Page 35 of The Photograph

“Who is responsible for it?”

“Rodrigo,” she says, and something boils inside me. That sniping asshole.

I swivel around to find only his empty desk.

“Where is he?”

“He called in sick today—his kid had a high temperature and he had to take care of her.”

Hmmm. I’m pretty sympathetic to this sort of thing normally. God knows I’ve had my own days when I’ve overdone it the night before and I’m dying. Rodrigo does this a lot, though. I blow out my cheeks. Where is the line between being understanding about shit like this and someone taking advantage? I’m in charge, I should know.

“I’ll call him. Anything else?”

“There’s four key deliverables this week, and I’ve sent you a list. I’ve talked to everyone who’s working on them, delved into what they’re doing, and that all seems to be on track.”

“Thanks, Cath, you’re a godsend.”

“Sorry I missed this.” She taps the screen and I shake my head.

“Easily done. It’s not your mistake anyway.”

Stepping away from her desk, I head over to my own, pulling up Rodrigo’s records. The phone rings and rings as I stare at the blue wall of the office. Eventually, he picks up.

“Hola!”

“Hi, Rodrigo,” I say, voice deliberately friendly. “How’s it going?”

“Okay. My daughter is sick. As well as it can go when your child is unwell and you are worried.”

“I get that,” I say, and his laugh on the other end is almost sarcastic.Jesus Christ.Because I’m gay, does he think I’ve never dealt with children?

“We had no dad at home and I’m the eldest of six siblings. I looked after them all when they were ill,” I add. I can’t resist, something about this guy just …

“Did you want something?” he growls, clearly not happy at being called out.

“Yeah, the test code. We were supposed to deliver it to Samsung about a month ago?”

“What test code?”

I look up at the heavens. “It was in the project management system, under your name.”

He mutters something, then says, “I don’t use that system, people overwrite things when they are late delivering and the whole thing changes. As I’ve told you, in my opinion it is not fit for running a contract of this size and complexity.”

Jesus.“I get that, Rodrigo, and I understand your concerns. However, many of the new starts are still getting used to working with the management system, and it is the method we’re using at the moment, so we need people to stick to what’s set down under their names.” A child’s wail cuts through the last part of my sentence. “Do you want me to ring you back?”

“No, I don’t want you to call me back. I am looking after a sick child. In my view, you shouldn’t be calling me at all in such circumstances.”

“This call was urgent because a member of my team is a long way behind on a piece of work that’s been assigned to them.”

“It could not wait until tomorrow?”

“Will your daughter be well tomorrow?”

“I have no idea.”

“Exactly,” I say.

“All I can tell you is that I did not know this was my task. You’re a privileged asshole, Des, who thinks of no one else’s problems but his own.” And there’s a click and silence.

---