‘No,’ Jake said sternly. ‘I don’t want to hear about that.’
He registered the shock on Derrick’s face, but he didn’t want to listen to his resumé or some rehearsed spiel about his intended career path of rising through the ranks of the company. He didn’t want Derrick to try to impress him. He already knew, anyway. The very fact that Derrick was there said it all; he had beaten the competition at the tender age of seventeen years old to get a coveted job at the Ross Corporation. William always met prospective job applicants, no matter the position they were applying for, so Jake knew William had seen potential in Derrick.
Jake had no doubt that graduates, even postgraduates, would have applied for this position, because everyone knew that once you had your foot in the door – or in Derrick’s case, the lift – as long as you had the drive, the ambition, then the job could lead to the top. Everyone was in for a chance to progress. The sky really was the limit.
William often said,It doesn’t matter where you come from; all that matters is where you’re going.Jake wholeheartedly believed in that. He himself was a case in point. It didn’t matter that he’d been a corporate lawyer on the board of a multinational company; what mattered was that he’d found his calling teaching kids, some from quite deprived backgrounds, in an inner-city school. Like William, Jake wanted to nurture their potential, so that hopefully one day they might be in Derrick’s shoes, or wherever their dreams took them. Jake had found his dream job. He just wished that re-evaluating his life hadn’t come about because of what had happened to Eleanor.
Jake really didn’t want to dwell on that. He eyed Derrick and thought of William. He might have an old-fashioned approach to running a modern corporation, but William understood hisemployees. He knew that they wanted security, a job for life, because deep down, all anybody really wanted was to belong. William took great pride in looking after those who belonged to the Ross Corporation family. Furthermore, William believed a university degree alone was a poor relation to a work ethic and dedication to the company, regardless of the role.
It was obvious that Derrick had the determination to succeed, but behind that determination was a reason. Jake wanted to know the reason.
‘Derrick, tell me about your family.’
Derrick’s was an all-too-common story. His father had bailed when he was twelve years old, leaving his mother to raise three children alone. Childcare costs had made a return to work prohibitive, but she’d had little alternative – they had needed the money. Besides, Derrick’s mother had told him she wasn’t going to set a bad example to her sons and live on state handouts. So, she had returned to nursing and had left Derrick – the eldest – to look after his two younger siblings – to feed, bathe and put them to bed every night after school, at weekends and on school holidays. For Derrick, adult responsibilities had come early. But this had turned out to have an unforeseen positive side-effect that told a less familiar story – it had kept him off the streets. It had kept him away from the gangs, and it may well have saved his life.
His best friend and just recently his cousin had not been so fortunate. Whether it was a knife or a gun, Derrick wouldn’t elaborate; the hurt was still new, still raw. And as always, the gangs had their eyes on new recruits – even those as young as his twelve-year-old brother, Joseph. And therein Jake found the reason behind Derrick’s motivation to succeed. He wanted to get his family out of the estate; he wanted to get his brothers away from the gangs. He knew that time was not on Joseph’s side, but Matthew, the youngest, was just seven years old. There was stilltime. But he had to work hard, and he had to work fast.
The lift stopped on the forty-ninth floor. Both passengers stood in a moment’s subdued silence.
Jake picked up his bag as the lift door opened.
‘Mr Campbell-Ross,’ Derrick turned to face him with a look of innocent sincerity. ‘I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity.’
Jake stared at this kid, who came from one of the most deprived estates in East London and was starting out with the sort of disadvantages Jake could only imagine – a kid who might one day not make it into work because of a stray bullet, or a random, unprovoked knife attack, or just because he looked at someone the wrong way, or someone held a grudge because he wouldn’t join a gang and worked for a living instead. Despite all that, somebody in the company had recognised his potential, and had given him the break he deserved.
‘You know what,’ said Jake. ‘I want to shake your hand.’ He felt like the boy deserved a medal.
Derrick looked positively stunned. He tentatively reached for Jake’s bandaged hand.
Jake gave him a strong handshake, ignoring his protesting hand. ‘What are you studying at night school?’
Derrick didn’t hesitate. ‘Law,’ he said. ‘I want to be a corporate lawyer.’
‘That’s a good choice, Derrick. The board likes its members to come from a legal background.’
He could tell this was news to Derrick – very good news. The boy was obviously aiming for the top. And Jake wished him every success; he deserved it. If he’d known how many graduates had applied for the position he held, he would not be thanking Jake but congratulating himself, as he should be.
‘Derrick, there’s something I want you to do for me,’ said Jake before vacating the lift. Jake wanted to see Derrick first thingin the morning. He expected Derrick on the forty-ninth floor at nine o’clock prompt. ‘I’ve got something I want to give you before I leave.’
The lift door closed on a bemused seventeen-year-old who would have to wait a full twelve hours to find out what Mr Campbell-Ross, who sat on the board of directors, had to give to a porter.
Chapter 17
Jake took his bag and vacated the lift, refusing Derrick’s offer to carry the bag to his door. But the instant he saw the door to his apartment, the door he had not walked through in almost six months, he regretted his decision to stay there. He turned back to the lift, intending to leave, but the door was already closed, the lift gone.
He realised that he should have stayed overnight at an airport hotel, but Marcus was on his mind, along with the possibility, however remote, that he might have followed him to the airport. It was a ridiculous thought that Marcus might knock on his hotel room door, but Jake just didn’t want to risk it.
Booking a hotel in London at the last minute had just seemed too much effort. He was exhausted. This had seemed the easiest option – until now. The only thing keeping his finger from the lift button was the thought of Derrick and what he intended to do in the morning before he left. And besides, he had to get things in perspective; there were certainly worse places he could be spending the night.
An unexpected pang of guilt struck Jake for leaving Marcus behind. It was not helped by the fact that quite inexplicably, and despite everything, a miniscule part of him wished Marcus wasthere with him. Just then, Jake didn’t relish the idea of spending the night in the apartment alone.
Jake opened his wallet to take out the small electronic key card. Why he had kept it all this time, he didn’t know. He didn’t think he’d use the apartment again.
As Jake slipped the electronic card out of his wallet, another piece of paper came out with it and floated to the floor. Jake bent down and picked it up. He stared at the eight-digit number on the dog-eared, plain white card; a number he knew off by heart. It was Aubrey’s phone number. Although Jake had no choice but to spend the night in the apartment alone, the little card had reminded him that at least there was somebody he could talk to. Or could he?
Jake had thought that Aubrey would be sympathetic, would show some understanding for what he was going through and his reasons for leaving the company. But it seemed not. Jake had to accept the fact that Aubrey’s loyalty was to William first and foremost. Jake was hugely disappointed to learn that because of his decision to leave the company, he appeared to have lost his mentor and friend. That was an unexpected blow that Jake had not foreseen. Aubrey hadn’t been in contact with him these last few months. That wasn’t like him. They had always chatted often. The first he’d seen of him was when Aubrey had turned up at his house unexpectedly after he’d cut his hands. But then Jake realised he hadn’t exactly gone out of his way to stay in contact either.
He tucked the small white card back into his wallet. Even though he desperately missed Aubrey, he knew it was probably best he didn’t phone him, didn’t tell him where he was at this very moment – it might just give him completely the wrong idea.
