Page 17 of Possession Under the Southern Stars

“How’s it going?”

“Really good.” Her voice holds a smile. “It’s as if we’ve never been apart. He hasn’t changed at all. Well, not much, anyway.”

I know Linc is heading off to Christchurch soon, and a week later he’s flying back to the UK, so it can’t lead to anything long term. “I’m glad you’re having a fun time,” I tell her. “Make the most of him while you have him.”

“I intend to.” She laughs. “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay. I went into the museum this morning.” I don’t want to mention what Fraser told me about being in trouble financially, but I think I can tell her the rest. “Have you heard of the Williams letters?”

“Yes, of course. Richard and…”

“Pania.”

“Yes, Pania, that’s right.”

“The owner of them, Sebastian Williams, promised to donate them to the museum, so Fraser and I are going to take a look at them.”

“Where are they?”

“In Bethlehem, near Tauranga. Sebastian died, unfortunately, and his family are holding a ball in his honor, sowe’re going up there to see if we can convince his daughter to donate them.”

“Oh, what fun! I hope you have a great time.”

“Yeah. Um… I was talking to Fraser this morning… and I wondered if I could ask you something about him?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll understand if you’d rather not answer. But… for the first time today I heard him stutter.”

“Oh… he hasn’t done that in a while.”

“Did he do it when he was young?”

“It started at high school. He was fourteen, and he had a crush on a girl in his year group. Eventually, he plucked up the courage to ask her out. But her friends were nearby, and she turned him down and made fun of him in front of them. It crushed him, and after that he stammered really badly for a couple of years. Mum and Dad took him to a speech therapist, and she worked with him to control it until eventually it just seemed to vanish. But it does magically appear whenever he’s with a woman he likes.” She stops then. “Oh… was he with you?”

“Yes,” I say shyly. “He told me that’s why it’s happening again.”

“Oh, Hallie! How do you feel about that? Do you like him, too?”

“I do. I like him a lot. But he said nothing could ever happen between us because we work together, and he got into trouble before.”

“Oh shit, yes, that’s right. I’d forgotten.”

My heart is racing. “Who was she? Did you know her?”

“Yes, she worked in HR. Her name was Melanie, but everyone called her Ginger because of her hair color. She was almost ten years older than him, and she was married to a politician, and had two kids.”

“Really?” That surprises me.

“Yeah. She was beautiful, and she knew it. Gregarious, you know? She flirted outrageously with him—several people at work commented on it. I think she initiated the affair. They were caught kissing a couple of times at work. I think it made people uncomfortable. Not long after it started, Fraser promoted her to Head of HR, which was stupid of him. She was the best candidate by far, but you know what people are like. There was one other woman who wanted the job, and when she didn’t get it, she reported the two of them to the board and said that Fraser was showing Ginger favoritism. Whina Cooper had no choice but to investigate the claim.”

“He told me she gave him a dressing down.”

“Yeah. I think the only reason he wasn’t fired was because he’d raised so much money for the museum. Whina gave him an official reprimand though, and said if it ever happened again, he’d be out.”

“What happened to Ginger?”

“Because she was a lot older, and she admitted she’d initiated the affair, Whina said she had to leave. She gave Ginger the option to resign rather than be fired. It was quite the scandal at the time—her husband found out and divorced her, and they’re still in a legal battle over the kids, as far as I know.”

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