Memoria (12 page)

Frank stood staring at her. She did the same; her eyes betrayed neither fear nor surprise, only curiosity.

"Pardon me," he croaked and squeezed past her into the hall. "I'm a friend of
Barney
's
. Hope I didn't scare you too much."

The girl waved him aside and locked herself in the bathroom.

Idiot. Frank returne
d to his room and sat on the cou
ch. What an idiot! He shook his head.
All that was missing was to have told her his name and life story.

Water ran in the show
er. Frank leaned against the cou
ch, his eyes getting used to the darkness. Soon he could see the mess
Barney
called his room. I
n the corner under the wardrobe
lay bagfuls of stuff.
The desk under the window was heaped high with paperwork and manuals. A soft chair by t
he door was buried under heap
s of clothes.

He wondered what kind of family the girl was to
Barney
. Was she the Maggie?

The water stopped trickl
ing. For a second,
light issued from
the door
way
, then it was dark again.

"Did he say when he'd be back?" he h
eard from the hall. A silhouette
appeared in the doorway.

She had
a nice voice, Frank
decided
as he rose to greet her.

"Said he'd take the car back."

"Good," the silhouette disappeared
.

Frank looked out. The girl walked into the kitchen and turned on the light.

"Are you hungry?"

Frank listened to his stomach rumbling. He wouldn't be able
to sleep now. Plates started cli
nking in the kitchen. A coffee machine hummed.

"I am," he entered the kitchen. "Are you Maggie?"

They
made one another's acqu
aintance to the humming of the coffee machine. Her name was indeed Maggie, and she was
Barney
's daughter.
And over the coffee, Frank discovered that Maggie worked for Memoria as Mr. Binelli's secretary.

"I used to know a girl who worked for them too."

Immediately he cursed his
loose
tongue.

He rem
embered the argument between
Max
and
Barney
. The picture became clearer. His coach wanted to use Maggie to get access to Memoria's files.
She could gain entry to their office and copy the information stored on the device. The risk
—
primarily for the girl
—
was enormous.

"What's her name?" Maggie opened the fridge, took a bowlful of salad off the shelf and placed it
in front of
Frank.

The juicy radishes mixed with lettuce and slices of bell pepper looked too good to resist. It took all
of
Frank's willpower not to wolf it down: he hadn't eaten anything for twenty-four hours.

"I meet a lot of people there. Wonder if we both know her?" Maggie added looking down at him.

N
onchalantly, Frank picked up a
fork
and poked the salad.

"Nah. She quit. Doesn't work there any more."
He lifted
the first forkful
and started m
unching. "That's good," he managed with a full mouth.

"Good. I'll fix some pasta for you now," Maggie turned back to the fridge.

"Please don't...
no need
to bother," Frank started.

She turned and gave him a meaningful glare. So like
Barney
.

"
I'll take offence. And so will Daddy."

He choked on a half-chewed lettuce leaf.

"Joke," her thin lips stretched into a smile. "Daddy promised to break your neck, right?"

Frank nodded.

"I wasn't asleep. I heard you two come in." Maggie retrieved a plastic box from the fridge and put it into the microwave. "This is what he promises to do to all men younger
than himself
who happen to walk within handshak
ing
distance
of
me." She reached for a cheese grater above the stove.

"Why would he?" Frank returned to his salad.

"He still thinks I'm his little girl. He calls me his teddy bear." She sighed and started grating some cheese over a bowl.

"I think, we remain forever children in our parents' eyes," with this platitude, Frank shoved the rest of the food into his mouth and pushed the bowl away.

"Yes, but
...
" the girl put the grater aside, spooned the pasta onto a plate and topped it with
the
grated cheese.
"Unfortunately, sooner or later their children grow
up.
Then they have their own ideas
on
how to go about their wishes. True or not?" She put the dirty bowl into the sink.

"Sure," Frank chuckled and wrapped some spaghetti around his fork. "Same old story."

"Now don't you start!" he heard reproach in her voice. "I've been reading a lot about it lately."

"It can't be that bad, surely!"

Maggie sat on a stool by his side, propped her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands. Her eyes were sad now.

"Never mind," she forced a smile. "I like watching men eat. You mind?"

Frank mumbled that no, he didn't, munched his way through the first mouthful of pasta and told her that he'd never eaten anything be
tter than cheese pasta Maggie Dou
g
gan
-style.

"What about the salad, then!" she protested with a smile.

"The salad was great, the coffee, amazing
...
" Frank paused thinking of a good way to finish the compliment.

"Yeah right! Eat now before it gets cold. Don't mind me," Maggie rose.

"Mind if I ask a question," Frank looked around the kitchen. The fork in his hand outlined the room. "Is t
his your family's
...
" Embarrass
ment flooded
over
him but he went on. "You don't seem to be afraid of me. You're giving me food. What if I'm a criminal? A murderer on the run?"

Maggie laughed, then abruptly stopped, growing serious.

"If Daddy brought you here, then it was the right thing to do."

She disappeared in
to
the bathroom leaving Frank alone with his thoughts and his pasta. When she reemerged, he'd already polished off his dinner and thanked her for it,
bringing a
bout
a burst
of happy laughter. Sh
e seemed to laugh a lot and with gusto.

Frank gave her a lost smile. Maggie pointed at the sunrise in the window and said that his dinner was rather like an early breakfast. She was due to work soon.

"Daddy will be back any time. I've got to cook something for him."

"What?" it dawned on Frank that
Barney
wouldn't be amused if there was no food in the house left for him.
"You...
I didn't
...
"

"Don't worry," Maggie touched his shoulder. "I'll fix him something."

She opened the fridge and produced a can of milk and a plastic box wit
h some veg. Then she reached into
a cupboard by the stove for a packet of corn flakes. "There! Daddy calls this mix a dead migrant's breakfast.
"

Frank barely had time to give a sigh of relief when the front door slammed.
Barney
walked into the kitchen in his coat, gently
kissed his daughter and sat on
a stool, casting angry glances at Frank.

As he ate, he told Maggie how his shift had gone, calling he
r teddy bear three times, twice
his darling sunshine, and only once his daughter. He kept casting Frank unhappy glares without saying a word.

Maggie pretended she didn't notice the way her father treated his guest. Smiling, she went about cleaning the kitchen. Frank wanted to offer his help but he stopped himself
just
in time in order not to annoy
Barney
. What if he see
s it as an attempt at courtship or accuse him of attempting to seduce or even rape her? He could easily break Frank's head with those fists of his. He surely knew how to use
a
knife, too. Frank glanced at the clock
above
the fridge. Half past six, and
Max
hadn't arrived yet. What if something had
happened
?

Barney
, too, squinted at the clock but didn't say anything finishing his corn flakes.
Finally,
Maggie left them.
She went back to
her room where she hummed something
as she readied herself for
work.

Frank didn't have time to realize what had happened. Strong arms grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. The edge of the table pressed into his stomach, and
Barney
's face, distorted with anger, rose before his eyes.

"Let me go," Frank hissed, pushing with his palms against the table.

"You woke her up!"
Barney
bared his teeth.

"You idiot! She woke herself up! All I did was introduce myself."

Maggie's humming approached. Footsteps resounded behind Frank's back.
Barney
let go of him and smiled
sweetly to his daughter in the
hall. He picked up his spoon and got busy scraping the remaining soggy corn flakes off the bottom of
the
bowl.

The moment Maggie disappeared in her room, he clenched his fists again and leaned forward.

"I didn't wake her up!" Frank whispered. "
Barney
, get some sense. She has no idea why I'm here. She simply gave me something to eat."

The humming stopped.

"Hey
, I'm off!" they heard her voice in the hall.

Frank turned
to take
a look. Maggie was wearing a stern trouser suit. A thin strip o
f white satin was tied under her
collar in an elegant knot secured with a silvery brooch. Her face was almost devoid of makeup, and her hair was done in an elaborate s
ide wave. No more teddy-bear pa
jama girl: in her place, a businesslike corporate
st
a
ff worker
worthy of
the name of her worldwide employer.

She turned away to take a coat off the rack, and Frank suppressed a scream, feeling
Barney
's toe buried in
his sh
i
n.

"Daddy? Can your friend see me to the car?"

All three of them were
smiling, only Frank did so through the agonizing tears that filled his eyes. His leg hurt like hell now.

"Wait a sec, teddy
bear
. We need to tell you something."
Barney
puffed out his cheeks and gave Frank another glare. "Come here for a sec."

The girl came closer. He leaned under the table, dragged out a stool and placed it next to his. "Take a seat."

"Dad. I'll be late. What is it?"

Frank wiped his tears and gave her a nonchalant smile moving his stool closer to the wall and away from her.

"Can't it wait till the evening?" Magg
ie
pursed her lips,
shifting her gaze from her father to Frank and then back.

"Teddy, please. It won't
take
long,"
Barney
took the girl's hand stroking it.

"Is it so important?"

"It is."

"All right then," she sat on
the stool.

Frank surreptitiously rubbed his
smarting
leg.
Barney
cast him another glance, took in a
lungful of air but didn't
utter a word
and let the air out.

"
Daddy," Maggie looked at him acc
usingly.
"
Q
uit your world conspiracy nonsense. When you look so indecisive, it's always because you and Uncle
Max
have got something on your mind
s
. Come on, spill the beans
. You've got ten minutes."