Page 84 of Little Miss Fortune

Smelly sibling: 39 T.T

Despite the August heatwave, the drive back is icy. But as we get closer to home, Dad’s shoulders relax.

‘Hanako,’ Dad says, parking the car back in our spot. ‘Well done.’

‘Thank you, Dad.’

‘No more sleepovers until you’re in uni, though.’

‘Understood. It’s a good job I’m actually going, then.’ She winks at me and opens the car door.

‘Actually? Oi, what do you mean actually going?’ he shouts at her.

‘Don’t worry about it, old man!’

They grumble at each other for another half an hour, but by the evening, Dad softens and takes us to an Indian restaurant to celebrate.

CHAPTER 29

Have fun storming the HR sexual harassment meeting

The HR meeting is as awkward as you can imagine. They start by reading out the company’s policy on dating, talking in detail about harassment, favouritism, grooming, and consent. We have to detail our relationship, which is not yet established, so it is hard to explain.

‘We are—’ I say but cannot continue. My panicked look forces Toby to come in.

‘We care about each other. Exclusively?’ He raises his eyebrow at me with slight fear.

‘I would hope so.’

‘Great! But it’s quite early days, still.’

‘So early it doesn’t have a term yet.’

‘I would like for it to have a term, but at a later date,’ Toby says and then adds, talking directly to the HR manager, ‘but not too late! What’s the average timeframe for a relationship to become official?’

She, shockingly and unhelpfully, doesn’t respond and instead asks Toby to outline all the preferential treatment he’s shown me—the only evidence they could find was him saying that he would rather take me instead of Steven to a heist.

Oh yeah, they had to comb through our work’s messaging systems, which they are allowed to do, apparently, in this type of investigation. We are then asked if we had any sexual relations. I bite my tongue, feeling like a teenager at an STI check-up. Toby nods, and I nod with him. Then we are led into separate rooms, to check whether either of us felt coerced and whether the relationship was consensual. After about an hour of drilling, we are free to go. Some paperwork is handed to both of us on the dangers and concerns of dating a coworker and a file to fill out if we break up.

Toby throws his in the bin when we leave the meeting. He is now reinstated as a marketing officer, but, alas, is no longer my supervisor, as advised by the company’s lawyers.

‘You weren’t great at being a supervisor either, so I wouldn’t call it a massive loss.’

‘What? I was great. I taught you so much. Like which mugs to avoid in the kitchen and which chairs are fucked. This is all useful knowledge.’

He laughs at my unimpressed face. I have another three weeks until my final check point to see if I have a job at the company or not.

The office whispers when we get to our desks. Clearly some gossip was spread around. Can’t blame them. I found out that a previous director of SIMPO had two families and I talked about it for weeks. And I’ve never even met the man, so it’s understandable that our colleagues would at least exchange a look. It’s actually quite polite to assert that other people’s lives have entertained you. I am glad I was of assistance.

‘My favourite haram couple is back.’ Fawzia clasps her hands together.

She glares at Toby, and he strains a smile.

Huh, that’s odd. I don’t understand this dynamic. I thought they worked together to unfire me, so what’s up with the animosity?

‘I am here to let you know that I am your new supervisor. It will be an all-girls team.’ Fawzia points at her new employee (that Toby made cry at the interview) with her chin.

‘But you’re in PR.’ I raise an eyebrow.