As soon as Claire left, I called Theresa on her cell phone.
“Good morning, Miss Robinson, wild night?”
“Bloody hell, Theresa. What have you done to me?”
“Don’t worry, I’ve already spoken to Claire. I won’t be expecting you before lunch. You’ve done your part. Oh, and take a long hot bath and drink loads of water.”
‘Theresa, I’m in her hotel room!”
“I know where you are, Lee. Like I told you, Claire has already called me.”
“What did she say?”
“Only good things, don’t worry.”
“I don’t seem to remember a lot from last night. We were supposed to go to a musical, for God’s sake.”
“Sometimes you have to improvise, darling. You did well.”
“That’s all you’ve got to say? I mean, you clearly set me up here, boss.”
“I played a little joke on you, Lee. I hardly shoved you into bed with her.”
“You could have told me what she was like, you know, a little heads up.”
“What was she like?”
“I don’t remember!”
“You’re cracking me up. Look, I have to go. Try to get some more sleep and take some Aspirin. I’ll see you later.”

It didn’t look like I was going to get a lot of support from Theresa, so I called Alex, hoping he could guide me through the rest of my day.
“Hey sweetie, are you calling to tell me why you didn’t come home last night?”
“Yeah. No. Sort of.”
“Where are you, anyway? Don’t you have to go to work?”
“I am in a hotel room, where I apparently spent the night with the Vice-President of our Paris office.”
“Oh Lee, you make me proud. Do they still call it ‘promotion canapé’ these days?”
“It’s not as funny as you think it is, Alex. I don’t remember what happened!”
“Ooh! Did she drug you? Surely, you can get a promotion out of that.”
“I got a little heavy with my friend Red, I guess. But she seemed absolutely fine this morning, she must be made of steel.”
“Well, you should know, honey.”
“She definitely had some plastic touch-ups done. And that’s about all I can recall.”
“Didn’t she say anything this morning?”
“She was very nice actually, for the minute I saw her. I’m just kind of dreading going to the office now. What are the rules in a situation like this?”
“You could try acting as if nothing happened.”
“That’s going to be a bit hard. Theresa already knows.”
“Oh my. News sure does travel fast in your business, Lee. I’ve told you before, get out while you can, it’s a filthy business.”
“It’s your business too, roomie.”
“I know, but I’m much better equipped to deal with all the nastiness that comes with it.”
“So, what would you do?”
“I would make the most out of the situation. But you’re not like that, Lee. And that’s a good thing.”
“Yes, yes, enough already. What would you do, if you were a good girl like me?”
“Just bite he bullet. Go to the office, sit in the meetings, don’t avoid eye-contact though, and behave like a professional.”
“But what if she wants to talk about last night?”
“Take it from me, sweetie, she won’t. I’m sorry, but I have to go to work now. I’ll see you tonight. Have fun!”

When I arrived at work, neither Claire nor Theresa was there. Theresa had left me a message saying they would be out all afternoon − and that I could go home early. My sigh of relief could probably be heard all over the office, although it wasn’t entirely clear to me what I was dreading so much. I had never had a black out before and the fact that it happened while in bed with a superior was pretty scary. I also wondered what I had said to her all night. Either way, I was off the hook for the day. I went home at five, picked up some fish and chips and settled in Alex’s white couch for the rest of the evening. When Alex came home from work, I was already fast asleep, but he woke me up anyway, because he was curious and that’s just the kind of guy he is. I was just giving him the details of what I did remember, when the bell rang. It was Claire.

To be continued…