We obediently get to our feet and head to the whiteboard. As we do, Danielle mutters something under her breath. My first instinct is to ignore her, but as we’re going to have to work together, whether we like it or not, I decide I need to make some sort of effort.

‘You OK?’ I ask.

‘Oh, it’s nothing.’

‘You sure? Problem shared and all.’

We start to read through the scenarios on the whiteboard, but Danielle clearly can’t help herself.

‘I was just thinking…’ She lowers her voice. ‘This room, it’s not very reflective of the society we live in, is it?’

‘What do you mean?’ I wonder if she’s going to come out with something truly insightful for once.

‘Look around you. There’s almost as many people on this programme from ethnic backgrounds as there are who would tick “White British” on a form.’

‘Sorry… what?’

‘I’m not being racist or anything. It’s just that this whole equality thing seems to be going too far. Take the demographic breakdown of the UK: the majority of people are still white, yet about half this room is not.’

Danielle raises her eyebrows in a gesture of ‘just look around and you’ll see’, and then fixes her attention on the challenges pinned to the board by different coloured magnets.

Her words trickle through my consciousness like bitter, seeping filter coffee. Her comment is completely inappropriate, another clue to her values. She doesn’t approve of homelessness, and it now appears she’s not a fan of diversity-friendly environments, even when everyone on this programme got onto it through merit alone – other than her.

I begin to wonder if she’d be just as scathing of my disability and the support I’ve had. I can certainly imagine a similar statement coming out of her mouth. This stabbing realisation, alongside the fact that I’m struggling a bit today, unfortunately propels me to lose my patience with her.

‘You do realise, Danielle,’ I say quietly, ‘that if you have to start a sentence with a disclaimer, it probably means you’re behaving exactly the way you claim not to be.’

She stops reading the information and stares at me coldly. ‘I didn’t mean anything by it, it was just an observation. Jeez, who made you diversity police?’

‘We all have a responsibility to live by the values of this company, Danielle. Even more so as potential future leaders here on this programme.’

‘Want me to remove that poker from your arse, Alex? Or can you manage yourself? You’re already on the programme, no need for your little act any more.’

‘Excuse me?’ I feel my body flood with angry tension in response to her bitchy remark.

‘Oh, don’t pull that with me,’ she sneers. ‘You make me sick with this Mother-Teresa-of-the-project-management-world thing you’ve got going on. You and Emmanuel: the way you trot around together like some kind of world-saving sisterhood. You’ve got skeletons the same as everyone else in life. No one’s perfect.’

‘Wow, that’s probably the first accurate statement you’ve made today. You’re right, I’m not perfect, but I do try my best – and that involves getting on with people and supporting them, no matter what walk of life they’re from.’