Page 5

Chapter Five

I was a bag of nerves the following day. For two reasons. I had my appointment with my new boss—although I wasn’t sure when I would start work since I hadn’t finished college—and Monica was collecting Grandma and bringing her home.

As I dressed, my mind was in a whirl. How would I manage a full-time job and care for Grandma at the same time? The local council gave me an allowance to pay for Monica, but it would never be enough to have full-time care.

By the time Sebastian’s car arrived outside, minus Sebastian, I was pleased to note, I was in a state. I wanted to cry. This was an amazing opportunity and in my head, I knew I might have to turn it down. My dream of becoming an architect might just have to stay that way... a dream.

Although the driver greeted me, we continued the journey in silence. I was thankful for that. I was sure that my nerves would show, and my voice would crack with the conflicting emotion. I was excited; I was nervous, terrified, and upset. Mixed together, that manifested itself as my usual gobby self. I would have to learn to bite down hard on my tongue.

We pulled up alongside an impressive building, all glass and stainless steel, and it puzzled me to see arrowhead designs everywhere. At least, I thought that was what they were. A smartly dressed woman stood up from behind a desk to greet me by name.

“Ms. Montando, welcome to P.I.F. Would you like to follow me?”

She smiled and displayed, like Sebastian, the whitest of teeth. Perhaps they all got a dentistry plan with their salary!

“Thank you,” I muttered, totally overwhelmed.

Although she smiled constantly at me, she didn’t speak again as we travelled a couple of floors up in the lift. She held her palm over the door once it had opened and allowed me to walk into an open plan office. It was the place of my dreams. People dressed casually were sitting at desks or standing in front of drawing boards. There was laughter and the smell of coffee. A couple of people turned to look at me.

“Ah, Ruby, isn’t it?” one said, and I just nodded. “Come on over,” he beckoned.

I stretched my cheeks as far as I could to resemble a smile. I’d frozen with fear.

All that ran through my mind was, Get a grip, Ruby!

“Mr. Wolfe tells me you are an exceptional draftsman. Or do we have to say draftsperson now?” An older gentleman walked out of a corner office. His smile instantly put me at ease. He had a kind face, and like a dog, I genuinely could tell if someone was nice or not.

“I’m not entirely sure that’s correct. I try, but I’d love to learn more,” I said, realising I was blabbing.

“Well, come on in, then.”

I followed him into his office and took the chair he indicated. Then cursed myself. “I didn’t bring any drawings,” I said, panicking.

He waved his hand in the air. “No need. If Mr. Wolfe believes you can draw, I don’t need clarification. He’d know more than anyone,” he said.

I wanted to ask why, but didn’t. Instead, Mike, as he introduced himself as, told me what he had in mind.

Thirty minutes in and I was busting to sign up. I would work, and get paid, for three days and study for two. I would leave college and start training through the Royal Institute of British Architecture’s studio programmes. I could do online learning, therefore be at home with Grandma while I did. But the cherry on the cake? The salary and benefits. It was way higher than I would have expected, would allow me to pay Monica privately for more hours, and give up all my other jobs. I ran some calculations through my mind.

“How does that sound?” Mike asked.

“Like it’s not real. What’s the catch?”

He laughed. “No catch. As I said, Mr. Wolfe is very keen to have you on board. We need some apprentices, although we like to call them assistants, and you fit the bill perfectly.”

“I do hope that Mr. Wolfe hasn’t cajoled you into employing me,” I lied. I bloody well hoped he had. This was an opportunity that would never have presented to me, normally. I didn’t care how it came about.

“No. There were three candidates in the running. If I’m honest, Ruby, we prefer to give people a chance. You’ll find out there are one or two who have spent time in prison, been homeless. It’s Mr. Wolfe’s mission in life to help others.”

“He sounds like a real-life Robin Hood,” I said, then laughed.

“He is.”

The answer brought me up short. Was he? “Well, I hope I’m not expected to steal from the rich. I’m afraid I’d be a terrible criminal. ”

“You’ve certainly stolen Mr. Wolfe’s heart.”

I stared at him, open-mouthed. “Huh?”

“Oh, I don’t mean in a... you know. I mean, he appears to be fond of you and wants to help you get to where you want to be.”

I squinted at him. “ Riiiight.”

Mike laughed. “I have some paperwork I’d like you to take home. Have a read through and if you’re in full agreement, call me and we can work on a start date.”

“Mike, I have to tell you I’m also a carer. I have help, but...”

He held his hand up. “Your grandma, Mr. Wolfe said. Read the document and come back to me in a couple of days. Reception will organise a car to take you home.” He smiled at me.

“Do you mind if I walk?” I asked.

With a nod and a smile, they waved me off, so it seemed, and I started my journey back home.

I had one thought running through my head.

This is all too good to be true.

I didn’t have time to read the documents straight away. A little while after I arrived home, Monica called to say that Grandma was ready to be collected a couple of hours later. I rushed around and batch cooked some soup, made as many easy to eat dishes as I could and filled the freezer. That and my microwave were the only things I needed in my kitchen. Grandma couldn’t eat most foods. It was as if she’d forgotten how to chew, and swallowing was also becoming a problem. I was an expert at making soups, self-taught, of course. I would cram as much goodness as I could in, but still had to rely on protein shakes for her.

I was wiping down the countertop when I heard a car pull up outside. I rushed to the door and smiled broadly. Monica was helping Grandma from the car. Although very frail, she looked rosy-cheeked. She was chatting away, mostly about Louis, and then when she saw me, she paused.

“Who is that?” she asked Monica, and my heart broke a little more.

“It’s your granddaughter, Ruby.”

“I don’t have a granddaughter.” Grandma started to get agitated.

It wasn’t the first time she hadn’t recognised me, but the first she’d shown fear. I wasn’t sure what to do. Yet again, I cursed her dementia.

“I want to go home,” Grandma said.

“You are home, Grandma,” I replied, hoping the sound of my voice might settle her. It didn’t.

“I want to go home!” Grandma screeched. Tears formed in her eyes.

I looked at Monica who smiled kindly at me. “How about we have a nice cup of tea, shall we?”

Grandma nodded and I stepped into the house and out of the way. I swallowed back the tears.

“Hello, Grandma. How are you today?” I heard that chocolaty smooth voice and I sighed.

“Oh, Louis, I’m so glad you’re here,” Grandma replied, and I sighed some more. It wasn’t Louis, nor was it the nurse at the respite care centre she called Louis.

“Let me help you in,” Sebastian said.

I watched as she smiled up at him. She allowed him to take her arm and gently lead her into the house, past me without a glance, and then to the living room.

“Smooth, isn’t he?” Monica said. I nodded and frowned.

“Grandma lets him in the house, but freaks out about me.” I knew what I said wasn’t fair or entirely accurate considering I was already in the house, but my heart was hurting, and someone had to be the outlet for that.

“Come on now, Ruby. You know how this is,” Monica said, gently.

I sighed once more and pushed my shoulders back. I walked into the living room and smiled.

“Hi, Grandma. I’m so glad that you’re home.”

“So am I. She tried to kill me,” she said, pointing to Monica and I chuckled. I was off the hook. Now it was Monica’s turn.

“Here, let’s tuck this around you,” Sebastian said as he placed a blanket over Grandma’s lap .

“He’s a good boy, is my Louis,” Grandma said, as she placed her palm on the side of his face.

He smiled at me. I scowled at him.

“I’ll make her a cup of tea,” I said, more mumbled than actually spoken.

I was standing with my back to the kitchen door when he came in. “Why do you keep turning up here?” I asked, spinning around to face him.

“ Keep ?”

“Yes, keep.”

“I came to see how you’d gotten on with Mike.”

“You could have called or emailed, or something...”

“I could have. I didn’t. I saw your grandmother was distressed, so thought it a kind thing to help. I’ll leave and make an appointment next time, shall I?”

His face was expressionless, other than his eyes. His pupils had dilated, and I saw the faintest of tics at the corner of one eye. I hoped he wasn’t angry with me!

I took a deep breath. “It was kind, and thank you. The interview went well. I have a stack of things to look through and honestly, I’m waiting for the catch.”

“Catch?”

“Yes, I’m half expecting someone to call April Fool, even if it’s three months too early.”

“No catch, Ruby. Just accept that you deserve a break and I’m offering it to you. It’s easy, is it? ”

I paused before I answered. “Yes. Yes, it is hard. I’m not often the recipient of kind deeds, so...” I shrugged my shoulders. “Would you like tea?” I asked in appeasement.

“No, I won’t stay.” He smiled and I felt like a shit, until I remembered that I really didn’t know him, and it was still creepy that he just turned up.

“My meeting with Mike was great. I’ll read the documents and call him tomorrow. Providing I can settle Grandma okay.” I thought I ought to answer why he was standing in my house... or his house, I guessed.

“I’m pleased to hear that.” He started to walk away, before he got to the front door, he turned. “You might think me strange, but I mean you no harm.”

I frowned; it was an old-fashioned statement that I wouldn’t have expected from him.

“Or a Wolfe in sheep’s clothing,” I said, laughing as I did.

He smirked, gave me a wink, and left the house without another word. The butterflies in my stomach were punching my guts in dismay that I’d let him walk out. His wink did something to them, for sure.

“Ruby?” Grandma called.

“I’m just making you some tea, Grandma,” I replied and rushed back to the kitchen.

It took Grandma just a couple of hours to settle. She was happy when her favourite game show came on and we sat, holding hands, answering the questions together. It was only after I’d put her to bed that I sat at the kitchen table and read through the document Mike had given me. It was a contract and was pretty much the same as he’d said it would be with the added bonus of medical cover and a pension. I chuckled as I looked for the dental plan that wasn’t there and subconsciously rubbed my teeth with my finger.

“So what’s the catch?” I said, quietly. There had to be one. I decided to do some investigating.

Under my bed was an old laptop that I hadn’t used in a while. I tended to do whatever was necessary on my phone, even though it was hard to read the screen. I’d needed the laptop at school but now used the more modern ones in the library. I connected to the internet via my phone and brought up a search engine. First, I typed in Sebastian Wolfe. Pages of unrelated things and suggestions for a different spelling were all I found. Nothing about him at all. That didn’t surprise me. I mean, if I Googled myself, I’d find nothing.

I typed in his company name, P.I.F Group Plc. That’s when it got interesting. P.I.F was a parent company for over a hundred others. I tried to find a map of sorts; it was quite confusing to see how the companies connected with each other. What I stumbled across were newspaper articles accusing some companies in the P.I.F group of jumping the list for government contracts and having politicians lobbying for them. Not one article actually mentioned Sebastian, however.

I began to think I might have the wrong company. How could one man own all the companies I was reading about? I wasn’t up on how businesses worked, but I knew that since it was a Public Limited Company, P.I.F. had shares it sold on the stock market. That meant it probably also had a board of directors and was a big deal.

Did it matter? I had to ask myself.

I sighed and closed the laptop lid. No, it didn’t matter. I should, for once, just do what Sebastian suggested. I should just accept that someone wanted to do something nice for me and take it. I was looking a gift horse in the mouth. I needed to kick my own arse if I fucked it up.

Later that night, while lying in bed, my thoughts were on Sebastian. I was curious to know what drove him to help others. Mike had said there were a couple of guys just out of prison. It wasn’t often that companies of his size would give ex-criminals a chance. Not that I knew why they’d been in prison, of course. That night my dream consisted of prisoners and Sebastian chasing me through woods, even in my sleep I knew that the only outcome I wanted was for Sebastian to catch me.