The Knowledge Stone (39 page)

The boy responded with a slight smile: ‘I’m sure I will have many questions in the future. But first, I have a lot to learn.’

Even Julian smiled with admiration at that answer! ‘Thank you for coming,’ Julian said, ‘my deputy will show you around the department and you can see what goes on. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions.’ He nodded at Margarite and shook hands with the boy before he left.

By contrast, the next three candidates did not inspire. Two girls and a boy, they came across as disinterested and generally rather dull; their educational achievements confirmed that impression.

‘Those last three were dreadful!’ As usual, Julian’s judgement was unequivocal. ‘I wouldn’t employ any of them, even if there was no-one else.’

Margarite often thought that Julian’s judgements were extreme but, in this case, she was in general agreement. It began to look as of their favourite candidate had the job “in the bag” – until the last candidate appeared, that is!

Sunia was a seventeen year-old girl whose father was Chinese and her mother Brazilian. In her, this combination of race had produced striking physical attractiveness. Her large almond shaped eyes, fine features and perfectly smooth skin gave her a classical beauty, while her body had developed to be quite tall, slim and perfectly proportioned. Even as a small child, her prettiness had always been greatly admired and she augmented this with a sweet, gentle and loving personality. Now, on the brink of adulthood, it was obvious that her beauty was proceeding towards perfection.

She had been born in Switzerland but her father’s work for an international company meant that the family often moved to different countries around the world. In consequence, Sunia had attended many schools as she grew up – always the very best ones wherever they were. With each change, the latest school did its best to raise her educational standard and develop her other talents – the trouble was, she remained contentedly passive and could not be persuaded to learn at the same rate as the other children. Because of this, she eventually left school at the age of sixteen with distinctly sub-standard educational achievements.

Of course Julian and Margarite had noted the poor educational qualifications at the sifting stage. They were about to reject her application when Julian noted the unusual pattern of her upbringing and schooling: ‘What a peculiar background she has,’ he had said, ‘I think we should interview her just to see what she is like.’

Margarite was unimpressed by this idea: ‘It’s probably a waste of time, Julian. However, if you really want to see her, we’ll see her.’ Margarite knew better than to argue – she never won in the office. Thus, Sunia was invited to attend.

The interview day arrived and Sunia had been ushered into Julian’s office. As she stood, waiting to be asked to sit down, Julian was strangely silent. Margarite looked at him with surprise and found he was staring fixedly at the girl with a sort of frozen expression on his face. As the silence lengthened, Margarite took over: ‘Come in. You’re Sunia, aren’t you? Please sit down.’ She went on to introduce Julian and herself to the girl. Meanwhile, Margarite’s words had brought Julian back to life and now he took over the interview.

‘I wonder what happened to him,’ Margarite thought, ‘it’s like his engine stalled!’

As Julian spoke, she studied the girl. She certainly was pretty – no, really beautiful was the correct term. Softly spoken, simply dressed in expensive clothes, she appeared to radiate a sort of calm, gentle serenity. However, when Margarite began to listen to what she was saying, it was immediately obvious that she was coping badly with Julian’s questions, sometimes silently perplexed, sometimes completely misunderstanding the question, often ignorant of the simplest everyday topics. Even when invited to speak about her own life and experiences, she was far from fluent.

‘What a waste of time,’ Margarite thought and then she realised that something strange was happening. Although the girl’s answers were poor and often monosyllabic, Julian was reacting as if they were totally splendid! He was smiling encouragingly at the girl. Anytime there was a possibility of any humour in the answers, Julian was laughing heartily. It was all very strange.

‘I wonder if he sickening for something,’ she thought, looking at him carefully.

He noticed her look and blenched a little. Turning to her, he said, ‘Would you like to ask Sunia some questions, Margarite?’ Out of politeness, Margarite did so but it proved to be a sterile experience. Although the girl’s voice and manner were pleasant enough, her answers were hugely disappointing. Soon, Margarite indicated she had no more questions and thanked the girl.

At the end of the interview, Julian was effusive. He thanked her very much for coming. She would hear about her application as soon as possible. His deputy would now show her around the Department and he hoped that she would enjoy this. She would be able to ask questions about any aspect of the work.

‘Bet she asks nothing,’ Margarite thought wryly!

Ten minutes later, Sunia had left the building. Margarite was amused to see that her presence caused some interest among the young men of the General Office. She had outlined the functions of DC and described the work the girl would do. Sunia smiled at the staff and remained silent. She shook her head when Margarite asked finally if there was anything else she would like to know. Shortly after, the girl departed and, in accordance with their normal procedure, Margarite made two cups of coffee and joined Julian in his office.

‘Well,’ Margarite began, ‘that was more than a little painful, wasn’t it? She certainly was a lovely looking girl but I’m not sure if she had any brains at all in that pretty head. That’s definitely one of the worst interviews I have ever been involved in.’ She paused for a moment. ‘So shall I now go ahead and have a formal offer sent to the boy Alain? We might as well get on with it. He certainly was an outstanding candidate and he probably has a very good future with the Firm. I’ll go and get the papers for you to sign and take them up to HR, shall I?’

Julian sipped his coffee introspectively. ‘Don’t go yet, Margarite. You know, I’ve been thinking. If we took the boy it would unbalance the sexual distribution in the General Office. I think it would be much better to employ a girl in what was Jana’s position. It will keep everything on an even keel.’

Margarite looked at him in puzzlement. ‘Julian, we have never needed to consider that sort of balance before. I mean, when Jana came, she replaced a boy and, before that, there were always more boys than girls. Anyway, as their immediate Line Manager, I am absolutely sure it doesn’t matter. What matters is that everybody is sufficiently bright, energetic and motivated to do the work reliably and that they all get on well together. Although I know we’re not considering her, the last thing we need in DC is someone like that stupid girl we’ve just seen. We need to employ the best person for the job – and we know who that is, don’t we?’

Julian looked into his coffee cup as he spoke, ‘Margarite, I have decided that Sunia will be the successful candidate. I liked her. I thought she would develop well.’

Margarite looked at Julian in utter astonishment. ‘Julian, I’m sorry, but have you gone mad? That girl would be a disaster in the General Office. At best, she would be useless but, more likely, she would cause serious problems for us and the Department.’

Julian now lifted his head and looked at her with steely eyes. She knew that look!

‘I have decided, Margarite. The job is to be offered to Sunia. See to that immediately.’

So Sunia joined DC and took Jana’s place. Margarite did her very best to train her. She spent a lot of time with her – more time that she had ever spent with any other trainee – but to no avail. Sunia seemed incapable of assimilating even the simplest of procedures and had to be supervised by Margarite or other members of staff in order to avoid serious mistakes being made. Although some of Margarite’s young men were quite happy to have contact with Sunia at first, they soon grew tired of her lack of effort. Rather than learn, Sunia was quite happy to let her supervisor do all her work while she sat and stared out of the window!

Margarite was furious. She reported Sunia’s lack of progress to Julian:

‘The girl is totally idle and stupid, Julian,’ she raged, ‘I can’t trust her to do anything. All the other staff have to pick up what should be her work. She does absolutely nothing. I’ve taught dozens of trainees in my time and never had a failure – until now. We must get rid of her.’

Julian demurred:

‘Don’t be so hard on the girl, Margarite, she has had a really disrupted life, travelling around the world. I’m sure she will improve. You’ll see! I tell you what – I’ll do a little training with her when I have time and I’m sure everything will soon be fine.’

‘Julian, I wish you luck. You are welcome to have her anytime – she’s just sitting around doing nothing anyway.’ Margarite stumped out of the office angrily.

Julian was absolutely delighted. How clever of him to have achieved that! He would have Sunia to himself in his office. Now he sat and thought about her. He hadn’t changed his mind since their first meeting. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and he was absolutely bowled over by her. This would be a wonderful chance to get to know her better.

Not long after, Julian appeared in Margarite’s office, diary in hand.

‘About Sunia, I’ll try to spend a little time with her every morning next week. Tell her to bring in my coffee at 1000 hours. Oh, and Margarite, tell her to bring her own coffee in too.’

Margarite was far from pleased but there was nothing she could do.

‘Well, it’s your funeral,’ she said shortly and made a note in her diary.

The rest of that week and the weekend passed on slowly lumbering, plodding feet. Julian was agitated and fretful, impatient for Monday to come. Monday would be the start of a very exciting week and Julian was carefully planning his meeting with Sunia. He practiced the words he would use. He even practiced facial expressions in the mirror to make sure he would look as attractive as possible. Where would they sit? He must make sure that he did not talk to her across a desk. Then he had a brainwave; they would sit together at his computer terminal – he could show her how skilled he was, how extensive his knowledge and how he knew all the important people in the Firm. He hoped she would be pleased and impressed. Maybe she would smile at him? Julian felt quite faint with the rush of pleasure that came with that thought.

Finally, with agonising slowness, Monday morning came. Julian sat tensely in his office. Surely that clock has stopped! He rose several times to check. Each time the creeping progress of the second hand revealed that the clock was operating normally. Finally, a soft knock. Coffee. She had come! Julian was frenetic: ‘Come in!’ His voice booming joyfully. ‘Yes, just put it there; come and sit here.’

Oh, she was so beautiful, so elegant, so perfect, so fragrant, so feminine, so desirable! She, looking at him with a slightly uncertain smile as she sat down. He, grinning hugely, sitting as close to her as he dared. Perhaps their hands could touch momentarily as he offered her a biscuit? They did! Julian nearly fainted with the intense thrill of it.

So the delight of the training sessions proceeded. In truth, Julian made very little attempt to train Sunia for her work. There were two reasons for this: firstly, he was far too busy showing her how clever and knowledgeable he was about the matters of the Firm. Secondly, his knowledge of the work of the General Office was quite sketchy; he left all that firmly in Margarite’s control.

By the end of the week, he and Sunia sat closely together at the computer terminal, he showing her what to do and sometimes even guiding her soft hands on the keyboard. Each blessed occasion of touching her hand or arm was a golden moment for him.

During the following week, while the “training” continued unabated, Julian discovered that Sunia sometimes ate her lunch in the nearby park.

‘Why, so do I,’ he exclaimed gleefully, ‘why don’t you allow me to buy you lunch from the sandwich shop and then we can eat together in the park.’ This seemed a good idea to Sunia; she was quite happy to strengthen her relationship with her senior manager. She thought this might be good for her prospects in the firm. Julian was delighted when she agreed and seemed to be pleased with his offer. This provided him with a new and wonderful opportunity; on the narrow park benches, it was possible that their thighs might touch! A further escalation of bliss for the infatuated Julian.

Although Julian’s strong attraction to Sunia could so easily have been based on sexual lust, this was far from the truth. At first sight, Sunia had literally transfixed Julian with her beauty. Months later, she remained a truly magical creature to him. With closer contact, he had judged her as feminine perfection itself and their relationship had grown as she responded to his attention, smiling when he joked, showing (simulated) grave attention when he was serious. As a result, Julian’s attraction to Sunia had turned into a pure, deep and incandescent love. He worshipped her and would never have attempted to take advantage of her in any of the traditional male ways. Day and night, she was in his thoughts.

It was during one of their lunchtime visits to the park that Sunia informed Julian it was her eighteenth birthday on the 15th day of the following month. Julian immediately decided that he should give her a birthday present on that day. He knew this would require serious thought. While he always marked Margarite’s birthday with a card and a present, casually selected, Julian knew it would not be appropriate to buy something expensive or lavish for Sunia – although he would dearly have liked to. If he gave her something expensive, it was likely to cause problems in the Department – laughter, derision or even jealousy among the staff. No, it would have to be something relatively inexpensive but unusual. Something that would express his love to her without giving the game away.

For some time now, the evening meal at the flat had become a silent affair. When Julian and Margarite were first together, they used to chat quite happily on a whole range of trivia. As time passed, Julian became increasingly keen to expound his views on the vagaries of world politics, international finance or global sociology. If not that, there was always the theme of the World/Region/Country going to the dogs! While Margarite did not always agree with Julian, she admired the energy he put into expressing his views on such a diverse range of subjects. And, more importantly – she loved him. So, even in disagreement, she would sit quietly and regard him fondly, often employing the popular lover’s strategy of switching off meaningful hearing!