‘How much...?’
It wasn’t good manners to ask, but money had never bothered Alex all that much. If this was a life-changing amount, then that was both good news and bad. Good, because he could do the things he’d always wanted to. Bad, because he seemed so burdened by it.
‘If you include all the assets and property then it runs into something more than two billion. Less than three.’
She stared at him. That was the kind of number that Marie would never get her head around, so it was probably better not to even try.
‘And this... You’ve done all this?’ She waved her finger in a wild circle.
‘My ancestors viewed wealth as a way to gain power and more wealth. I want to spend the money a little more wisely than that.’
It was worthy. Altruistic. Right now it was about all she recognised of the Alex that she knew. The smiling, carefree soul who was in the habit of taking one day at a time had gone.
‘Wait a minute...’ A thought struck her. Had Alex been hiding all this in plain sight? ‘Alex King?’
‘Dr Alex King is who I really am. But my birth certificate says Rudolf Aloysius Alexander König.’
Suddenly she couldn’t bear it. She hadn’t even known his name? The man she’d thought of as her friend, whom she’d dared to kiss and had loved every minute of it...
Marie sprang from her seat, marching over to the window and staring out at the street. Maybe that would anchor her down, keep her feet firmly on the ground, and then she could begin to address the question of whether this really was Alex any more, or just a stranger who looked like him.
* * *
Marie wasn’t taking this well. It was almost a relief. The small number of other people he’d had to tell about this had congratulated him on his sudden and immense wealth and started to treat him as if he was suddenly something different. It was typical of Marie that her objection to the whole thing wasn’t what he’d expected. She brushed aside the money and his royal status as if they didn’t exist. All she cared about was that she hadn’t known his name.
‘King is a translation of König. Alex is my middle name...’ He ventured an explanation.
She shook her head. ‘I thought I knew you, Alex...’
There was no point in telling her that a lot of people changed their names, or that a lot of people came from unhappy families. Marie was hurt that he’d never told her about any of it before. Maybe if she’d known his father she would have understood a little better.
‘Rudolf König was the name my father gave to me to remind everyone who my family was. I wanted to make my own way in life, Marie, and to be measured by what I’ve done.’
‘Yeah. I see that.’ She was staring fixedly out of the window and didn’t turn to face him.
‘Then...?’
‘Give me a minute. I’m processing.’
Okay. Processing didn’t sound so terrible. If Marie could come to any conclusions then he’d like to hear them, because all he’d felt since he’d heard about his father’s will was that he was being dragged back into a life from which he’d previously torn himself. Money and status had soured his parents’ lives, and it already felt like it was slowly squeezing all the joy out of his.
She turned slowly, leaning back against the windowsill and regarding him thoughtfully.
‘So...it’s still Alex, is it?’ Not Your Majesty...?’
‘You don’t need to rub it in, Marie. Who the hell else do you think I know how to be?’
Her face softened and she almost smiled. It was one step towards the warmth that he craved.
‘Sorry.’ She pressed her lips together in thought. ‘Who knows about this?’
‘A few people that I know from school. No one here. But it’s not a secret. I just don’t talk about it.’
She turned to face him, her eyes full of violet fire. ‘Isn’t that what secrets are? Things you keep from your friends?’
‘I never lied.’ He heard himself snap, and took a breath. ‘I want the clinic to be about the work and not about me.’
‘It is about you, though. You built it.’
‘I facilitated it. I want people to talk about the things we do here, and talking about who I am is only going to divert attention away from that.’
Alex decided to leave aside the fact that he really didn’t want to talk about who he was, because that would be a matter of reopening old wounds.
Marie was nodding slowly. It was time to take a risk.
‘If you’re not interested in a job here you can always just walk away.’
She pursed her lips. ‘I never said I wasn’t interested.’
Good. That was a start. He knew she’d seen the possibilities that the clinic offered, and maybe it was a matter of getting her to look at those and not at him. Not at the friend who’d broken the rules and kissed her. The friend who’d never told her about where he came from.
‘This is the deal, then. This clinic is a flagship development, which is funded and run entirely by a trust I’ve set up with part of my inheritance. I don’t want it to be the only one of its kind; it’s intended that what we do here will be a model for future clinics all over the country. In order to achieve that we’ll need to attract extra funding from outside sources.’
‘You always did think big, Alex.’
He saw a flicker of excitement in her eyes. That was exactly the way he wanted to feel.
‘I want you to share that vision with me as my co-director for the whole project. This clinic and future developments as well. You’ll be able to dictate policy and do things on your own terms.’
She stared at him. ‘Me? You want me to do that?’
Marie hadn’t said no yet. He resisted the impulse to laugh and tell her that she could do anything she set her mind to doing. He was offering her the job on purely business grounds and he had to treat this conversation in that light.
‘Your professional experience in A&E and diagnostic wards makes you ideally suited to the work here, where we’re suggesting effective therapies and ways forward for patients. And you’re not afraid of a challenge.’ Alex allowed himself the smallest of smiles. ‘That’s one thing I happen to know about you.’
‘This would be the first time I’ve taken on a management role.’ Marie gave a little frown, obviously annoyed that she’d betrayed a little too much interest. ‘If I decide to take the job, that is.’
‘We already have a practice manager on board. She’s very experienced and can advise on the practical aspects. It’s your vision that matters, and your knowledge of what this community needs.’
‘Is that your way of saying that you don’t understand “poor people” and I do?’
She crooked two fingers to indicate quotation marks. There was a touch of defiance in her tone, and it would be very easy for Alex to say that the thought had never occurred to him.
‘I think you understand some of the issues that people who live in this neighbourhood face. I want to formulate policies that are appropriate and which are going to work. If you want to boil that down to understanding poor people then be my guest.’
She grinned. He hadn’t given her the expected answer, but it had been the right one.
‘I think I could help...’
‘I don’t want you to help. This is a full partnership and I expect you to tell me what’s wrong with my thinking.’ He could trust Marie to do that. Their friendship was founded on it.
‘It’s a big step for me, Alex. I need to think about it.’
‘Of course. Take as long as you like.’
Alex knew that Marie wouldn’t take too long; she was nothing if not decisive. If she said no then that would be the end of it. But if she said yes then maybe, just maybe, she’d save him from being the man his father had wanted him to be and make him into the one he wanted to be.
* * *
By the time she got home Alex’s email was already in her inbox, with a full job description and a detailed brief of his plans for the clinic appended. It took a while to read through it all, and Marie didn’t finish until the early hours. She decided to sleep on it.
But sleeping on it didn’t help, and neither did extending her usual running route around the park to almost twice the distance. Neither did staring at the wall or surfing the internet.
She wanted the job—very badly. It would give her a chance to shape policy and to be part of a bold initiative that promised to be a real force in helping people to live fuller and better lives.
But Alex...
Before she’d kissed him, before she’d known that he wasn’t who he’d said he was...
That wasn’t entirely fair. Thinking back, he’d never actually said anything about who he was. If it hadn’t occurred to her to ask if his father was an immeasurably rich king in exile then maybe that was a lapse in imagination on her part.
But it still felt as if she’d kissed a man she didn’t really know at all and had let herself fall a little in love with him. A future working closely with Alex seemed fraught with the dangerous unknown.
By Sunday evening she’d distilled it all down. There was no doubt in her mind that this was her dream job, but there were three things she wanted to know from Alex. Could he forget the kiss? Why hadn’t he told her who he was? And what did the clinic really mean to him?
They were tricky questions. She had to find a way of asking indirectly, and after an hour of scribbling and crossing out she had three questions that might or might not elicit the information she wanted.
Marie picked up her phone and typed a text.
Are you still awake? I have some questions.
Nothing. Maybe he’d taken the evening off and gone out somewhere. Or maybe he was asleep already. As Marie put her phone down on the bed beside her, it rang.
‘Hi, Alex...’ She panicked suddenly and her mind went blank.
‘Hi. Fire away, then.’
She’d rather hoped that she might ask by text, as that would give her a chance to carefully edit what she intended to say.
‘Um...okay. Have you interviewed anyone else for this post?’ That was the closest she could get to asking about the kiss.
‘Nope.’
Marie rolled her eyes. ‘That’s not much help, so I’m going for a supplementary question. Why not?’
He chuckled ‘You’re asking if I offered you the job because we’re friends? The answer’s no. I need people around me who I trust and who are the best at what they do. If I wanted to meet up with you I’d call and ask if you were free for lunch.’
Okay. That sounded promising. Alex had drawn the line between professional and personal, and if he could take the kiss out of the equation then so could she.
‘Next?’
Marie squeezed her eyes closed and recited the next question. ‘That Christmas, at medical school, when we all went home for the holidays, what did you do?’
He was silent for so long that Marie began to wonder whether he’d hung up on her. She wondered if he knew how much this mattered, and why.
‘Okay. I’ll play. I stayed in my flat and watched TV all day.’
Marie caught her breath. He knew, and he’d answered honestly. ‘You could have come to ours. You just had to say you were on your own.’
‘You’re really going to take that route, Marie? You’d have been too proud to let me bring as much as a box of mince pies with me. And you’re wondering why I was too proud to admit that I was going to be on my own?’
Marie could understand that, even if she was sorry that he’d felt that way.
‘Next question. And tell me you’re not going to let me down by making this an easy one.’
Marie felt her ears start to burn. But that was Alex all over. He could be confrontational, but there was always that note of self-deprecatory laughter in his tone that made it all right.
‘Do you think the clinic’s going to save you, Alex?’
He was silent for a moment.
‘Nice one. Those aren’t the words I’d have used... But the inheritance is a responsibility, and I know from bitter experience that it’s the kind of thing that can subsume a person. I want to hold on to who I am. So, yes, I guess I am hoping that the clinic will save me.’
These were the answers she’d wanted. And there was only one thing more to say.
‘It’s a great project, Alex. And, yes, I’d really like to take the job.’
CHAPTER THREE
THE MONTH’S NOTICE Marie had given at her old job had seemed like an age. She’d received daily email updates about what was going on at the clinic, and she’d spent many evenings and most of her weekends replying to Alex. If their exchanges seemed more businesslike than friendly, then that was all good. They needed to start as they meant to go on, and Marie was ready to begin work in earnest.
She knew what had been done, but that didn’t match the effect of seeing it for herself. The facade of the building had been cleaned, exposing the soft yellow of the brick and the red terracotta detailing around the windows and door. The railings had been sanded and painted, and the old Tarmac playground was now a paved area, dotted with saplings that would soften the space as they grew. The main door had been stripped and varnished, and the dents from being kicked a thousand times as pupils had passed this way only added to its character.
The bell was new as well, and when she pressed it Alex appeared at the door, looking far less formal than his emails had been, and suspiciously like the man she’d dared to kiss. Maybe seeing him every day would quash that reaction.
Marie smiled nervously as he led her through the glass lobby doors. ‘This is amazing!’
Everything was neat and tidy, with cream-painted walls and comfortable seating. Marie knew that the large curved barrier between the receptionist and the public space had been designed to protect the staff by stopping anyone from climbing across, but the sloping front looked like a thing of beauty and not a defence mechanism.
‘I’m pleased with the way it’s turned out.’ Alex looked around as if this was the first time he’d seen the space. ‘You didn’t have to start until Monday, you know. How was your leaving party last night?’
Marie rolled her eyes. ‘Long. We had too much cake, and then we went to the pub. I cried. I need something to do today to work off all the calories and the emotion.’
‘You’re not regretting this, are you?’ He frowned.
‘No. Looking forward to what’s next doesn’t mean I can’t miss my old job a bit as well.’
He quirked his lips down, as if missing the past was something he’d been struggling with, and then smiled suddenly in an indication that he wasn’t about to dwell on that.
‘You want to see your new office?’
‘Yes, please.’
Alex had suggested that she take the office next to his, but Marie wanted to be close to the two practice nurses and the health visitor who comprised their medical support team, and who would be located on the first floor. The problem had been solved by giving her an office that was directly above his and connected by a narrow private staircase.
‘What do you think?’
Cream walls, lots of light and plenty of space. That was standard issue here, but no doubt she could inject a little colour of her own. Marie had chosen a light-framed wooden desk, and behind it was an identical chair to Alex’s.
‘You got me one of these!’ Marie had wanted one, but hadn’t wanted to ask.
‘Yes. Call it an investment. I don’t want you taking any time off sick with a bad back.’
Marie grinned at him and sat down, feeling the chair respond to her weight. ‘I’ll just take two days off to adjust it, shall I?’
‘Mine took a week. The instructions are in your top drawer. Would you like
to offer me some coffee?’
‘Have I got any?’
Actually, Marie could do with some coffee. The combination of cake and beer last night had left her feeling a little fuzzy this morning.
‘Behind you.’
He indicated a door at the far end of the cupboards that lined one wall, and sat down in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. Marie went to look and found that the door concealed a neat worktop with a coffee machine and supplies. A splash of colour next to the line of cream mugs caught her eye.
‘You got me a mug!’ She took the bright pink mug down from the shelf and examined it. ‘With a flying pig! You remembered!’
‘You always used to say that you wanted an office with a sofa, and time to sit and talk with your patients.’
The informal seating area in his office contained four easy chairs, covered in a chocolate-coloured fabric, but for Marie he had chosen a sofa and two chairs in a lighter cappuccino colour.
‘And when you said that nothing was impossible, I told you that pigs might fly...’ It had been a joke between them. ‘Thank you, Alex.’
He seemed pleased with her reaction, but there was still a hint of reticence about his manner. The man Marie knew would have seen only exciting new opportunities, but Alex seemed burdened by his responsibilities.
He’d come round. The clinic would be opening next week, and as soon as it started to fill with people he’d respond to that. He was going to have to if this place was to reach its full potential. Alex had so much more than money to give, and it needed his creative enthusiasm to thrive.
Marie switched on the coffee machine, running her finger along the selection of different capsules. ‘I’m going to have to try all of these, you know. I’ll work from left to right.’
‘I’d expect nothing less of you.’
When she put his cup down in front of him, he nodded a thank-you and pushed a manila envelope towards her. Marie opened it, tipping the contents out onto her desk.
‘These are yours. The credit card is for any purchases you need to make, and the key card opens every door inside the clinic. Those two keys are for the main door, and the other one is the main override for the alarm system. The car keys are for the practice’s vehicles.’
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