CLAUDIA
Now we found numerous excuses to nip past each other’s offices, and could be seen flitting back and forth from Marketing to HR and vice versa throughout the day, to the enormous pleasure of the office gossips. A tally had started in the marketing department of how many visits per day, while the junior lawyers were taking bets on how long it would take for us to wear a track in the carpet. Usually this would have ticked me off but weirdly it all made me very happy.
Late on Monday afternoon I decided to surprise him rather than making my usual, strident appearance. I took a sheaf of papers with me as an excuse and crept quietly along the wall of the private offices, stopping just short of his door. It was closed so I looked down at the papers in my hand and pretended to read them, stretching my ears towards his office, trying to ascertain if he was in a meeting or not. Directly opposite his door on my left, and hidden behind a partition, Rebecca was speaking on the phone. I was shocked to hear her giggling warmly. Before I could stop them my ears immediately honed in on Rebecca’s conversation.
‘Oh, stop it, you don’t really mean that . . .’ Giggle, giggle. ‘Well, I might be able to . . . no, I just have to check my diary . . .’ Giggle, giggle. ‘I am not playing hard to get . . . I’m not!’ Titter. ‘I’ll let you know later . . . OK, bye then, lover . . . Bye.’
I snapped back into my body. Surely that wasn’t Ed she was speaking to? I felt hot and a little disorientated, and for a moment I didn’t know whether to keep walking and knock on John’s door or make a hasty retreat. As I wavered, still staring unseeing at the papers in my hand, Rebecca stood up abruptly, her head coming up over the side of the partition. I saw her appear in my peripheral vision but pretended to be immersed in my papers. I waited for Rebecca to acknowledge me but she didn’t. She moved out of sight, and I looked up to watch her wend her way across the floor at a fast clip towards the toilets. Heart beating hard, I knocked on John’s door softly and entered, breathing a sigh of relief when I saw him sitting alone, beaming at me.
‘Did you know Rebecca was seeing someone?’ I asked as I stepped inside.