The Au Pair

by Janey Fraser

  ‘I’m so sorry that our arrangements had to change for tonight,’ whispered Phillip while he was waiting for Dawn to get ready. ‘I was looking forward to getting to talking to you at dinner.’

  Marie-France had been sitting on the sofa in the den, cuddling Tatty Arna, who was watching a video. Tom, who had been sulky ever since this morning, was glued to his Xbox. He had so many toys! PlayStations, PSPs, mini-televisions. Enough to keep all the children happy in her village at home.

  Now she looked up at Phillip, who was so handsome in his dinner jacket and red spotted tie, and flushed at the compliment. ‘I understand.’

  She broke off as Dawn marched in, scowling. She too would have looked nice had it not been for her face, which was pinched and mean-looking. Her dress, however, was a beautiful jade-green silk which sparkled as she moved and she wore long earrings in exactly the same shade. ‘We won’t be back until late,’ she threw at Marie-France.

  Phillip gave her an I’m-so-sorry look and a quick wink, which made her flush again.

  Snuggling up to Tatty Arna in front of the Disney film, she allowed herself to daydream for the next half-hour or so. What if Phillip made a move on her? What if Thierry and she were over for good? What if …

  The sound of the front-door knocker interrupted her thoughts. It must be Phillip or Dawn again, otherwise they couldn’t have got through the security gate.

  ‘Hello,’ she began but then stopped. A man was standing on the doorstep, wearing a smart blue jacket over jeans. He had a pleasant smile on his face as though he knew her.

  Mon Dieu! The advertisement! The advertisement she’d put in the local paper for her father. He had arrived?

  ‘Monsieur Smith?’ she gasped. ‘Monsieur John Smith?’

  The smiling stranger seemed to consider the idea. ‘Why not?’

  ‘You saw my notice?’

  ‘I might have done.’

  ‘But how do you pass through the security gate?’

  ‘What is this?’ He narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Twenty questions?’

  Excitedly, Marie-France ran her eyes over him. He was about the right age: late sixties, sophisticated jacket, dark hair with a flick of distinguished silver and bluey-green eyes just like hers.

  Slightly against her better judgement, she had put the address of the house in the paper as well as a phone number, in order to maximise the chances of finding her father. Well, there didn’t seem to be any rules against it. And now he’d found her!

  ‘Please.’ She felt her heart beating excitedly. ‘Come in.’

  This was him. Her father. She just knew it!

  ‘Thank you.’ He looked over his shoulder. ‘Mind if my friends come too?’

  After that, it all seemed to happen so fast! Before she knew it, a strong hand had grabbed her and was pulling her up the stairs. What was happening?

  ‘Marie-France!’ cried out little Tatty Arna’s voice.

  ‘The children,’ she yelled. ‘Do not harm the children.’

  ‘Put them in with the girl,’ said another voice.

  ‘Here’s the door. The one with the lock on the outside,’ said the man who was tugging her.

  Furiously, she lashed out, scratching one of them, who yelled with fury. ‘Bitch.’ He pushed her into a room. ‘In here.’

  Thank God the kids were with her! She held them to her, comforting them as the door was locked outside. Then she heard more voices and heavy footsteps marching into Phillip and Dawn’s room. ‘There’s some good stuff here,’ she heard one growl.

  ‘Bung it all in. Not that one – it’s engraved. Don’t take anything that’s too easily traced. Now let’s get out of this place. Quick.’

  Thieves! Marie-France trembled. She had actually let thieves into the house, thinking the leader was her father! Dawn would kill her!

  ‘I’m frightened,’ whimpered Tatty Arna.

  ‘Me too,’ whimpered Tom.

  Steeling herself, she drew them to her, wondering if she could climb out of the window to get help. No, it was too high.

  ‘It’s all right,’ she said, sounding far braver than she felt. ‘I will look after you and then your mother and Phillip will be back.’

  ‘Mummy!’ Little Tatty Arna began to cry. ‘I want Mummy!’

  She needed to distract the poor mite. But how? Then her eye fell on the guitar next to her bed and her mind went back to all those times in the woods back home, where she had sat on Thierry’s knee and they had sung and played together.

  ‘Viens,’ she said encouragingly, holding out her arms to the little girl. ‘Sit here and Tom will play to us while we sing. Look, Tom. You put this finger on this string and the other on that one.’

  To her amazement, he actually did as he was told.

  ‘Bravo!’ She clapped her hands. ‘That sounds good, n’est-ce pas? You recognise the tune, yes? It is “Frère Jacques”, the song I sing the other day.’

  Tom’s face lit up as his plump fingers fumbled with the strings. Yes! She’d done it. She’d managed to make them forget this terrible situation they were in. For the next half-hour or so, they carried on strumming. So much better for him than a PlayStation or an Xbox!

  Then suddenly there was the sound of a car outside and a door opening downstairs. Marie-France’s heart began to race. Had those bad men come back?

  ‘Quick!’ she said, pushing them under her bed. ‘Hide there. Do not say a word and do not come out until I say!’

  Then there was the scraping of the key being turned on the other side and her door was flung open. She picked up her guitar, ready to bring it down on the thief’s head. He didn’t scare her. Not any more. In fact she would do anything to protect the children.

  ‘Go away,’ she screamed. And then she stopped, taking in the familiar handsome face, the dinner jacket and the red bow tie.

  ‘Phillip? It is you?’

  ‘Where are the kids?’ His handsome face was frowning. ‘And why are you locked in here?’

  It was all too much! Marie-France burst into tears. ‘We have thieves! And it is all my fault!’

  ‘Shhh.’ Phillip drew her to him and stroked the back of her head comfortingly. ‘It’s all right. Now why don’t you slow down and tell me exactly what happened.’

  USEFUL PHRASES FOR SPANISH AU PAIRS

  Would you like to be my boyfriend? (¿Quieres ser mi novio?)

  You enchant me (Me encantas)

  I don’t understand (No entiendo)

  Why? (Por qué)

  I want to go home (Quiero irme a casa)

  Chapter 18

  HE DIDN’T HAVE any proof! Matthew kept reminding himself of that when he was meant to be working. In fact, it was entirely possible that Genevieve might not have taken the money at all.

  Since Sally had died, he’d been putting things in all the wrong places; so-called ‘lost’ keys turned up in drawers where he must have dumped them without thinking. He’d even once found Lottie’s jumper in the fridge and a tub of marge in the linen cupboard.

  ‘It’s stress,’ Christina had reassured him at the time. ‘When people are under pressure, they often do this kind of thing. Try to get a routine going. As soon as you come into the house, put your keys where they normally go. I’ve got a hook for mine.’

  What would she say now about money which might or might not have been pilfered by the new au pair? Not for the first time since he had bumped into Christina at the station, Matthew wished he hadn’t ended their sessions so abruptly.

  Then again, if he hadn’t stopped being her client, she might not have confided in him. He’d been surprised when she’d told him about her marriage ending: somehow he hadn’t put her down as another single parent. She was so composed and confident, and, well, capable. Would he be like that a few years down the line? He hoped so.

  Part of him still felt guilty about revealing Sally’s affair. ‘Please don’t tell anyone,’ his wife had begged and he hadn’t. That’s why he hadn’t mentioned it during his earlier sessions with Christi
na. So why had he gone and blurted it out in the coffee shop?

  Yet his confession had also made him feel better. More able to move on. Capable of taking one step at a time, as Christina had advised.

  But there was also nothing wrong with being one step ahead too! So maybe he’d lay Genevieve a little trap. Put out small sums of money in obvious places and see if they disappeared.

  ‘Matthew?’ Karen’s worried face now appeared at his office door. ‘Sorry to chase you but James wants to know if you’ve finished with the report.’

  Was that the time already? A year of being at home with his daughter had slowed him down; made him less able to impose the same rigid deadlines on himself that he used to. ‘I’m nearly there.’

  It wasn’t true. But if he blocked out thoughts of Genevieve stealing his money when she was meant to be looking after his daughter, he might just make it.

  ‘Hi, I’m home,’ he called out when he got back that evening, a little later than usual because of back-to-back meetings.

  No answer. He hung his jacket on the hook by the door and called out again. ‘Hello!’

  Sometimes, as right now, he almost expected Sally’s voice to answer. Instead, he could hear a foreign voice upstairs talking to Lottie. Quickly, he whipped out a twenty-pound note from his wallet and marked it with a small black cross on the corner. Then he placed it on the hall table just under a small bronze mermaid that he and Sally had bought on their honeymoon.

  ‘Hi, Daddy!’ Lottie flew down the stairs and leaped from the bottom steps straight into his arms.

  He caught her, breathing her in. ‘Careful, darling, you’ll hurt yourself. Did you have a good day?’

  She beamed. ‘We went shopping. Genevieve bought a new dress. I saw this really cool top. Could I have it, Daddy? Please! Please!’

  She’d never shown much interest in clothes before. Then he took in what she was wearing. It was her green school uniform but the jumper was tight and her skirt far too short. With a pang, he realised his little girl had grown during the summer.

  ‘Good evening, Matthew!’

  So familiar! But au pairs were meant to be part of the family so he could hardly expect her to call him Mr Evans all the time. Awkwardly, he watched Genevieve flouncing down the stairs with a wide grin, wearing a rather revealing red T-shirt.

  ‘Dinner is relaxing in the oven. I hope you adore goulash. Yes?’

  ‘Er, yes, thanks. Why is Lottie wearing her uniform?’

  ‘I try it on to see if it is ready for school next week.’ Big smile. ‘My mother always do that to me, yes? I think we need to go shopping for bigger clothes. Do you want to donate me the money? Yes?’

  Hah! She wasn’t getting away that easily. ‘It’s all right. I’ll take Lottie myself on Saturday.’ He should have done so earlier, Matthew told himself guiltily, but Lottie’s recent growth spurt, coupled with lack of time now he was back at work, had thrown him.

  Genevieve frowned. ‘I am thinking the stocks will be smaller then. It is best to do it soon like the television adverts say. It is late-night shopping tomorrow. I could come with you if you please. Yes?’

  No thanks, he was about to say, but then he suddenly thought how awkward it would be for him – a man – to go into the changing rooms with his daughter and check that something was the right size. It might be a good idea to have a woman with him.

  ‘Thanks. I’ll try and be back a bit earlier. By the way, in case I forget, could you please dust downstairs tomorrow and can you include the hall table?’

  Genevieve nodded agreeably. ‘That is no effort. Now, I think we will eat together. Yes?’

  If his previous experiences hadn’t taught him to be sceptical, Matthew would have thought that their new addition to the family was the perfect au pair despite that infuriating ‘Yes?’ at the end of almost every sentence. She was polite; she got on really well with Lottie, who was clearly besotted; and she was a great cook. (‘My mother paid for me to go to a cookery school in Switzerland. Yes?)

  On the other hand, she wasn’t too hot at housework and he’d actually had to show her how the vacuum cleaner worked. Yet maybe that was because, as she said, ‘My mother has people to do the cleaning at home.’

  But theft was a different matter! Common sense told him that if she came from such a well-to-do family, surely she would have enough money of her own. But then again, there was no logic to au pairs. He would never have thought that Berenice was the type to try on a dead woman’s clothes and as for Sozzy walking out like that and into the arms of a murderer, he just couldn’t even think about that.

  The following evening, he came back from work early. But before even announcing his arrival, he went to the hall table. The twenty-pound note underneath the mermaid was missing! Part of him felt a bizarre satisfaction at having caught her. But the other part was horrified. This meant another argument. Another au pair leaving …

  ‘Daddy!’ Lottie came running out of the kitchen, swinging on his arms, grinning with that cute little gap between her front teeth. ‘We’ve been waiting. Genevieve and I want to go shopping!’

  ‘Is that so?’

  He turned to face Genevieve, who was ready with her smart suede jacket and matching handbag. ‘What did you two do today?’

  ‘Cooking.’ Genevieve was nodding like a Dutch doll. ‘I teach Lottie to make chocolate cakes. And then I buy presents for my family.’

  With my money, he almost added grimly. He’d wait until Lottie had gone to bed that night and then tackle her on it. But right now, they needed to get a move on before the shops shut.

  Wow! Two hours later, Matthew was more exhausted than he’d been after any day in the office. This school-uniform battle was a nightmare! Every other parent, or so it seemed, had decided to kit out their kids at the last minute and he’d had a near-tussle with another father who had his eye on the same green skirt suitable for eight- to nine-year-olds.

  ‘I think this is ours, yes?’ Genevieve had announced firmly and then, seizing the hanger before the rival could get there, marched towards the changing room where Lottie was waiting.

  The other man had given Matthew a look that was somewhere between annoyance and admiration. ‘Your wife is a very determined woman.’

  ‘She’s not my wife,’ he said quickly.

  But the man gave him another look. This time it was pure envy. ‘Lucky bloke, that’s all I can say.’

  How embarrassing! It got worse at the cash till where Genevieve had stocked up a pile of crisp white shirts, socks, pants and PE stuff. ‘Do we need anything else?’ she asked as though they were a couple. Matthew flushed as the shop assistant looked from one to the other. This girl was almost young enough to be his daughter. What would everyone think?

  She certainly didn’t have any trouble spending money: the bill was staggering. He vaguely remembered Sally saying something about the cost of school uniform when Lottie had first started. Too late, he wished he’d taken more of an active interest instead of being buried in his work. Wasn’t that, he recalled as Sally’s words came back to him, one of the reasons why she’d had an affair in the first place? ‘You’re never there for us, Matthew. It’s work, work, work.’

  ‘We shall go for coffee, yes?’ Genevieve was smiling with those perfect teeth again. ‘My mother and I, we always have coffee after shopping in order to rest.’

  Rest! It was he who needed to rest to get over the size of the bill.

  ‘No. I need to get back.’ He took a large bag of shopping in each hand and began walking towards the exit. ‘Are you in tonight Genevieve?’

  ‘I meet some of my new friends from school. Yes?’

  Blast. He was going to have it out with her but maybe he’d wait until tomorrow evening. He’d give her one last chance. Just to be certain. ‘That’s fine. By the way, would it be possible for you to polish the bedrooms tomorrow?’

  ‘Yes. Of course.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  That night, just as he was going to bed, Matthew put
another twenty-pound note, also with a black cross, on the dressing table in his room, underneath his photograph of Sally.

  His dead wife stared disapprovingly out of the silver frame. ‘Well do you have any better suggestions?’ he asked. ‘If you hadn’t died, none of this would have happened.’

  That was unfair and he knew it. But as he tossed and turned, trying to go to sleep with Genevieve’s music booming through the wall, he remembered something else that Christina had said. ‘You have to get angry before you can move on.’

  Well, he was angry all right. Not just about Sally. He was angry about Genevieve taking money. And he was angry at himself for … well, for just about everything.

  The following morning, the first thing he saw out of the kitchen window was Genevieve pegging out the washing. His boxers were fluttering in the wind next to a pair of scarlet knickers. That would give the neighbours something to talk about! Part of him wanted to laugh; the other part felt nervous about the money and whether it would still be there tonight.

  ‘Penny for your thoughts,’ said Karen when she brought in his milky coffee and biscuits at around eleven.

  ‘More likely twenty quid,’ he retorted without thinking.

  Karen frowned. ‘Come again?’

  So somehow he found himself telling her all about it.

  ‘My mother had a carer who stole things,’ she said when he’d finished.

  ‘Really?’

  She nodded. ‘We had to sack her. It was very difficult because I’d trusted her. It made me wonder how well she was looking after my mother if she wasn’t trustworthy in other areas.’

  ‘Exactly!’ He felt a bond with Karen that he hadn’t before as well as a stirring of curiosity. ‘Was your mother in a home?’

  ‘No.’ Karen’s eyes took on a far-away look. ‘She was in her own place but it was when I was married and living in Yorkshire so I organised someone to come in and keep an eye on her. Soon after that, my marriage broke up and I moved down to look after her. Ironically, she died a year later and that was when I started here.’