‘—wait till you see Dad with Daisy,’ Sephy was saying. ‘She has him wrapped around her little finger and he loves it, doesn’t he, Daisy?’ Daisy giggled back up at her mother but Amanda was more intrigued by the look of pure disbelief on Jared’s face.
‘You’ll see. You’re both invited for dinner, by the way.’
‘I’m afraid tonight’s out of the question.’
Amanda busied herself searching her capacious handbag for a notebook, but not before she saw a look of disappointment pass over Sephy’s face.
‘Of course. No rush. You probably have jet lag or something. Um, you may not remember, but Dad always holds a winter party and this year it’s on the 26th. You’re both welcome.’
‘Has he even been told I’m here or why I’m here?’
‘Of course. Nora would never have flown over to see you unless father had sanctioned it.’
‘Of course,’ Jared mimicked.
Amanda winced into her handbag and heard Sephy rush on.
‘He knows this is to be conducted on your terms—’
Jared’s laugh was tinged with bitterness. ‘Tell me, where is the real Jeremy King and what have you done with him?’
In the awkward silence, Amanda’s anxious handbag-search became more pronounced.
‘The real Jeremy King,’ Sephy said through pinched lips, ‘is right where he’s always been, Jared.’ She started stuffing Daisy’s bits and bobs into her bag. ‘He’s not the one who left.’ She grabbed up Daisy in her other arm and walked towards the lift.
‘Well stop her, then, idiot.’ For a moment, as Amanda watched Jared’s head whip around to his sister’s departing back, she thought she’d uttered the words aloud.
But then the lift doors swished shut, leaving Amanda and Jared alone.
Emotion pulled at Jared’s features, making the beautiful sculpted bones of his face stand even more proud. Amanda wanted to soothe him, hating she the fact that she didn’t know what he needed. She cleared her throat, ‘Well. I’m no reunion connoisseur, but under the circumstances I think that went quite well, don’t you?’
Jared was busy computing Sephy’s parting words. He didn’t understand. Could it be that neither of his sisters had been told of what had happened back then? How was that possible?
He shook his head slightly in automatic denial. It was simply inconceivable that his father had been trying to protect him. No, it made more sense that his father was simply protecting his daughters. Better his sisters think ill of their brother and the choices they thought he’d willingly made.
All of a sudden, he felt absolutely shattered.
‘Feel like taking a walk?’ he asked, raising dead eyes to Amanda.
‘Sure, just let me grab my guide book and I’ll leave you alone for a couple of hours.’
‘No. I meant with me.’
Her smile lit up the room and in the moment he refused to feel guilty that he’d manipulated her into accompanying him on this trip. By way of recompense, he’d make sure she went home with a reference that would get her any job she wanted.
They walked the City’s streets and now and then he’d point out a building and give a potted history lesson. She absorbed every word and with each infectious smile he felt his inner turmoil melting away. When was the last time he’d taken time out to admire the buildings he had systematically acquired? When had he forgotten it was the buildings themselves which had first inspired him and not just the simplicity of adding them to his portfolio? Probably around the time he’d realised he was good at acquiring things, that he’d inherited some of the King genes after all, and that it would be satisfaction itself if he were able to acquire more in a larger playing field than his father. Then, never again could he be accused of being …
A large raindrop splashed on the bridge of his nose, breaking into his reverie. He looked around for Amanda and found her crouching gracefully under a tree, camera pointing upwards.
‘Won’t the lens get wet?’
She shrugged her shoulders and motioned for him to adopt a similar stance as she passed the camera to him. ‘Look straight up, between those two branches. See the angel from the statue opposite reflected perfectly in the glass of the office block?’
He took the photograph and passed the camera back to her. Not many people would look through something to see what was behind it. ‘You’ve never thought of going professional?’
The shadows passed over her features as she looked at the photo he’d taken, altered some of her settings and took up her position again to take the shot. ‘I’d just completed my first year of study when Mikey had his accident.’
‘I thought you were studying business?’
‘I was. I guess photography was just for fun. You know—something extra.’
She held the camera up to her face again, and then, when he suspected she’d composed herself, lowered it and moved off.
He followed at a slower pace, sighing internally when he realised which building she’d reached.
‘So this is where we come tomorrow?’
‘Yes.’
Together their eyes swept over the intimidating steel sculpture that spelt out KPC in the foreground of the towering office block. Amanda stepped closer to peer into the lobby at the enormous potted trees and marble reception area, where a security guard sat staring at a bank of screens.
Hunching into his coat, Jared turned and began walking.
He could tell the exact moment she caught up with him; her presence thawing the icicles forming in his veins. He took one step away, trying to protect the ice that was creeping and crawling up his spine. He deserved all the punishing feelings that this particular building evoked. Turning abruptly, he stared at the office tower immediately opposite and felt the same sickening jolt.
He hadn’t realised he’d wandered into this particular plaza.
‘Wow,’ she whispered, ‘great combination of office and courtyard.’
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