Less Than Perfect (25 page)

‘Hear, hear!' Matthew interjects. ‘My concerns exactly.'

I give him a fond look of exasperation before turning to Sophie. ‘As I keep pointing out to Matthew, the negatives of wearing that kind of jewellery far outweigh the benefits.'

‘Why?' Ben enquires, as though he fully understands the conversation.

‘The main problem is work,' I explain. ‘Every workplace wants fit, healthy employees and management gets nervous with illness or health issues of any kind. If my boss knew I was diabetic, he would notice every single sick day, every morning I was slightly late for work. He would worry about me checking my blood and disposing of needles in the bathroom, and he would be constantly on the watch for ways that the disease is affecting my work, when in fact it doesn't affect it at all. In case of emergencies, I carry an ID card in my wallet.'

I'm not used to discussing the everyday realities of diabetes, and the social and work challenges that come with the disease. I'm still uncomfortable even with Matthew, who's quite determined to talk about it openly and frequently, and to fully understand its impact on my life. And it's not just my diabetes he wants to understand, it's everything about me: my work, my childhood, my family. I don't always answer his questions.

Thankfully, the conversation moves on after my little speech. Sophie and Matthew begin discussing their other siblings. They're clearly a close-knit family, and I soon learn that meeting Sophie is not an end in itself but a first step.

‘Mum can't wait to meet you, Caitlin.' Sophie has a mischievous glint in her eye. ‘She's instructed me to report back to her after lunch today.'

Matthew shoots me a glance. ‘Hopefully we can get up there for a weekend sometime soon.'

He's mentioned the idea of going to Deniliquin a few times now but I've managed to sidestep the conversation whenever it comes up. I know I have to go at some stage; I just need to work my way up to it, like I did with meeting Sophie. I can't help this reluctance, my instinctive resistance towards each level of involvement as it comes. I'm aware that my reluctance stems from a sense of self-protection, in case our relationship doesn't last. But Matthew has no such reservations. He assumes that our relationship is permanent, that nothing can destroy it, that I will meet all of his family and he will eventually meet all of mine.

It's after five when we leave. I thank Sophie and Ben and promise that I will come again soon – and I mean it. I think.

‘You were right. I do like your sister,' I tell Matthew as we walk down the stairs.

He smiles over his shoulder. ‘I could say I told you so.'

‘She seemed really happy and upbeat. She's obviously come to terms with things now.'

‘Not fully.' Matthew opens the heavy door at the bottom of the stairs and stands back for me to go through first. ‘Sophie puts
up a good front. She's great most of the time. It's just when she's alone, or lets her guard down.'

My thoughts jump to Steve, Sophie's cheating ex-husband, the one who broke her heart, and Ben's. ‘Don't you feel furious at Steve for causing all this pain?'

‘Yeah, I'm angry with him. But at the end of the day he's a good dad. He cares about Ben – he makes sure he has everything he needs.'

‘Doesn't Ben need a father who's there for him morning and night? Isn't that the most fundamental need of all?'

Matthew fires me a look: he's obviously guessed that I'm drawing parallels with my own father. ‘Ideally, yes. But in the absence of the ideal scenario where both parents live together, a father can still be there for his child. As long as the child knows he's cared for, that he's loved, and if anything goes wrong, Dad will try to fix it … Given the domestic situations I see every day at work, that counts for a lot.' He leans down to seal his point of view with a kiss. ‘By the way, you were great with Ben.'

‘So were you.'

‘Well, I'm his uncle – it's part of my job description!' He kisses me again, his lips lingering this time.

‘Should we go to yours?' I murmur.

‘Pete and Phil are having a few people over. Can we go to yours instead?'

‘Let me just ring Jeanie to see what time she's coming home.' I break away from his embrace to locate my phone.

‘Does it make a difference if she's there?' His tone has a slight edge to it.

‘It's nicer to have the place to ourselves.' I dial Jeanie's number. ‘Hey, it's me. What time are you getting in tonight?'

‘Who is this?' asks a strange voice.

‘It's Caitlin. Who's this?'

‘Kim.'

‘Sorry, I was looking for Jeanie –' The dial tone cuts me off. ‘I just rang Jeanie's old number by mistake,' I explain to Matthew as I check my phone for the new number. ‘Someone called Kim has the number now. I'll just try her again.'

This time I'm successful. Jeanie's killing time in an airport lounge in Adelaide. She'll arrive in Melbourne at seven, provided her flight is called soon and there are no other delays. It doesn't leave enough time.

‘Let's just go to yours,' I say to Matthew as I tuck my phone back in my bag. ‘Otherwise Jeanie might walk in on us.'

‘Am I ever going to meet this elusive flatmate of yours?'

‘Of course you are.' I laugh uneasily and hook my arm through his.

Net Banc's headquarters are located in one of the most prestigious buildings in the city, the décor in the foyer ultra-modern, red leather couches, black and white patterned ottomans and large colourful pieces of art set against stark white walls. Harry Dixon's office is equally modern and the man himself younger and less stern than I'd envisaged. He shakes my hand briskly and we both sit down on retro-style armchairs, positioned near the window to maximise the spectacular view of the city. I sneak a quick glimpse down at the grid of streets, splashes of greenery and the Yarra River splitting the view in two, before I take his file from my briefcase and rest it on my knees.

‘Thanks for seeing me, Harry. I can only imagine how busy you are at the moment.'

He nods, his hands clasped as he stares steadily across at me.
He doesn't offer any information and, from the brief silence, I assume he wants me to take the lead.

‘How many extra staff do you have coming in through the merger?'

‘Two thousand. Approximately fifteen hundred in operations and the remainder in corporate services.'

I go to write down the details on my form and suddenly, in a moment of horror, notice what's written after Harry's name:
VERY CRANKY BASTARD.
As discreetly as possible, I scratch over the damning, deal-breaking words with my pen.

‘And what's the most immediate training challenge?' I ask, hoping he hasn't noticed anything untoward.

‘To train the new operations staff in our computer system.'

‘Do you already have training materials for the system?'

‘Yes. We had an upgrade a few months back and all the material is current.'

‘Great. And do you have experienced trainers in-house?'

‘Yes, but perhaps not enough of them.'

‘Is there a plan for how and when you might run the training?'

‘We're building a plan and a budget at the moment.'

‘And what's your decision-making process when the plan's complete?'

‘You're looking at it: me.' He looks slightly amused. ‘I'm the decision-maker here!'

Though most deals involve a protracted fact-finding stage before pricing is as much as mentioned, my instincts are telling me to jump in now and not let this exceptional opportunity pass me by.

‘I can do some preliminary pricing based on the number of employees,' I offer, looking up from my notes. ‘And I would really like you to come and visit our premises, Harry, so you can see our state-of-the-art facilities first-hand.'

He blinks and rises to his feet. ‘Let me introduce you to a few key people first. Then we'll see if we can organise a date to suit everyone.'

I can hardly keep the smile off my face. In one monumental leap I've gone flying past first base, and probably second and third base too.
Whooosh
. Progress at last.

I take my laptop home with me. It's been a long day and if I stop to think about it I should be tired, but adrenalin has kicked in and I know I won't sleep until I've at least constructed the basis of the Net Banc proposal. Jeanie's also catching up on some admin and so there's a rather industrious atmosphere in the apartment.

‘Bills, bills, and more bills,' she moans, going through the mail that accumulated during her last trip away. ‘There's not one nice thing in here. No letters, no exciting invitations, just demands for money!'

‘That's the problem with technology,' I offer as I type some data into a spreadsheet. ‘Everything is done by email these days. The only time anything nice comes in the post is Christmas and birthdays.'

Jeanie doesn't respond. I glance her way and see that she's staring incredulously at a piece of paper that looks, from this distance, like a phone bill.

‘What's wrong?'

‘This is wrong!' she squeaks. ‘It says that I owe five hundred and fifty-two dollars – for my lost phone!'

‘Your lost phone?' I cast her a long hard look. ‘Don't tell me you didn't cancel the account with the phone company?'

She shakes her head, colour creeping along her cheekbones. ‘I kept hoping it would eventually turn up – that's why I got this cheap prepaid one in the meantime. I never imagined that someone had stolen it and was using it to rack up an enormous bill in my name!'

‘Kim,' I say suddenly, my memory sparking. ‘Kim is the person who stole it.'

‘What?'

‘I rang it the other night by mistake and someone called Kim answered. At the time I just assumed the phone company had allocated the number to someone else – but obviously not if the account is still in your name.'

‘Kim,' Jeanie repeats slowly in an ominous tone.

‘Do you know her?'

‘It's
Kimmie
.' Rage glazes her eyes. ‘My
sister
.'

Kimmie is the third – or fourth, I can never remember which – sister in the family.

‘Are you sure?'

‘Yes.
Yes.
Jesus, my own sister stole my phone!'

‘No, it can't be true. It must be a different Kim,' I reason. It seems too outrageous.

‘It
is
true. I
know
it is. I was with Kimmie the day I lost the phone.' Jeanie folds her arms abruptly and I notice her hands are curled into fists. ‘I must have left it behind at her place and she just helped herself.'

I'm still not convinced. ‘I don't know, Jeanie. I think you're jumping ahead of yourself.'

‘This is just like something she would do. She's cracked in the head, that one. She's always been trouble – Mum should have kept her on a tighter rope.'

As she speaks, Jeanie picks up the house phone, presumably to confront Kim, or Kimmie as she's known to her family.

‘I'm going to kill her, absolutely kill her …'

Luckily for Kim, she doesn't pick up.

The next day at work I'm absorbed with refining my presentation to Net Banc when Nicola appears out of nowhere. Due to the firefighting nature of her job, it's rare to see her away from the training floor, and I usually I go to visit her rather than the other way around.

‘Hey.' I smile. ‘What brings you to this neck of the woods?'

‘Do you have time to grab a quick coffee?'

‘Sure.' I save my spreadsheet. ‘An internal or external variety?'

‘External.'

It's even more rare for Nicola to leave the premises outside the lunch hour. Something is up.

We go downstairs and cross the road to one of the thriving cafés. Perching on stools inside the window, we wait for our coffees to be made.

‘David's lost his job,' Nicola divulges.

‘Oh, no.'

‘He went into work as normal yesterday morning, got called to his boss's office and was promptly informed that he was
redundant, effective immediately. He had ten minutes to clear out his desk and was home within the hour.'

‘That's awful. Is he upset?'

‘He's shocked. He still can't believe it.'

‘Was he the only one?'

‘No. The bank made thirty staff redundant yesterday and there's a chance that there'll be more next month.' Our coffees arrive and Nicola cups hers with both hands. ‘Do you know the worst part?'

‘What?'

‘As of yesterday, there are thirty excellently qualified investment bankers looking for work in Melbourne's CBD.'

‘Oh.'

‘David's panicking already. He spent all last night making contingency plans – if he's out of work for one month, two months, three months, six months …' Nicola leans closer, her voice becoming even more urgent. ‘And as part of his contingency plans, he thinks it's a good time to move in with me – one rent to pay, one set of household expenses and all that.' From the appalled look on Nicola's face, she isn't all that taken with the idea of David moving in.

‘Have you talked about it before now? Moving in together?' I enquire diplomatically.

‘Yes, but that was when he had a
job
.'

‘So you only want to live with him if he's working?'

‘Of course! I don't want him hanging around my flat all day and living off me.'

‘That's really harsh.' I'm feeling less diplomatic now.

‘Well, it's how I feel.'

‘You're being unfair, Nic. It's not like he can help being unemployed. He needs your support.'

‘Maybe, but
I'm
your friend, not him, and so you should be on
my
side.'

‘It's not about taking sides! Do you have any idea how bad David must be feeling right now?'