by Adrian Laing
Charlie looked uncomfortable for the first time since coming into the room. “I guess maybe Sarah-Jane’s been prepared for this moment. I’m, you know, just off the plane, still skating on ice. Got other things on my mind, you know business issues,” said Charlie unconvincingly.
“OK, Charlie. The point is that it won’t do Sarah-Jane any good if you’re there but don’t want to be there. So, let’s leave that one to the side and see how you feel a bit later. You’re going to stay here tonight aren’t you? I mean not as a guest in a formal way but as a guest in the sense that you’re our guest. Make sense? Yes? We’ve plenty of room, Charlie.”
“You’re a mighty fine operator Helen. You know what, I’ll think about the invitation. I’m actually booked in at The Savoy. I’ve got work to do; people to hire, people to fire. There’s only room for one silverback gorilla in my world, and that’ll be me.”
Charlie paused for dramatic effect as if to signal some dramatic move he had decided to make. “That’s later. For now, maybe JC could show me around and then I’ll freshen up a bit, thanks.”
Charlie’s little talk had sharpened Helen up. “We could do better than that, Charlie. Let’s get you into something more appropriate and JC can take you for a little jog round Hampstead Heath. Don’t worry about being recognised. I mean, it’s not that someone won’t recognise you Charlie, it’s just that round here they don’t give a damn.”
“I’m beginning to see why Sarah-Jane likes this place, Helen.” Charlie looked towards JC. “Hope you can keep up with me son, I’m a lot fitter than I look. I played Hercules one time you know.”
“Well, that takes care of a lot of things,” said Helen as if all everything was simply tickety-boo.
“Before you head off with JC, Charlie, I need to get one thing straight. You said you’ve come here to make ‘an offer’. Care to elaborate?”
“Why David, that’s a fine point to make. I’ll tell you what, now that things have developed so nicely for us all I think I’ll be able to be clearer as to the offer I have in mind. But first off, I’m going to have a little jog with JC while Helen and Sarah-Jane have a look at the home movie and then we’ll have a little chat. How does that sound, David?”
“Sounds OK to me Charlie Macqueen, I look forward to it.” David was not the best negotiator in the world.
33
JC and Charlie took the private and discreet path from the back of the garden of The Place to the edge of Hampstead Heath and paused for some warm-up exercises, keeping a close eye on each other. JC knew that if Charlie was as stiff as he looked the chances of him jogging round one circuit of the Heath would be minimal. Judging by Charlie’s extended waistline, which could not be disguised despite the slightly oversized tracksuit top, Charlie wasn’t used to regular exercise. Not of the type that JC had in mind.
Charlie lifted a leg onto a railing which was no more than waist height and tried to stretch forward with his arms without displaying too much effort or pain while JC crossed his legs and effortlessly touched his toes with the palms of his hands trying not to make it too obvious that he was all the while keeping a close eye on Charlie Macqueen.
Charlie stood up and placed his hands on his hips and pushed out his groin. “I’m not as young as I once was, JC.”
“That’s true for everyone, I guess,” said JC trying not to sound too smug at Charlie’s obvious limitations. “Maybe we should take it easy for the first circuit, Charlie.”
Charlie continued his exaggerated stretches, trying hard to keep up with JC. “A circuit, JC? How long is that?”
“About five kilometres, Charlie. But the Heath is basically an almost-tamed woodland with streams, ponds and very steep hills, so it feels like a lot longer. It’s more of cross country course than a track run out. You get used to it.”
“Five kilometres, JC. What’s that in old money?”
“In terms of miles, Charlie? About three miles, a bit longer. Shouldn’t take us more than twenty minutes. You can complete this circuit at a decent walking pace in less than half an hour.”
“Really? Well, I’ll tell you what, why don’t we walk the circuit at a decent walking pace as our warm up and then do a second circuit at a comfortable jog and see how we feel?”
“OK, Charlie, whatever you feel comfortable with.”
“And, JC, I guess with all these joggers and dog walkers around there’s got to be some sort of café or restaurant somewhere?” Charlie asked, almost sheepishly.
“Well, there’s a great café at Kenwood House which is in that direction.” JC knew where this was heading.
“Do they do decaf espresso, JC?”
“I’m not sure, Charlie, only one way to find out, I guess.”
***
“This feels a bit spooky, Helen. I feel really scared for some reason. Is my dad here yet?”
Helen and Sarah-Jane sat together on the comfortable white leather cushioned seats facing the mirrors in the Encounter Area.
“You dad is here, Sarah-Jane, but you were asleep when he arrived. JC took him for a little jog over the Heath and I guess he’s flaked out for a bit with the jet lag and everything. You’ll see him shortly. He is here, Sarah-Jane, everything’s OK, I promise.” Helen put her arms around Sarah-Jane and gave her a reassuring hug. It seemed as if by the moment, in front of Helen’s eyes, that Sarah-Jane was becoming more and more childlike.
“OK, Sarah-Jane, this is a big day, I mean a really big day. Your dad brought with him something very special. It’s a film of when you were a lot younger. I’ve plugged it into our system and when I press this button here the lights will automatically dim and the film will come up on the mirrors. Is that OK, Sarah-Jane? I mean are you ready, now, for this?”
Sarah-Jane closed her eyes and sort of mumbled to herself and took a deep breath. “If I’m not ready at this moment Helen, I know I’ll never, ever, be ready. Can I press the button, Helen, is that OK?”
“Sure, Sarah-Jane of course.” Helen handed Sarah-Jane the remote. “Just press that button there, that’s all you have to do.”
“OK, I get it.” Sarah-Jane took the remote and pressed the button, the lights dimmed and on the full wall-wide screen appeared the film.
As a home movie it was nothing out of the ordinary. The film was following the antics of a young girl in a bright red swimming costume all smiles and giggles, splashing around in the outdoor pool of a fabulously rich home amidst a busy birthday party for the young carefree princess. The camera focussed in to capture the arrival of the birthday cake, which had six candles on it. The little girl and her friends clambered excitedly out of the pool and rushed towards the cake being carried to a large table by a gorgeous, glamorous-looking lady. From every corner adults and kids rushed around the cake and started to sing happy birthday as the camera focussed on the wide-eyed young girl who blew out the six little candles and clapped her hands in uninhibited joy.
Sarah-Jane held her hand to her mouth and started to cry. “Oh god, that’s me and my mom. Isn’t she beautiful?”
Helen placed her arm around Sarah-Jane and held her tightly. “It’s OK, Sarah-Jane, it’s OK.”
Sarah-Jane pressed the button on the remote and the film froze on the screen. “Can we stop it there, Helen? Just for a moment. I think that’s all I can take right now. Honestly, Helen, I’ll need to take this in little – you know – baby steps.”
Sarah-Jane and Helen heard the distinctive sound of a grown man crying and simultaneously looked over their shoulders. Standing at the door was Charlie, wiping tears from his eyes.
Sarah-Jane jumped up and ran over to her dad. “Oh, dad, dad. Why haven’t you let me see this before?” Charlie held open his arms and embraced his daughter tightly.
“Oh baby. I couldn’t. I wanted to so many times. But you know what happened later in the day – that was the day your mother…” Charlie couldn’t go on, and wept.<
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Helen stood up and approached Charlie and Sarah-Jane. “Listen, you two have got a lot to talk about. I’m going to come back later. Why don’t you both sit down here, and I’ll come back in a while. I think that’s best, don’t you?”
Charlie led Sarah-Jane towards the seat and tried to say ‘thank you’ but couldn’t quite get the words out.
Helen opened the door and stole a brief look before leaving the room. Sarah-Jane and her dad were sitting together in an embrace known only to fathers and daughters, both quietly sobbing on each other’s shoulders.
34
Ralph Crossly had been with the Sunday News for thirty-two years and had never felt so happy. In fact he was so overjoyed he could hardly speak. But, as fate would have it, he had a speech to make and this was to be his finest, most glorious moment in an otherwise faltering, frustrated career.
“OK, OK, can I have your attention, please?” Ralph paused as he remembered reading somewhere that being the boss meant never having to say ‘I’m the boss’. It took a nanosecond for Ralph to feel the adrenalin kick in, big time. Smiling, he mumbled a quiet “sod that” to himself as he panned the eyes of the staff on the Sunday News nervously standing in front of him, waiting for some drama.
The seventy-odd staff on duty at that point had been emailed to expect an important announcement at 3.35 p.m. sharp. Ralph suddenly stepped on top of a work station desk and let rip: “Listen, you half-wits. I’m the Daddy now so shut the fuck up, all of you, right now.”
A shocked silence followed the outburst; this wasn’t the old dog Ralph Crossley the staff had been treating with barely disguised apathy for as long as they could all remember. Not sure whether the ‘new’ Ralph was on the wrong drugs or to be taken seriously, the group, as one, erred on the side of caution and did as Ralph commanded.
“Why, thank you so much my esteemed and lucky colleagues. I say lucky because you’re all still in work – today at least – unlike your boss Simon. That youthful bundle of energy, that great shining beacon of skill and outside-the-box-thinking, the one and only Simon Hall is, I must announce with no regret whatsoever, no more the boss. If the penny hasn’t already dropped here it is – our puppet masters have seen the light. Yes, the day of reckoning has come, and yes, Ralph Crossley, is now the man.”
Ralph Crossley stood as upright and proud as he ever had in life and surveyed the wide-eyed, frightened-looking, completely mute audience. Then something happened. Maybe initially out of fear or shock or because no one really knew what to do a round of applause started which grew into a crescendo of whoops, cheers and whistles.
Ralph smiled broadly and gestured for the noise to abate.
“Simon Hall was told by our esteemed owners across the pond to leave the building and join us at precisely 3.45 which is right now. Right on cue, I see Simon has graced us with his presence. Simon, thanks for coming. This is your leaving do, so enjoy, please. I know I will. Simon, you must have been informed by now that the reason you’re here, right now, is to be told, in person by me that you are hereby formally and irrevocably sacked. Let me tell you one of the reasons why. Simon, you lied. You lied to your bosses and to me. You manipulated and distorted the legal position of what we were doing and jeopardized everyone’s future here at the Sunday News. You can give your side to the jury when you face the charges of interfering with computers in court. I’ll say no more about that on legal advice. I’ve been told I’m allowed to say: ‘May justice prevail’. Anyway, you’re due a package, Simon. Here it is.”
Ralph pulled out from inside his trousers what looked like a small bone, rubbed it against his groin like a cricket player and bowled it in Simon’s general direction without any intended accuracy.
“Tucked inside that bone – which is hollow plastic not the real thing – such poignancy ladies and gentlemen – is your leaving package. Go fetch. If you don’t want to go fetch then I’ll email your lawyer the basic legal package instead which is not so… generous. There’s a choice for you, you lying, scheming, over-rated, arrogant dick-head. It’s been a pleasure, now pick up your bone and in the words I’ve been asked to convey on behalf of our esteemed owners: ‘go fuck yourself’.”
***
“Well, this is a lot better. About time.” David peered through his sunglasses and took a long satisfying look at the crystal clear emerald coloured sea in front of him. “I’m glad we agreed on Greece; the sea is warm, the breeze is heavenly. Happy days, Helen, happy days.”
David looked over his shoulder in Helen’s direction. The joy it gave him to cast his eyes on Helen Pope in all her bikini-clad glory, cocktail in hand could not be expressed in mere words.
“Well, I thought it best if we took some time out to think about things. The timing seemed right.”
David took another sip from his cold beer and stared up to the gloriously blue sky through his designer sunglasses and lifted his state-of-the-art tablet into view.
“Wow. This looks interesting. News just in; let me read you a bit. ‘Ralph Crossley has been appointed the acting chief executive of the Sunday News, taking over from his former boss, Simon Hall who is to be charged with computer hacking.’”
“Really?” Helen pretended not to be interested. “Is that it?”
“There’s more. Listen to this: ‘Apparently the dismissal by veteran reporter Ralph Crossly of his former boss Simon Hall was one of the most brutal corporate sackings ever known throughout the history of The Street of Shame. Unconfirmed reports allege Simon Hall was thrown a bone – I mean literally a bone – and told to leave without notice in front of the whole staff.’ Had it coming, I suppose.”
Helen sighed a weary sigh, took another sip from her early morning cocktail and let the moment pass without comment. “I guess that’s what Charlie meant when he said there’s room for only one silverback in his jungle.”
“OK,” said David, “I’m sure we’ll see a full replay on YouTube, but getting back to our world, we’ve a lot to think about. Have you actually read Charlie Macqueen’s offer? It must be over a hundred pages long. I don’t even understand it.”
“Paperwork never was your strong point, David. American lawyers will always use three words when one will do. I can’t say I understand it all either. But I get the gist of it.”
David turned over to take the heat off his bright red stomach. “OK, give me, you know, the gist of it.”
“In a nutshell, Charlie wants to become a shareholder in our business. He wants a stake, twenty-two and half per cent to be exact.”
“That’s a very precise number.”
“Tax advisers tend to be very precise.”
“OK, he wants a cut of the business. What else?” David, for some reason, was already bored with the detail.
“Well, you know all the legal stuff that comes from being a shareholder.”
“You’ve lost me already. Did I recall seeing a figure somewhere, a large figure?” David smiled in anticipation of enjoying the next round.
“Yes, there is a figure in there. It’s… now let me think… oh yes, ‘ten point five’.”
“’Ten point five what?”
It was Helen’s turn to take another sip from the cocktail placed on the table next to her heavily padded sun bed. “That will be ten point five million dollars, roughly.”
“Ten and a half million dollars for a twenty-two and a half per cent stake in our business. Hmm, that’s some offer.”
“It’s some business.”
David sort of dozed off for a few moments and came back to life with a start and sat up.
“Ten and a half million dollars? Really?”
“Really.”
“So, we’re going to accept this offer?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You’re not sure? I’m not sure what you’re not sure about.”
Helen took off her sun glasses and sat up facing
David.
“The Place is all about balance, equilibrium. I mean just because it says that on our website doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” Helen suddenly realised why she didn’t like alcohol. “We don’t need the money, we need each other. And I think we’ve found the answers to a lot of the questions JC has been raising about who does what, the food and the chores, even the martial arts activities…”
“I can’t believe you can be talking about ten and a half million dollars one moment and frigging chores the next.”
“Look over there. Go on, look down the beach.”
David peered through his sunglasses and caught sight of a carefree, young, happy and clearly besotted couple, sitting next to each other on the otherwise deserted golden sand as the gentle waves lapped their feet.
“Have you ever seen JC so happy? And look at Metti, doesn’t she look so in love? I’m so glad we agreed to bring her with us, that was such a smart call.”
David took another look and had to accept that the sight of young Metti was quite glorious. “I have to confess I didn’t see that one coming.”
“I did. A woman can always tell, you know. You’re a lovely, lovely man David but emotional intuition is not your strength, in fairness.”
“OK, I get it. It would solve quite few issues if Metti moved in. She’s very well read, you know. But I’m a bit worried about Charlie. I mean he’s probably not used to the ‘no’ word. Might he – you know – turn on us? Have you thought about that?”
Helen smiled as if she had already thought about that one.
“I don’t think so. Not now that Sarah-Jane is training to be a therapist and is moving out on her own for the first time in her life. He’s got what he really wanted – a relationship with his independent daughter. No, he’s not going to wreck us because he knows that would wreck his relationship with Sarah-Jane. Sarah-Jane and I – as they say over there – are real tight. And she’s got over her little infatuation with JC – I mean thank God for that. What I’m going to do is visit Charlie and Sarah-Jane in LA before we get back to work at The Place. I’m sure we can do business together in some way David, which is what he really wants. Maybe a little franchise arrangement. We can think about that one; no rush from our side. Anyway, point is, I reckon we’ve got four days left before we’ll be as busy as we’ve ever been.”