Poison in the Water

by Marissa de Luna

  ‘I can’t believe you still take a cab,’ Jinny said, as Celeste walked into her office complaining about the disruption to the roads.

  ‘Taxis here are cheap.’

  ‘Walk around, take the MTR. Experience the real Hong Kong. How much of Hong Kong have you actually seen?’

  ‘I would if I had the time in the morning. Plus, Alex has been away.’

  ‘That’s not an excuse.’ Jinny pulled a pencil out from a container on her desk.

  ‘I’ve been here and there. I’ve even walked through Stanley Market and bought a stone dragon I didn’t need.’

  ‘Put it outside your front door. It’s good luck.’

  ‘I watched them burning incense at the Man Mo temple. Had my fortune told at another, visited the fish market and I’ve taken the tram up to the Peak.’

  ‘Why the fish market? I thought Alex didn’t eat the food you cooked.’

  Celeste made a face. ‘He may have had enough of my attempts at cooking, but I still like to try.’ She thought of the last time she surprised Alex with a candle lit meal in their rental. At least he had attempted the food before calling for a delivery.

  ‘Get out of Central. Go to the Jade market. Eat some fung jau in Wan Chai. Hop on the ferry and go to Macau. Gamble some of that hard earned cash.’

  ‘Chicken feet? I tried them once – never again.’

  ‘You know the word for chicken feet? I’m impressed, gweilo. But listen, life doesn’t stop when your husband goes away. He’s always away. Come out with the girls and me sometime. In fact, come out with us tonight. We’re celebrating Mo Li’s birthday.’

  ‘It’s Mo Li’s birthday?’

  ‘She’s only gone on about it for the past month. Get your head out of your sketches for once and listen in to your team. We’re going to Lan Kwai Fong to party all night.’

  ‘Toby will be here in an hour. He wants to see my latest designs. Have the pattern cutters been to pick up the blue files?’

  Jinny shook her head. ‘Does he? Or does he want to see you?’

  ‘Oh no! Where is the design for the sleeveless blazer?’

  ‘It’s there, where you left it, on top of the filing cabinet.’

  ‘Where?’ Celeste asked, frantically rummaging through stacks of paperwork.

  ‘Relax boss. Toby’s a pussycat.’ Jinny walked over to the cabinet, retrieved the designs and passed them to Celeste. ‘I don’t think you can do anything wrong in his eyes.’ Jinny winked as she headed for the door.

  ‘He doesn’t fancy me Jinny, so get that out of your mind. He has a meeting with Harris and wants to show him what our team’s working on. We have to prove ourselves to keep our jobs.’

  Jinny rolled her eyes. ‘You’re never going to get fired. Tea?’ she asked as she left the office.

  Toby Cain was the last person Celeste wanted to think about, despite his obvious good looks. He was tall, with dark eyes and broad shoulders. The kind of guy she would look twice at in a room full of people. And there were times when she felt a weakness around him, but she was married. She had made that clear to Toby the last time he had put his hand on the small of her back and complimented her on her perfume.

  She thought of Alex; she missed him. Stupid, bloody Graham. Alex was close to burning out, continually flying between London, Shanghai and Hong Kong – all because Graham lacked any business acumen. ‘Why can’t your dad hire someone else?’ she had asked two weeks ago, before he had left for the airport.

  ‘It’s a big job, one that has to be retained within the family right now. It takes time to employ the right people.’

  ‘They can get a consultant in the interim,’ she had said, knowing full well where the conversation was going. Warwick was not a pushover when it came to his business, even though he seemed to be letting Graham get away with doing bugger all.

  ‘You want to eat, don’t you?’

  Like they couldn’t afford to eat. The way they had been spending money of late they could have bought a chain of restaurants if they wanted to. But Alex was right, they were used to this kind of spending power now, and he had to earn his money. Plus, every time he went away he bought her back the most beautiful gifts: silk pyjamas from Shanghai and a Chopard necklace from London. It went perfectly with the new white linen dress she had designed for the cruise collection. She touched the diamond around her neck. If there was one thing she couldn’t fault Alex on, it was his thoughtfulness. Jinny walked back into Celeste’s office and handed her a cup of green tea.

  ‘Toby Cain may appear like he doesn’t care but he has a job to do. He tells Harris everything.’

  ‘Have you met Mr Elusive yet?’

  Celeste shook her head. Not meeting Mr Harris had bothered her at first, but Maryanne had reassured her that he was a busy man and that Toby Cain had been appointed specifically to run Cross. ‘Unless there’s a problem, Celeste, you won’t hear from Harris, and trust me, it’s probably better that way,’ she had said when they had first set up the store. Celeste had taken her at her word, and even Alex agreed.

  ‘Harris is no relation to Bill is he?’ she had asked Alex one day, when they were eating microwave popcorn and drinking red wine in front of an old movie.

  ‘Didn’t you say your Harris was South African?’

  ‘He sounds it, so I suppose he has lived there at some point.’

  ‘Well Bill doesn’t have any family there.’ Alex had laughed at her suggestion. ‘I’ll look into his background,’ he offered. Three days later Alex gave Harris the all clear. ‘Seems above board. He’s probably just busy, and Cross isn’t a priority for him. Don’t worry about it.’ Celeste took Alex at his word, as she had increasingly started to do, and she let it go.

  ‘Come out, just this one night. We’ll look after you,’ Jinny said, and Celeste shook the memory away.

  ‘I don’t know how you do it. Party all night and work the next day, I’d be shattered. I look at some of Alex’s friends’ wives and they can’t keep up. Most of them have jacked in their jobs to nurse their never-ending hangovers. I don’t want to be like that,’ Celeste said, and she meant it. But thinking of the other wives made her miss her friends. She had made up with Alicia over coffee and cake at Fortnum and Mason before she had left for Hong Kong. And she had considered picking up the phone to Bonnie as well, but somehow she never got around to it. She reasoned that they had drifted apart, but she still missed her. Who else knew she loved reading Wallpaper magazine, and had even sent her copies when she was out travelling? She spoke to Alicia most days, but it wasn’t the same having a friend thousands of miles away. And when was the last time she went on a girls’ night? She didn’t want to admit it but she was lonely, especially when Alex wasn’t around.

  ‘Hong Kong’s a party town. Here you work hard, play harder. And girl, you’ve been working so hard. This is not London. You have to do things here the Hong Kong way.’

  Celeste looked down at the sketch of the structured evening jacket with three quarter length sleeves next to the sketch of the sleeveless blazer Jinny had given her. Either one would look beautiful with the black Armani dress Alex had just bought her. She could wear that dress tonight – without a jacket of course. She bit her lip thinking of what Alex had said to Bill when he mooted the idea of her going out with colleagues. ‘It’s bad form,’ he had said. ‘She’s a Renshaw now – she’s got to elevate herself from all of that.’ What would he say when he found out? Lan Kwai Fong with its plethora of bars, bright lights and girls in short skirts was like Piccadilly on speed. He would hate it if she went there without him. But this was a girls’ night with Jinny, someone she actually liked. They were all designers after all. What did it matter if she managed them? She couldn’t always listen to Alex. So far, life in Hong Kong wasn’t what she had imagined. She certainly wasn’t experiencing the glamorous lifestyle Alex had promised her. She had made attempts to contact the other ex-pat wives, Jackie and Melanie and they had met on occasion, but they were so dull. All they could talk about was
how much champagne they drank and the diamonds they had acquired. She instinctively let go of her Chopard necklace. She was about to accept Jinny’s invite but when she glanced at her phone there was a message from Alex.

  ‘I can pick you up at eight?’ Jinny said.

  She looked up with a smile. ‘Sorry, I can’t make tonight. Alex is back.’

  25

  2nd April 2009

  Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong

  Celeste stepped into the grid of roads and alleyways that made up Hong Kong’s most famous nightspot. She held on to Alex, a little tighter, as a drunken man in a white vest and silver trousers brushed passed her. ‘Are you sure you are up for this after such a long flight?’

  ‘Sure,’ Alex said, checking his phone. ‘It was a good suggestion. I promised you the high life and I haven’t kept my word.’

  She leaned towards him and kissed his neck. The smell of his cologne, the sandalwood and the spice, made her forget any misgivings that she had about Hong Kong. ‘Forgiven,’ she said. ‘You should have told me you were on your way back. I thought it was odd that I couldn’t get hold of you this morning.’

  ‘I wanted to surprise you.’

  ‘Nice surprise. How was London?’

  ‘Not the same without you, Heavenly,’ he said, putting his phone away. She smiled. She loved it when Alex called her that. Their private joke from when they first met in Thailand. It always reminded her of that time when things between them were unadulterated.

  ‘Wait for me,’ a girl in a skin-tight, hot-pink dress shouted from one of the many bars that spilled out onto the street. ‘Sexy,’ she said, as she passed Alex and Celeste and caught up with her friends.

  ‘Was she saying that to me or you?’ Celeste asked. Alex smiled and led her by the hand towards the entrance to a bar. A huge man with a thick, short neck stood in front of a queue of about twenty people standing behind a rope. She sighed. It had been years since she last had to do this. In London they were always VIPs.

  ‘Boss,’ the bouncer said, as he greeted Alex.

  Alex nodded and the doorman quickly pulled across the rope and let them through. They were shown into a lift by another doorman, which took them straight to the top floor. Stepping out onto the terrace of the bar, Celeste took a deep breath. It was cooler here and sophisticated too, away from the chaotic streets below. ‘Something tells me you used to hang out in this bar quite a bit.’

  ‘Ronnie, the door guy, does quite a few of the bars. I’ve only been here once or twice.’

  She smiled. If Alex was on first name terms with the doorman she was sure he had met him at least a dozen times. Alex signalled for a waitress and ordered two Mai Tais. Another waitress spoke to three young Chinese men sitting at one of the low tables. They quickly got up and left and the attendant started clearing the table. Yes, Alex had definitely frequented this bar before.

  ‘Please,’ the waitress said, nodding at Celeste and Alex and pointing towards the table.

  Alex unbuttoned the top of his white shirt and sat down.

  ‘That wasn’t necessary,’ Celeste said, as she looked over at the young men. The men were leaning against the railings with their bottles of beer looking down at the street below.

  The waitress smiled politely. ‘It’s fine,’ Alex said. He took out his phone and tapped something into it.

  ‘Why did she just do that?’

  ‘We’re going to be drinking a lot more tonight than those lads who have probably been nursing one beer each since they got here.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘It’s business, honey, pure and simple.’

  She shrugged, supposing Alex was right. It wasn’t her problem. She avoided looking in the direction of the young men and downed half of her drink as soon as the waitress returned with it.

  ‘Remember in Koh Phi Phi, we got absolutely smashed on these, one night,’ Alex said, giving the waitress a two hundred and fifty dollar tip.

  ‘I see why we got the table.’

  ‘Why do you think you never have to wait for anything when you’re with me? Like I say, there is no such thing as a free lunch,’ Alex said returning his attention to his phone.

  She had to admit, there was a certain finesse to Alex’s way of living. These days she thought of her life as Before Alex and After Alex. Before Alex, she stood outside in the pouring rain trying to get into a club. After Alex, she realised tips large enough to feed a family of four got you everywhere. He was right, of course. When she was out with him the service they received was first class, and who was she to complain. They were seated, the waitress was better off, and the three young lads, well, perhaps they were used to it.

  She had tried tipping big the first time she ate out in Hong Kong without Alex. It hadn’t quite worked. She wanted to leave more than a twenty per cent tip, but she couldn’t justify it. The service had been shoddy and it just didn’t feel right.

  Alex leaned forward and kissed her. ‘So, I have a surprise for you.’

  Celeste put her drink down. ‘We’re already married. You’re not pregnant are you?’

  Alex laughed. ‘Better than that.’ He produced a key from his shirt pocket.

  ‘It isn’t what I think it is?’

  He nodded.

  ‘Don’t joke with me. I haven’t seen anything decent yet. All the apartments here are like shoe boxes.’

  ‘Not this place.’

  She narrowed her eyes.

  ‘It’s going to be our new home.’

  Celeste took the key from Alex. She hesitated. She was happy, of course she was happy. She had been on at him to get something sorted for a months. But she hadn’t expected him to do it alone. It was going to be their home and she wanted to be involved with choosing it. It wasn’t as if she got to make many decisions. Their London home had been decided for them. Kealana had even decorated it. Hong Kong, she had thought, would be up to her. ‘What about us looking at places together?’

  ‘I was speaking to Warwick and he let slip that the tenants had moved out of this place. Call it a company perk.’

  ‘I thought you said there was no such thing as coincidences?’

  He kissed her on the lips.

  ‘Don’t try and blindside me.’

  ‘Fine, I knew about this place and put a word in. Wanted it to be a surprise for you. You’ll love it when you see it.’

  She wanted to be angry but it was hard when he put it that way. Guilt replaced her irritation. Alex was trying to do something kind for her, and she was acting like a princess. She forced a smile. He pulled her towards him, downed the remnants of his drink and kissed her again. He ran his hand along her back. ‘This property has been lying around from when my parents lived here and it’s perfect for us.’

  ‘So is this apartment going to be ours, or your dad’s, just for us to use?’

  ‘Ours. Warwick can be reassigned to an apartment in the Four Seasons when he’s here.’

  ‘So then what are we doing here?’

  ‘You wanted a night out.’

  ‘Not over this.’

  ‘I thought you were desperate to go out and see Hong Kong in all its Lang Kwai Fong glory?’ Alex said, with a hint of sarcasm.

  Celeste looked around. ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘And then those lads will have moved for nothing,’ Alex said, pointing to the three men who were holding on to their empty bottles of beer.

  ‘Tip them,’ she said with a smile.

  ‘Celeste!’ A familiar voice broke through the low thud of the music.

  ‘Jinny,’ she said, standing up.

  ‘Ah, so you made it to our infamous Lan Kwai Fong. The queue here was terrible. Never again.’

  ‘Alex, you must meet Jinny. She is one of my best designers,’ Celeste said, feeling a little guilty. She hadn’t seen them in the queue and she hoped they hadn’t seen her skip it.

  He stood up and greeted Jinny with a kiss on each cheek.

  ‘And Mo Li,’ Jinny said, pointing to her left. ‘Hmm, she was here
a minute ago. Never mind,’ She looked at Alex. ‘You must take Celeste on the night ferry to Macau after this. Do some gambling, Hong Kong style, and eat breakfast at the docks on your return! Don’t worry about the seagulls.’

  ‘Sounds like fun,’ Alex said flatly.

  ‘There she is.’ Jinny said, as she looked behind her. ‘Mo Li, Mo Li, why you run off like that? She doesn’t bite.’

  Celeste felt her cheeks colour.

  Mo Li looked at Celeste and then at Alex. She smiled politely and then walked off in the direction of the bar before they could wish her a happy birthday. Jinny rolled her eyes and shook her head. ‘You know how shy she is. She’s even worse around men.’

  ‘You carry on,’ Celeste said. She hugged Jinny and turned around to see Alex on his phone.

  Jinny looked over at Alex. ‘Next time you’re coming out with me, girls only,’ she whispered.

  Celeste nodded and looked back at Alex, knowing it was unlikely that a girls’ night with Jinny and Mo Li would ever happen.

  26

  2nd April 2009

  Mayfair, London

  ‘You did it. You were the one to break poor William.’

  Rachel took both glasses of champagne from the waiter and passed one to Sophia. She straightened her back. ‘It took me a while to get him to agree, but yes I’ve been away with William. And I wouldn’t put the words “poor” and “William” in the same sentence.’

  ‘Certainly not poor. I don’t think he realises how the other half lives. It’s like that man is in his own little world filled with white lines, sexy women and limitless pots of cash.’ Sophia took a sip of her drink. ‘I have to hand it to you. I never thought it would ever happen. Tell me, Rach, what have you got that countless women before you don’t?’

  Rachel swallowed some more champagne. If Sophia meant what she had just said as a form of flattery, it certainly didn’t sound like it. She was quite sure she could hear the scorn in the woman’s voice. ‘Must be persistence,’ she said confidently.