‘Exactly!’ I’m relieved these seasoned professionals understand. ‘And then his assistant Elaine was telling me stories about him—how he paid for some intern's mother's cancer treatment, and then in the next breath, how he's terrible to working mothers.’

I don't add the part about how terrified that makes me feel. Soph planted this genius seed in my head. Athena lobbied all the relevant parties to bend the rules and make it happen. The ball’s in my court now. It’s up to me to overachieve on all fronts so that Brendan doesn’t get tired of me or irritated with me.

I can’t give the guy any rope to hang me with.

Soph leans back, crossing her legs elegantly. ‘Men like Brendan are walking contradictions. That's what makes them interesting. Thad once flew a specialist from Johns Hopkins to Montenegro because his chef's daughter had a rare condition. Then the next day, he fired his PA for taking too many bathroom breaks. They’re honestly all like mercurial toddlers.’

‘How do you reconcile that?’ I ask.

‘You don’t,’ Athena says simply. ‘You use it. The contradictions mean there's a gap between who they are and who they want to be. That gap is your leverage.’

I blink at her. ‘Holy shit, that's... extremely philosophical.’

‘What did you think we were, just pretty faces who give great head?’ Soph laughs, the sound rich and genuine. ‘This job is psychological warfare disguised as world-class blow jobs.’

‘I would never for a single second underestimate anyone here,’ I tell her. ‘You women are terrifyingly smart. And I’m used to Athena blowing my mind. Believe me, after a decade and a half of friendship, you get used to it.’

‘Speaking of psychological warfare,’ Athena interjects, ‘how are you handling the office dynamic? That has to be trickier than the bedroom stuff.’

I think about the women in reception, the man who Brendan told me ogled me, and how he reacted. ‘Everyone watches him, so we have to be careful. All the guys look up to him and the women just want to jump him. It’s ridiculous. And I want to make friends, which means I can’t be seen as having any special favour with him, but I also feel quite isolated, especially because I’m always watching what I’m saying, how I’m interacting with Brendan publicly… It's exhausting trying to figure out the politics while also... you know.’

‘While also timing your boss's orgasms around his meeting schedule?’ Soph supplies helpfully. ‘Been there. Get a planner specifically for that. It’s not the sexiest thing, but he’ll be counting on you to carve out sexy time for him. You’ll need some good code names to get that into the shared calendar.’

‘Oh my God, oh my God, so much potential.’ Athena claps her hands briskly. ‘Right. Let’s see. Hands-on Training? Deep Dive Analysis?’