by Iles, Jo
‘No. But it is still early days for us,’ Jessie replied quickly, turning her eyes back to the television.
Children. That was something to talk about. And think about. Jack was in his thirties, yet the idea of having children had never really entered his head. It wasn’t something he’d ever really yearned for, just something that he unthinkingly figured would automatically happen one day. He would have said more, but then he looked across at Jessie and saw her staring fixedly at the TV, and thought better of it. She obviously wasn’t in the mood to have this discussion yet. And she was right. It was still early days in their relationship.
‘Oh, by the way, the airline called,’ Jack said, changing the subject without subtlety.
‘When?’ Jessie asked, her eyes lighting up with a mixture of relief and excitement.
‘This morning, when you were out shopping,’ he replied. Of the two suitcases that Jessie had left England with, only one had managed to find its way to Hong Kong a couple of days after they’d arrived. Until now, the other had remained MIA.
‘What did they say?’ Jessie asked keenly.
‘Well, there’s good news and… less-good news.’
‘Good news first,’ Jessie said impatiently. It was just typical that the case she was still missing was the one she really wanted.
‘They’ve located your case.’
‘Thank God. When will they drop it off?’ Jessie asked eagerly. ‘I dread to think what the state of my new work dresses will be in after all this time.’
‘Ah. Well, that’s the less-good-news. You see, for some reason your case ended up in a regional airport in Outer Mongolia. They don’t have regular scheduled flights from there, so you may have to wait a bit longer. They said they’d call again in a day or two when they have more information on timescales.’
Jessie sighed. ‘Oh, well. Que sera, sera.’ She gave him a small smile and a shrug.
That was one of the reasons why he liked Jessie so much. She didn’t let the little things bother her, even if he did know how secretly desperate she was to have all her clothes back so she could look and feel the part come Monday. Jack knew there was far more to Jessie than just clothes and appearance. She would be the part and impress everyone, no matter what she wore to the bank.
Chapter 16
As far as Jessie was concerned, this whole living-together thing had not been what she’d expected at all. She’d expected more frustrations and difficulties in learning to share her space all the time with another person. Granted, her experience of living with Jack had been short, but so far it had been surprisingly sweet, and it had only been the last few days that had been mildly annoying, on account of Jack being sick.
But even though she’d had a great time with Jack these past two weeks, Jessie was ready for a change of scene and to finally begin work. That would have been true regardless, but playing nursemaid for the entire weekend had brought that feeling home. Jack was not a model patient and had become increasingly moany and demanding over the course of the weekend. One minute he wanted food, then it was a magazine, and then a good book. By the close of play on Sunday, even Jessie, with her usually endless supply of patience, was struggling not to roll her eyes at him.
And although Jessie regarded the Internet as a truly magnificent thing, she started to question that assessment when Jack took it upon himself to look up copious amounts of information on adult chickenpox and then, intentionally or not, develop every single symptom known to man that had ever been associated with the virus. Over the course of the weekend he’d developed a cough, a sore throat, feelings of nausea, a constant headache, and a temperature, and he ached all over. Every time he complained of something new, Jessie wanted to tell him that he’d only developed this latest symptom because he’d read about it on the Internet, and maybe, just maybe, was there any chance that some of the things he thought he was feeling were psychosomatic? But of course she said no such thing. She did what most people would do in a similar situation: she realised how lucky she was to be the healthy one, and bit her tongue.
She had also been slightly peeved at his delay in relaying the message to her from the airline. Nothing in the grand scheme of things had changed, and her luggage still wasn’t where it was supposed to be, but she still felt he should have mentioned it sooner. As silly as it sounded, these mild irritations made her realise that the honeymoon period couldn’t last forever.
‘Are you sure you don’t mind me going into work? I can stay, if you want,’ Jessie offered, sounding earnest. Although she didn’t know what she would have really done had he actually asked her to stay. It was something of an empty offer, if ever there was one.
‘You go. I’ll be fine,’ Jack replied weakly from his sickbed.
‘Well, only if you’re sure,’ Jessie said, leaning over and giving him a quick kiss. Although it pained her to say so, her gorgeous Jack wasn’t looking his best. In fact, he looked positively rough. His skin was pale and his eyes were dull. His rash hadn’t made its way to his face as of yet, but a sickly smell pervaded the area around him.
‘Have fun,’ Jack said faintly, before launching in to a coughing fit.
‘I’ll try,’ Jessie replied, smiling over her shoulder at him, and waited for his coughing to subside. ‘Lots of water and no scratching,’ she added as she grabbed her bag.
***
Jessie felt supremely nervous. The weekend had evaporated and she didn’t feel at all prepared for the new challenge ahead. Plus, with Jack being ill, they hadn’t even had a chance to talk about her anxieties and for him to soothe her and tell her everything was going to be alright.
Jessie was usually fairly relaxed when it came to her job and her abilities. But then, she’d been doing the same thing, day in, day out, for the past few years, and in a comfortable environment where everyone knew her and liked her, and where she knew her space in which to operate. The new job was at the same bank, but virtually everything else about it was different. It was at a new office, with new people, and although it was still within her specialisation of economic research, her role now would be more senior and involve team leading, mentoring, and management. So under the circumstances, a dose of self-doubt was perfectly natural, she told herself. It was probably even healthy. She didn’t want to go in there and have people thinking she was too big for her boots and thus take an instant dislike to her.
The lift tinged on the forty-third floor of IFC, one of the most prestigious and beautiful buildings in Central. Jessie took a deep breath, pushed her shoulders back, purposefully ignored her churning stomach, and exited the lift in a way that she hoped exuded an air of confident sophistication. She didn’t look exactly as she had envisaged herself looking on her first day of work in the glamourous Hong Kong banking sector, but then she’d never expected her brand new royal blue Victoria Beckham work dress to have deserted her for the deepest darkest depths of Outer Mongolia. And there had still been no further word from the airline about when she could expect to clap eyes on that second suitcase, Jessie thought irritably as she approached Finance First Bank’s Hong Kong reception area.
‘Mr Chan, please,’ Jessie announced to the receptionist. ‘From Human Resources. He’s expecting me at ten o’clock,’ she added helpfully, although to her own ears she sounded dreadfully nervous.
‘Please take a seat,’ the receptionist replied, giving Jessie a kind smile. So Jessie sat.
And sat. And sat. Three quarters of an hour passed before Mr Chan finally came out to the reception desk to greet her. Jessie tried not to worry, but she couldn’t help but think she may have hit a snag.
‘Jessie,’ Mr Chan said, striding purposefully towards her, hand extended, wearing a big smile.
‘Mr Chan!’ Jessie exclaimed as she clasped his proffered hand. She felt relieved to see his familiar face, and his smile did something to allay her fears. She’d been imagining the worst—that perhaps there was no job for her here after all, that it had all been a big misunderstanding.
Aft
er enquiring politely about her travel from England and her first couple of weeks in Hong Kong, Mr Chan cut right to the chase.
‘Jessie, I’m afraid to tell you, there have been some complications,’ he began, clearly done with the small talk preamble. ‘You’d better come to my office so I can explain.’
Jessie’s dread immediately made a reappearance in the pit of her stomach, but she did her best to look calm and confident as she followed Mr Chan.
By the time she seated herself in his office, she couldn’t bite her lip any longer. ‘What kind of complications?’ she asked quickly, her face showing her concern. She knew there must have been a reason why he’d kept her waiting for so long in reception. It hadn’t boded well. But then he’d smiled so nicely at her and given her such a warm greeting. Things couldn’t be all that bad. Could they?
Jessie studied Mr Chan’s concerned-looking countenance, watched him choosing his words, deciding what he was going to say. That didn’t bode particularly well either.
‘You see, six months ago when you turned down the original offer, the position was filled by a talented economist called Rachel Horton. You may have heard of her. Rachel has done amazing work in the short amount of time that she’s been with us and has established and populated a first-rate research team,’ Mr Chan explained, using a lot of hand gestures to emphasise his point. ‘So…’
‘So you’re saying there’s no role for me here,’ Jessie interrupted plainly. She felt it was her turn to cut the preamble.
‘Not exactly,’ Mr Chan said, screwing up his face slightly. ‘Your call saying you’d like to come and work here came out of the blue. Don’t get me wrong, it was a very pleasant surprise, but the research team had already started to take shape. Still, after what happened to you with that nasty Charlie Davenport business, I am very keen to retain you in any way, shape, or form.’
‘So what are you saying?’ Jessie asked. All her plans were quickly unravelling before her eyes, and she silently wondered if she’d be on a plane back to England by the end of the day.
‘We want you to work here. You’re a first-rate researcher and Finance First doesn’t want to lose you. Only, we can’t offer you what I originally thought was available. The team is at full capacity at the senior level, and I’m afraid I can only offer you a role doing the same job as you were doing in England. There won’t be any promotion for the time being. That’s not to say that the situation won’t change—you never know who’s going to resign from one day to the next in this business,’ Mr Chan said, smiling kindly. The fact that Jessie felt marginally insulted by his words probably never even occurred to him. If he knew Jessie at all, he would know that she would want to be promoted because of her talent and ability, not because someone left and she would be an easy choice to fill their shoes.
‘Okay,’ Jessie said, remaining surprisingly calm. She knew she had to be pragmatic here. ‘But, Mr Chan, you could have informed me about all of this before I left England,’ Jessie pointed out.
‘I wasn’t aware there was a problem until late last week, and by then you were already here. The permission to expand the team has only just been officially finalised and signed off on this morning.’
‘I see,’ Jessie said, feeling numb. This had all been so badly organised. They clearly weren’t prepared for her arrival, and by the sounds of it, they didn’t much care for it either.
‘There is one other thing,’ Mr Chan said, raising a finger.
‘Yes?’ Jessie asked, bracing herself for more bad news. Although she doubted it could get much worse.
‘For this role, you will be on a local contract,’ Mr Chan said.
‘What does that entail exactly?’ Jessie asked dubiously. It didn’t sound promising.
‘Your new pay grade doesn’t qualify for an expatriate’s benefit package. I’m afraid you won’t be entitled to company paid flights back to England or a housing allowance in Hong Kong,’ Mr Chan rattled off quickly. It was as though by saying it quickly, the damage wouldn’t be so bad. Jessie raised her eyebrows as her mind flicked back to the new Victoria Beckham dress that she’d paid for by credit card, on the understanding that she’d be able to clear it easily with the extra money she’d be making on account of her promotion. A mental image of her putting her beloved dress up for sale on eBay flashed through her mind.
‘Do I at least have a desk?’ Jessie asked, a little sarcastically.
‘Does that mean you’ll accept?’ Mr Chan asked, looking relieved, the sarcasm clearly lost on him.
‘I don’t really have much of a choice. I’m here now. If I don’t say yes, then I don’t have a job. It’s as simple as that, really,’ Jessie said, giving him a weak smile. She didn’t blame him. He did look genuinely relieved to hear her say she’d stay. But even so, Jessie couldn’t hide the crestfallen look that had taken root on her face, nor did she want to. She wanted Mr Chan to know that she felt disappointed and seriously let down. Maybe it was this Rachel who had thrown some elephant-sized spanners in the works and didn’t want her in her team.
‘Let me introduce you to Rachel,’ Mr Chan said, as if he were reading Jessie’s mind. He stood up and shuffled to the door, their meeting seemingly over. ‘We can talk about this more later, but in the meantime, let’s get you doing what you do best: researching,’ he added cheerfully.
The brilliant Rachel was unfortunately in a meeting, so Mr Chan quickly relinquished his care of Jessie to Rachel’s assistant, Penny, who eyed Jessie suspiciously as though she were not to be trusted. Whilst Rachel was detained, Penny had Jessie sit down next to her and read through the bank’s intranet to keep her entertained. Jessie felt like she was on her first day of work experience.
Meanwhile, Jessie heard Penny shouting down the phone in Cantonese. There was no disguising the fact that Penny was bossing someone in the IT department, as a few English words slipped into the conversation. Words such as login, Slaymaker, and Jessie were a bit of a giveaway. Clearly she hadn’t been expected. At all.
Jessie was already completely familiar with the bank’s intranet, but she gave it a cursory glance to placate Penny’s eagle eye before she opened her favourite news website, using her guest login password. She proceeded to catch up on all things economic in Asia that she’d missed since she’d been gallivanting around Hong Kong with Jack, and, more recently, playing Florence Nightingale to him.
Jessie had just about devoured everything in the news that had happened in the Asian markets over the last week, when Penny announced that,
‘Ms. Horton will see you now.’ She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, with no smile.
‘Thank you,’ Jessie replied, smiling at the messenger wider than was necessary. She was going to kill Penny with kindness, she decided. ‘Through here, is it?’ Jessie said, getting up quickly and making a beeline towards what she presumed was Rachel’s office. Penny, caught off guard, nearly fell off her chair.
‘Let me introduce you,’ she huffed, hurrying over and knocking lightly on the door. Penny was clearly a stickler for hierarchy, and she took her duties as a gatekeeper extremely seriously.
‘Jessie Slaymaker is here for you,’ Penny said around the door. How respectful could this woman be? Except not to her, obviously. Jessie felt like she was preparing to meet the queen.
‘Ms. Horton will see you now,’ Penny repeated formally.
‘Thank you,’ Jessie said again, smiling manically at her. She was starting to feel slightly unstable given that she’d been hanging around for half the morning doing precisely nothing, and she still wasn’t entirely convinced she actually had a job. Penny hadn’t exactly been doing an award-winning job of making her feel welcome.
‘You must be Rachel,’ Jessie said as she marched into Rachel’s office and held out her hand, while trying to keep her fake smile from dropping wide open in surprise. If this woman was Ms. Rachel Horton, then she wasn’t at all what Jessie had been expecting. Jessie had anticipated someone older, a veritable dragon for trying to put the kibosh on h
er move to Asia. Not someone who was the epitome of expat chicness, wearing the very same dress Jessie had originally bought to wear this day. She was also young. Probably younger than Jessie, with long blonde extension-assisted hair, fake nails, heavy makeup and, if Jessie had to guess, fake boobs.
‘Hi, Jessie. How nice to meet you,’ she said, standing to shake Jessie’s hand across her desk. ‘I’ve heard a great many good things about you. Please have a seat.’
‘Something tells me you weren’t expecting me,’ Jessie said, attempting to sound glib. If she didn’t try to throw in a little insincere humour at her circumstances, then she would probably cry.
‘You’re absolutely right,’ Rachel replied, not missing a beat for a second and looking Jessie straight in the eye. Jessie got the distinct impression she was being sized up by the designer-clad executive in front of her. ‘Mr Chan fought tooth and nail to get you into this team. I confess I made life difficult for him, not fully understanding why he was so insistent on hiring you. As you may or may not be aware, we are at full capacity and my budget is tight. Mr Chan was forced to explain to me your heroic role in the Charlie Davenport debacle, and that he’d promised you a position here should you ever come calling. And since Mr Chan’s honour was at stake, I relented and gave him my support. Far be it for me to cause the old man to lose face. But I don’t approve of people piggy-backing their way into my team because they’re BFFs with the HR gods.’
‘So where do we go from here?’ Jessie asked, feeling even more unwelcome. She should have just stayed in bed with Jack.
‘You’re here now. And I won’t hold how you got here against you, FYI. I’ve got to where I am by hard work and being fortunate enough to have managers who have encouraged and cultivated my potential. I’ve read some of your work, and I can see that you’re a quality economist. I think you should be a good addition to the team.’
‘Thanks,’ Jessie said, not feeling the least bit heartened by Rachel’s compliment.