by Jo Iles
‘Of course, take as much time as you need. Is there anything I can say that may persuade you to make a decision in our favour, Jessie?’ he asked charmingly, sounding the tiniest bit shy at using her first name.
‘You’ve done so much for me already and everyone I’ve met at the bank has been most professional and helpful. I must say, the more I think about living and working in Hong Kong, the more I like the idea. There is one thing though…’ Jessie began before trailing off, as she suddenly felt awkward bringing up the subject of money. Mr Chan smiled, waiting patiently for her to formulate whatever it was she was trying to say.
‘I’m slightly embarrassed to say this, and I don’t want to cause offense, but I think the salary details that were quoted in the offer letter were wrong.’
‘The offer was most generous. How much do you want, Miss Slaymaker?’ Mr Chan said in a cool tone, reverting back to professional titles, all trace of his smile gone.
‘Mr Chan, it is quite the contrary from what you think,’ Jessie began, feeling alarmed that she hadn’t explained herself coherently. ‘I looked at the numbers, and what you’ve offered me—taking into account the tax situation here—is an eighty-six percent increase on my current salary. That’s why I thought it was wrong,’ Jessie finished, taking a deep breath and hoping she’d rescued the situation. She didn’t even know for sure if she was going to take the job, but she really couldn’t bear the thought of causing this man to lose face, or worse still, think of her as a money-grabbing little so-and-so.
Mr Chan really chuckled now. He looked at her with real admiration.
‘Jessie, you have surprised an old man. You must forgive my immediate reaction. I’ve lived in this city for too long and it seems that most people I meet these days only want more money, regardless of whether they actually deserve it or not.’ Jessie returned his smile as she breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Believe me,’ Mr Chan continued, ‘the figures are right. I know this market a little better than you do right now, and what we have offered is only a fraction above the going rate. It seems that you may have been underpaid in recent years,’ he added almost conspiratorially.
After another ten minutes of pleasant conversation, Mr Chan excused himself to go in search of Sonia’s uncle, and he encouraged Jessie to mingle and mix with people of her own age. Feeling like a bit of a lost sheep, Jessie decided to stretch her legs and go for a wander around the house and grounds. She had much to think about. Mr Chan’s offer was real. She would have been lying if she’d said the money wasn’t a factor in it. A few years on the salary that he’d offered her and she’d be in a very comfortable position indeed.
Chapter 62
Jack hated parties. He especially hated Sonia’s super-massive parties which went on for hours and had an interminable number of idiots attending, all drinking too much and making utterly banal conversation. Sonia’s parties were legendary for being long, crowded, and a veritable black hole for all the booze that was consumed. This particular party was made even worse by the fact that Jack was in a foul mood. Things were not going according to plan. Not that he had much of a plan these days.
When he’d spoken with Sonia that morning, he’d decided to take some of Jessie’s advice and come clean to her about the agreement he’d made with her father all those years ago. Understandably, she’d been shocked and hurt. She’d been more pissed off with her dad, though, and had quickly seemed to write off Jack’s behaviour as that of a young man with something to prove to his family, in need of a leg up. That wasn’t what he’d been expecting at all. He thought she would have thrown her toys out the pram and had a good old-fashioned hissy fit at him. No such luck. Instead, she’d cried a bit, said some nasty things about her father, and had then thrown herself around Jack’s neck for comfort. She started whispering things like, ‘I won’t let him keep us apart,’ and ‘Nothing can stop us from being together now,’ which had the effect of turning Jack into a mute, lost as to what to do or say next.
Peeling himself free from her, he’d suggested that maybe she should cancel her party that evening, but she’d insisted it go ahead, as it would keep her busy and take her mind off her meddling padre. So this is where Jack found himself. At Sonia’s party, unsure of where he stood in terms of his relationship with the tycoon’s daughter. He guessed that in her mind they were a developing item, seeing as she seemed to be calling him every five minutes, and whenever he was nearby she’d drape herself all over him and continually find any excuse to touch him.
For the first time in his life, Jack didn’t know how to play a woman, and particularly how to treat this woman. Especially a woman whom he didn’t wholeheartedly want, but one whom he felt sorry for and somewhat obliged to stay on her good side. He still had no clue what Mr Shum was going to do to him, or even if he knew about what had transpired between him and his precious daughter. Chances were if he didn’t know already, he’d find out soon enough, seeing as Hong Kong’s glitterati were bound to notice Sonia hanging off Jack in her uncle’s house. The chances of keeping their dalliance under wraps were slim to none, Jack concluded.
Jack felt like a trophy as Sonia paraded him around the room, introducing him to this person and that. He’d crossed paths with many of them before and it never ceased to amaze him how many people extended their hand to him and said ‘nice to meet you,’ like it was the first time they’d ever clapped eyes on him. Being British, and therefore impossibly polite, Jack played along with the charade when all he wanted to say was ‘Actually we’ve already met; three times, in fact.’ Sonia was in her element. She literally sparkled from head to toe in a shiny gold floor-length dress which dipped almost to her navel and was slit to her hip. To call it daring would be an understatement.
After being introduced to the umpteenth person of the night and making more banal conversation with someone he had absolutely nothing in common with, Jack excused himself from Sonia’s little circle on the premise that he was going to refresh his drink. That’s when he saw her. Jessie. She was sitting alone, looking a little bewildered by her surroundings. Jack was about to make his way over to her when she abruptly stood up and started walking in the direction of one of the outside terraces. He found himself almost hypnotised and unable to not follow her out in the pleasant night air. As she walked, the evening breeze seemed to rustle the hem of her dress and ruffle her hair slightly. It was as though she had her own personal wind machine following her.
Jack admired her dress—and more to the point, the body inside the dress. As he followed her, he focused on the toned sexiness of her back and the way her dress accentuated the movement of her walk. She was dressed more demurely than some of the other party guests, but as far as Jack was concerned, she looked far more expensive. He followed her out onto the terrace, then stopped a few paces from her, suddenly unsure of what to say. She seemed to be in another world as she stared out at the Hong Kong city skyline in front of her.
He was about to turn and return inside, but she beat him to it. She looked up in surprise to see him standing there gawping at her like a complete and utter clown.
‘Hi,’ she said, stopping and standing still, giving him a small smile. Her dress did that rustle thing again, the blue fabric catching the light in an almost ethereal way.
‘Hi,’ he replied, conscious that he sounded like a monosyllabic imbecile.
‘I didn’t know you’d be here,’ he added, after a long pause of empty awkwardness.
‘Sonia invited me this morning,’ she replied, taking a sip of her drink. ‘Didn’t she tell you?’ Jessie added with a hint of a wicked smile.
‘No,’ he said, narrowing his eyes at her as he realised that he now knew what to say to her. All his brain wanted to do, not to mention his body, was flirt.
‘You look beautiful by the way,’ he said, taking several steps forward until he was standing over her.
‘Thank you. You scrub up pretty well yourself,’ she responded, smiling shyly, taking in his tuxedoed glory.
&
nbsp; ‘Did you come alone?’ he asked as he suddenly realised he didn’t have a clue what she’d been up to over the past few days, he’d been so engrossed in his own mess. She could have well and truly hooked up with Charlie, or someone else for all he knew.
‘No, actually I came with a certain Mr Chan, not that it’s any of your business,’ she replied, looking like the cat that got the cream. Jack knew she was teasing him, but he couldn’t stop the flash of jealousy that darted through him at the thought of another man accompanying this amazing creature.
‘What have you been up to the past few days? How’s work been going?’ he asked, attempting a casual tone. He’d missed the normality and ease of their conversation, when they weren’t debating matters of what Jack considered to be his life or death.
‘I have some exciting news, Jack,’ she said, and despite the darkness he could see she was glowing. She was breathing faster as well—he could see it in the rise and fall of her chest and the slight vibration of her gorgeous cleavage. Jack remembered that cleavage, all right. He was lost in memories when she prodded him to regain his attention.
‘What is it?’ Jack asked, not one bit embarrassed that she’d caught him ogling her chest.
‘Well, it’s about my job…’ Jessie started, then stopped as Jack’s face dropped and his eyes completely left hers. His attention moved to a set of steps behind her. Jessie turned to see what he was looking at, only to be practically blinded by a vision in gold. Sonia’s dress was playing off the lights and was absolutely dazzling.
‘Bloody hell,’ Jessie exclaimed as she clapped eyes on the full brilliance of Sonia in her daring dress. Or lack thereof. ‘You’ve done all right there, sunshine!’ she joked to Jack, clearly unsure of what else to say.
‘Oh, Jack, there you are darling,’ Sonia schmoozed as she reached them after gliding down the steps gracefully. ‘I’ve been looking for you everywhere. And Jessie, how nice to see you again. How are you?’ she added smoothly, her smile never once wavering as she came to air-kiss Jessie on both cheeks.
‘I’m very well, thank you, and I must thank you for inviting me to this incredible party,’ Jessie answered politely—if rather stiffly, Jack noted.
‘Oh, you’re more than welcome. Now, I’m afraid I must steal Jack away from you. There is someone I’ve been dying for him to meet. Jessie, why don’t you go and find Mr Chan? I think he was looking for you,’ Sonia said as though she were addressing a minion, before she grabbed Jack’s hand and led him away.
Jack considered putting up a protest, but then thought better of it. He managed to give Jessie a rather helpless and apologetic-looking shrug before Sonia demanded his full attention. Despite the fact that she’d descended the steps like an angel, she now required Jack’s considerable assistance to get back up them. This obviously required lots of touching and extremely close proximity to each other. Jack regarded this performance as something that was clearly meant for Jessie’s benefit and he felt sad, embarrassed and humiliated at the position he now found himself in.
Chapter 63
‘Well that was me told!’ Jessie said to herself as she turned to look at the view once again. Sonia had well and truly come and marked her territory in their brief greeting. If she had been a dog, then Jack would have been covered in piss. Jessie had received Sonia’s message loud and clear. As far as Jessie was concerned, Jack was off limits. Jessie stayed outside for a further ten minutes, finding her enjoyment of the view now somewhat diminished. Petty as it sounded, even to her own ears, but Jessie considered that she had committed a small act of defiance by not following Sonia’s orders to find Mr Chan immediately, but instead remaining out on the terrace.
When she did eventually catch up with Mr Chan sometime later, it was clear that he had not been looking for her at all. Feeling slightly embarrassed after interrupting Mr Chan from an in-depth conversation he was having with a good-looking sophisticated woman, Jessie politely apologised for disturbing them and promptly left them to it to refresh her drink. Some party, Jessie thought glumly to herself as she decided to prop up the bar for a bit.
Things looked to be well and truly over with Jack, before they had even gotten started. It was clear from their brief encounter that Sonia was no friend of hers, nor did she have any desire to become one. Understandably, Mr Chan had done his duty by her for the evening, and didn’t want to babysit her any longer, especially when he clearly had affairs of the heart on his mind. Jessie scanned the room, feeling like she’d never felt so alone in a room full of people in all her life. Time seemed to disappear as she observed the waiters going to and fro, and listened to the hum of the party grow as more and more alcohol was consumed. Jessie kept a watchful eye out for anyone of interest. Well, she kept an eye out for Jack. But he was nowhere to be seen and no one else in the room compared. Then she spied something that piqued her interest automatically.
On the far side of the room was another doorway which presumably led to yet another bit of outside space. Probably to the pool or something equally glamourous, Jessie mused to herself. Sonia had detached herself from the delectable Jack and was talking earnestly to another man in a tuxedo, who was most definitely not Jack. Sonia seemed to be talking to him at a million miles an hour and she seemed to be trying to usher him out the double doors. Jessie concluded that either this chap wasn’t welcome or that Sonia was obviously trying to get this man into a more private setting in which to continue their conversation-slash-argument.
Jessie stealthily dismounted from her bar stool and began to circumnavigate the large room, trying to get closer to Sonia and the mystery man without looking like she was making a beeline for them. To anybody watching Jessie’s movements they would have thought her a complete loon, for she seemed to meander all over the place like a total drunk, never taking her eyes off Sonia and Mr Mystery Man, with the nice broad shoulders and, come to think of it, slightly familiar posture. Fortunately for Jessie, all the other party guests were far too entrenched in their important conversations to bother noticing the random footfall patterns of a nobody like Jessie Slaymaker.
When it looked like Sonia was going to get her wish and get Mr Mystery Man outside, Jessie hurried her pace a little to try and get closer to the pair. For some inexplicable reason, Jessie knew she had to find out what was going on. Something just seemed fishy to her. Sonia’s facial expressions had completely changed—from being all serene and calmness, playing the confident consummate hostess, to looking like she was thoroughly harassed.
As soon as Sonia disappeared out the door with her chap, Jessie bolted the remaining distance—as best she could in her four-inch stupid shoes—and managed to reach the door before it had completely closed. After a quick glance behind her to check that she hadn’t caused too many heads to turn with her mad dash, she quietly slipped outside again. She figured if anyone questioned her presence out there, she could simply play dumb and say she was looking for the bathroom.
It took a while for Jessie’s eyes to adjust, for now she was standing in almost complete darkness. She appeared to be on another terrace on a different side of the house from where she’d been previously. She could just about make out the shadows of some of the surrounding plants by fully utilizing the crack of light that was escaping from the sides of the window coverings. This part of the grounds was obviously not intended for guests, hence the darkness. Afraid to move too far for fear of stumbling and breaking her neck, Jessie just stood for a moment, her eyes somewhat incapacitated as she tried to make out Sonia’s and Mr Mystery Man’s figures in the pitch black.
Jessie was about to give up and go back inside, when her ears came to the rescue and she heard muffled voices coming from not too far away. She edged herself along the side of the house, as silently as possible, in the direction of the voices. By sticking close to the house she hoped she wouldn’t go ass-over-tit and fall down a ditch or a ravine or something. Who knew what was nearby. She was halfway up an unfamiliar mountain in the dark of night, after all.
&nbs
p; Jessie shuffled until she felt the corner of the house behind her back. The voices were getting clearer now and she was pretty certain Sonia and man-of-mystery were around the corner. Feeling like a loser, Jessie silently hitched up her dress and ducked down low as she peeked around the corner. A little voice in her head asked her what the hell she was doing. Bugger, that same voice said. She’d crouched too damn low. Jessie slowly raised her head until she could see a little better and her view wasn’t quite so impeded by some random bit of topiary. This side of the house was slightly better illuminated, and she could make out two shadowy figures in the darkness. One was definitely Sonia, as her golden dress shimmered when she moved, catching even the tiniest amount of light coming from the house. The bonus to all this was that if she listened very hard she could even make out most of what they were saying. Well, most of what Sonia was saying, seeing as she was the one who seemed to be doing all the talking. The downside was that Jessie’s half-crouching, half-standing stance was already starting to become uncomfortable, and she began to feel the burn in her thighs. Jessie hoped Sonia and friend wrapped up their deep and meaningful conversation pronto, whilst she also made a mental note to get down the gym when she got home for some power lunge action.
‘I need it by tomorrow,’ the man said forcefully, more loudly than Sonia. Jessie froze as she suddenly realised from whose mouth those words had sprouted from. Charlie. Of course. But with different hair. Spikey. Clark Kent had fooled everyone with a pair of glasses; Charlie had fooled her with different hair and the fact that he had had his back to her from far across the room.
‘You can have it when the information checks out. I don’t know how many times I’ve told you,’ Sonia replied to him, sounding exasperated, her volume now matching his. Jessie guessed this thread of conversation may have been going on for some time.
