For Ian Seed
Boarding an underground train after work I found myself standing next to a former colleague I hadn’t seen for several years. Felicity had disappeared from the company after a messy affair with a married colleague. We’d never properly said goodbye.
‘It was all a bit chaotic,’ she said. ‘But there was no way I could stay.’
‘I always thought of Peter as predatory,’ I said. ‘His behaviour was outrageous, especially given he was a manager.’
Felicity laughed.
’Actually, I was the one who started it. At first he was reluctant to get involved.’
She told me that before the affair with Peter she’d been seeing a guy from IT (rather boring), and had dated Daniella in sales.
‘You don’t need to feel sorry for me,’ she said, putting her hand on my arm. ‘I guess you didn’t know that when I left the head of department was sleeping with the HR director?’
She went on to tell me about several other office romances I hadn’t been aware of. It seemed I was almost the only person not involved in an illicit relationship with someone in the company.
‘People used to say you were prudish and uptight,’ Felicity said. ‘But I liked that sense of innocence about you.’ She squeezed my arm gently and suggested we go somewhere for a drink, ‘for old times’ sake’.
’I’d love to,’ I said, ‘but I’m meeting someone at 6. In fact, this is my stop coming up.
Simon Collings
Picture Nick Victor
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