Bit 3.7

We spent the next hour or so going over old cases, just as an introduction to the Investigative section. She knows her stuff - done a lot of research. I was a bit worried that it was a bit dull, but then she said Harry had got her proof-reading for the foreign affairs section all morning, which made me feel a lot better about my little introduction. We got chatting a little about her background, filling me in a bit more on what she told us at the interview. She'd graduated in Modern Languages (French and Spanish) three years after I did, which made me feel so very very old, before going on to an apprenticeship for one of the major left-wing press organisations in France. She'd worked her way up to a post as an investigative reporter, before being made redundant, after which she headed straight back here, and as any ambitious journo would do, applied for a post with IPC. I hadn't told her, but I'd actually contacted one of my colleagues in France who had worked in the same section as her, and by all accounts, she'd undersold herself in our little talk. Her reputation was formidable in France, and her redundancy had more than a whiff of anglophobia about it. But still, France's loss is our gain.
For my part I gave her a potted history of IPC and our section (although I diplomatically omitted some of Handysides' more wild excesses), and background on Harry, Dan and the others. The fact that she was still sat at my desk and eager as ever I took to be a good sign.
"Of course, it's silly season at the moment, so we've technically got nothing to do." This much is painfully true. By and large we earn our keep (in the losest possible sense) by helping out with the other sections. Harry, my deputy, tends to work on current affairs (which is a pretty good racket as they've got as little to do as we have). Dan the copy editor goes to help out on sportsdesk, and Handysides used to do whatever would allow him to drink himself into a coma every day. Which means that, unless Jenny wants to develop a drink problem, It's going to pretty damn boring for her.
"That's alright. I can keep myself occupied. I was thinking maybe I could help out with the Photo team? I did a bit of that in the last post."
God, let Rob loose on her? He'll ruin her! "You'll be working with Rob Jones, you do realise that?" Only fair to warn the girl.
"I think I can keep him at bay. If he gets too bad, I'll just kick him between the legs."
Yes, I think Miss Williams and I are going to get along like a house on fire.