing Taylor had fallen into a trap, but Lynch wouldn’t let him succeed so easily.
He directly counter-questioned, "As Taylor’s companion, do you think I am humiliating her?"
The man, who had realized the problem, was cornered and felt it was difficult to answer. If he said yes, not discussing whether lying with eyes wide open would make him uncomfortable, once the day’s events got out, it would become a huge joke.
People would find it amusing to watch others become a joke, and even after the person being laughed at got angry, they might hypocritically comfort them. Only the party being laughed at knew how painful it was to become a joke.
If he said no, it was clear he betrayed Taylor’s stance, aligning him with Lynch. Just under five minutes into the meeting, Lynch had managed to destabilize them from within.
Taylor seemed to realize that her previous evasion was the dumbest choice, and her face didn’t look so well anymore. She directly interrupted Lynch’s probing, "You’re avoiding the question!"
"Avoiding the question?" Lynch exaggeratedly asked Taylor, "Are you talking about me?"
"No, I’m not avoiding the question. I’m solving it. If you think my appreciative gaze is humiliating you, then there’s no need for us to continue talking."
Lynch felt if the Sabin City Women’s Rights Association was filled with people like Taylor, then they posed no threat at all.
Taylor stared at Lynch, maybe Lynch’s "appreciative gaze" made her feel Lynch wasn’t lying. After about ten seconds, she nodded, "Okay, this isn’t humiliating me, then what?"
Lynch’s attitude softened a bit, "Let me ask one more question, Ms. Taylor, do you think I’m handsome?"
Taylor wanted to say no but had to admit that Lynch was naturally good-looking. She reluctantly nodded, "You’re handsome, and then?"
Lynch grinned brightly, "See, that’s where Julie and I differ. She thinks appreciation from males is a form of humiliation for the person being admired. I respect every woman greatly; women are an indispensable part of society!"
His statement quickly stabilized Taylor’s mood, calming her attitude.
"I’ve noticed some girls also admire handsome men or those with good physiques, yet these men never feel humiliated by the girls’ admiration."
"Sports are the same. If a female-oriented sport can only be watched by women, that would be the real humiliation to women."
"I personally believe Ms. Julie has issues ideologically. To highlight women’s status and rights, she deliberately creates divisions and alarming viewpoints, negatively affecting the Women’s Rights Association."
"Because of her actions and those like her, people may come to view those as your association’s style and approach."
"Furthermore, the movement I intended to promote would provide at least over two thousand jobs for women in the state, but due to our differences, including those between Ms. Julie and me, I’ve decided to temporarily shelve this plan."
Lynch’s expression grew more serious, "I will hold a press conference to explain the situation to the public. I haven’t discriminated against or humiliated anyone. Ms. Julie has placed undue pressure on me, and society and public opinion will render a fair outcome for me!"
Taylor exchanged a glance with the man beside her, realizing they were now in trouble.
Taylor clamped her mouth shut, and the man lightly cleared his throat, solemnly saying, "Mr. Lynch, you can temporarily postpone the press conference; we don’t fully understand this matter yet, and there might be serious misunderstandings. Shouldn’t we resolve the misunderstandings first?"
"If there are issues with Ms. Julie, we will address them and work to help you expedite launching this female-focused sports initiative in the state and even the Federation."
Facing these reasonable association staff members, Lynch reluctantly agreed to their request, "You have three days."
"I want to know your handling results after three days!"
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