‘Come on. Presenteeism is horribly passé, Gabs. Besides, none of these guys will give you any credit for being the last person here – I don’t think your daughter will thank you for it either …’

‘All right,’ she snapped. It was easy for Madeleine to say, having made a niche for herself working government-to-government under the Multilateral Policy Directorate, between London and Krakow, while Gabriela was at home grappling with the benefits of reusable vs disposable nappies.

Madeleine might have been able to bypass Emsworth and his whims and grab the role that she was due with both arms, but Gabriela was stuck, and the only way to prove she was equally serious about her job, now that she had the baby, was to push herself into the sightline of superiors from other departments.

‘I’m just saying, there are more important things in life. Go home to your family,’ Madeleine said, leaning down to kiss her friend on the cheek as she made to leave, her skin electrifying as their cheeks touched.

Chapter 14

Gabriela

‘So what’s new?’ Gabriela asked Madeleine a few weeks later as she lit her cigarette at the bottom of the stairs that led from KCS to the park.

Madeleine shrugged. ‘You know, this and that.’

There was something about her tone, the way she exhaled without looking at her that made Gabriela study her face more intently. ‘What does that mean?’

Madeleine was a terrible liar. ‘We’ve been told we have to be careful about how much we share with other departments.’

Gabriela paused. ‘OK. But it’s just me.’

‘I know,’ Madeleine said, facing her briefly and then looking away again.

‘What aren’t you supposed to talk about?’

‘Gabs, please don’t ask me to talk about stuff that I’ve just told you I can’t talk about.’

Gabriela’s mind spun back to the conversation with Emsworth, his mention of information finding its way into ‘the wrong hands’.

She paused, compelled to press Madeleine further, but one look at her face told her not to bother. Yet how could she feel hurt by her friend’s refusal to confide? It wasn’t like Madeleine was the only one who had chosen to keep secrets.

It was a few days later and everyone else seemed to have cleared off when Gabriela went to the printer to collect some documents she needed before finishing up for the day. As she approached, she heard the whirring of the machine and suddenly felt Emsworth push ahead of her.

‘I think that’s mine,’ he said firmly, and instinctively she took a step back.

‘Sorry.’

‘No problem.’ He smiled tightly before heading back to his office and filing the papers into his bag.

She waited where she was, collecting her own documents and then lingering until she saw him head out towards the loo.