I work in the City, and most of my peers are male. Our place of work is high-pressure, toxic, etc., and naturally, since you work together, you offload to one another, do coffees, lean on each other for support, seek advice, and give advice. You tell each other all kinds of personal stuff. On my level, unfortunately, all sector heads are male, and I am close to one of them in particular. He’s a good, supportive colleague, and he calls me often for support and equally goes out of his way to help me. For context, we are both married and middle-aged.
Now that we are back in the office with more people around, there were some comments on how close we are. It’s just irritating. He is close with another male colleague, but no one ever comments on their relationship. So what is a woman in the City supposed to be doing? Not having any close work friendships?!