Page 195 of The Pearl Sister
‘Thanks.’ I stepped inside and she slammed the door firmly shut behind us, then locked it.
‘No one else knows you’re here, do they?’
‘No one,’ I confirmed, as I followed her along a narrow hall and into a sitting room where I’d be scared to even think about having a drink because some of the liquid might just spill onto the shiny varnished surface of the coffee table. Even the sofa had had its scatter cushions symmetrically positioned in sharp Vs.
‘Please, sit down. Can I get you a cup of tea?’ the woman asked me.
‘No thanks, I’m fine,’ I said, sitting down gingerly. ‘I’m not staying long.’
Linda sat down in the armchair opposite and stared at me for a bit, then looked away, her eyes suddenly blurry, like she was about to cry.
‘So,’ she breathed, obviously trying to collect herself. ‘You are Anand’s girlfriend?’
It took me a moment to register that she was referring to Ace by his proper name. ‘I wouldn’t go that far, but we kept each other company, yes. By the way, why did he tell me his name was Ace?’
‘It was a nickname he was given on the trading floor because he always wins. Or at least he used to . . . Why exactly are you here?’
‘Look, I just care about him, okay? And one night he mentioned your name. He said, “Linda knows”. I really didn’t understand what he was talking about at the time, but now I do, and I’m about to go to live in Australia, so I thought I owed it to him to find you before I left.’
‘He’s a lovely boy,’ said Linda, after a long pause.
‘Yeah, he is. He let me stay with him when I had nowhere else to go. I don’t even know what I’m meant to ask you, but . . .’
I realised that Linda was far away, staring off into space. So I sat and waited for her to speak.
‘He came over to England when he was thirteen to go to boarding school,’ she said eventually. ‘I was the one that met him off the plane from Bangkok, and took him down to Charterhouse School, which is close to here. He was so small at the time – looked no more than nine or ten – a baby really. He’d recently lost his mother too, yet he was so very brave, didn’t cry when I introduced him to the housemaster, then left him there. It must have been such a shock, leaving Bangkok and coming to boarding school in cold, grey England.’
I watched as Linda paused and sighed deeply, before saying, ‘Young boys can be so cruel, can’t they?’
‘I don’t really know, to be honest. I have five sisters.’
‘Do you indeed?’ She gave me a small smile. ‘Lucky you. I was an only child. Anyway, I used to call him every week, just to check he was all right. He’d always sound jolly on the phone, but I knew things weren’t easy for him. Occasionally, at first, I’d drive over on Sundays and take him out to lunch. We became close, and eventually, with his father’s permission, he came to stay with me during exeats and holidays. However, that’s all in the past.’ Her hands clenched together to match her knees.
We sat in silence for a while, me trying to work this plot out in my tiny mind and not managing to. I was sure Ace had made it clear he hadn’t even known his father, yet Linda had just mentioned him. Was she related to Ace? Was that why she’d cared for him when he was younger?
‘Weren’t you the CEO’s PA at Berners Bank?’ I asked her.
‘I was, yes. As you might already know, quite a lot’s changed there in the past few months. I’m now officially retired.’
‘Oh, that’s nice.’
‘No, it isn’t,’ she hissed. ‘It’s utterly horrendous! I hardly know what to do with myself, being at home all day. Still, I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually, but it’s quite difficult when a way of life is pulled from you suddenly, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, it is,’ I said with feeling. ‘Is it because the bank’s been bought?’
‘Partly, yes, but David felt it was better if I disappeared into the background.’
‘David?’
‘The CEO. Thirty years I worked for that man, lived for him and my job. And now . . .’ She shrugged. ‘Well, there we are. Are you sure you wouldn’t like a cup of tea?’
‘I’m fine, really. Your boss is still working there, isn’t he?’
‘Oh yes,’ she nodded vehemently. ‘I’ve heard he’s got a new version of me now called Deborah. She’s very . . . blonde, apparently. Not that it matters,’ Linda added hastily. ‘I’m sure she’s very efficient.’
‘Linda,’ I said, thinking that this was really getting us nowhere, other than to make her more upset. ‘What is it you know about Ace? Like, is it anything useful that could help him?’
‘Oh, I know everything about Anand,’ she said slowly. ‘I know exactly how he liked his hair stroked as he fell asleep, that he’s a little deaf in one ear due to a rugby injury, and how he loves my homemade shortbread.’
