‘Do you think you were still trying to please Alex?’
Celeste nodded. ‘And he was so bloody hard to please.’
‘What happened?’
‘Dr Asthall was laughing with Alex about something. They knew each other from the club at Repulse Bay. At first I didn’t want to see someone Alex socialised with peering into my vagina, but Alex said he was the best. He was an obstetrician but expats went to him for all sorts of things because the clinic was private and the doctor was British.’
‘He was the one you went to when you thought Kealana was trying to poison you?’
‘Alex developed a mild stomach ulcer shortly after we arrived in Hong Kong. It was the reason I didn’t attend Alicia’s wedding, because Alex was in so much pain. Asthall treated him. He gave him something for it.’ Celeste let out a sigh. ‘Before we sat down, Alex shook my shoulder and said, ‘I hope you haven’t been drinking.’ He said that not looking at me, but at Dr Asthall. It was crazy. He wanted me to have an abortion and he was worried that I had been drinking. At the time I wondered why he would say something like that. For the record, I never touched a drop of alcohol after finding out about the baby and Alex knew that. I should have known then what he was doing.’
Elaine pushed a curl of hair behind her ear. ‘Some men have the desire to control everything their partner does.’
‘I was nervous, I kept reminding myself that Alex knew best, but something inside me would not be still. I thought of my past, from where I had come. Even before Alex, I had got myself to London, made a career for myself and had travelled half way around the world. I think it was those memories that made me do what I did next.’
‘And what was that, Celeste?’
‘I stood up, said I’d made a terrible mistake and I wanted to keep the child. Alex’s jaw dropped.’ Celeste smiled. ‘Asthall stood up and politely said he would give us some space. Alex tried to stop him from leaving with his usual intimidating look. He used to stare at people right between the eyes until they did what he said. But Dr Asthall left us to it.’
Celeste dropped the bee from her hand and let it swing by her waist. ‘We agreed,’ Alex said, trying his menacing look on me. A look I was well accustomed to, along with his ‘this is not what we want’ statements. I averted my eyes, couldn’t look at him. I knew I’d submit if I looked at him. So I didn’t. I kept my eyes on a silver pen on the doctor’s desk. “I want this baby, Alex. Don’t take this away from me,” I said.’
‘How did he react?’
‘He put one hand on my knee and then gently touched my chin with the other pulling my face up to his. When I eventually met his gaze I saw a man I didn’t recognize, but his words were kind. “Okay,” he said. “If that’s what you want.” I sighed with relief. I thought my nightmare was over.’
‘And was it?’
‘It had only just begun.’
47
29th – 30th July 2012
Mid-Levels, Central and Western District, Hong Kong
Celeste hadn’t felt right in days. She clutched her belly and buried herself further under the duvet.
‘It’s been two months now. You should go back to the doctor.’ Alex moved the damp strands of hair from her face. ‘Want a cool towel for your face?’
She shook her head. ‘Call Jinny again and say I won’t be in. I’ll be back at work next week.’
‘Jesus, Celeste. Take it easy. You’re still running around with Cross – Jinny and what’s the other one’s name?’
‘Mo Li.’
‘They’re doing fine. Jinny is your right hand woman and Mo Li is almost a manager.’
‘Did I tell you that?’
‘What? How would I know if you hadn’t told me?’ Alex said, walking towards the back of their room.
‘Well you seem to know everything that happens there without me telling you?’
‘Are you making this about us again?’
Celeste rubbed her forehead. She couldn’t do this now, not when she felt so miserable.
‘Oh, I meant to ask. Did Maryanne try contacting you before she died? Send an email or anything?’
Celeste frowned. ‘No. Why?’
Alex shrugged. ‘Rumour has it that the days for Cross Hong Kong are numbered. You should think about handing in your notice.’
‘I could take some time off.’
‘Severe morning sickness doesn’t sound like a walk in the park. Asthall said the symptoms may ease in a month or so, but why have the worry of work as well? Take the time off. Work on the nursery.’ Alex adjusted his tie and reached for his cufflinks on the dresser.
‘You’ve spoken to Asthall, again?’
Alex was silent.
‘I’ll think about it.’
‘Should I tell Jackie to pop round?’
‘That’d be nice,’ she said, although she had been messaging Jackie and Melanie yesterday, and they had made no offer to visit her. They were fair-weather friends. She didn’t mind, she knew that from the start. ‘New suit?’ she asked Alex from the bed as he stood at the bedroom door.
He checked his phone and smiled at the screen before walking back to the bed and kissing Celeste on her forehead. ‘Yes.’
‘Something funny?’ she asked, her interest piqued. He was always with his wretched phone.
‘Just Warwick’s wicked sense of humour.’
She wanted to ask what it was, interrogate him just a little more than usual, see if she could catch him out, but she didn’t have the energy. She had a baby on the way and more pressing things to think about.
*
Celeste didn’t have to worry about handing in her notice. The next morning she dragged herself into work and found a large brown envelope waiting for her on her desk. She read the letter as Jinny and Mo Li read theirs. Cross Hong Kong was not financially viable. It was closing down. They were redundant as of that morning. Her staff complained – Mo Li in particular was crushed – her eyes red raw from crying had left a lump in Celeste’s throat. She had tried to comfort her, but Mo Li didn’t want any sympathy and with a cold stare she had walked off. Celeste wished she had been prepared for the news. How dare Harris, or Toby Cain for that matter, not tell her before the rest of her staff? She would have warned her team if she had known. Her mind racing, she called Toby Cain. ‘Why wasn’t I told about this before the rest of the team?’ she demanded. What were their rights, she wanted to know, but her questions were met with the vague answers she had come to expect. She could ask Alex for help, but she new that wouldn’t go down well. He never had anything good to say about Cross. And why had he asked if Maryanne had tried to contact her before she died? What did Alex care? He never even liked her. Although now she thought about it, it was odd that Maryanne had not made any contact with her in those final months. It was typical of Maryanne, keeping her problems to herself for as long as she could bear.
She touched her baby bump and decided to go home as Jinny and the others made their way to a bar in Wan Chai to drown their sorrows.
*
‘I gave that company the best years of my life,’ Celeste complained to Alex later that day. ‘Maryanne would be turning in her grave right now,’ she said, reading her redundancy letter for the fifteenth time.
‘Maryanne got out whilst she still could. She got a large payment for a company that was never going anywhere.’
‘You don’t care about this, do you?’ she asked looking up.
‘Course I care. But maybe it was for the better. You can spend time at home, making sure everything is in order for the new arrival. How is the new maid, Ruby? Has she settled? Doing what you ask?’
‘She’s fine,’ Celeste said, running her finger over the Cross logo at the top of the letter.
‘I don’t know how to say this. So I’m just going to come out with it.’
‘What?’ Celeste said, her heart beating a little faster. She felt a kick in her belly and instinctively her hand went to it. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I nee
d to go away for a couple of days. I hate leaving you in your condition, but I have no choice. It’s business.’
‘You’ve only just come back from China.’
‘I have to go back there.’
‘Graham isn’t the only one with a family now. You’ve a baby on the way,’ she said, refraining from reminding Alex that she wasn’t well either. She didn’t want to play the victim. Can’t he go instead of you this one time? Your family put upon you constantly and if you let them carry on like this they’ll keep taking advantage. I’m not putting up with this anymore. I’ll speak to Warwick myself.’
‘I’ve told you before, leave work to me. Don’t ever call Warwick. He has enough going on without getting involved in our affairs.’
Celeste frowned.
‘Look, I don’t want to upset you. And I don’t want you getting into an argument with my dad, or my brother for that matter. Both of them are stubborn. Let me speak to them.’ Alex walked over to the cabinet and poured himself a drink.
‘So you won’t go?’ Celeste said with a half smile.
‘This time I have to.’ Alex checked his phone. ‘It’s my job. And it’s your job to look after that.’ Alex motioned to Celeste’s baby bump.
She felt another kick. ‘It’s not a that. It’s a baby. I don’t think I’ve heard you use the word “baby” as yet. You do want this child, don’t you? It’s kicking, do you want to feel it?’
‘I’ll speak to my father about reducing my responsibilities when I get back. Don’t go speaking to them yourself. I don’t trust Graham. He can’t do a job properly. Also,’ Alex looked around the room, ‘he’s having some problems with Sarah. I didn’t want to stress you with this, I don’t think she’s well.’
‘Oh,’ Celeste said, feeling a little guilty. ‘What’s the matter?’ She walked up to him, took his hand and placed it on her belly.
‘They’re doing tests but…’ Alex removed his hand. The baby wasn’t kicking anymore.
She made a face. ‘Graham’s usually quite open about these things. I’m surprised he didn’t tell me the last time we saw him.’
‘Well, this is a little serious, that’s why,’ Alex said, leaving Celeste feeling wounded. ‘So, don’t speak to him. He’s emotional about it and I can’t have him making any more mistakes at work because someone has set him off.’
‘I get it.’
‘I promise I’ll do less from now on,’ he assured her before tapping on his phone and holding it to his face as he walked up the stairs towards their bedroom.
She followed him with her eyes until he was out of sight. A minute later he appeared back on the stairs holding the phone in one hand and his drink in the other. ‘Oh, and I’ve asked Kealana to come stay whilst I am away. To keep an eye on you,’ he said, before disappearing again.
48
4th August 2012
Mid-Levels, Central and Western District, Hong Kong
Celeste located the email application on her phone and tapped it with her index finger. Amidst the junk emails offering her fifty per cent off beauty products and hair salons, was an email from Alex. She opened it. Delayed. Another couple of days. Hope you’re feeling better. Xx. She sighed. She was fed up with dubbed Korean soap operas, American chat shows and talking on the phone to her mother who was fussing about her unborn grandchild. She looked out of the window and made a face. Since Alex’s departure, her sickness had subsided and today she felt she could manage a trip. Taking a taxi to the Peak was what she fancied. She couldn’t sit trapped in their apartment till Alex decided to come home. But when she pulled back the curtains, the black sky outside and the specks of rain that had started to stain the window told her the typhoon they had predicted was on its way. The Peak would have to wait.
She put the television on and her mind began to drift as the weather report started. She had hoped Alex would have softened to the idea of a baby, making him a bit more affectionate in the process, but she had been sorely mistaken. Since Thailand, when he promised her that he would work less, he had done just the opposite. He flew to Shanghai on a moment’s, notice and his calls and texts had now turned into an occasional email. ‘It’s just you and me, little one,’ she said to her unborn child.
She heard a key in the door and looked up.
‘Hello,’ Kealana said, stepping over the threshold, a brown bag full of groceries in her left arm, her laptop bag hanging off her right arm. ‘You’re looking well. Mr Alex told me your news.’ She gave Celeste a satisfied smile.
‘You were right,’ Celeste said through clenched teeth.
Kealana waved her hand across her face. ‘Sometimes you just know these things. You are happy, yes? Not long to go now.’
Celeste frowned. ‘Of course.’
‘And Mr Alex?’
‘Couldn’t be happier.’ She picked up a magazine from the coffee table.
Kealana smiled and took the groceries into the kitchen.
Why didn’t Alex listen to her when she said she could cope without the meddling Kealana? ‘She is not meddling,’ he had said, but that was only because she had never interfered in his affairs. ‘She has had children herself. All grown up now and doing quite well. It’ll be good if she’s around to keep an eye on you. Warwick’s out of town, he doesn’t need her at the office.’
She had protested, but Alex ignored her pleas and eventually she had given in, flattered by his need to have someone to keep an eye on her. ‘You’re not feeling insecure are you?’ she had asked whilst he was packing. Alex had grunted in response and she wondered why she ever bothered trying to talk to him when he was preparing for a trip. She put it down to his mild OCD – he hated the idea that his clothes could get creased in a suitcase. ‘Let Ruby do that,’ she had said, but he ignored her. He had left soon after that.
As she was fiddling with her phone, it rang. She answered it immediately, desperate to talk to someone.
‘Celeste,’ she heard through the receiver. ‘Glad I got hold of you.’
‘Graham?’
‘I need to get hold of Alex.’ His voice sounded panicked.
‘Is everything okay? Is it Sarah?’
‘Huh? No.’
‘The kids?’
‘What? No, no. They’re fine. God no. It’s about work.’
‘Oh.’
‘We need to get someone over to Shanghai ASAP. Alex needs to go this time. He may have been lying low recently with everything that’s been going on, but this is urgent.’
‘What?’ Celeste said. Graham was the one who had taken a back seat at Renshaw as Alex had repeatedly told her. This was so typical of him, trying to weasel his way back in to the business with a fictitious emergency. She had to be careful – he was just trying to find out information on what her husband was doing. Alex had warned her of this.
‘I really need to get hold of him. Do you know where he is?’
She bit her lower lip. He sounded genuine and if he was trying to get information out of her in Alex’s absence why would he pretend that Alex wasn’t in Shanghai? Graham probably didn’t know. Warwick and Alex were always keeping things from him.
‘You’re mistaken. Alex is in Shanghai,’ she said, after some hesitation. ‘He didn’t tell me the ins and outs of why he had to go, as usual, but he’s definitely there.’
There was a silence on the other end of the line.
‘Celeste, Alex isn’t in Shanghai. You must have heard wrong.’
Celeste gritted her teeth. ‘I think you are confused. Check with your father. He knows exactly what’s been going on.’ That would serve Graham right. His father would put him in his place.
‘He doesn’t know of Alex’s whereabouts. Alex only tells us what he wants us to know. He’s been very elusive of late.’
‘I-I…err…’ she stuttered. If Graham was trying to get information out of her, he wouldn’t have spoken to Warwick. She knew Warwick thought very little of his eldest son, Alex had told her as much. But now she was having doubts.
She cou
ld hear the urgency in Graham’s voice. She thought back to the last time she met him. Alex, Warwick and Graham had been discussing the lack of public trust in the banking industry and the recent insider trading scandal. She had to admit that most of it had gone over her head, but she remembered at the time being surprised when Graham seemed to know more about it and had the winning argument, which Warwick had even toasted. She had been impressed at the time but thought nothing more of it. Was Graham the more intelligent one? After all, she only had Alex’s word for it that he wasn’t. She had never witnessed Graham’s apathy or neglect of his Renshaw duties, but Alex was quick to say just how lazy his brother was. Was Alex belittling Graham behind his back solely to make himself feel better?
Kealana brought out a cup of green tea for Celeste and then powered up her laptop on the dining room table. No doubt she was listening to her conversation and would repeat it to Alex as soon as possible. It wouldn’t surprise her if she was going to email him this very minute. Alex had warned her not to speak to Graham. But what choice did she have? He had called her.
‘Don’t worry,’ Graham said, as if he had suddenly remembered something. ‘I’ve got my wires crossed. I shouldn’t have worried you. Do you know any other numbers I can get hold of him on?’
‘He emailed me earlier. Can you email him? His UK phone is on. The number ends in 38 do you have it?’
‘Yes,’
‘Try that one.’
‘Thanks. Goodbye Celeste.’
‘Wait, before you go,’ Celeste took a breath. She glanced over at Kealana studying something on her laptop. She knew what she was about to ask went against Alex’s instructions, but one of the brothers was lying and she needed to know who. ‘How’s Sarah? How’s she feeling? Alex mentioned she’s unwell.’
Poison in the Water Page 19