defense was to laugh in a "What a ludicrous coincidence" sort of a way. Annie wasn't finished.
"So, we all know it's not you. It's not, is it?" she said, laughing. "You're not that desperate. And you've got Carlo." (Oh, yes, fictitious Carlo existed in Helen's life story to her work colleagues, too.) "That leaves Helen from Accounts, but I think she's married, not that that counts for much. She's pig ugly, though, but then I suppose he's old, he'd be grateful for whatever he could get…Then there's Helen from Simpson's—Matthew handled that account, do you remember, and he did spend an awful lot of time on it. Plus, she's blond. There's a Helen works at Barker and Co., and they went out to dinner once when we first got the account. Oh, and then that woman at the travel agents who organizes all his trips, she's called Helen or Helena or something like that. God, who knew there were so many Helens?"
The relief that she'd not yet been rumbled was slightly dwarfed for Helen by her annoyance that her colleagues didn't even consider it at all likely that she'd be in the running, as far as Matthew was concerned. Half of her wanted to say, "Why is it a foregone conclusion that it's not me?" but she decided to quit while she was ahead. Attack them before they attacked her.
"I bet it is Helen-from-Accounts," Helen found herself saying. "She's always moaning on about her husband and she went on that company retreat that Matthew went on, do you remember? Plus, I'm sure I remember her saying she fancied him once."
Oh, God, she thought, I'm going to hell.
* * *
The rest of the day went by in a bit of a blur, but the Helen-from-Accounts rumor had taken on its own momentum, with considerable help from Annie, and by late afternoon it might as well have been gospel. Helen rang Rachel just before she left the office.
"You have to meet me for a drink. Now. And don't bring Neil."
Then she rang and left a message on Matthew's mobile, saying that she needed some girly time with her friend and she'd see him at home later.
On the way to the lift, she bumped into Jenny on her way back from a coffee run.
"Have you heard about Matthew and Helen-from-Accounts?" Jenny'd gotten the gossip glow.
"I know," Helen called back over her shoulder. "Gross, isn't it?"
* * *
Rachel could barely contain her laughter, even though Helen was clearly stressed out and in need of a bit of moral support.
"So tell me what she's like, Helen-from-Accounts."
"Mousy, married, probably loves her husband. Certainly doesn't deserve to have everyone gossiping about her behind her back."
"It's genius. And did she really ever say she fancied Matthew?"
"No, of course not, I added that bit."
"Nice touch."
"All I've done is put off the inevitable. And make it even worse for myself, once they do find out."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Rachel said helpfully. "Your life's pretty much over anyway, once they realize."
* * *
Back at home, Helen thought about telling Matthew about Helen-from-Accounts, but decided against it. It would only have worried him, thinking that everyone in the office was talking about him and watching his every move. Besides, he might have made a big deal of going in to work and denying it for the other Helen's sake and it suited Helen to have people believing it was the truth.
* * *
On Tuesday, despite her best instincts screaming at her to stay in the office and eat a sandwich at her desk, Helen was back at her lunchtime post again, having told Laura she needed an extra-long lunch break to go to the dentist. It was a beautifully sunny January day and the square was peppered with people venturing out for the first time that year, faces turned up to the sky like penguins watching an overhead airplane, sleeves rolled up defiantly even though they were shivering. Once again, Helen followed Sophie to Eat, lurked about behind her, then followed her back again toward the front door of May and Co., then past it when Sophie walked on and turned in
"So, we all know it's not you. It's not, is it?" she said, laughing. "You're not that desperate. And you've got Carlo." (Oh, yes, fictitious Carlo existed in Helen's life story to her work colleagues, too.) "That leaves Helen from Accounts, but I think she's married, not that that counts for much. She's pig ugly, though, but then I suppose he's old, he'd be grateful for whatever he could get…Then there's Helen from Simpson's—Matthew handled that account, do you remember, and he did spend an awful lot of time on it. Plus, she's blond. There's a Helen works at Barker and Co., and they went out to dinner once when we first got the account. Oh, and then that woman at the travel agents who organizes all his trips, she's called Helen or Helena or something like that. God, who knew there were so many Helens?"
The relief that she'd not yet been rumbled was slightly dwarfed for Helen by her annoyance that her colleagues didn't even consider it at all likely that she'd be in the running, as far as Matthew was concerned. Half of her wanted to say, "Why is it a foregone conclusion that it's not me?" but she decided to quit while she was ahead. Attack them before they attacked her.
"I bet it is Helen-from-Accounts," Helen found herself saying. "She's always moaning on about her husband and she went on that company retreat that Matthew went on, do you remember? Plus, I'm sure I remember her saying she fancied him once."
Oh, God, she thought, I'm going to hell.
* * *
The rest of the day went by in a bit of a blur, but the Helen-from-Accounts rumor had taken on its own momentum, with considerable help from Annie, and by late afternoon it might as well have been gospel. Helen rang Rachel just before she left the office.
"You have to meet me for a drink. Now. And don't bring Neil."
Then she rang and left a message on Matthew's mobile, saying that she needed some girly time with her friend and she'd see him at home later.
On the way to the lift, she bumped into Jenny on her way back from a coffee run.
"Have you heard about Matthew and Helen-from-Accounts?" Jenny'd gotten the gossip glow.
"I know," Helen called back over her shoulder. "Gross, isn't it?"
* * *
Rachel could barely contain her laughter, even though Helen was clearly stressed out and in need of a bit of moral support.
"So tell me what she's like, Helen-from-Accounts."
"Mousy, married, probably loves her husband. Certainly doesn't deserve to have everyone gossiping about her behind her back."
"It's genius. And did she really ever say she fancied Matthew?"
"No, of course not, I added that bit."
"Nice touch."
"All I've done is put off the inevitable. And make it even worse for myself, once they do find out."
"I wouldn't worry about that," Rachel said helpfully. "Your life's pretty much over anyway, once they realize."
* * *
Back at home, Helen thought about telling Matthew about Helen-from-Accounts, but decided against it. It would only have worried him, thinking that everyone in the office was talking about him and watching his every move. Besides, he might have made a big deal of going in to work and denying it for the other Helen's sake and it suited Helen to have people believing it was the truth.
* * *
On Tuesday, despite her best instincts screaming at her to stay in the office and eat a sandwich at her desk, Helen was back at her lunchtime post again, having told Laura she needed an extra-long lunch break to go to the dentist. It was a beautifully sunny January day and the square was peppered with people venturing out for the first time that year, faces turned up to the sky like penguins watching an overhead airplane, sleeves rolled up defiantly even though they were shivering. Once again, Helen followed Sophie to Eat, lurked about behind her, then followed her back again toward the front door of May and Co., then past it when Sophie walked on and turned in
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