That wasn’t to say there weren’t other women making my life difficult, though.
After the morning meetings, Georgina called me into her office for a chat. Patrick eyed me curiously as I went, and I wasn’t surprised. It was hard to imagine what she wanted to talk to me about that he wouldn’t be involved in.
She shut the door over and motioned to the glass table in the corner of the office. The windows joined there, creating an amazing panoramic of the surrounding city – but I kept my eyes firmly on the table.
‘How are you getting along, Stephen?’ she asked, tucking her skirt under her and slipping onto the chair next to me.
‘I expect that’s really for you and Patrick to judge, isn’t it?’
‘No. I’d like to know how you’re feeling. Performance-wise, you won’t be assessed until the accounts are fully in your control. I want to know whether you’ve got everything you need at your disposal. How is Patrick doing, handing over the reins?’ She linked the fingers of her hands together and leaned over them towards me. If I’d been looking down, no doubt the V-cut of her neckline would have given me quite the view. But I was not looking down. ‘I’d like to know that you have everything you need.’ She reached out and laid her hand very lightly, very softly, on top of my forearm for a moment. Skin to skin, as I’d rolled my sleeves up to the elbow. Brief enough that it could be dismissed as innocent but long enough that I noticed she’d lingered. Did she do this to everyone?
‘Patrick is being very thorough. I hope I’ll be a good fit to take over from him as I understand his logic. Ideally, I would have liked a face-to-face introduction to his top accounts.’
‘Have you mentioned it to him?’
‘I did the first week.’
‘Well, chase him on that and let me know what he says. If it’s a problem with the client’s availability while Patrick is still here, I can always introduce you myself at a later date.’ She tossed herwavy black hair. ‘On that subject, we’re arranging a bon voyage party for him on his last Friday. You’ll come along?’
I gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Of course I’ll be there. Is it a surprise?’
‘Yes. I’m holding it on my yacht.’ She went over to her desk and plucked a business card from a marble dish and a sleek ballpoint pen, one high heel lifting in the air, as she balanced on the other leg to lean over for it. I recalled how Elle had leaned over the back of her sofa when I arrived yesterday morning to get that character template. How her T-shirt had slid up her thigh…
Georgina was coming back over, but she didn’t return to her seat. She stood beside me, close enough the smell of her perfume was overwhelming, and scribbled the details of her yacht’s location on the back of the card, sliding it in front of me, with one finger. ‘I’m there most weekends in the summer. I take it out and watch the sunset over a bottle of champagne. It’s a very relaxing experience.’
‘Sounds idyllic.’
‘Anytime you need to unwind, let me know. This job can be stressful.’ She put her hand on my shoulder and gave it what could have been seen as a reassuring squeeze but felt like the prelude to a massage. And then her breast brushed against me —
Oooo-k, no.I leaned forward to pick up the card, just to break the contact and slipped it in my pocket, while my brain scrambled with a diplomatic way to deal with this come-on.Frame it like she’s just being friendly - no indication that you will or won’t.‘That’s kind of you to offer.’ I stood up and moved towards the door at an enforced casual pace.
‘Stephen,’ she called, just as I was about to reach the door.
I paused and looked back. She was still facing away, but then she turned to look at me, perching on the edge of the table and crossing her legs.
‘Remember to let me know if there isanythingI can help you with. My door is always open.’
Well, that was handy because - after a polite nod - I was heading straight out of it.
Chapter Seventeen
Stephen
Everything good?’ Patrick asked quietly, when I got back to my desk.
‘Yes. She just wanted to know how I felt things were going.’
‘That’s considerate of her.’ He lifted his eyebrows at me in a way that almost seemed like a question…or perhaps an invitation to talk? But I didn’t know him well enough to tell him about Georgina’s behaviour. It might have been a stereotype but finance was a competitive business and we, of all people, knew the value of information. I chose not to elaborate, and he changed the subject. ‘I thought I saw you at the weekend. Out jogging.’
‘You may well have done. I go out most mornings.’
He explained he’d been going in the opposite direction on Saturday, that he’d started jogging himself only a couple of months ago, and we were so busy talking about it and exchanging our user profiles for Fitbit challenges I didn’t hear the approaching click of heels until Georgina’s hand was on the back of my chair.
‘Have a good lunch, Stephen,’ she all but purred in my ear, ‘perhaps we can schedule in one for ourselves soon?’
There was no time to answer before she was striding over to the lifts. Patrick cleared his throat and diverted his attention back to his phone. Excellent, he probably thought I’d lied to him about what I went into her office for now.
Or…was I reading too much into it? Did she just want a normal lunch? Was the breast brush just an innocent mistake? Not having a pair myself, I didn’t know how easily that kind of thing could happen. Would I even have been questioning this ifshe was a man? It’s not like she was the first boss to ever say their “door was always open” to me - just the first female boss.
