Blind Date

He sat down at his desk and set his coffee down, switching his PC on. He watched, with satisfaction as he logged in to his desktop and 8:59 rolled over to 9:00 on the dot. It was the small victories that made the day go all quicker.
The day proceeded in a typically unremarkable fashion, the rest of the office showed up, everyone got on with their work, people talked, an acceptable level of predictable banter and gossip was had. Anthony partook in it a little, but mainly he focused on his work.
He was a little surprised when Anne, his line manager came by his desk. While Anne made an effort to mingle with the team, periodically moving around to check on everyone, Anthony had noticed she did so to a set schedule, likely following prompts in her work calendar. As she approached him he glanced at the clock at the corner of his window. She wasn't due to check on him for another hour and a half, just before the end of the day.
"Can I have a word with you in my office for a minute, Anthony?" she asked, voice friendly and gentle, though the words sent a pang of anxiety through him that catapulted his mind into overdrive. Had he made a mistake? Was he in trouble?
"Of course, now?" he asked, returning her smile, though it was a little forced.
"If you can, please."
He glanced back at his desktop, mind rattling for some excuse as to why he would have to wait ten, or even just five minutes so he could find out what he had done wrong and prepare some sort of action plan to fix it, but nothing immediately presented itself and he was, by all accounts, an honest man.
"Uh, sure." he nodded, locking his desktop and moving to stand.
He glanced across the office, Anne's actions not having passed unnoticed he caught Charlene's eye. He raised his eyebrows at her, questioningly and merely got a shrug in response.
That was good news at least, if he was going to be fired Charlene would know.
He stepped into Anne's office, entering behind her. It was small, but the privacy it offered made it comparatively luxurious. He politely shut the door behind him and, as she moved behind her desk, he himself made to sit, knowing if he didn't she would tell him to anyway.