Jigsaw Lovers by William Shenton Read Free Book Online

expected. It was almost as if she had no idea what he was talking about. He mentioned this in passing to his colleagues, who whilst not openly agreeing did admit that there were areas where her knowledge was a little thin. As time went on he realised that this was invariably the case. Somehow she had manoeuvred herself into a position for which she was eminently unqualified.
    At their regular weekly progress meetings he witnessed more evidence of general ineptitude in his supposed superiors. These were presided over by Roger, the department head, a vague academic-type man, who had some decidedly odd habits, which he was not averse to discussing with his staff, such as his predilection for rubbing a mixture of garlic and live yogurt onto his head in an attempt to arrest the premature baldness which was creeping over his scalp. It didn’t seem to have much effect judging by how little hair remained. He seemed happy to delegate the day-to-day running of the department to Annabel, and for some reason had confidence in her abilities. It was in fact an example of how the mediocre maintain a position of authority by mutual support for each others’ actions, whilst contriving to have others below them do their real work, for which they then take the credit from their own superiors.
    At first Hamilton resented this but when he sat back and considered his situation he realised he could be a lot worse off, and might as well exploit their weaknesses to his advantage.
    An opportunity to do just that presented itself after he had been with the company for nearly three months and his probationary period was just about to end. Up until that point he could leave or be fired with just twenty-four hours’ notice on either side. After then it was a case of the statutory working month.
    Recently, he had been approached discreetly, over a few drinks, by another company who had offered him a position with them. On the last day of his third month he walked into the office feeling in an exceptionally good mood. It was the feeling of satisfaction he had when he had wagered a large sum on a horse and seen it win comfortably by twenty lengths, or at that moment when he knew the woman he had been lavishing his attentions on was finally going to succumb to his desires.
    He was sitting in his office doing nothing in particular except smoking his sixth cigarette of the morning, and contemplating the good position he was in, when Annabel knocked on the open door frame.
    ‘Can I have a word?’ she asked with a supercilious smile on her face, which she found difficult to maintain, as she saw his relaxed attitude.
    ‘Sure. Come in. I’m not too busy at the moment.’ He grinned and took his feet off the desk and swivelled round in his chair to face her.
    Today her usual muddy-brown attire was supplemented by a dull green scarf.
    ‘Its the last day of your three month probationary period’, she announced. ‘You remember about that part of your contract?’
    ‘ Yes I do. Quite clearly.’ He grinned.
    ‘Generally we’re happy with your work and we think you fit in here, so, I’m pleased to say that we’ve decided to keep you.’ She was trying very hard to make it sound like a joke.
    ‘Is that so?’ he asked still grinning and lighting another cigarette.
    She wasn’t quite sure how to react. Normally people had been overjoyed when she had made her little joke about deciding to keep them, but Ian didn’t seem to care at all.
    ‘If you go up to personnel they’ve got some forms for you to sign, and that’s that.’ She forced a smile again. ‘We’re all very pleased that you’ll be joining the department permanently.’ She rose to leave.
    ‘I haven’t decided whether I’m staying.’ he puffed a cloud of smoke in her general direction.
    ‘What do you mean?’ She was standing still by the door. ‘Whys that? What’s the matter?’
    ‘Actually, I was on my way to see you to tell you that I’ve had another offer of