‘Bagged yourself a window seat.’ A female voice comes from behind me. ‘Who did you have to pay to get that?’

I turn and find myself face to face with a woman about my age. She has honey-blond hair that cascades down to her elbows and piercing blue eyes that look almost feline. She’s very pretty in a sharp way. Even though her comment was obviously intended as a joke, there’s something a bit cold and icy about her; like there’s just a hint of resentment.

I decide the safest approach is to engage with the joke. ‘It wasn’t too expensive. I’ll still afford my groceries this month.’

‘That’s funny,’ she says in a voice that suggests it’s nothing of the sort. ‘I’m Danielle. I’m on the project team. You must be Alex?’

‘That’s right.’ I extend my hand. ‘Nice to meet you, Danielle.’

‘Likewise.’ She shakes my hand, smiling brightly, but her eyes fail to join the party, leaving me in no doubt as to the insincerity of the gesture.

I’ve come across people like Danielle over recent years, so I know that I can trust my instincts screaming at me. What I need to work out next is, can I win her over enough to have a productive working relationship, or is she just going to be bloody hard work?

‘I’m off to get a coffee, Emmanuel,’ she chirrups in a voice that’s sweeter than syrup. ‘Want anything?’

‘I’m fine for now, thanks,’ Emmanuel replies.

‘No probs.’

Danielle stalks off in her skyscraper-heeled shoes, making sure everyone sees her as she goes.

Emmanuel says to me in a low voice, ‘Confidentially, it may be helpful for you to know that Danielle went for your job when it was first advertised internally. She was unsuccessful and hasn’t taken it very well. Her father is a friend of the chief exec, but the chief exec doesn’t make the hiring decisions at this level.’

‘Thanks so much for the heads-up. That will make it easier for me to manage the situation – though I do have some empathy. It’s never nice to not be successful for a job. But nobody should have a sense of entitlement, just because of who they know.’

‘Agreed.’ Emmanuel nods solemnly. ‘I think you and I are going to get along very well, Alex.’

‘Me too.’ I grin at her. ‘And don’t worry about me and Danielle, I’ve dealt with similar behaviours quite successfully before.’

‘I have absolutely no doubt about that.’

By the time lunchtime comes round, I’m bleary-eyed from reading the company intranet pages and working my way through the mandatory (and extraordinarily boring) e-learning modules.

‘Are you ready for a break?’ Emmanuel gets up from her seat.

‘Am I ever.’ I blink several times to adjust my focus from the blocks of text swimming in front of my eyes to the wider office environment again.

‘Is that lunchtime already?’ Danielle lifts her head from the screeds of data she’s been poring over on her screen. ‘I’ve barely had a moment to breathe this morning.’