Love to Hate You: Three's a Crowd

Chapter 2 - Well, This is Awkward

Vicky finished work early on Mondays so that she could do the school run whilst Rudy worked the late shift at the doctor's surgery. He'd only just gone back to working five days a week, and even then, he worked compressed hours so that he could take responsibility for the brunt of the childcare, allowing Vicky to maintain her career (and commute) into central London to Paxton and Colville's head office, where she managed Crisis Chris's crises with aplomb.

'I've got to go,' she told Chris, as she rose from her chair in the meeting room.

'But we've still not agreed what our policy is on positive discrimination – I mean action. Positive Action!' Chris complained.

'All discrimination's positive!' Rafe grunted. 'It helps us sort the wheat from the chaff. That can only be a good thing.'

'You can't say things like that, Raffey!' Chris chided, as his flabby cheeks paled in alarm. 'How many times do I have to tell you? If someone heard you... walls do have ears, y'know.'

'They categorically do not!' scoffed Rafe, rising from his chair alongside Vicky. 'Mattie,' he said, turning to his wife, 'Can you make me a coffee please? All this whining about equality and employing the "weaker candidate" to make things "fair"; it's giving me a headache.'

'See,' she said affectionately, as she rose to do his bidding. 'This is why you should leave the red tape to Chris. He likes this sort of stuff. You've got no patience for it. Why get involved?'

'Because if I didn't, Chris would have us all communicating with each other in semaphore in case someone took offense to my use of the word "shit".'

'Well,' Vicky mused, as she collected her things ready to leave, 'You probably shouldn't call the trainees' work "shit" to their faces. Behind their backs is fine, but to their faces isn't very constructive.'

'This meeting isn't very constructive,' Rafe grumbled, before managing to walk out of the room like a male catwalk model.

'I hate it when he does that,' Mattie hissed, her narrowed eyes following her husband's progress down the corridor. He had such a firm backside. So pert and strong. So squeezable. She gulped and licked her lips.

'Stop it!' Chris said warningly. 'Stop it right now, Matilda. Fantasies have no place in the work environment.'

'Just because you're passionless,' she countered, with a teasing smirk, before turning on her heel and striding away as fast as her truncated legs would allow.

'Passionless!' Chris scoffed, feeling that the word had been woefully misapplied, because he cared about things very much indeed, thank you kindly!

'Contracts and employment tribunals don't count, Chris,' Vicky told him. 'I'll have a think about the diversity thing tonight. We can catch up again tomorrow, okay?' He nodded in resignation, before watching Vicky hurry from the meeting room to catch up with her best friend.

'Raffey's in a piss poor mood,' Vicky observed, when her average legs caught up with Mattie's little ones.

'He's always in a piss poor mood,' Mattie replied, without concern.

'Doesn't it bother you?'

'Not really,' she shrugged. 'He's fifty-one now. That's proper old. He can't help it.'

'Is he impotent yet?' Vicky asked, allowing Mattie to take a detour to her office so that they could continue talking as she gathered her coat and bag to head home.