Page 6 of The Sun Sister

‘Yes, thank you.’

‘So,’ I said when we were settled in the living room, ‘I hear you worked for Bardin?’

‘I did, yes.’

‘Why did you leave?’

‘I’ve been offered a position that might suit me better.’

‘Not because he was difficult?’

‘Oh no,’ Mariam chuckled. ‘He wasn’t difficult at all, but he recently moved back to Paris full-time and I am still based here. We remain the best of friends.’

‘Good. Well, that’s great. So, why are you interested in working for me?’

‘Because I’ve always admired your work.’

Wow, I thought.It isn’t often I hear someone calling my job ‘work’.

‘Thanks.’

‘It is a real gift to be able to create a personality that complements the products one is advertising, I think.’

I watched as she opened her plain brown satchel, which was definitely more ‘school’ than it was ‘designer’, and handed me her résumé.

‘I guessed you wouldn’t have had time to glance through it before I arrived.’

‘No, I didn’t,’ I agreed as I skimmed the details of her life, which were unusually brief and to the point. ‘So you didn’t go to college?’

‘No, my family didn’t have the funds. Or more truthfully’ – one of her small delicate hands reached towards her face and a finger rubbed her nose – ‘they probably did, but there are six of us and it wouldn’t have been fair on the rest if I’d have gone and the others couldn’t.’

‘I’m one of six too! And I didn’t go to college or university.’

‘Well, we have something in common at least.’

‘I was the youngest.’

‘And I am the eldest,’ Mariam smiled.

‘You’re twenty-six?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then we’re the same age,’ I said, for some unknown reason feeling pleased to find parallels with this unusual human being. ‘So what did you do when you left school?’

‘I worked in a florist’s during the day and went to business school at night. I can obtain a copy of my qualification certificate if you need it. I’m fully computer literate, can produce spreadsheets and my typing is...well, I’m not sure of the exact speed actually, but it’s fast.’

‘That’s not really one of the main requirements and neither are spreadsheets. My accountant looks after all the financials.’

‘Oh, but they can be very useful in an organisational role too. I could plan in detail your entire month for you at a glance.’

‘If you did that, I think I might run away,’ I joked. ‘I go on a day-to-day basis. It’s the only way I can cope.’

‘I completely understand, Miss D’Aplièse, but it’s my job to organise beyond that. With Bardin, I even had a spreadsheet for his dry cleaning and we’d work out what he’d wear to each event, right down to the colour of his socks – which were often deliberately mismatched.’ Mariam let out a small giggle and I joined her.

‘You say he’s a nice person?’

‘He is wonderful, yes.’