Working Relationship Ch. 12

Janet looked downcast. "I didn't mean to suggest anything when I closed that door," she said, "I just thought ..."

She squeezed Janet's hand, "I know that Janet, but it does show how the most innocent of gestures can be misinterpreted. There is always someone willing to think the worst."

"Right! It's almost lunchtime, David, Have you brought anything for your lunch?"

"Errr ...No!" he replied, "I was going to work through lunch."

Sarah looked at Janet, "You see what I mean, you need to be one step ahead at all times. Today I bought sandwiches for us before I came in. Usually I get them for him from the machine. He pays for his own, but he never has change so I always make sure that I have plenty." She opened her bag and selected one of the packs of sandwiches, the pack that she knew David liked. "Janet and I are having lunch together; but I will bring you a coffee to have with those. While we are on the subject of food, what are you doing for dinner tonight?"

"Nothing special" he replied, "I was going to just throw something in the microwave for myself."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "A typical bachelor. If you are free this evening, John and I would like you to come to dinner. He wants to thank you for looking after me yesterday. He was furious about that text, but he has calmed down now and he agrees with me that it won't do any good making a fuss, but he does want to thank you personally. Will you come?"

"I would love to," said David, "But there is no need for your husband to thank me, you were obviously not able to continue yesterday and I am sure Janet will agree you were far too upset to go home on the bus. As I told you, you are a valued member of the team. Even Mr Macintosh was concerned that you were alright and got home safely. That was why he told me to stay with you until I was sure you were ok."

Sarah smiled, "Thank you and I am so glad you can come" she said, "I know you like lamb and I have a nice piece which I got this morning from the butchers. John is bringing some wine to go with it. One thing I can rely on him for is his choice of wine and there is a very good wine store very near to his work. Shall we say 6:00 for dinner at 6:30?"

"That would be very nice, but as the guest, shouldn't I bring the wine?" asked David.

Sarah grinned at him, "If you insist, but I have something special that I think you will appreciate. John did have a regular supply until recently but recently he has taken to sampling other varieties. I think it's quite a good vintage and I really would like your opinion on what John used to enjoy. 6:0'clock it is then, I will look forward to it. Now, I have taken up enough of your time, so we had better let you get on with your work. I will bring you a coffee to go with that sandwich before we go to lunch."

As she stood up she took Janet's hand and led her out of David's office, closing the door behind them. Sitting in the outer office she held onto Janet's hand for a few moments more.

"We can't talk here," she said quietly, "I sometimes think that even the walls have ears, but I really do need to talk to you and this is personal, not about work. I will go and get David's coffee, by which time it will be lunchtime anyway. Then perhaps we could sit in my car and eat our sandwiches. It would be more private and we can talk there without being overheard."

"Are you sure," said Janet, looking concerned, "You know what the gossips say about me and spending lunchtime with me, sitting in your car would be bound to get us noticed, it would associate you with me on a personal level."

Sarah looked down at the floor for a few seconds, as if she was thinking of what to say. Then she took a deep breath and without raising her head she almost whispered, "Yesterday, in this office I did something I have never in my life done before, Janet. I put my arms around another woman and kissed her. It wasn't a polite greeting, a peck on the cheek, I really kissed her. I don't know what made me do it, I know, I was confused and not fully in control at the time and I suppose I could pass it off as that, but deep inside both of us know that wouldn't be true. You were holding me and I did need someone to do that, but suddenly it just felt right; it was the right thing for me to do. I know you felt it too because you kissed me back ... No, let me finish, please. If I stop now I might not have the courage to say what I need to say. In that moment with you everything else paled into insignificance. Even that text no longer mattered. I was in your arms and nothing else mattered. That was why I kissed you again ... Oh God! I am making such a mess of this. I have been trying all morning to work out what I was going to say and it's coming out all wrong. I am a married woman, I am not ... but... I can't get you out of my mind ... why did the touch of your lips on mine become all I could think about last night? If I am being stupid please say ... if you tell me it meant nothing I will try to put it out of my mind ... but ... I have to know if you felt what I did when I kissed you ... "

Janet lifted Sarah's head up so she was looking at her. Then she leaned forward and gently kissed her lips, "No, you are not being stupid" she whispered, "I wasn't able to think of anything but that kiss last night either. Sarah, I can't begin to tell you how long I have wanted you to notice me. A couple of times I almost plucked up the courage to speak to you, but you were busy or with someone else. Last night, for the first time, I dared to hope that there might be a chance for something to happen between us, so yes, I know what you felt because I felt it too."

"But please, this is neither the time nor place for this discussion and in view of our shared need for this conversation to remain strictly between us, I think we should have this lunch together somewhere more public than your car, like the canteen. Our chat there should remain work and life related and should not stray into these more personal issues. I promise that we will talk, and soon, but not here, today. Now if you go and get David's coffee, I will tidy up here and we can go to lunch."

Sarah looked into her eyes and knew she had been right about Janet having a 'thing' about her. She had succeeded in what she had set out to do, convincing Janet that she wanted her too. She smiled at her and said "Top left hand drawer; you will find the vending card for the coffee machine."

Janet took out the card and handed it to her. "Mine needs topping up" she said, "I used up the last of the credit on it this morning when I bought the drinks for me and David."

"Ah!" said Sarah, "One of the little secrets that being a P.A instead of a typing pool girl will make you privy to. David doesn't pay for his coffee and as his P.A, neither do I. This card puts the machine on 'Free Vend' so unlike the snack machine card, it never needs topping up. Whatever you do don't let the other girls in 'the pool' find out about that though, it could cause unrest among the troops."

Janet stared at her "You mean I bought coffees for both of us yesterday afternoon, first thing this morning and at the morning break, on my card, which I have to pay for, when there was this card sitting in your desk all the time?"

Sarah chuckled, "It certainly looks like it" she said, "Another of those things that make the difference when becoming a P.A, but don't worry, two days with me and I can fill you in on most of the important things you need to know about."

"Lesson one. Take charge of the coffee machine vend card. You will be the one bringing the coffees, so you should be the one with the card. Your 'boss' doesn't need to hold onto it. Make sure he knows where it is, should he be working late without you, but that's all he needs to know. I will tell David he owes you for 6 coffees when I take his in. He can afford it and he should have told you where the card was kept, but I expect he forgot. As I said, you have to keep one step ahead all the time and then they get to rely on you for almost everything."

"Lesson two. If you keep in touch with what your boss is working on, one day he will walk in and before he even asks for a file, you pick it up from your desk and hand it to him because you knew he was going to want it. It looks even more impressive if when he rushes in, you are holding it up for him to take." The grin on Sarah's face widened, "My best one was when David was with a client and he had the client's file in front of him. I had looked at the file myself so I knew what they were discussing. I got the file I guessed he would need out of the cabinet and took it into him, putting it down on his desk in front of him. The look on his face was priceless. The file he was about to ask me for arrived on his desk before he even knew he needed it. I think the client was impressed too, on his way out he gave me his card and offered me a job. I refused, but made sure David knew it had been offered. Loyalty to your boss scores high; it makes him feel he can trust you and when he trusts you, you become almost indispensible to him."

Taking the card Sarah went to the canteen to get David's coffee. She was stopped twice on her way there by people asking how she was coping and the two girls already in the canteen stopped talking as she entered the room. She smiled at them and going to the machine, selected the coffee David liked. As the door closed behind her the buzz of conversation started again and she knew she was the subject of their chat.

Back at the office she quietly said to Janet, "Get the Peterson file out will you and while I am giving David his coffee, come in and put it on the desk in front of him. I saw what he was working on and I know he is going to want that soon."

She tapped on David's door and entered. Putting his coffee down on the coaster on his desk, she said, "Now don't go spilling that all down your shirt."

He smiled at her and was about to speak when Janet came in and, without speaking, put the Peterson file on his desk.

"Now I know Sarah is back," he said laughing, "You can't kid me Janet, she told you to bring that file in, didn't she? It was a good try but you haven't been in this office long enough to have worked out from what is on my desk I was going to need that particular file soon."

Sarah and Janet looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Just giving Janet a little pointer on how it's done David," said Sarah, "You see Janet, you have to stay aware of what your boss is working on. If you have been out of the office, even to just get the coffees, when you bring his drink in, a quick check round so you know what he is doing is always useful. It becomes second nature after a while. I saw the file he was working on just now, so I knew he would want the Peterson file soon, because when he has that file the other one always follows it out about 20 minutes later. That's why I told you to bring it in. I got caught this time because David and I have worked together for so long he knows most of my little tricks so it's difficult for me to sneak anything past him."

"I really am grateful to you for putting a word in for me," said Janet, "I didn't think I would even be considered for that job, so I hadn't applied. It was your recommendation that got it for me."

David chuckled. "Peter hasn't had what I would call 'a proper PA' for a while" he said, "Although he has had a couple of pretty girls who have worked for him, filing and typing things up, they didn't last because that isn't really what he needs. When I 'marked his card' for him yesterday, I was only telling him what has been being said further up the ladder for a while. Having a piece of 'eye candy' for the office is fine, but only if she can do the job. Take Christine for example. She is an awful gossip, but Mr Macintosh puts up with that because she is really good at doing the things he needs. She isn't even all that pretty, nice enough but certainly not what I would call 'a looker' and she would spend all day gossiping if he let her, but he knows what she is like so he makes sure it doesn't interfere with her work. Sometimes he even makes use of her tendency to gossip to let out little bits of information without formally announcing something. She is actually a very good P.A, and I assure you; only what James wants to get out, does. That keeps the office flowing nicely. She knows what is confidential and what she can gossip about and doesn't confuse the two. As I said, she keeps her job because she is so good at it."

Sarah looked at Janet and said, "That statement comes under the heading of 'confidential' so it doesn't go out of this office. We have a level of trust which allows David to say things like that to me in here, knowing I understand that. That trust, as I said before, takes time to build and is another little difference between being an office assistant and a P.A. He would never have said that in front of someone from the typing pool, but as part of my work I see and hear, shall we say, 'things said which are not for other ears'. As a P.A, you 'Hear all, See all, but Say Nothing'. Letting something slip can lead to embarrassment, so while you need to be aware, others only get to know what they need to; or what you want them to know."

Janet nodded her head. "All this is new to me," she said, "I really never thought there were so many differences between what I did and what you did. I thought a P.A was really someone who did basically the same as me, but had her own office and got paid more. I am beginning to see there is a bit more to it than that."

"Janet!" said David, "If I had any doubts about your ability to make a really good P.A, I wouldn't have recommended you. Peter is not only a colleague he is a friend as well and he desperately needs someone capable; to get some order into his office. After what I saw you do yesterday when Sarah fainted, I was certain you would be good for him. You can think for yourself and you cope well in a crisis. You took over and did what was needed, without making a fuss or panicking. You have a reputation here for being efficient and reliable, someone who can be trusted. Why else do you think you are probably asked for by name more often than any of the other girls? I think you are just what Peter needs in that office and he is going to owe me, big time, for having suggested he interview you for that post. Once he looked at you as an applicant, not just as a typist, I think he saw what I saw, he just hadn't looked at you from that viewpoint before. I didn't give you that job, he did. All I did was ask him to look."

Sarah took Janet's hand. "Come on" she said, "It's time for lunch. Oh by the way David, you owe Janet for six coffees. You didn't tell her where the card was so she has been buying your coffee since yesterday. She shouldn't have to subsidise you, you earn much more than she does."

"It's alright, it really doesn't matter," said Janet, a little embarrassed by the way Sarah had spoken to her boss.

David just laughed. "Now I know you are ready to come back to work" he said, "We're back to normal, she is bossing me about worse than my mother does. Welcome back Sarah." He took out his wallet and handed her a ten pound note, "That should cover it, with enough for you both to have a drink with your lunch on me. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do. Don't bring her back 'giggly' Sarah; she has things to do as well."

Sarah took the note and pushed Janet towards the door. "Yes boss, anything you say boss" she said, "We're not going to get too drunk on this are we?" she said with a grin waving the note at him, now if this had been a £20 . . . . . "

David laughed, "Count yourself lucky I didn't ask for the change," he said, "Now, on your way so that I can get back to work."

In the outer office Sarah said, "Get your coat, it's Friday and we are going to have that drink David has so kindly provided. Let's go to the Pub and let the gossips say whatever they like. They probably will anyway so stuff them."

Sarah was aware of the eyes watching them as she led Janet to her car. It would be all round the office by finishing time that she and Janet were 'friends' and with Christine adding in how quickly she had leapt to Janet's defence when she suggested that Janet was a lesbian, 2+2 was definitely going to equal 5. That was juicier gossip than her and David and would definitely divert any suspicion away from them. Actually, she was finding the idea of a relationship with Janet wasn't such a bad idea. There had certainly been 'something' happening between them when she kissed her in the office. It would be nice to explore the different possibilities on offer and the thought of being with another woman certainly didn't offend her.

Once they had parked in the pub car park, Sarah saw there was a picnic seat in the garden. Asking Janet what she wanted, she directed her to there and went to get the drinks.

As she turned away from the bar, another girl from the office spoke to her. "I would be careful with that one" she said, "I have heard she is a bit 'the other way' if you know what I mean."

"Oh I know what you mean alright," replied Sarah, "But I think Janet is a lovely person. You do seem to know a lot about her personal likes though; will I be treading on your toes if I am friends with her? I mean, I don't want to come between you if you are in a relationship."

"I'm not one of those, I like men," the girl said, offended that Sarah should think otherwise. "I was just warning you about her that's all."

"Oh! I thought, seeing as you seem to be so much 'in the know' about my friend's intimate personal life," said Sarah, in a sarcastic tone, "You had perhaps some experience of those desires yourself and were trying to warn me off from talking to someone you had feelings for. I understand now, you just want to spread unfounded gossip about someone who has been offered a promotion that you wouldn't have even been considered for, even if you had the gumption to apply. Excuse me, but my friend is waiting for me, but before you spread even more rumours about anyone, I notice you don't seem to be wearing a wedding ring. In case you haven't noticed, I am. I am a married woman, married to the same man for nearly 10 years, so there is a possibility that maybe I might like men as well? Don't be late back at work my dear, it might just be noticed today, especially if we get back before you."

As she walked towards the door, she heard the girl say to another girl who she was with, "That bitch just threatened me because I warned her about the 'dyke' she is with."

Putting the drinks down on a table, Sarah turned and walked up to the girl who had spoken. "I heard what you said young lady," she said. "I didn't threaten you, I just reminded you that it might not be a good day to take an extended liquid lunch. I take offense at your assumption about my friend's sexuality, which you have just admitted to me, you have no personal knowledge about, so you are just spreading unfounded rumours, based on other unfounded rumours you have heard during your working day. As you seem to follow office gossip quite a lot; I am sure that you have also heard about the debt of gratitude I owe to Janet following an unfortunate occurrence yesterday and as part of my repayment of that debt, if I ever hear anyone spreading those rumours about her again, I will make it my business to bring such slander to the attention of higher authority. If similar rumours are started about me, because she is my friend, you had better have proof that will stand up in court that they are true, because otherwise I will sue you for every penny you are ever likely to have. Is that understood?"

The girl was unable to look into Sarah's face. "Yes" she said, "I understand."

"Good!" said Sarah, loud enough so that everyone in the bar could hear, "If you ever call me a 'bitch' again, I will show you what a bitch I really can be. I don't spread rumours behind people's backs; I will tell you to your face what I think of you and I am telling you now, I don't know you, but I am going to make it my business to know about you, and if I hear so much as one whisper I think has your name on it, I will do whatever I can to have you dismissed from whatever lowly position you hold. I can be a good friend but I can assure you I can also be a very bad enemy."