LITMIR.BIZ

      16

      ‘Tell me again what happened.’ Maxine’s voice sounds amused, but her body language contradicts her. She’s draped over the corner of her desk and I’m in the low chair again, forced to look up at her.

      ‘I dropped them in the lift. Like I said, that’s why the papers might be in the wrong folders,’ I say, hesitantly. The way she’s looking at me, she might as well be holding up a placard with the word ‘liar’ emblazoned across it and be done with it. I fidget and feel guilty, even though I haven’t done anything wrong.

      ‘Well, ten out of ten for imagination.’ She throws her head back and shakes her mane around for a bit.

      ‘Look, I was trying to do you a favour by bringing them up,’ I say, feeling tired and irritated now, but remembering that she holds the cards to my future. ‘If you don’t believe me then ask Tom, he was in the lift as well.’ I notice a flicker of something, almost like pleasure, dart across her face at the mention of his name. She licks her lips.

      ‘Hang on a minute. I let you take the folders to see if you could be trusted. My job is to revitalise the store, after all, and part of that is making sure we have a team that can be trusted going forward, so I was actually doing you the favour,’ she says, in a breezy voice. Incredible. For a moment I wonder if we’re actually having the same conversation.

      ‘I’m not sure what you mean …’ I resist the urge to be ruder – my fate is in her hands, after all – but I’m intrigued to hear her explanation.

      ‘By giving you the opportunity to show you can be trusted, of course.’ I feel my face creasing with confusion.

      ‘So you’re telling me you gave me the folders on purpose to see if I would look through them?’ I say the words slowly, her logic still not really sinking in.

      ‘Of course.’ For a moment I’m speechless.

      ‘But you told me not to take the lift,’ I say, thinking ha! I’ve definitely caught her out now.

      ‘Oh, yes. Sorry about that, it was rather mean of me.’ She lets out a little chuckle and then holds my stare until I have to back down and look away. ‘And as predicted you couldn’t resist looking, could you? And who can blame you? If it’s any consolation I would have done exactly the same thing in your shoes.’ She glances down at my New Look heels before wrinkling her nose. I try to work out whether this means I’ve passed her stupid test or not and I’m under no illusion that this could be the first of many.

      ‘So Gina,’ she says, and I flinch. ‘Did you stumble across anything interesting in the files?’ Her eyes glint, it’s almost as though she’s fired up by trying to create a drama.

      ‘What difference would it make if I had?’

      ‘What do you mean, Gina?’

      ‘Would you mind not calling me that? My name is Georgie,’ I say abruptly, and the look on her face immediately makes me wish I hadn’t, but I’m not going to let her trample all over me.

      ‘As you wish.’ She studies me for a few seconds, tilting her head slightly to one side. I squirm under her scrutiny. ‘And good for you for making a stand.’ She points at me with her pen. ‘My kind of girl,’ she says, quite unexpectedly. I sit back in my chair, feeling slightly more relaxed. So the name thing was another one of her little games then.

      ‘Tell me what you meant about making a difference,’ Maxine says. Then she peers at me again and I hesitate before answering.

      ‘You already know James, and Tom seems to be quite confident about things –’ I scrutinise her face to see if I’ve overstepped the mark – ‘and well, I feel as though you don’t like me. It’s as if I’ve already done something wrong, when in fact I’m very good at my job.’

      ‘Like you? What’s that got to do with it?’ She doesn’t deny it. ‘And if you think James has some kind of an advantage just because we used to –’ she pauses, picking her words carefully as she plucks a long red hair from her sleeve – ‘know each other, well then you’re right off the mark. No, James had his chance with me and he blew it. I can’t overlook that.’ Her face is set like concrete – does this mean James doesn’t even stand a chance of keeping his job then? The silence hangs in the air for a moment and I’m not sure what to say. Maxine breaks it. ‘And as for Tom, well,’ she looks away, ‘he’s an unknown entity. Anyway, there’s so much to be done, so make this easy for me.’

      I ponder on this revelation. From what she’s saying, if I keep her sweet, then my job is safe. She has issues with both James and Tom, but my gut instinct is niggling away. Can I trust her word? For all I know she could be secretly backing Tom, expecting me to do all the hard work to make her look good in front of The Heff and the board when Women’s Accessories sales figures rocket. And then she says something else.

      ‘Oh, and by the way. Your interview at Palmers on Thursday … I’ve cancelled it.’ She stares at me, without blinking. I feel the life force drain from my body as I try and think of a response.

      ‘But you can’t do that.’ I cringe at the wobbliness in my voice.

      ‘Well I have. So deal with it. You’re a good sales assistant, so I’m not letting you go … yet.’

      My jaw drops open. And what does she mean by ‘yet’?

      ‘But, how come you know about that?’ I manage to mumble, feeling hot and uncomfortable at having been caught out.

      ‘Oh, didn’t you know?’ she starts, with false concern. ‘My old PA now works for the HR director at Palmers.’ Bloody typical, she would do, wouldn’t she? ‘So you see, Georgie, how powerful loyalty can be, and the people that work for me are always very loyal. Question is, are you?’ I open my mouth to reply, but the words won’t come out. Maxine may well think that her old PA is loyal, but I’d love to know what hold she has over her to make her so.

      There’s a tap on the door and, after throwing a questioning look at me as I still haven’t replied, Maxine yells, ‘Come,’ and I’m saved for the time being from having to answer, by

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