The Scottish Banker of Surabaya - By Ian Hamilton Page 0,138
by the bridesmaids for more photos. The plan was for them to escort her to a small room just inside the main entrance, where she could make any last-minute adjustments and prepare for the walk down the aisle. As the bridal party started towards the church, Ava moved next to Amanda.
“We have about twenty minutes before the ceremony starts,” Ava said. “I’m going to have a quick chat with May Ling and then I’ll meet you inside.”
“Where is May?”
“Over there,” Ava said, pointing, and realized with relief that Amanda hadn’t heard her earlier comment.
Amanda glanced at May. “I’m surprised she’s here.”
“Why?”
“She phoned me a few days ago to say she might not make it.”
“Why not?”
“She didn’t say. She just said she had some issues in Wuhan to deal with.”
“Well, she’s here, so I guess the problem has been resolved. Now you’d better get inside.”
“Don’t take too long. I’m more nervous than I thought I would be,” Amanda said.
“I’ll be there shortly.”
Ava turned and walked towards May Ling. The two women had met the previous year, when May and her husband, Changxing, had hired Ava and her partner, Uncle, to help them locate and recover the millions of dollars they had lost purchasing forged paintings. Ava and Uncle were then in the debt-recovery business. The case had not gone smoothly, and the relationship between the two women had degenerated into betrayal and mistrust when May had used and deliberately undermined Ava. But a short time later May had come to Ava’s assistance in a case that involved Ava’s family — specifically her half-brother Michael — and the two women had found common ground and begun to build a friendship.
May took a step forward and held out her arms. Ava slid into them and the two women hugged. “You look absolutely gorgeous,” May said.
“I spent last night and this morning with Amanda and those twenty-something friends of hers. They made me feel old, not gorgeous.”
“You’re only in your mid-thirties. I’m in my mid-forties, so imagine how I feel.”
“May, men adore you,” Ava said.
“Changxing does, anyway.”
Ava took a step back. May was the same height as her — five foot three inches — and weighed maybe five pounds less at 110 pounds. She was slim, fine-boned, and, like Ava, had an ample bosom that she didn’t hesitate to show off. Her hair was straight and cut short in a fashionable bob. Physically she gave off a sense of vulnerability, but she had a sharp mind and a quick tongue that could be raw and cutting. And she could be highly charming and subtly seductive. Uncle said that men were torn between wanting to protect her and wanting to impress her.
“Where is Changxing?” Ava asked.
“He doesn’t like weddings and he hates churches. He’s spending the afternoon with Uncle. He’ll meet me later at the Mandarin Oriental to get dressed for the dinner.”
“Uncle didn’t mention anything to me about Changxing.”
“He called Uncle this morning to see if he was up for a visit. He said he was, although I did tell Changxing he should have checked with you.”
Uncle, like Changxing and May Ling, was from Wuhan, in Hubei province in central China. He had fled when he was a young man to escape the Communists. After he landed in Hong Kong, he had became prominent in the Triad society before retiring as its chairman and starting the debt-collection business that Ava later joined. Changxing liked to emphasize the Wuhan ties between the two men. Uncle’s interest in the wealthy businessman, who was known as the “Emperor of Hubei,” had always been in his guanxi, his connections, and in his ability to deliver favours.
Ava and May Ling’s relationship stood separate from that of the men, a situation that Uncle endorsed. Though her feeling was unsubstantiated by word or deed, Ava had a sense that Changxing didn’t share Uncle’s enthusiasm for the women’s increasingly tight friendship, which was further emphasized by the fact that they had set up a business together. The Three Sisters was the name of their newly formed investment fund. May Ling and Ava were the majority shareholders and Amanda had a minority stake. The fund was now Amanda’s full-time occupation; May Ling was splitting her time between their new venture and her business interests with Changxing; and Ava had committed herself to the business after Uncle gave her his blessing.
“I’m not Uncle’s nurse or his secretary, and he hates it when I start acting like one.”