Minimalist Gossip Magazine Cover (49).pdf (13) - Flipbook - Page 74
Mike from my team. Nodding my head, I agree to hand over the pictures. The MD
scribbles out a cheque. What’s going to happen to Mike? I ask. I can only assume it’s not
going to be good, and I can’t help but feel a little guilty about this.
The MD confirms he’s been dismissed for the violent conduct against me, that he’s lucky
I’m not choosing to pursue the assault further through the criminal courts. I suspect the
MD has scant sympathy for either Mike or myself. I’ll need a reference, of course, I add,
pushing my luck. And we’ll need a new Team Leader, the MD barks. Well, I smile with my
broken lips, I think I can help you there.
It’s true – people do surprise you. I was obviously surprised to find that Mike was gay,
but I was even more surprised to find that he was in love. It seems that love was always
here – trickling through the company like an underground stream. As usual, I’d just been
looking in all the wrong places. So, considering this, it seemed inevitable that Mike
would come and seek a violent retribution when he discovered it was me who'd
prompted Darren to call it off. That he did this in the Gent’s toilets just off the company’s
reception area was a stroke of luck not even I could have foreseen.
Well, I say “I”.
I actually mean Elaine. It’s evening, and we meet in a pub where I relinquish a cheque
detailing her agreed quarter of my compromise money. I had originally offered half, but
Elaine insisted her cut was more than enough and that I deserved the larger share. As I
can now barely see out of my left eye, I’m inclined to agree. Although, to be fair, none of
this could have happened without Elaine’s initiation. She was the one who clocked Mike
and Darren, who followed and photographed them together, who read Mike well
enough to predict exactly how he’d react. Just how she knew all of this seems to be a
secret she’s unwilling to share.
It’s always the quiet ones, isn’t it?
She looks different in this foreign, leisurely setting, distanced from the office hush and
working protocol. At a corner table, I tell her that she'll be offered the Team Leader
position by the end of the week. A smile appears on her face, the like of which I’ve never
seen. I ask why she wants the job so much anyway. I always hated it. That’s why I had to
get out, why I needed some cash and the impetus to move on.
Elaine laughs at this. Again, I’ve never really seen her laugh. The sound has a depth and
edge contrary to her standard composure. Through the final convulsive chokes, she
concludes that it looks like we've both got everything we wanted. Suddenly, I think of
Rachel. For the first time I realise that, without the office, I’m probably never going to see
her again. Someone else who'll disappear from my life, who'll slip silently through my
fingers. Everything? I sigh to Elaine. No, I’m not so sure that we got everything.
She slides around the table to place a hand at the top of my thigh. I breathe in until my
bandaged ribs begin to sting. She tells me that she is. She tells me that she’s perfectly
certain the pair of us have got precisely what we were after. And, as Elaine leans closer, I
can smell that she’s wearing perfume.
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