You start to imagine what could be beneath the crisp white shirt. You see your colleague absorbed in doing what they’re good at and it makes them more attractive. Then there’s the accidental touch over the typewriter, whispered sighs at the water cooler, footsie under the desk. The office affair can be the ultimate temptation.It is also a risk.

Ulterior motives are often prevalent – sex and office hierarchy go hand in hand Power and ego have oh so much to do with it Janie tells a cautionary tale. A competent and able manager, she fell head over heels for her boss, Alan. He promoted her, even demoted a colleague so that he could move her to head office. He would wine and dine her on his expense account and bed her in the company flat. In a long and boring meeting it is difficult to stop the mind wandering. Whereas it is unprofessional to sleep with your secretary, and many companies frown on romance between colleagues, they just can’t legislate for feelings. A firm which forbids office affairs is naive, and statistics corroborate this.

Over half of us meet our future partners at the office, and more than 56 per cent of married men have had an affair at work – and they’re just the ones who are admitting it.The office affair is as much part of our working culture as the monthly pay-slip. So how do you have an office affair without being caught? As Monica Lewinsky has learnt to her cost, the number one rule is never to brag to your colleagues (especially during a tape-recorded phone call). Unfortunately, the very nature of the office affair is such that if your thrill is shagging the boss, you want everyone to know – or at least have a damn good guess. Monica was probably proud that she had nabbed the President, but there is no room for a show-off in the office affair.
The Nineties have brought longer hours to the office – the British spend more time at work than any other European nation Our workmates are almost family. Silly, silly Bill! He wielded the power, his sassy young intern swooned – work experience takes on a whole new meaning! Politicians are notorious for doing it with their employees (see Cecil Parkinson, Piers Merchant and Robin Cook, to name but a few.) But Bill Clinton didn’t have any old office affair – he had an Oval Office affair What he didn’t bank on was being caught – cigar-handed. The moral of the story is, if you’re going to screw at work, don’t screw up by getting rumbled. “There’s a shop on Parkway called Palmer’s Pet Store (0171 485 5163) which has everything – scratchboards and “mice” filled with catnip.

When you drive past at night you can see the cats that live there. They’re tearing around the shop in the dark having a great time!”. One stained dress and a secretary’s midnight raid – sordid evidence in what will be remembered as the most famous office affair of all time. “It’s not really like a hairdresser’s – it’s a beautiful, spacious white room at the top of a building with a balcony and roof terrace where you can sit outside. It’s a very calming place to have your hair cut.”At weekends the designer tries to get into the countryside (“either Cornwall, Cambridgeshire or Wiltshire”) where she hunts in local markets for “costume jewellery that could be antique” Back in London, Gibson has the local markets sussed. They do beautiful white porcelain with slight flaws at reasonable prices, which means you can use them every day; you don’t have to keep them for special occasions.”Tanzi, Gibson’s grumpy cat, has his shopping done for him in Camden, as well.

For flowers and plants for her garden she favours the New Covent Garden Flower Market (0171 720 2211) “at about seven in the morning”, and also the flower market on Columbia Road (Ezra Street, London E2; 0171 364 4970) early on Sunday mornings. “It’s fantastic in the summer; you can have bagels for breakfast, but any later than ten and it’s a nightmare!” The antiques market in Bermondsey in south east London (0171 277 4597) is a Friday favourite.”I go there for lovely bits of jewellery and old perfume bottles, which I collect as ornaments for my house but I’ve not got as many as I’d like.”The crockery for her house is usually bought from the Reject Pot Shop in Camden Town (56 Chalk Farm Road, London NW1; 0171 485 2326), a place which often supplies to the restaurant trade “It’s fantastic. They’re perfect “for cheating with” when she and her husband have dinner parties.Gibson’s dark bob and fringe are kept in shape at Fourth Floor (4 Northington Street, London WC1; 0171 405 6011). “It’s very indulgent, I love her bags, day and evening ones.”Other indulgences include fruit tarts (“especially the ones with wild strawberries”) from Patisserie Valerie (44 Old Compton Street, London W1; 0171 437 3466). “I really like the shirts in Agnes b; the fabrics and the fit are great.” For comfortable clothes she looks in Jigsaw (0171 491 4484) and she has a lovely cotton dressing gown “with green plants and flowers all over it” from fashion-industry favourite Cath Kidston (8 Clarendon Cross, London W11; 0171 221 4000).