At the lift door, Jake pressed the button. The concierge, who was standing right behind him, was rather unhelpfully telling him where he could find the nearest hotel. If Jake had wanted a hotel, he would have gone to one.
Jake turned around to face his detractors.
There was a moment’s stunned silence as the doorman and concierge recognised him.
Harry the doorman spoke first. ‘Mr Campbell-Ross! Good to see you.’
Jake knew what he was thinking:Mr Campbell-Ross – I’msurprised to see you.It was written all over his face.
‘Sorry,’ the concierge said, ‘I thought …’
Jake knew what he’d thought; a guy dressed in casual clothes carrying a travel bag had walked into the building, mistaking it for a hotel. It happened all the time.
‘If there’s anything you need – anything at all,’ the concierge said unnecessarily before resuming his post behind the desk.
Harry lingered; he obviously had something on his mind. ‘I was so sorry to hear—’
‘How’s the family, Harry?’ Jake cut him off mid-condolence.
‘Fine, fine.’ He nodded his head. ‘Linda’s having our fifth – any day now.’ A smile lit up his face.
Jake stared at him for a long moment. Anyone casually listening in on that piece of news might have wondered, quite rightly, how a doorman could afford to bring up five children in the capital. But all Ross employees, even if they stood and opened a door all day, were remunerated more than generously, most notably in the form of shares. Anyone fortunate enough to hold stock in the Ross Corporation could afford five kids.
‘Congratulations,’ Jake managed. He wished he hadn’t asked. He envied the lucky few whose lives appeared to flow with uninterrupted ease.
‘Our eldest has just started university. She’ll be the first person on either side of the family to get a degree,’ he said proudly. ‘We bought her a car as a going-away present.’
Jake was guessing those shares had come in handy.
‘I know what you’re thinking – there’s quite a gap between the first and the fifth.’
Really, Jake had been thinking no such thing. He was trying his best not to think about Harry’s lovely family.
‘Let’s just say the wife didn’t think she could have any more, so our little one is quite the surprise.’ Harry beamed.
The lift arrived, and not before time; Jake really didn’t wantto hear any more details of Harry the doorman’s enviable family life.
The lift door opened, revealing a fresh-faced porter who looked him up and down in bewilderment. Jake would be the first to admit he did not look like the typical Ross employee. It wasn’t just his casual clothes, but the unkempt look that went with them; the shirt hanging out of his jeans, the two days’ worth of stubble. He imagined the bandaged hands weren’t exactly helping.
It was no wonder Harry had hung around outside the lift to make the introductions. Who would have believed they were looking at one of the board of directors of the Ross Corporation, even though said director had taken a permanent sabbatical. William Ross had not, and never would, accept Jake’s resignation – a fact that Jake had not shared when he’d applied for the Initial Teacher Training position, or at his interview. He did not want anyone thinking he was not committed to his new career and was keeping his options open to return to the Ross Corporation. He might be spending one night in the apartment, but that in no way meant he might come back. He wanted to keep his stay there quiet.
‘Derrick, you take Mr Campbell-Ross straight up to the forty-ninth floor,’ said Harry by way of introduction.
Derrick turned his attention on Harry with a look on his face that suggested he thought it was a practical joke. In the short time Derrick had been working for the company, he’d never been beyond the forty-eighth floor, and he had never set eyes on any one of the three heads of the corporation – until today.
‘Derrick, have you forgotten your training? Offer Mr Campbell-Ross some help with his bag,’ Harry prompted.
Derrick tentatively reached for the bag.
Jake did not object. He’d carried the bag three blocks, opting to park the car in a side-street close by and walk, in order toarrive as discreetly as possible and increase his chances of going unnoticed as he passed in and out of the building. If he had been wearing a suit, this might have worked, but that was beside the point, because he had reckoned without the new porter, who most certainly would not have taken him up to his floor without some kind of authority from the front desk.
Jake sighed as he followed the young man into the lift; he’d really thought this was going to be a lot less hassle than booking into a hotel. It was not. Derrick placed his bag on the floor just as five Ross employees returning from work joined them in the lift. None of them recognised Jake; they all took a very long look at him and his bag before facing the front. Jake imagined they were asking themselves the same silent question:what is this guy doing in this building, in this lift?And worse still, when each one got out at their floor, each one glanced back with the same silent question:why is this guy going up to a floor above us?Jake knew that it would baffle the hell out of them and provide an interesting topic of conversation, especially when they found out exactly who he was. Jake glanced at Derrick and realised he was going to be questioned in the morning.
On the way up, Jake became conscious of an overpowering feeling of rising panic caused by being stuck in the confined space. As the lift emptied, his panic subsided, but only a little; he knew he had to get out. He didn’t remember the lift taking this long to reach his floor.
‘Derrick,’ said Jake, deciding to attempt some conversation in the hope of relieving some of the anxiety as the lift tirelessly stopped at each empty floor. ‘Tell me about yourself.’
Now Derrick was the one looking panic-stricken. His eyes darted about the lift as though he were suddenly looking for an escape route; an escape from unexpectedly being put on the spot. Finally, resigned to answering the question, he looked Jake in the eye and in a self-assured tone said, ‘I’m seventeen yearsold and I’m very ambitious. I’m going to night school and intend …’
