The Girl Who Lived Twice

by Tina Clough

  He looked thoughtful and then he said decisively. “Yes, that is what I should do! I feel as if I’m always expecting Pam to come in the door from some errand, even now after all this time. I feel sort of surprised sometimes that her towel isn’t there in the bathroom. I just recently threw out her cosmetics and things – it seemed so hard-hearted.”

  He hesitated. “You know, I’d really love to come and see your place, when you’ve finished with the make-over. I might get some ideas and revamp my place. I think that’s what I need – a complete change. I might be able to move on a bit more, if things don’t look the same as they used to.”

  “I think you’re right, Alan. That’s more or less what I felt. I needed to change things so that I could look forward instead of backwards all the time. I’ll invite you for a meal one night, once I’ve got it all sorted, perhaps a couple of weeks from now. And then you can start planning how to change things for yourself. It’s not actually that hard once you figure out where to start.”

  Late afternoon she checked with the admin department that they would be able to identify the call and tell her the cost, and then she rang St Petersburg. Once again she spoke to a receptionist with perfect English. “Can you please put me through to the room of Sarah and James Collins?”

  A moment later she heard James’s voice. “Yes? Mia! We got the message and we’re baffled! It arrived with our breakfast about half an hour ago. Yes, yes Sarah, I will let you speak to her, just hang on! Sorry, Mia, your sister’s consumed by curiosity. Must say I am too! I’ll hand the phone over to Sarah.”

  “Mia! What’s it all about? We just didn’t know what it meant? We had no plans to go to that church, but we don’t understand why we can’t go there?” She was stumbling over the words, both confused and concerned.

  “Sarah, listen!” Mia chose her words carefully. “I know this is going to sound completely bonkers. Just let me tell you one part of it, and then you can ask me questions, but I might not answer all of them. And Happy Birthday! I nearly forgot!”

  “Have you heard something about this church? Is it dangerous to go there, terrorists or something?”

  “Do you think you can hold the receiver so you can both hear what I have to say? Can you both hear me? Good. I’m only going to tell you a little bit now, the rest has to wait. I feel fairly sure that there’s going to be a catastrophic fire in the Trinity Cathedral today, 25th of August. I don’t think anybody will be injured, and lots of valuable artworks will be saved. I don’t know why the fire is going to break out, but I think it is possibly to do with some repairs they are doing. I can’t tell you how I know. And I could be wrong.”

  “God, Mia! This isn’t a bit like you! Did you have some sort of dream? What do you want us to do?”

  “I don’t want you to do anything apart from not go into that church! I can’t tell you any more now, but I will when you get back. I have created another double-check here and it involves reliable witnesses. If it all works out you’ll hear the whole story, but not over the phone, when you get back! I know it sounds mad, but please trust me – this is as strange to me as it is to you.”

  She finished the call despite Sarah’s voluble frustration at not being able to tease anything more out of her. James’s last comment was: “We’re damned well going to find out where this cathedral is and at least go there to look at it – I promise we won’t go inside!”

  Mia put the phone down, and it rang while she still had her hand on it. Callum had remembered his casual invitation. “Tex and I usually have the traditional Thursday drink with the team first and then go and have a meal. Why don’t you come up and join the team at five and we’ll leave together when we’re ready?”

  As Mia came up the stairs she heard voices talking and laughing. The creative floor was like a different planet from the rest of the building. Somehow the space was a blend of louder voices, more movement and an atmosphere of free spirits and creative anarchy. When she entered she saw Tex perched on a filing cabinet, holding up a large sketch pad and a cluster of people standing around looking up at him and laughing.

  Callum spotted her and beckoned her over. “Come and look at this!”

  As she approached she saw that it was a rough felt-tip sketch of a landscape with some trees and a road in the foreground. Tex turned the pad upside down and one or two people said: “I still can’t see it.” Then suddenly one girl exclaimed “Great stuff Tex!” and then Mia saw it too – by turning the sketch upside-down it had suddenly become an entirely different picture with a naked couple standing half concealed behind shrubs and the road had become a horizon of hills.

  “That’s amazing - he really is clever!” said Mia to Callum, who nodded and smiled. “I know - he’s something else, our Tex. He did that while he and I were chatting in one of our split-out rooms this afternoon. He never sits down without a sketch pad and a pen.”

  They left the noisy crowd in the workroom just after six and headed off to a restaurant down the road. While they waited for their food they discussed the new project over a glass of wine. Two or three creative teams were competing for the brief, but before the creative work could start they would all be involved in brainstorming the basic concept.

  Tex explained, “This brief is so different from most things we do, so we’re using a completely different approach – it’s an experiment.”

  “I gather you need someone to provide some financial and practical input while you develop your thinking?”

  “Ah, yes, it’s a huge and ambitious basic idea and Grant doesn’t want us to get too far down the track without some checks along the way – that’s checks with a “ck” by the way. And it’s going to need a huge cheque with a ‘q’ too!

  Mia looked at ginger-haired and lanky Tex. “I didn’t know you what a clever artist you are, Tex. That trick drawing was marvellous!”

  Callum interrupted, delighted to boast on behalf of Tex. “He paints too, you know. He’s as much an artist as any regular artist, if you know what I mean?”

  Tex laughed “Yes, but there are lots of people, who make their main living in the PR and advertising world or as sign writers, but they have a second income from what Callum calls ‘regular art’. Last year I met a fellow from South Africa at an ad agency down town - he paints seriously and is very successful from what I hear, sells a lot of stuff.”

  Mia was immediately interested. “It wasn’t David Thompson, was it? He’s from South Africa and works for an Auckland agency.”

  Tex nodded in surprise so she explained. “I have one of his paintings. I went with my sister to a huge art sale at Eden Park a while ago, and I bought one of his paintings – just fell in love with it the moment I saw it. And then I googled his name to see what I could find out about him, and the only thing that came up was stuff about the firm he works for and a short bio!” Tex was interested. “I’d like to see it some time, I’ve only seen a couple of photos in a magazine.”

  When Mia finally said she must go home, Callum offered to drive her. “My car is parked behind the office, so we’ll just walk back and get it. Tex, did you come in by car today or do you want a ride too?” But Tex was not going home; he had a mysterious errand elsewhere.

  CHAPTER 9

  As the two of them walked towards the office Callum vented his frustration. “I bet he’s off to meet Mandy! That affair is bound to blow up with a loud bang one day – no way can he keep on with this double life without someone telling on him. I keep saying he must either break it off or leave home, but he’s such a damn idiot about it – I get nowhere. The longer it goes on before Debbie discovers the worse it’s going to be for her. I’m very fond of Debbie and she doesn’t deserve this. Sorry, I forgot - you’d know this better than anyone!”

  The evening was warmish for the season and Mia carried her coat over her arm, enjoying the feeling of being outside at night wearing only a jumper. Callum’s car was the only vehicle left in the car park, but as they headed for it Mia had an idea. “Would you mind if I nip
inside through the back door and pick up my shopping? That way I won’t have to drag it home on the bus tomorrow night? No, no - I’m fine, you stay here and I will be back in a minute – I’ve got my card. Could you hold my bag perhaps?”

  She swiped her security card, pulled the door nearly closed behind her and walked down the long dark passage towards her office and the muted light from the foyer. As she walked she pulled on her coat so she’d have her hands free for the bags. She was nearly at the door to her own room before she noticed a thin strip of light - the light was on inside. Suddenly she felt a bit uneasy – to be there alone no longer seemed safe. She stopped and stood very still – could the cleaner have left her light on? Or had she herself left the light on when she left her room?

  And then she heard a slight sound – there was somebody in her room. She stayed where she was, close to the wall just beside the open door to the dark stationery room. Very carefully Mia stepped sideways into the doorway and as she did so she heard the unmistakable sound of a filing cabinet drawer shutting, and then immediately another drawer being pulled opened. She bent down and slowly removed one shoe at a time, put one in each pocket of her coat, and tiptoed out into the passage and closer to the door to her room. Without crossing to that side of the passage she could look through the narrow crack of the door. She saw a tiny slice of the room - Josh was standing with his back to the door. He had a folder laid flat on top of the open file drawer and was flicking through the contents.

  What he up to now? The last thing in the world she wanted was for Josh to catch her watching him. She backed slowly away and crept back down the corridor in her stockinged feet, round the corner and out. She closed the door with gentle hands, slowly and silently. Callum was waiting just outside. “I was just starting to feel that I shouldn’t have let you go in alone, thought you would have been out in half the time. Where are your bags then?”

  Quickly Mia grabbed his arm. “Shush - can we please get into your car right away and then park on the street out front? I’ll tell you why in a minute, just let’s go right away! Please, let’s go.”

  The urgency in her half whisper was enough to tell him something was wrong. They got into the car and Mia watched the back door intently as Callum drove quietly out of the car park and along the side of the building without turning his lights on. He turned into the street and parked 20 metres down from the main entrance. He turned the engine off and swivelled in his seat to look at Mia. “So, what was that all about? You must have seen something strange in there?”

  Mia never took her eyes off the side mirror. “I want to stay here with the lights off until someone comes out the backyard driveway. Would you know what Josh’s car looks like?”

  “Which one is Josh, is he the fat one in admin?”

  “No, that’s Jim. Josh is that handsome shit on my floor!” said Mia with great feeling.

  “Oh him, he drives a Mazda MX5, dark green with a black soft top. Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

  Mia kept her eyes on the side mirror and didn’t answer. “Do you think we could do a U-turn and park facing the parking lot exit? Then I’d be able to see better and I could talk at the same time? Hope you aren’t in a rush!”

  Callum started the car and waited for a gap in the traffic, turned his lights on, did a perfect swift U-turn and parked on the other side of the street. He turned off the lights and the engine. “Now, give! I can’t stand the suspense. What did you see in there?”

  They were both watching the driveway intently. Traffic swept past in both directions, head-lights and taillights weaving a bright pattern, a few pedestrians broke up the faster movements of the cars. Mia tried to concentrate and not divert her gaze from the driveway; it would be easy to miss someone coming out with the street so busy.

  “I went down the corridor and I saw a light on in my office and the door was open just a tiny crack. So I took my shoes off and crept up to have a look. I saw Josh going through my filing cabinet, but I didn’t feel up to confronting him there and then. Most likely the entire building was empty apart from him and me and I wasn’t sure what he was doing - it didn’t feel very safe. But I wanted you to see him actually leave. I’ve just realised there wasn’t another car in the car park, so he’ll be on foot. His car must be parked on the street.”

  “Well, if that doesn’t beat all! What on earth could he be after? And why did you call him a handsome shit? Is there something going on?”

  Mia was just starting to reply when she saw a figure emerging from the driveway across the street. “Hey! Look, there’s someone coming out now!”

  A row of cars passed and when the line of sight was restored the man had disappeared. Callum swore and was ready to jump out and run across the street to chase him, but just then a car indicted that it was pulling out from the curb on the other side of the street. Immediately Callum said: “That’s it – that car pulling out, it’s him! An MX5, a pre-97 model with the flip-up lights, you couldn’t miss it! That’s him all right.”

  They watched Josh drive past them, though his face could not be clearly seen with traffic passing between them. Mia let out her breath and said “God, was that weird! And I’ve just realised I still have my shoes in the pockets of my jacket. OK, we can leave now!”

  She directed Callum to her address and as he drove down the drive to the front entrance she acted on impulse.

  “Why don’t you go round the corner a bit and park in one of the Visitors’ parks and come up and have a coffee? I owe you an explanation of some kind, I think.”

  She briefly explained the lack of furniture, put the kettle on and retreated to the bedroom. Her tights were ruined from the rough asphalt in the car park, so she swapped her skirt for jeans and pulled socks over her dirty feet. By the time they sat down on the cushions in front of the view, she had had time to think of how much she could safely tell Callum.

  “This is going to sound a bit crazy, but it’s really good that you were there and saw Josh drive away. Let me start at the start – I’ve had a feeling lately that Josh is up to something – I think it might be to do with his latest project. I did the costing and some of the research for it and made some notes for him – it doesn’t look very good at all, actually it looks very risky, but he doesn’t seem to want to take that onboard. I have a feeling he’s going to ignore my advice, maybe even pretend I didn’t give him detailed notes, or worse still change the figures I gave him so it will go ahead.”

  She took a sip of her coffee and paused to give Callum a chance to say something, but he just looked at her expectantly.

  “So to be on the safe side I made a copy of my Excel file and saved it in my personal folder a day or two ago. Just in case he decided to change something and then blame the resulting disaster on me. I can’t tell you the details or why I’m so suspicious, but I am – very suspicious! When I saw him in the office tonight I wondered if he’s maybe going to doctor the file and he’s making sure I haven’t got a printout of the original version somewhere in my room.”

  She stopped talking - it all sounded completely mad, more like the ravings of a paranoid than anything else. But Callum said quite calmly. “OK, so let’s say that’s what he was doing. If you’re right, you’ll be able to check the shared file first thing in the morning and then you’ll know. But tell me one thing, wouldn’t Josh expect you to notice that the original had been changed long before the proposal goes to the client? I would have thought that as soon as you saw it you’d start a real ruckus?”

  “Oh, but I don’t expect to be part of the next step of this particular project, I only did the costings really. It’s not something I would be involved in from here on – it’s more Josh and Alan and a couple of other people. I suppose Josh is just taking a chance in case he can pull it off. I think he feels his concept is brilliant and new, and he wants to give it an airing and kind of have the intellectual property rights to it for the future - even if it fails financially. I think he really believes his own golden boy image.”<
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  Callum frowned. “But wouldn’t he get blamed for the disaster, I mean if they did use it and then the whole thing went wrong? What good would it do him to have “given his idea an airing”? He’d still look like an incompetent twat, wouldn’t he?”

  “No,” said Mia seriously. “No, I don’t believe he thinks like that. I’ve thought about it a lot this last week. He was really furious when I told him that it wasn’t going to work out; he tried to bully me into taking out some of the costs and he was ready to choke me, when I refused. I think he might let it go on for a while, as long as he can, and then when someone clicks that it’s doomed, he’ll say that I did the work-up and there was nothing in my costing to alert him. And then we’ll probably find that he’s changed something and it will look as if I messed up.”

  She stopped and looked out into the night. “This must sound like paranoid melodrama, I know. But I really believe that he’ll change that file and that he hopes that I won’t be able to prove that it was ever different. Which means that his brilliant idea will have been talked about and it would only be circumstances that prevented it being tried. And I’ll be made to look like a fool. It could ruin my career with the company.”

  Callum was frowning and trying to think of options. “Well, you can check the file in the morning and if it’s changed you go to Alan and say, this costing was a disaster and now it’s different, and I never changed it. And that would be the end of it.”

  “No, that won’t work, Callum. It’s not enough. I need to know for sure what’s going to happen. How can I not let it go on? All I need to do is keep an eye on how the situation develops. If it goes the way I suspect, then I’ll stop it, before any damage is done. And now I know that he’s been in my office and I have you as a witness, so that’s a bit of circumstantial evidence to back me up. And I have a copy of the original file safely tucked away.”