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‘Oh, right. Yeah. Sorry, I must have lost track of the time. I’ll jump in the shower after you.’
‘Umm, no,’ he replies. ‘You go in first, because you need to do your make-up and all that stuff. I just need a quick rinse down and a clean shirt.’
The truth is that I’d completely forgotten we were going out tonight, and I’m not sure a celebration dinner at the Italian restaurant is appropriate. What are we celebrating? I’ve lost my job and my boyfriend is being a prick. At least the prick is paying; although I’m technically still on a salary, every penny counts until I’ve secured a new job. I have a finite amount of money and I need to make it last as long as I can. I did various budget plans during the week, and I’ve worked out that I could last for nearly six months if I’m very frugal, but it’ll be closer to four if I maintain my normal spending. I spent yesterday evening doing an online food shop, carefully substituting the premium products we normally buy with cheaper alternatives. I haven’t told Lee yet; I’d rather present him with a done deal than have to fight with him all the way round the supermarket. I was amazed how much I saved compared to our usual bill.
As soon as I’m out of the shower, I wrap myself in a towel and pad into the bedroom. Lee is lying on the bed in his pants.
‘Mm,’ he says, eyeing me appreciatively. ‘Perhaps I should cancel the table and unwrap you instead.’ He reaches out and starts tugging at the towel, trying to dislodge it.
‘Get off!’ I grab the towel to prevent it slipping off and pull away from him. There’s nothing like being suddenly unemployed to completely shut down your libido, and sex is the last thing on my mind.
Of course, he completely misreads the signals I’m giving off, and slowly pulls off his pants to reveal his building arousal while humming ‘The Stripper’.
‘Cut it out,’ I tell him firmly. ‘We’ll be late.’
‘We might be,’ he agrees with a wink, coming up behind me and stroking my bare shoulders. ‘I’ve realised I’m still very hungry, but I’m not sure it’s for Italian food any more. I’m sure we can find a snack for you too if we look carefully.’ He prods my back with his erection as he says the last bit, to make sure I’m not in any doubt as to his meaning, before leaning down and, after moving my hair out of the way, starting to nibble on my earlobe. To be fair, I do normally like having my earlobe nibbled, but at the moment, I just want to recoil.
‘Lee, I mean it. Not now, OK?’
‘Fine,’ he huffs as he heads for the bathroom. ‘I wasn’t really in the mood anyway. Coming home to find you dressed like a prison inmate was a bit of a turnoff if I’m honest. I was only trying to cheer you up.’
What is the matter with him at the moment? Has he always been like this, but I’ve just never noticed before? Suddenly, the weekend ahead seems impossibly long, and I’m dying for Monday to come around, just so I can be alone again. It comes to something when daytime TV seems infinitely preferable to spending time with your boyfriend. I’m seriously beginning to wonder what I ever saw in him as I listen to him singing tunelessly in the shower.
Thankfully, by the time we’re dressed and in the taxi, things are on a slightly better footing. Now that I’ve got my head into the right place, I’m looking forward to dinner, and Lee seems to have cheered up as well. The maître d’ greets us as if we’re long-lost family members, even though I’m sure he doesn’t remember us, and we’re shown to a table in the window, which I’m pleased about because it means I’ll have something to look at if Lee starts to get annoying again.
‘So,’ he says as soon as we’ve placed our drinks order, ‘tell me about you.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, what’s your plan?’ He steeples his hands.
‘It’s pretty simple, really,’ I tell him while trying to ignore his faux avuncular attitude. ‘I’ve registered with a couple of agencies, and I’ve applied for one job so far. I’ll keep searching the job sites and applying, and hopefully someone will employ me before my money runs out.’
‘Hm.’ He stares at me as if appraising me, and I try very hard not to be irritated.
‘What?’
‘I was just thinking. I could ask whether Harmony have any project manager vacancies. I could put in a good word, you know.’
‘No. Absolutely not.’
He looks affronted. ‘Why not?’
‘Because I don’t want a job based on you “putting in a good word”. That’s not how it should work. Also, even though I’m really pissed off with them for putting me through the mill and then firing me anyway, I think Orchestra were right about one thing. Office romances are a bad idea.’
We’re momentarily interrupted by the waiter coming to take our food order, but I can see Lee is unhappy with my response.
‘Why do you say that?’ he asks, once we’re alone again. ‘We did OK, didn’t we?’
‘Youdid OK,’ I tell him. ‘But my life would have been a lot simpler if I hadn’t been going out with you when you decided to pull your little resignation trick. Yes, I probably still would have lost my job, but at least I wouldn’t have had that horrible week when I was suspended.’
He leans forward. ‘I know you’ll say this is just the rose-tinted spectacles talking, but I never realised what a crappy company Orchestra was to work for until I started working at Harmony. You’re better off out of there. I’ve done you a favour, I reckon.’
‘Are you mental?’ I ask him in disbelief. ‘You got me suspended, and now I’m out of a job because we lost the contract to Harmony. How, exactly, is that doing me a favour?’
He smiles, oblivious to everything except how clever he is. I’ve seen this look many times before, and I’ve always accepted it as part of his salesman’s swagger, but this time I want to punch him.
‘Look,’ he says conspiratorially. ‘I couldn’t say anything at the time, for obvious reasons, but now that you’re no longer with Orchestra, I reckon I can tell you.’
