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Good luck with the new client. Are you somewhere exotic and sunny? xx
I watch the screen for a few minutes but his phone must be off, as there’s only one grey tick. That probably means he’s on a plane, but that’s about as much sleuthing as I can fit in for now as I need to get ready for work.
I like to get in early on a Monday morning if I can. It gives me the opportunity to catch up on any emails from the weekend and start to think about the week ahead while the office is relatively quiet. I’ve got a couple of weekly update meetings today on projects that I’m managing, and I ought to check in with the consultants first to make sure that there haven’t been any problems that might put us behind. I always think it’s better to be up-front with a client if there’s an issue, but also to have the plan to fix it already agreed so there’s no uncertainty for them to worry about. One of the few good things about my double life is that it forces me to compartmentalise. The only person at work who knows anything about the fun side of me is Ruth; I suspect the others would all describe me as quiet, efficient and ambitious but also a little bit dull. They’d be horrified to see the Ella that emerges when I’m away from work and can let my hair down.
There are just a couple of people in the office before me: a woman called Linda who is part of the accounts team, and a consultant I’ve only seen a couple of times before. I think he’s called Tim, but I can’t be completely sure. I tend only to get to know consultants when I’m working on a project with them, and we haven’t done that yet. Linda looks up and nods a greeting as I unpack my bag and set up my laptop on the desk opposite hers. Tim, if that’s his name, appears to be completely absorbed in what he’s doing and doesn’t even look up. My morning ritual is pretty much the same every day. After plugging in and turning on my laptop, I head to the loos for a quick wee, picking up a coffee on the way back before settling down to work through my emails. I launch the email program and take a sip of coffee while I wait for it to connect to the network and start downloading my messages. It seems to be taking longer than usual today, so I also take the opportunity to check my phone. Still only one grey tick on my message to Lee.
After a few minutes, the email program still hasn’t connected to the network, so I launch the browser and try a few websites, just to check that it’s not the internet connection. Nothing connects.
‘Linda?’ I ask, and her head pops up over the desk partition.
‘What’s up?’
‘Is the network playing up, do you know? I can’t seem to connect to anything this morning.’
‘It’s working fine for me. Tom, are you on the network OK?’ she calls to the consultant.
‘Yeah, all fine, why?’ Tim, who I’ve now learned is called Tom, replies.
‘Ella’s having trouble.’
‘Try turning it off and on again,’ he offers, before lowering his head to his screen.
By the time I’ve finished my coffee, I’ve rebooted the laptop twice but it’s still firmly refusing to connect to anything. There’s no sign of the IT guy; he’s a strict nine-to-fiver and it’s still only half past eight, but thankfully I do have offline copies of my current project plans, so I open them up and start to update them. As soon as the IT guy gets in, I’ll take Lee’s laptop over and ask him to have a look at mine too; the plans should sync up automatically once I’m connected again. I’ve got an online meeting with the project team at nine-thirty, so I hope it’s something simple, otherwise I’ll have to call them individually to postpone.
The office is filling up now, and I spot Jonathan arrive out of the corner of my eye. As soon as he’s set up his computer, he rushes off to one of the meeting rooms, where he’s joined by the woman from HR who did my onboarding when I started; I think she’s called Sharon. I’m trying to concentrate on my project plan, but I am a little distracted, as it’s clear that tensions are running high. Jonathan keeps jumping out of his seat and pacing around the room, running his hands through his hair. A knot of worry forms in the pit of my stomach. If Jonathan’s not happy, and he certainly doesn’t look it, does that mean that we didn’t get the contract? Why would HR care about that, though?
My thoughts don’t get an opportunity to progress much further, as the meeting room door flies open after a few minutes and Jonathan emerges with a face like thunder. He stops for a moment, gazing around the office, and then his eyes land on me and he starts to make his way over. It’s obvious that something bad has happened, and my heart starts thudding uncomfortably in my chest.
‘Ella, can we borrow you please?’ His voice is strained.
‘Sure.’ I try to keep my voice light, but the thudding in my chest has intensified. I lock my laptop screen and follow him over to the meeting room, where he closes the door behind me.
‘Please take a seat, Ella,’ the HR woman instructs frostily.
‘What’s up?’ I ask. My hands have started to sweat, so I place them in my lap and try to wipe them as surreptitiously as I can on my skirt.
‘You live at the same address as Lee Johnson, do you not?’ she asks.
‘That’s right.’ Whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t this, but I have no choice but to follow along and hope the reason for my summons becomes clear soon.
‘Describe your relationship with him.’
‘I’m not sure I know what you mean?’
‘You are in a romantic relationship with him, aren’t you.’ It’s a statement rather than a question.
I have no idea how to reply to this. It’s never occurred to me that the company would find out, and I’m desperately trying to think what gave us away. The HR woman obviously takes my silence as defiance, as she brings something up on her screen and turns it so I can see.
‘These are your holiday bookings for the last three years,’ she tells me. ‘As you can see, they match up nearly perfectly. Suspicious, don’t you think? Flatmates who always go on holiday at the same time?’
Something about her triumphant tone, as if she’s Hercule Poirot solving a particularly tricky murder, gets under my skin, and I raise my eyes and stare at her defiantly.
‘He’s my boyfriend, yes. So what?’ I snap.
‘Apart from the fact that I made it clear to you that the company actively discourages workplace romances, it means that you’re implicated in a serious breach of conduct.’ She smiles thinly, as if she’s been waiting for me to wander into her trap and I’ve just obliged.
‘I’m sorry, what?’
