Paunchy middle aged men, their faces oddly alert and expectant, crowded the open area between the bar and the platform. Neither of my two colleagues had bothered to tell me they habitually went there at lunch time on Fridays for the free strip show. With pints of beer and packets of crisps in our hands we watched a woman in her thirties undress under meagre spotlights to raunchy music. 'Does it do anything for you?' the senior of my colleagues asked, probably expecting me to thank him for bringing me to this extravaganza.
'Not my kind of thing.'
He shrugged his shoulders and turned away. The younger one seemed too absorbed in the performance to notice me. Should I have declared my sexual orientation to them? Certainly not there, among those sweaty straight men enjoying their weekly titillation. My hasty goodbye and exit from the pub before a second performer began her routine told them as much as they needed to know.
Seeing me return alone early, the female on the team partner asked, 'Not too keen on theatricals then?'
'Do you know where they took me?'
'I overheard them talking about it. I know what they go to see. What made you come back?'
'I'm gay.'
'Oh, pity,' she said, giving me a wistful look. 'Why did you go with them?'
'They gave me the impression it was a Friday lunchtime drink, you know, male bonding.'
'"Male bonding," is that why you thought they left me out?'
'Sorry. Still trying to conform to their way of seeing things. I should have said team bonding.'
'Not to worry. I've disqualified myself from that sort of thing.' In the early days of the team she had infuriated the Lindler & Haliburton men by contacting the Institute of Accountants to ask discreetly about its attitude to the recent trend of takeovers and mergers among accountancy partnerships. This was a sensible act, but they resented her having had the initiative to consult the prestigious Institute when neither of them had thought of doing so. One of the old codgers was a member of the Institute's General Committee, and any dealings with the organisation were considered a great privilege.
In revenge for her having, as they saw it, robbed them of a prize, they had allocated as many tedious tasks to her as they could, including the job of listing all the small contracts the two firms had in place with office equipment and other suppliers. We became allies, sharing information and documents, discussing ideas and backing each other up during team meetings.