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.’
Whether he was or he wasn’t, this girl had integrity. So many times I’d had prospective PAs dishing the dirt to me on former employers. Maybe they thought it was cool to explain in depth why they’d left, but I just thought of the fact that it could be me they were talking about in the future.
‘Before you ask, I am very discreet.’ Mariam had obviously read my mind. ‘I have often found the stories that circulate about celebrities in our business to be untrue. It’s interesting . . .’
‘What?’
‘No, it’s nothing.’
‘Please, say it.’
‘Well, I find it fascinating that so much of the world craves fame, yet in my experience, it often brings only misery. People believe that it will grant them the right to do or be anything they choose, but in fact they lose the most precious commodity we humans have, and that is their freedom. Your freedom,’ she added.
I looked at her in surprise. I got the feeling that, despite everything I had, she felt sorry for me. Not in a patronising way, but sympathetic and warm.
‘Yup, I’ve lost my freedom. In fact,’ I declared to this total stranger, ‘I’m beyond paranoid that someone will see me doing the simplest thing and twist it into a story to sell more of their newspapers.’
‘It is not a good way to live, Miss D’Aplièse.’ Mariam shook her head solemnly. ‘Now, I am afraid I must go. I swore to my mother I would babysit my little brother while she and Papa go out.’
‘Right. This babysitting . . . I mean, is it a regular thing you do?’
‘Oh no, not at all, which is why it is important I am there on time tonight. It is Mama’s birthday, you see, and the family joke is that the last time Papa took her out to dinner was when he proposed to her twenty-eight years ago! I understand that if you employ me, you will need me twenty-four hours a day.’
‘And that there will be a lot of overseas travel?’
‘Yes, that is no problem. I have no romantic commitments either. Now, if you’ll excuse me . . .’ She stood up. ‘It has been a pleasure to meet you, Miss D’Aplièse, even if we do not end up working together.’
I watched her as she turned and walked towards the door. Even in her ugly clothes, she had a natural grace and what a photographer would call a ‘presence’. Despite the fact that the interview had been about fifteen minutes flat and I hadn’t asked her a tenth of the questions I should have done, I really, really wanted Mariam Kazemi and her wonderful sense of calm in