The door to what Amira still thought of as Gill’s office swung open and Rachel Masters stepped out. You couldn’t deny she was attractive, with sleek black hair that fell past her shoulders, cheekbones sharp as Toblerones, oyster-coloured silk shirt tucked into a slim skirt and gym-toned legs ending in nude heels so high you suddenly realized how tiny she must be without them. Her face had that healthy outdoors glow that good quality make-up gives you and she was wearing a very particular scent that Amira couldn’t identify. Musky, smoky – almost overpowering. She must have given herself a spray before she came out, Amira decided. Bit of Dutch courage. Seemed to be working wonders on Ewan though. He was a tall guy anyway, but he visibly pulled himself up straighter as the new boss passed, his handsome boy/man face turning to follow her as if drawn by an invisible string. Plonker. But you couldn’t hold it against him any more than you could resent a puppy for jumping up at you. Amira knew she had a reputation for being too plain-spoken, so she had a soft spot for Ewan and his total lack of guile.
‘Glad you all decided to show up finally.’
Rachel’s high, girlish voice, so at odds with her fearsome reputation, came as a shock. She gazed steadily around at each of them in turn, until they were all shuffling their feet or staring down at the carpet.
‘I’m aware a lot of you will be feeling upset about Gill’s leaving and concerned about your own futures here. I’m not going to sugar-coat things. The department is in a precarious state. It’s not entirely Gill’s fault. She did a commendable job here for several years, but the industry has changed beyond recognition and the department failed to change with it. My job is to turn us around so we become more effective and super-attractive to new clients. But I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be painful, and there may well need to be some further staff restructuring. I’ve been brought in to make the hard decisions and that’s what I intend to do. I hope you’ll all give me your utmost cooperation. After all, we ultimately want the same thing – a successful, profitable department we can be proud of.’
Rachel flashed a smile that was gone almost as soon as it began, but still she remained in place, her eyes sweeping around. Amira attempted to hold the new manager’s gaze when it alighted on her, digging her nails into her palm, but in the end she looked away feeling as if she’d conceded something.
‘Right. I’ll be calling each of you into my office individually over the next couple of days so I can find out a bit more about you and how you see your role in the organization. And then we’ll take it from there.’
She half turned, but Chloe stepped forward, practically blocking her way. Amira groaned when she saw that the willowy office assistant actually had her hand in the air like a small child in the classroom.
‘Rachel, hi. Just wanted first to say “welcome” and secondly to ask—’
‘I’m not taking questions at this point.’ Rachel’s high-pitched voice was clipped as if someone had slammed a door on it. ‘If there’s anything you need to know, you can ask when you come in to see me.’
Chloe’s English-rose cheeks flushed red as Rachel clickety-clacked briskly back to her office on her vertiginous heels, and Amira felt sorry for the girl. She could be a pain in the bum sometimes and was an arse-licker extraordinaire, but she was only twenty-four, and was being paid peanuts to come into work every day. And she’d be mortified to be snubbed like that in front of Ewan, whom she was constantly trying to impress. As far as Amira could tell, no one in Chloe’s life had ever said no to her, and she thought for a horrible moment that the younger woman was about to cry.
‘I was only going to ask her if we should be doing anything to prepare for our interview.’
‘Ah bless, you were asking for homework.’
Charlie didn’t mean to be unkind, it was just his manner, but Amira knew Chloe wouldn’t get it. She’d once overheard her telling Paula she felt Charlie’s attitude to women bordered on sexual harassment because of his liberal use of ‘sweetie’ and ‘love’ when addressing colleagues. Paula had had to point out that he used the same endearments to the male members of staff and she shouldn’t read too much into it.
‘I’m sure you don’t need to prepare anything, Chloe,’ Paula snapped.
Amira glanced over curiously. That wasn’t like Paula. Normally her responses to everything were so infuriatingly measured it made you want to say something outrageous, just to provoke her into a reaction. On closer inspection, Paula was not looking her usual placid, contained self. Her faded brown bob was neat as ever, but her face looked washed out, the features smudged and undefined.