Authors: Cecelia Ahern
Cut.
Eva jumped off the stool.
‘Jesus Christ,’ Kitty heard Laura say to the camerawoman as they were packing up. ‘What are we doing next? Vajazzling?’
‘How to help them feel like a celebrity?’ Eva said to Gaby once they were outside on Henry Street. She wasn’t shouting but her anger was obvious. ‘Sunglasses? To make people feel like a celebrity? Jesus, Gaby!’
‘Okay, so that was not the best booking I’ve ever made.’
‘Not the best? Gaby, it was the worst. Of a very bad lot. How can I share what my business is about when you keep getting me publicity like this? The message is getting lost. Nobody is listening. They don’t care about “Dedicated”, they only care about my
celebrity
client list and
George Clooney
? What was that about?’ Eva’s voice was still quiet but her annoyance was clear. Knowing Eva wasn’t yet aware of her presence, Kitty remained in the background, quite enjoying the display of Eva’s true opinion of the show.
‘It impresses people. It helps bookings,’ Gaby shrugged.
‘The fact that I did
not
buy a gift for George Clooney impresses people?’
‘People mostly just listen to the questions.’
Eva closed her eyes and took deep breaths. ‘I would rather not do interviews at all if these are the kind that we’re getting.’
‘It helps build your profile.’
‘You think
that
helped?’
‘Maybe not that.’
Eva groaned. ‘All my hard work.’ But Kitty could see she was calming down. ‘We need publicity that allows me to
talk
about the gift of giving, how precious it is, how special it can be, particularly in these times when people are really struggling. It’s not about how expensive something is – as a nation we’ve stopped giving lavish gifts – it’s actually about
thinking
about what to give someone, how it can lift them when they’re down, how they can feel loved and important and special just by one simple gesture.’
‘I know, I know, you don’t have to tell me all this, I know it all,’ Gaby said, stuffing chewing gum into her mouth. If she wasn’t talking it seemed her mouth needed to be moving up and down regardless.
‘Do you?’ Eva looked at Gaby.
‘I’m shocked and appalled that you’ve asked me that,’ she said dramatically, and Kitty felt that was for her benefit. ‘How long have we been working together, Eva?’
‘Too long?’ Eva smiled.
‘Anyway, your next appointment is here.’
‘Where?’
‘There.’ She turned and looked at Kitty, who tried to move a few steps away to help save Eva’s face but it was too late, Eva’s cheeks pinked, embarrassed to have been overheard, particularly by a journalist.
‘I’m so sorry, I didn’t …’ she looked pointedly at Gaby ‘… I
didn’t
know
you had arrived.’
Gaby took the heat again.
‘That’s okay, it was good for me to hear all that. I won’t pretend I wasn’t listening.’
‘I’m so embarrassed. I’m a big fan of
Etcetera
. Huge. I read it every month. I was so glad when you called.’
‘Thank you,’ Kitty beamed. ‘My editor was in touch with you last year I believe, Constance Dubois?’
‘I’m familiar with Constance, but no, she wasn’t in touch. Should she have been?’ She looked at Gaby. ‘Was she?’
Gaby shrugged. ‘Not that I know of. I run everything by you.’
Kitty was new to their relationship but even she knew that wasn’t true. Her heart dropped at the discovery that yet another person on the list hadn’t been contacted by Constance. What was this list about? ‘Well, would you be open to me doing a story on you?’
‘Yes, of course. I mean, what’s the story, or the angle, as you say?’
Kitty froze. That was an excellent question. ‘The story is about you and, well, ninety-nine other people. It’s about the thing that links you all together.’
‘One hundred people?’ Gaby seemed disappointed it wasn’t solely about Eva. ‘Who are the other people? Anyone we know?’
‘No. Nobody you would know, I don’t think. Though that’s a good question.’ Kitty suddenly had a thought and rooted in her bag for her list of names. ‘Are any of these names familiar to you?’ She had been directing the question at Eva but Gaby pushed her head close to Eva’s to check the names. Eva took her time reading through the names, Gaby was finished in three seconds.
‘Nope,’ Gabby said. ‘Nobody. Can I have a copy of these names?’
‘Why?’
‘So I can look into who they are. I don’t want to agree to this interview unless I know who my client is being associated with.’
It was actually a fair enough request but for all that, it took both Eva and Kitty by surprise.
‘I have my moments,’ Gaby smiled at Eva, in an ‘I told you so’ way.
‘I don’t think there’s any need for that,’ Eva said softly. ‘Look, why don’t we go for a coffee somewhere, just the two of us?’ Gaby scowled. ‘And we can talk about it all somewhere more relaxing than Henry Street at lunch hour.’
‘Good idea,’ Kitty said, relieved.
‘The only thing is, I have an appointment with a client in thirty minutes in the IFSC, would you like to meet after that? Or we could walk and talk?’
‘Or … I could come and watch you at work?’
Eva looked uncertainly at Gaby. If ever there was a time Eva needed Gaby to speak on her behalf it was then, as she clearly wasn’t comfortable with the suggestion, but Gaby wasn’t picking up on it. She was chewing her gum and staring at her blankly.
‘What?’
‘It would be a good opportunity for me to see how you really work,’ Kitty said. ‘You know, that you’re not just a regular personal shopper.’
Eva smiled. ‘You’re good. Fine. Let’s go.’
The IFSC, the Irish Financial Services Centre, was by the River Liffey along North Wall Quay and Custom House Quay. The centre employed fourteen thousand people and housed more than four hundred and thirty financial operations along with hotels, restaurants and shops. The address they were heading to was Molloy Kelly Solicitors in Harbourmaster Place, a large firm that dealt with banking law and commercial litigation, and the meeting Eva had lined up was with George Webb, partner in the firm. Kitty’s Google told her that he was responsible for Banking Law, Insolvency, Bankruptcy and Corporate Recovery, Insurance Law, Defamation, Separation and Divorce.
‘So are these usually the kinds of people you work for?’ Kitty asked. ‘Busy businessmen who don’t have time to shop for their loved ones?’
Eva looked at her curiously. ‘What makes you think that’s the case here?’
‘I’ve Googled him, I know his type. Work first, family second. They’re so used to having people do things for them – their dry-cleaning, their shopping, their housework – that buying presents for their loved ones is not on their list of priorities.’
‘Well, if that’s the case, I won’t be working for him.’
‘Why not?’
‘I would rather find someone who actually wants to find the perfect gift for a loved one as opposed to someone who couldn’t be bothered. I choose my clients as much as they choose me,’ she said, wide-eyed and sincere.
Kitty was immediately intrigued, both by Eva’s philosophy and by her earnestness.
‘I invest a lot of my time into my clients, Kitty,’ Eva smiled. ‘I need to know that they care about who they’re giving a gift to, or else how can I possibly care? I’m sure it’s like you writing a story. If you don’t care, how can the reader?’
Kitty thought about that. The girl spoke the truth.
After a ten-minute wait in a sparkling marble reception, the elevator pinged and a young gentleman in a dapper suit with pink tie and handkerchief called them from the lift. Kitty immediately guessed that this was not George Webb; he reminded her more of a younger Julian Clary. His eyebrows were tweezed to perfection, his skin glowed as if it had been carefully exfoliated and nurtured since childhood, she didn’t detect make-up but there was a sheen from his high cheekbones that made her jealous.
‘I’m Nigel,’ the camp dapper young man introduced himself to Kitty, though his words were clipped and his hand wasn’t extended. ‘I’ll take you to the office. Who are you?’
‘Kath— Kitty Logan,’ she stumbled again, not yet used to using her nickname as her professional name.
‘And what are you doing here today, Kath-Kitty?’ he asked, mocking her mistake.
‘Work experience,’ Kitty lied sweetly for no particular reason other than to annoy him.
‘For the mature student, I assume,’ he preened, not believing her.
Eva just smiled and shook her head at the two of them.
He led them to a waiting room. ‘Wait here, he’ll be with you shortly.’
Eva sat down and Kitty wandered around the room examining everything. They were very different creatures, that was for sure. Eva was the type to do what she was told, follow orders and be polite. Kitty couldn’t, she never could. She always felt there was something she wasn’t being let in on, something further to what she saw, and she always wanted to know what that was. She had always been profoundly curious as a child, trying to see through façades and uncover secrets people hid away for no reason other than because
they
felt the secrets meant something, though in reality they probably didn’t to anybody else. At college she would separate from her friends on nights out and usually end up sitting beside the person she considered to be the most interesting, challenging, complex person in the room, while she listened to their fascinating stories. She sought out unusual minds, loved hearing both the mundane and fantastical. She didn’t believe that what you saw was necessarily all there was and she felt a burning desire to discover what was really beyond the layers of each person. It was this fascination and, indeed, love for people that she brought to her stories in
Etcetera
and perhaps this love for people had not transferred well in her stories on
Thirty Minutes.
While working there and covering investigative stories, her love had changed to distrust, a need to know what people were hiding from her. Her usual skills of simple conversation and understanding had been altered to game playing, trying to get people to speak without their realising it, trying to get quotes from people who didn’t wish to be quoted. She went about telling stories in a completely different way.
She paused at this sudden insight into herself, thinking Steve perhaps had been right. Steve, her long-time friend, whom she rarely had a deep conversation with, had known more about her than she had known herself. She felt goose bumps on her skin all of a sudden and looked up to see what had caused them.
She noticed then that Eva was watching her as she moved around the room examining the art on the walls but really examining herself, and this all of a sudden made Kitty feel uncomfortable. Observing was
her
job, the cloak of invisibility that came when watching others was what helped her gain insight, and Eva was taking that role from her. It was unnerving, unnatural for a watcher to be watched and it put her on edge. Kitty gave up prowling around the room and sank into one of the leather chairs.
The door opened and George Webb entered the room.
‘Hello,’ he said, a big smile with perfect teeth greeting the women as he looked from Kitty to Eva. ‘Ms Wu, I assume,’ he said, looking at Eva. It was the obvious choice. She was oriental, her long hair thick and silky, and so black it almost gave off a blue hue where the light hit. Her skin was flawless, she barely wore any make-up, but she didn’t need to: she was blemish free and strikingly pretty.
‘Well, it’s not me,’ Kitty joked.
‘This is Kath-Kitty Logan,’ Nigel said, joining them in the room. ‘She’s a journalist for
Etcetera
.’ He raised a perfect eyebrow at her as if to say she couldn’t get one past him.
George Webb seemed confused.
‘It’s a magazine,’ Nigel explained. ‘Not one you’d read.’
‘But
you
do,’ Kitty smiled at Nigel.
‘No. I Googled you.’
Kitty laughed. ‘I’m doing a story on Ms Wu,’ Kitty explained. ‘But please don’t worry, everything will be about her, not her clients. No names will be mentioned. I simply want to get an idea of how she works.’ If the story was indeed about how Eva worked, or if it was about something else entirely. So far, Kitty had no clue whatsoever but she tried to sound confident in her sale.
George Webb thought about it. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Sounds fine to me. You’re a popular lady,’ he added, sitting opposite Eva and studying her.
George was striking, extremely handsome, well groomed in that modern Irishman way, with two separate eyebrows, tweezed nose hairs, attention to the finer detail of his face without embarrassment. He wore a smart suit, nothing too elaborate, but stylish and fitted. Eva was looking at him with the face of somebody who was looking at something beautiful, just as he was looking at her. The mutual attraction was obvious. It was as if Kitty wasn’t even in the room, which was how she liked it – when she was working, at least. She was going to enjoy this one.
‘I got your details from Nigel,’ George explained. ‘He told me you were the best.’
Nigel, who was making them coffee, threw them a look, annoyed. Kitty knew he was the reason they were there when he had gone out of his way to be so entertainingly rude.
‘Well, that’s very nice of Nigel,’ Eva said softly, genuinely moved.
‘I also believe you worked with a neighbour of mine, well, a neighbour here at work. Elizabeth Toomey?’ George continued.
‘Ah, yes.’ Eva’s eyes lit up. ‘She works across the road in PricewaterhouseCoopers.’
‘Did you hear she got a promotion in January?’
‘Yes, I heard. I was delighted for her.’
‘Her boss must really have liked that gift you got for him.’
Eva immediately closed up. Kitty could see the transformation right before her, like an insect going into a cocoon. George could sense it too.
‘I think she deserved it. It appeared to me that she worked extremely hard,’ was all Eva said.
‘I think your gift helped,’ he laughed.
Kitty was surprised at him. He was clever enough to leave it alone but he couldn’t, he was desperate to find out and his desperation showed. Knowing Eva’s philosophy on client confidentiality, Kitty feared this did not bode well for the charming George.