“Weren’t you supposed to find out who she is before you led her to my office?”
“I didn’t say I didn’t know who it is. Just go.” Debbie brushed off Eva’s question and pointed in the direction of the office.
“I’ll go,” Eva muttered. Debbie’s laugh followed her down the dark corridor. “Why are the lights still out? I thought you called maintenance?”
“I did call them, and they will turn up…eventually, before the end of the year.”
“You’re funny.” Eva reached the door to her office. She stood at the threshold and looked inside. Sitting on one of the wooden chairs was a dark haired woman, her hat perched on a mass of dark curls. She seemed very familiar to her, but she couldn’t quite place her. Eva couldn’t see anything other than the back of the woman’s head, and she was at a loss to who it could be. She entered the room and closed the door.
“Hello, I’m Mrs. Eva Lambros.”
The woman stood and turned around to face Eva. “Mrs. Broder?” Eva asked as she stepped forward.
The woman was of medium height, with shoulder length brown curly hair and lively dark brown eyes. Eva mentally sighed at yet another surprise from her past. Jana Broder was her mother’s friend and was also her grandmother’s assistant—something else she paid no mind to in the past.
“My dear Eva, you look wonderful!” Jana embraced Eva and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “It’s uncanny how much you look like your mother.”
“You’re the last person I expected to see in my office,” Eva said warmly. She brought the spare chair towards her and sat down opposite Jana. “How have you been? What are you doing in Australia?”
“Oh, I’m fine, darling. I live here now.”
“Oh? That’s interesting.”
“I heard you got married.”
“You did?”
“Oh, yes, good news travels fast.”
“Bad news travels faster,” Eva finished the sentence with a wry smile. “Why are you here?” She mentally cringed at the abrupt question.
“That is a very good question. Do you know who Percy Hester is?”
“Yes, of course. He’s the External Affairs Minister.”
“I’m Mrs. Percy Hester now. Percy and I got married when he was at the British embassy. We came to Australia, Mr. Hester entered parliament and now the Country Party is in Government. I’m sure you do not want to hear about my nuptials and are more than a little interested in why I’m here.”
“I’m going to assume you are here to talk about my grandmother’s passing.” Eva interlocked her fingers and placed them on her lap.
Jana sat back in her seat and regarded Eva for a moment. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” Eva responded earnestly. “My grandmother—”
“I’m not talking about your grandmother.”
“Oh?”
“No.” Jana shook her head. “I was referring to your mother and my dear friend.”
“Oh.”
“I lost a good friend, and although my feeling of losing a dear friend was not as great as yours, her death was a terrible loss. That whole night was horrible for all of us, but especially for you.”
“Yes.” Eva tried not to let the overwhelming sadness of her mother’s death bring her to tears, as it had often been the case. She couldn’t think of her mother without getting emotional. Eva cleared her throat. “I had the good fortune of meeting your sister, Della,” she said instead, trying to get the conversation away from her mother.
“Ah yes, my sister Della.” Jana laughed lightly. “She was very effusive about you, which, of course, didn’t surprise me.”
“She did mention you narrowly escaped the Brownshirts on Kristallnacht.”
“By the grace of God, your mother, and your uncle Wilbur,” Jana revealed to a startled Eva. “It was an ugly situation. I managed to escape from that carnage that night and your uncle Wilbur made sure I was safe.”
“I’m glad you made it out safely,” Eva replied diplomatically and fell silent while Jana stared at her for what seemed like an extraordinary amount of time. Eva resisted the urge to look at her watch.
“This is somewhat awkward, isn’t it? Let me be more forthcoming in why I’m here, other than to see you again to pass on my condolences. My sister promised you a job.”
“Yes, she did, but I won’t hold her to that.”
“My sister didn’t promise you the job; I did.”
“Pardon?”
“That offer was from me, and delivered, rather clumsily, by my sister. You somewhat wrong-footed Della, which is pretty hard to do, and she held back some information.”
“How did I wrong-foot your sister? Excuse me for saying this, but that’s a little hard to believe.”
“Della loved your grandmother, and when you were quite antagonistic towards Beatriz, she was rather shocked and decided not to tell you.”
“She only met my grandmother once in Berlin. How did she come to love her?”
“Hm, well, that was not quite the truth,” Jana quietly said. “Della often came to visit me and got to know Beatriz quite well. They shared a love for art and opera.”
“Hm, why didn’t she just say that?”
“Again, my sister decided you really didn’t want to hear any of that, so she withheld it.”
“She’s an odd one,” Eva said without censoring herself.
Jana chuckled. “Well, yes, she is. She’s a frustrated artist and they do tend to get a little odd. Della was very impressed with you and your work as a photographer.”
“Yes, she told me she liked my photography.”
“She also liked your honesty. Now getting back to why I’m here and to the job offer. It has been quite some time since Della made the offer, and I realize you have been in Europe for a while. When I found out you were back, I thought today was a good day to come and see you. Since my husband is the External Affairs Minister, and as his wife I need staff of my own to deal with special projects and the like. I need an assistant who is multi-lingual. My previous assistant got married and I’m now in need of another competent woman to fill that role. I suggested you for the job.”
“It’s quite presumptuous of you to think I would accept. I don’t want the job.”
“Not really, but if you think it’s presumptuous, then I can’t really say that’s wrong, since it’s your opinion. You are entitled to it but as a civil servant, you really don’t have much of a say in the matter. Later today you will have a meeting with Mr. Farmer. At that meeting, Mr. Farmer is going to tell you that you have been seconded out to the External Affairs Department.”
“I have? Without my consent?”
“Yes, you have. I don’t think you are aware that the department can move you to another position at any time.”
“I didn’t even know they could do that without even asking me first if I wanted to move.”
“It’s not a permanent move, but a temporary one, and you are not asked because technically you are still in your old job.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does to the civil service. There is quite a queue of stuffy civil servants to fill the role, but they’re not Eva Muller...er, I’m sorry, Eva Lambros.”
Eva watched Jana for a moment before she leaned forward in her chair. “What do you want, Mrs. Hester?”
Jana smiled cryptically. “What makes you think that I want anything? Think of it as a favor returned with interest.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want or need your job.”
“You have no say in it. You have been already given that job until the government loses office, and I don’t see that happening for quite a few years. When the inevitable happens, you won’t lose your job here. You will be back to a Level Three Interpreter.”
“I’m not going to be here for too much longer so the issue with getting my old job back is a moot point. What do you want?”
Jana sighed heavily, took off her hat, and slowly took off her gloves
. Eva watched her with some puzzlement. “What I’m about to tell you will sound fanciful. It will sound like something that Orson Welles may have dreamed up, but it’s true.”
“What’s that?”
“Do you believe in ghosts?”
“I don’t know.”
“I do know.” Jana nodded. “I’m going to tell you this story because it’s important to me and I think it’s important to you. On that horrible night, I was at the factory finishing off some paperwork. I was going to leave my normal way, which was through the factory and out the back into the alley. It was getting quite dark and I had decided to go. I didn’t know what destruction was occurring outside. I was just about to leave when the door opened and your mother came in.”
“My mother?”
“Yes. She stood at the door and told me not to leave the factory.”
“She told you not to leave the factory?”
“Yes. It was imperative I stay where I was because I wouldn’t be safe outside. I wasn’t sure what she was talking about and turned to pick up my handbag. When I turned back she was gone. I just assumed she had left the room. It was then I heard the Brownshirts. They had come onto the factory floor and I could hear their voices. Next thing I know Wilbur has come into the office and ushered me into another room and told me not to make a sound.”
“He saved your life.”
“No, Eva, he didn’t. Your mother did. Wilbur came minutes after your mother appeared to me. It wasn’t until much later that I found out that at the time your mother appeared to me, she had already been killed.”
Eva blinked rapidly as she felt a chill up her spine. “She saved your life.”
“If it wasn’t for her warning, I would be dead. We both know that. There was no way out of that factory without going through the factory floor and that’s where the Brownshirts were. Your mother saved my life. I thought it would be a good time to repay my debt.”
“Why the subterfuge with Della? Why couldn’t you ask me yourself?”
“Unfortunately, Percy got sick and we couldn’t go on the voyage. I wish I had gone and talked to you personally.”
“It was an interesting journey.”
“Yes, Della told me about Miss Lambros’ brother. It was quite a journey. Eva, I owe your mother my life. I saw this opportunity with Percy as one being good for you.”
Eva smiled. “I don’t need a new job, or any job at all in the civil service.”
“I did wonder why you were working here. I don’t understand why you want to work when you now own half of AEMullerStahl,” Jana said and gave Eva a knowing smile. “But I’m going to assume you enjoy working.”
“I enjoy helping people.”
“I assure you, the work we will be doing will be helping people. What else can I give you? What if I told you that you can take one person with you?”
“Really?”
“Yes, you will need a secretary, so how about you take Mrs. Harrison from the reception? She seems to like you.”
“You seem to know a lot about this place.”
“I do. I’ve made it my business. As I said, I owe your mother my life, and giving you this opportunity is a small way in repaying that debt.”
“I’m quite sure my mother would not want you—”
“She may not want to, but I do.”
“If I were to accept your job offer, would I have to move to Canberra?”
“Goodness, no! I live in Sydney and I’m not going to Canberra. Percy will be there when Parliament sits. We will only be in Canberra if there is a function.”
“Before you rubber-stamp me into this role you have dreamed up for me.” Eva took the pencil that lay in front of her and played with it for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. “I won’t be working as a civil servant for very long. It would not be fair on you to say I can stay for an extended period when I know I’ll be quitting soon.”
“I know that.”
“You are also aware that I’m a—”
“You’re a lesbian.”
Eva leaned back in her chair and regarded Jana. “Your sister knew, so I’m going to have a guess and say you knew as well?”
“She did, yes, but I was aware of it before she told me. As I said, I make it my business to know. Does the fact that I know influence your decision one way or another? Not that it matters.”
Eva paused to gather her thoughts before she spoke. “Depends on what you want from me.”
“I want dedication and a certain level of confidentiality. I think you have the confidentiality part taken care of. Since you’re living a double life, you know all about that.” Jana tried the sting out of her words and it was something in her manner that gave Eva a hint that this woman could prove to be trouble. “I’m going to be very presumptuous and assume that your husband knows and it won’t come as a huge shock to him?”
“I take it my ‘double life’ intrigues you. Theodore is Zoe’s brother and he does know.”
“He is a good looking man.” Jana picked up the photograph of Theo and Eva which was perched on the edge of Eva’s desk. “You do make a lovely couple.”
“He is a good soul.”
“Good. That’s what you need in a husband. Now that we got the pleasantries out of the way, one of the things I must insist on is that you do not behave inappropriately.”
“Inappropriately? What do think I’m going to do? Go racing after the typing pool? That’s ridiculous,” Eva heard herself say and mentally cringed. She was letting her annoyance show.
“No, I don’t think you would do that and I suspect, from the little that I know about Mrs. Zoe Lambros, you might be in more trouble with her than with the Australian Government.” Jana responded and smiled broadly. “Now, we both know you will be joining me. I think that you should stop vacillating and just accept that I want you for the job and I’m not taking no for an answer. You can put up all sorts of reasons, but my job offer stays the same.”
“Have you met Zoe?”
“No.” Jana shook her head, causing the brown curls to sway. “I hear she’s quite a character.”
“She is and you remind me of her,” Eva replied with a tiny shake of her head. “Since I have no say in the matter, for the time being, I’m joining you. I hate surprises so I’m hoping you won’t spring any while I’m with you.”
“My goodness, there are no surprises in the work we will be doing. It’s all very straight forward.”
“I’m not sure why you really want me for such a short time.”
“It’s my way of repaying a debt.”
“I don’t think you do owe me anything but alright if you want me to work for you for a few months.”
“Excellent!” Jana sat back in her chair with a beaming smile. “Mr. Hester will be up soon to give you an obligatory interview. We must be seen to be going through the process of interviewing people for the job even though you have it.”
“Isn’t that unfair on the other applicants?”
Jana stared at Eva for a long moment. “Life is unfair sometimes. Losing a job to another applicant isn’t the end of the world.”
“I see. Thank you for the offer.”
“Oh, it’s my pleasure. Your mother saved my life and everything that I have today is because of her.”
Eva nodded and sat back in her chair. Her gaze fell on a picture of her mother that had been given to her by an old woman in Larissa. “I’m sure she would not have wanted you to feel obligated.”
“Daphne Muller was not like that, but I feel it’s the right thing to do,” Jana replied quietly.
CHAPTER 4
“Don’t think it, don’t say it, just don’t do anything!” Eva muttered to herself as she took the elevator. News had travelled fast that she was going up to Mr. Farmer’s office for a meeting. That particular phone call got tongues wagging. This always happens when I get comfortable. Just don’t do it! Why do you get comfortable? Eva chastised herself. The lift door opened and she exited, still annoyed with herself that she
thought work was going to be just work. The visit by Jana Hester wasn’t something she was expecting. All Eva wanted was boring, no surprises, but here it was again. She had long ago thought that Mrs. Muldoon was full of hot air, but it turned out she was wrong.
Eva opened the door leading to the executive offices and almost wanted to run the other way. She wasn’t feeling well, and besides drinking some flat lemonade for her upset stomach, she hadn’t had much to eat all day. This latest development was not helping. She approached the secretary at the desk.
“I’m here to see Mr. Farmer? I’m Eva Lambros. I have an appointment with him.”
“Mr. Farmer has gone to another meeting. You’re meeting with the minister, Mr. Hester. I’ll let him know you are here,” the secretary replied as she stared at Eva for a moment before she went to the office door, knocked and spoke to someone inside. She came back out soon after. “Mr. Hester will see you now.”
Eva smiled weakly and passed the secretary, who gave her a passing glance before she turned back to her typewriter. Eva looked down at her skirt and straightened her jacket, and then she took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. Hearing a faint ‘enter,’ she turned the doorknob and walked in.
Percy Hester was seated at Mr. Farmer’s desk, a file open in front of him. He was a portly man, and appeared to be quite short, with a shock of black hair which Eva assumed was a very bad toupee. His black framed glasses were perched on the tip of his nose, and he gazed at her over the top of the frames.
“Ah, Mrs. Lambros, come in. You are a tall one, aren’t you?” Percy said and indicated with his hand for Eva to sit.
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Hester,” Eva said and shook hands with him before she sat down. She stopped herself from grinning. The minister’s first name reminded her of the old icebox that Zoe had nicknamed Percy and would occasionally kick when it failed to work properly. She wondered if the minister ever needed the same treatment. His surname gave Zoe the giggles every time his name mentioned on the wireless.
Percy took off his glasses and used his handkerchief to clean them while he stared at Eva. “So, Mrs. Lambros, I’m told you have been anointed by my wife as her new assistant.”
[Intertwined Souls 05.0] No Good Deed Page 4
