‘Do you always work this late?’
Helena Grant looked up in mild irritation. Something she’d learned in the course of the afternoon was that one of the benefits of an open-door policy was that, paradoxically, people rarely troubled you. As soon as you closed your door, every bugger in the building seemed to take it as carte blanche to come blundering in. ‘It depends how busy I am.’ The words sounded more pointed than she’d intended, but maybe that was for the best.
It was Brian Nightingale’s face peering round the door, in the tentative manner of someone trying to pretend they haven’t already disturbed you. ‘Is it okay to come in?’
She repressed a sigh. ‘Feel free. I’m just finishing up anyway. How’s it going?’ She’d already had a briefing from Alec McKay – another person who hadn’t been deterred by a closed door, but she’d never seriously expected he would be – but she had no intention of telling Nightingale that.
‘Not bad. A few developments we hadn’t expected, but nothing we can’t cope with.’
‘That’s good. If there’s anything I can do to help, just ask.’
‘You look busy enough anyway.’
‘I’m not going to deny that. How’s the team been? Alec not been too much of a nuisance?’
‘I think Alec and I have the measure of each other.’
Grant doubted that very much, at least where Nightingale was concerned. In her experience it was easy to underestimate Alec, but rarely a wise thing to do. ‘Good to hear.’
He’d entered the room fully now, and gestured towards the seat beside her desk. ‘Do you mind…?’
‘Go ahead. Something I can do for you, Brian?’
‘Just wanted to say hello properly, really. Was conscious it was a bit rushed this morning.’
‘Well, hello, then. Properly.’ She smiled, unsure what else to say. ‘It’s good to have you working with us, Brian.’
‘I really just wanted to have a bit of a chat with you about the team.’
‘The team?’
‘Just to get your views informally. I’m not expecting you to say anything out of turn, but it would just be useful to get a sense of their different personalities and what they can contribute. That sort of thing.’
‘You’ve a lot of experience, Brian. I’m sure you can form your own impressions of them. I don’t really know what I can add to that.’
‘You’ve known them all a long time.’
‘That’s true. But maybe that just colours my judgement. Maybe I should ask you for your opinions once you’ve worked with them for a while.’
‘I’ve started to get a sense of them. Just really wanted to check that I was pitching things right.’ He seemed to hesitate. ‘If you are finishing up here, last night’s invitation still holds.’
‘Invitation?’
‘To join me for dinner. I’m stuck on my own in a budget hotel. I just thought that if you were at a loose end…’
‘It’s a nice thought, Brian, and I appreciate how tedious it is being stuck in a hotel. But I’m really too exhausted tonight to be good company. Some other time, maybe.’
He didn’t look disappointed, she thought. It was more that he looked challenged, like a chess player who had received the response he expected to his opening moves and was now planning his subsequent tactics. ‘Maybe later in the week.’
‘You should ask Alec. He’d happily go for a beer with you. That way you’d get all the gossip.’
‘I’m sure. What about Ginny Horton?’ Is she one for socialising?’
‘Ginny? Not particularly. I mean, she’s sociable enough, but she’s a bit of a home-bird.’
He nodded thoughtfully. ‘Well, some other time then.’
She waited till he’d closed the door behind him before murmuring, ‘How about never, Brian. Never’s perfect for me.’
Almost immediately there was a further knock on the door, and Mike Everly peered into the room. ‘Oh, you are there. Thought I must have missed you,’ he said.
‘You caught me just in time. I’d just reached my admin limit. Something I can do for you, Mike?’
‘Nothing urgent.’ He stopped. ‘Well, actually, I was just wondering if you fancied going for a quick drink?’
Bloody typical, she thought. Eight months without any kind of social life, then two invitations on the same evening. ‘A drink?’
‘Well, I was really just wondering if it might be helpful to have a more informal chat about what we were discussing earlier.’
She looked pointedly at her watch. ‘I very much appreciate the thought, Mike. But it’s getting a bit late for me. Can we take a rain check for another time?’
‘Yes, of course. I meant to pop over to ask you earlier, but got caught up in things. If you want to have more of a chat in the morning, let me know.’ Unlike Nightingale, Everly did look genuinely disappointed at her response.
‘I’ll do that, Mike. Thanks for the offer, anyway.’
‘I’ll remember to ask earlier in the evening next time.’ Everly smiled.
After he’d left she felt awkward and slightly guilty, as if she’d just committed some kind of social faux pas. There were times, she thought, when life seemed almost unbearably complicated. Times when she was relieved that all she had waiting for her at home was a glass of wine and that ready meal for one.