Harriet's Arrangement

Harriet's first mistake

Over the next couple of weeks, Harriet settled happily into her new working routine, quickly learning the quirks of the office, getting to know the staff downstairs so they were able to wave her happily through the security gates within a few days, and enjoying very much getting stuck into what would be her first event the following month. Lily had started sending sporadic messages with pictures of different bridesmaids dresses, and ideas for invitations and cakes and colour schemes to their WhatsApp group, which was also contributing to Harriet's good mood – although she was regularly checking in with Eva following their chat after Lily had headed home after drinks. She felt dreadfully sorry for Eva, but felt horribly ill-equipped for offering anything other than sympathy and kind words, and assurance that she wasn't being unreasonable in wanting her husband to be more a part of their children's lives. George was a lovely man, and clearly doted upon both his children and his wife, but doted in a rather absent way – and had a habit of swooping in at the weekend, spoiling the girls rotten and then leaving Eva to juggle with school and nursery drop-offs alongside her own commute to and from work throughout the week.

But Harriet knew that Eva was tough, and that she knew that much of this was temporary – a mixture of George's work pressures and the particular ages of the children (2 and 4). And Harriet enjoyed listening to and helping her friend as best she could – especially when it distracted said friend from quizzing her about her own love live, which Eva was a little too prone to doing. Danny was someone she had met and drunkenly slept with some months ago, and in the morning the two had talked and found they quite enjoyed one another's company – but not enough for either of them to try and make the relationship official. They'd exchanged numbers, however, and every now and then a late-night rendezvous and a few hours of conversation prompted Harriet to wonder if she should in fact try to make a go of things properly... but Danny didn't seem interested, and if she was honest, the great sex in combination with no relationship complications was quite refreshing.

Harriet didn't see the mysterious Malcolm or his co-director David again for the rest of the first week, but part way through the second, Malcolm popped into the office – as Kieran had mentioned he often did – and made his way round, greeting people. Harriet peered surreptitiously at him as she trotted to and from the staff room or the toilet (perhaps a little more often than usual), trying to assess if he was treating anyone else as he had treated her. He appeared relaxed, and as far as she could see there was none of the intensity in his actions that she had experienced. Perhaps I imagined it, she thought to herself, settling herself back at her desk and resolving to stop prying, stop obsessing, Hattie.

But half an hour later, Malcolm's distinct, silky voice startled her and she turned suddenly, almost knocking her coffee over as she did so. Johnny leaned over just in time to catch the wobbling cup and she thanked him gratefully. He gave her a bit of a look and she saw his eyes dart to Malcolm and felt herself blushing.

"Sorry, Mr Craw-, um, Malcolm," she said in response to his greeting, standing as he approached the desk, "Hello, lovely to see you again."

"You too, Harriet," he said, smiling at her. And there was that intense gaze, locking his eyes on hers in a way that made her unable to look anywhere else. It last for maybe a few seconds, and then he looked away. "And Johnny!" he boomed, in quite a different voice altogether, "How are you, young man?"

He leaned across to offer Johnny a hand, which Johnny shook warmly. "Well, thank you, Malcolm – and yourself?"

"Yes, yes," he said, "And how is Miss Kennedy settling in to our way of things?"

Johnny grinned at Harriet and Harriet felt some of the tension lift. "She's great," he said, his eyes flicking back to Malcolm, "We're just getting her up to speed for next week, aren't we Harriet?"