Accounting for Love

by Chrissie Loveday

  ‘That explains why I feel so drained. I’d forgotten that.’

  ‘You’re not used to it. I often miss the odd night’s sleep. I’ll find something to eat and we’ll go to bed early.’

  When he came back, she was lying on the sofa, fast asleep. He put two ready meals into the oven and went into the office. There was an email.

  ‘You won’t get away with it.’

  He looked at the sender but it told him nothing. What on earth did it mean? Who could have sent it? And exactly what was he not going to get away with? Just when he thought his problems were ending, someone was trying to attack him. Could it really be Melissa? He didn’t think even she was capable of such stupidity. He decided not to say anything to Fiona. No point in worrying her unnecessarily. But someone, somewhere. was trying to hack into the computer again, that much was obvious. Luckily, he had a backup system that meant he’d lost nothing. Nothing at all. He heard a ping from the cooker. It meant dinner was now ready.

  ‘Hey, wake up sleepyhead. Dinner’s ready.’

  ‘What? Oh, goodness. Sorry.’

  ‘No worries. Eat up and then you can go to bed properly. Come on.’

  She rose and staggered over to the table. She flopped down and ate the food in front of her. She had no idea what she was eating, and, once she had finished, she left the table and muttered good night. In her room, she pulled off her clothes and, feeling much too weary, left them on the side without hanging them up. She brushed her teeth and fell into bed. She knew nothing else till nine o’clock the next day.

  ‘Coffee,’ said Adam’s voice from the door. ‘Can I come in?’

  She pulled the covers over herself and sat up.

  ‘Yes, of course. Sorry, I was exhausted.’

  ‘No worries. But we need to talk.’

  ‘Sit down on the bed and talk away,’ she invited.

  ‘Someone has tried again to hack into the computer. I don’t think he or she succeeded, but it’s a worrying development.’

  ‘Who do you think it might be?’

  ‘I’m not sure. But mine is hardly the sort of business that anyone would be interested in.’

  ‘I thought you had a portfolio of other stuff? Maybe someone’s after that?’

  ‘Maybe. I just wondered if you know anyone who might be looking into us?’

  ‘Not really. I don’t know anyone with those sort of skills.’

  ‘Oh well. It was an idea. Drink your coffee and then get up. We have work to do.’

  ‘Yes indeed. Won’t be long.’

  He smiled at her.

  ‘You don’t know how lovely you are. I could curse your father with his demands.’

  ‘You could always forget about my father.’

  ‘Oh no I couldn’t. I get the feeling he’d always know if I touched you at all.’

  ‘Then we’ll have to work on forgetting him and his demands, won’t we?’

  Chapter Ten

  Fiona realised she had no clean knickers left. She had a small pile of grubby washing sitting in the linen bin in her room. She went into the kitchen and asked Adam if he had a washing machine.

  ‘Course I have. Utility room’s through there,’ he replied, indicating with a somewhat distracted look. ‘Why?’

  ‘I need to put some stuff into wash.’

  ‘Leave it out. The cleaners come today. They’ll do it. And they’ll change your bedding.’

  ‘What? I’ll put my own stuff in the machine, thank you.’ She didn’t want any cleaners looking at her underwear.

  ‘Suit yourself. Leave your sheets though. They’ll do that. They should be here soon. And make a list of anything you want and leave it on the table. They’ll do any shopping we need.’

  ‘I wondered who did that. How often do they come?’

  ‘Once a fortnight. But one of them brings in any shopping when I’m out. You may have noticed stuff in the fridge.’

  ‘That explains it. Very well organised. I’ll go and put my stuff in the machine anyway.’

  He sat reading the paper as he finished his coffee. His mind wasn’t really on what he was reading. Much more, he was concerned about the problems he had with the hacker into his system. Not only that, it was the reason for it. He heard Fiona’s mobile ringing.

  ‘Your phone’s ringing, Fiona,’ he called. She came back into the room and grabbed her phone.

  ‘Hallo?’

  ‘Fiona? It’s Patrick. How are you?’

  ‘Oh, Patrick. I’m fine, thanks. You?’

  ‘Yes. Look, I was wondering if I could come and see you?’

  ‘See me? Why?’

  ‘Well, you know. I’m missing you. I’d like to come and see you. Where are you staying?’

  ‘In London. Near the city area.’

  ‘Sounds posh. Expensive.’

  ‘Look, Patrick, I’m not sure why you want to come down, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.’

  ‘Your father suggested it, actually. He knows how close we are.’

  ‘Are we? Close, I mean.’ She glanced at Adam who sitting with an enigmatic smile on his face.

  ‘Well I thought so,’ replied Patrick. ‘I’ll be in London tonight. I’ll call you. Have to go now. Bye.’

  She stared at her phone.

  ‘Well, what do you make of that?’ she said.

  ‘He’s obviously keen. I liked the way you avoided saying you were staying here. What will you do?’

  ‘I suppose I couldn’t persuade you to come out with us? Make it a sort of business discussion?’

  ‘And how exactly do you think Patrick would feel about that?’

  ‘He’d hate it. But it would help me out of a situation I never wanted in the first place. Can’t understand my Dad asking him to come down.’

  ‘He is your accountant, isn’t he?’

  ‘I guess so. But it all seems a bit weird. Unless Dad has got cold feet about my abilities. I might phone and ask him what’s going on.’

  ‘I’d leave it alone. Maybe Patrick just wants to see you and that’s why he’s coming down.’

  ‘Maybe. I don’t really want to see him. He might have expectations or something. Damn him. I suppose I’ll have to see him if only to tell him what I really think of him. He’s nice enough, but I really don’t care about him. Not in that way.’

  Fiona felt as if her day was ruined. With Patrick’s visit hanging over her, she didn’t want to do anything, but she knew she needed to make a start on the planning for her father. She glanced across at Adam. To her surprise, he was looking at her.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked him.

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘So why are you staring at me?’

  ‘No reason.’

  ‘You’re making me feel uncomfortable.’

  ‘Sorry. Not intentionally. Shall we go and make a start on the reports for your father?’

  ‘Yes, please. I was thinking I need to do that. I really don’t want to tell Patrick anything at this stage. I’ve got a few ideas I want to run by you as well.’

  ‘That sounds interesting.’

  They went into the office, and he started up the computers. He saw there were more messages and quickly switched over to another programme. He didn’t want to upset Fiona by saying anything. It may have been someone frustrated because they could no longer get into his files, but it was unpleasant. They worked through the morning, reconciling information and printing out the sheets. He put a code lock on once they were done.

  ‘I think that will do for now. I’ll see if the cleaners have finished,’ he said.

  ‘The cleaners? I never heard them even come into the flat.’

  ‘You were engrossed in something.’

  ‘They’re very quiet cleaners, whoever they are.’

  ‘It’s a company I’ve used ever since I moved in. As I said, they come once every two weeks, plus someone calls in for the shopping list in between.’

  ‘Very efficient.’

  He left the office, and she finished
her own tasks. She made some notes on a sheet of paper. It was an idea she had about a new line for one of the shops. It would probably have to be at Brent Cross, as the other two stores were in the wrong place. It would take up a lot of space, but, if they abandoned the curtain and soft furnishing sections, it might bring in a lot of new trade. Pleased with her efforts, she left the office and went in search of Adam.

  He was having an argument with a stranger to Fiona.

  ‘It really isn’t good enough,’ he was saying. ‘I pay you plenty of money, and this is simply not clean.’

  ‘I do my best. I’m alone today. My partner, he is sick. No can come.’

  ‘You should have said at the outset.’

  ‘I sorry, sir.’

  ‘Don’t expect to be paid your usual amount.’

  ‘I make up next time, sir. Now I need go.’

  ‘Very well. Off you go. I’ll pay you for today, and you can make up next week.’

  ‘Thank you, sir.’

  He took out his wallet and peeled off some notes and gave them to the woman. She took them and shot out of the door.

  ‘Damned people. They think they can do whatever they like.’

  ‘Poor soul was obviously worried. You’re quite scary, you know.’

  ‘Me? Rubbish. I’m an absolute pussy cat.’

  ‘Then come out with me tonight. You’ll make Patrick realise he’s got no hopes with me.’

  ‘I’ll see,’ he said, smiling again. ‘You know you’re very wicked, don’t you?’

  ‘Me? Nonsense. I’m a pussycat too. Now, sit down and listen to my plan. It’s something I wanted to do at Norminster, but nobody would listen to me.’

  ‘Can we have something to eat first? I’m starving.’

  ‘And nobody can work properly when they’re starving. I know. How on earth do you stay so slim? You’re always eating.’

  ‘No I’m not. Haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, and it’s now almost two o’clock.’

  Laughing, the two of them raided the fridge. When they had a full plate each, they sat down to eat.

  ‘So, what’s the big idea?’

  ‘Patchwork.’

  ‘Patchwork? What do you mean?’

  ‘We could have a patchwork section. It’s really popular at present. People like to buy patches ready-cut, or pieces of fabric they can put together. There are also heaps of books we could stock. We could use some people’s work to put on display too.’

  ‘Whoa. Slow down. This sounds like a lot of space being used up. Where would you like to put it?’

  ‘I suspect it will have to be Brent Cross. If we abandoned the soft furnishing section. Not many people use it anyway, as there are other shops that sell curtain fabrics. It could be a mecca for patch workers. We could sell stuff on the internet too. Become a specialist shop in the area.’

  ‘It sounds like an idea, but we’d have to discuss it with Rory. Let’s get the current stuff sorted first before we start to set up anything new.’ Fiona was disappointed. She’d hoped he’d fall in with her idea right away. At least they didn’t have to put it to Melissa. She’d never have gone with anything like that. ‘I also need to see the television company and get them sorted first. I have an appointment tomorrow to see them.’

  ‘Okay. Whatever you like. Have you finished eating? I’ll load the dishwasher.’

  It was six o’clock before Fiona’s mobile rang.

  ‘Hi. Are you ready to come and hit the high spots?’ said Patrick. ‘Give me your address and I’ll call for you.’

  ‘I’ll meet you somewhere. I’d prefer it.’

  ‘Okay. You suggest somewhere and I’ll be there.’

  ‘Let’s meet outside a tube station or something and then we can decide where to go. Oxford Street. I’ll see you by the corner of Regent Street.’

  ‘Are you sure? You wouldn’t like me to come and collect you?’

  ‘No. I’ll meet you there. At eight. Okay?’

  ‘If you say so. Right. Eight o’clock it is then.’

  She switched off her phone and looked to see where Adam was. She wasn’t sure she’d been foolish in suggesting the meeting place. It was somewhere she knew, but she hadn’t been there for years. Not since her parents had brought them all down once to see the Christmas lights.

  ‘Adam? Where are you?’

  ‘In my room. Hang on a minute.’ He emerged. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I’ve arranged to meet Patrick at the corner of Regent Street and Oxford Street. I now realise I don’t know how to get there and please, will you come with me?’

  ‘If I say no?’

  ‘Then I’ll have to get a taxi or something. Or maybe there’s a tube?’

  ‘Of course I’ll take you. I’ll have to find somewhere to park, of course.’

  ‘I didn’t want to admit to staying here with you. He did offer to come and collect me, but I didn’t, well, didn’t want him to know.’

  ‘You make me sound like some sort of prison guard. Of course you can invite him to come here. You can invite anyone you like to come here. Treat it as your home.’

  ‘Thank you. I want to keep it to just us here, though.’ He stared at her as if she had said something rather strange.

  ‘I’m not sure your father would approve of that statement. It makes it seem a bit sinister.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. Not at all. It’s a very special place, and I want it to stay that way. Unspoilt by other people.’

  ‘You’re becoming a bit insular, aren’t you? I think we might need to have a dinner party or something. Invite some people round.’

  ‘Oh sure. I’ll make up a guest list immediately. Who on earth can I invite? Rory? Declan?’

  ‘I do have friends, you know. I haven’t bothered you with them because I felt you were finding your feet.’

  ‘I’m sorry. Anyway, how long will it take to get to the assignation?’

  ‘Possibly the best part of an hour. Or half an hour plus time to park.’

  ‘I suppose I’d better go and change then.’

  ‘Will I do like this?’

  ‘Course you will. You always look nice. I’ll go and put on some jeans and a new top. That’ll do for Patrick.’

  They drove out and into a long hold up. There seemed to be dozens of people everywhere, none of them knowing quite where they wanted to be. Cursing mildly, Adam charged past some of the folks and cut in front of someone who hooted sharply.

  ‘Sorry mate,’ he acknowledged. ‘We’re in a hurry not wandering round like a mindless lunatic.’ Fiona was glad no one else heard his comments. ‘Look, I’ll drop you off and find somewhere to park. Where do you think you’ll go to eat?’

  ‘I have no idea. We can stand on the corner and wait for you, if you like. Or better still, I’ll stay with you until you find somewhere to park. Yes, let’s do that.’

  ‘If you’re sure. It’s already five to eight.’

  ‘Let him wait for me. Look, there’s a spot.’ Adam swerved off his course and parked neatly in the gap.

  ‘Good girl. No parking meter fees at this time of night. Come on then. Let’s go.’

  They almost ran along Regent Street until they arrived at the designated meeting point.

  ‘He’s on the other corner. He’s seen us and is crossing. That was easy.’ She felt relieved that she’d actually seen him and made contact.

  ‘Fiona, how are you? Oh, and Adam, I didn’t realise you’d be here too.’ He looked distinctly uncomfortable.

  ‘Adam kindly gave me a lift,’ she told him.

  ‘I see. You don’t need to stay if you want to go home. I can bring her back to wherever she’s staying.’

  ‘I’ll stay too. We need to eat, so let’s look for somewhere. I think there’s an Italian place down one of the side streets. That do for you?’

  ‘All right. If you insist. Tell me, are you staying at Adam’s place?’

  ‘Well, yes,’ she replied slightly uncertainly. She glanced at Adam, who sm
iled at both of them.

  ‘It’s working well,’ he told Patrick.

  ‘I bet it is.’ He took Fiona’s hand and walked off, as if he was trying to leave Adam behind. She pulled away from him and stopped to wait for Adam. He was still smiling, and it was beginning to annoy her. She frowned at him. They soon arrived at the restaurant and got a table immediately.

  ‘So, how’s business?’ Adam asked.

  ‘Oh the usual. Mostly boring stuff. You know how these things are. And you? How’s your business going?’

  ‘Well, thanks. Fiona is going to make quite a difference when she comes onboard.’

  ‘But nothing is signed yet. I’ve told her father not to sign until I’ve looked at all the figures.’ He looked slightly cross.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll find them all in order. Apple pie order. Everything precise, just as you might want.’

  ‘But what about your discrepancies? The final figure for profits has been falsified.’ Adam looked at Fiona, who looked equally puzzled. Neither of them spoke. ‘I also heard there had been a falling out in the ranks.’ He also looked slightly disconcerted.

  ‘I don’t know where you got that from. There isn’t a problem.’

  ‘Melissa? She’s been sacked, hasn’t she?’

  ‘Not yet. But our contract is being terminated. There won’t be any problems, I can assure you.’ Adam looked thoughtful, but said nothing. Was it possible that Patrick had hacked his computer system? ‘Shall we order?’ he suggested.

  The conversation was rather stilted for the rest of the meal. Adam remained rather quiet, and left Fiona to do the talking, mostly about Norminster and her family. As soon as they finished eating their main course, she suggested they call it a day.

  ‘How about meeting tomorrow?’ Patrick asked Fiona. ‘We have things to talk about.’

  ‘I’m afraid I’m too busy. Haven’t we said everything there is to say?’

  ‘I ... well, I wanted to talk to you about us. You and I.’

  ‘There isn’t an “us”. I’m sorry, Patrick. I never meant to mislead you.’

  ‘But you invited me to your birthday supper. I bought you an expensive necklace.’

  ‘I know. I was just being friendly. I’ll send you the necklace back if it means so much. I never realised it was some sort of pawn in our relationship.’ She felt really angry now, and had to bite her lip to stop herself saying anything that might harm his professional relationship with her family.