Monday - Mini-Anne

A train was cancelled this morning, leaving the commuters and me to squish into the next overcrowded carriage that was sent down the line. If we'd had hooves and needed shearing instead of boots and Next coats we'd have had a throng of animal rights protesters rioting outside the station. But we weren't. We were wage slaves and it was Monday morning.

Anne and Jez were already in when I arrived. He appeared to be building his own managers office from a number of unused desks. Tracey commented that he felt threatened by the new bloke. "Empire building," she said cryptically. His new throne sat in an acre of space, in the middle of his team. I looked at my own desk - buried under a pile of paperwork and merely tagged on to the end of my teams pod like an afterthought - with disappointment.

The new troubleshooter arrived. Gary was not what I expected, and not from Jo's disappointment, what she'd hoped for either. He was bald but smartly dressed. Not much older than me. He was introduced to everyone by Anne and shook my hand with a rock solid grip that was contrary to the chunky gold bracelet that dripped off it. He used sentences that lasted for weeks and included phrases like 'synergising' and 'going forward'.

"This is Luke," said Anne. "I need you to sort him out for me." She laughed out loud.

Gary beamed.

I grinned meekly.