when they were first married. Jessie’s mother lives one floor below them, and she babysits. Simon wants to move but Jessie says this is too convenient to give up.”
They waited forever for an elevator, and if Jessie hadn’t lived on the twentieth floor, Ava would have walked.
She lived at the end of the corridor, a metal grille fronting the door. Amanda pushed the buzzer and the door opened. Jessie flew into Amanda’s arms, knocking her backwards. Behind them Ava saw a short, round woman with a baby in her arms and a suspicious look on her face. The resemblance between her and Jessie was unmistakeable. Ava knew there was no way the conversation would take place without her.
“Hey, take it easy, Jessie. There’s absolutely nothing to be worried about. Everything is fine, just fine,” Amanda said.
It took an hour, two coffees for Ava, two pots of tea for the others, a plate of biscuits, and the same story repeated almost word for word four or five times before Jessie began to accept that things were fine, that they were being managed and there was no need to panic. As Amanda talked to Jessie, Ava tried to engage her mother with smiles of encouragement and direct eye contact. By the time they were ready to leave, the mother was weighing in too, telling Jessie not to be such a worrier.
As Amanda again emphasized to Jessie the need for discretion, Ava said to the mother, “This applies to you too, Auntie. You need to keep this secret. Simon and Michael stand to make a lot of money, and we don’t want to mess it up.”
They left the apartment in a flurry of hugs and kisses. As they walked to the elevator Ava could see that Amanda was very pleased with herself.
“You’ll need to call her at least twice a day,” Ava said. “Try to call at the same times so she comes to expect it. You’ll need to keep reinforcing everything you said in there, because Jessie won’t be able to keep from getting anxious and you’ll have to stop it from getting out of control. So twice a day — more, if you can do it.”
“Okay.”
They waited for the elevator, Amanda peering at Ava. “How did I do?”
Ava said, “I’m proud of you. How’s that?”
“That’s just absolutely fine.”
Amanda talked for the entire MTR ride back to Central. Ava nodded, pretending to listen, her mind miles away as she tried to organize the day ahead.
“You’ll come back to the apartment. We can go out for dinner,” Amanda said as they pulled into the Central MTR station.
“No, I have too much to do. I’m going to the hotel. You spend the evening with Michael. And, Amanda, make sure to tell him I don’t want him discussing any of this with our father, and I’d prefer it if you kept your father in the dark as well.”
“I’ll do that,” Amanda said as they exited the train.
“Tell him as well that he needs to check his email tomorrow at noon for the photo. I’ll phone him around twelve fifteen to confirm that he got it.”
“All right.”
“And that’s it,” Ava said.
They climbed the stairs from the MTR platform to the street. Ava turned to leave and saw that Amanda looked reluctant to go home. Ava said, “Amanda, I really do have things to do.”
“Okay, I’m going, I’m going,” she said, and still didn’t move.
Then an idea Ava had had on the train revisited her. “Do you have plans for tomorrow?” she asked.
“Work in my father’s office, that’s all.”
“Can you get the day off?”
“Sure.”
“Then meet me at the Macau Ferry terminal at ten o’clock.”
“Macau?”
“I’ll explain in the morning.”
“Do I tell Michael I’m going?”
“Better not. No need to worry him.”
“Okay.”
“And, Amanda, do you have a briefcase?”
“Of course.”
“Bring it. Put some papers in it — it doesn’t matter what they are.”
“This is getting a little weird now, Ava.”
“You don’t have to do it.”
“I’ll be there, I’ll be there.”
“One last thing: dress down a bit, skip the stilettos, and look professional — middle-class if you can — and cut back on the makeup.”
“What’s wrong with my makeup?”
“It makes you look five years older. You have beautiful skin; you don’t need that guck.”
“God, what next, ditch my padded bra?”
“Actually, if you have one with even more padding, throw it on.”
“Are you serious?”
“Not really,” Ava said, kissing her on the cheek. “See you in the morning.”
Ava walked back to the hotel, glad to be alone. The day had started with her drafting