Second Chances (3 page)

Carefully
shutting the door behind her, Allegra sat on the sofa and listened to the sounds of the city at night, thinking about Jackson Flye’s words. Was she ready for love? She didn’t know, but it would be nice to be in love again. To have someone who was in love with her. She couldn’t even remember what it was like.

Slowly,
she got up, tidied the room, washed out the wine glasses, switched off the lights and got ready for bed. Pausing at the doorway of her own room, she turned and went instead into the children’s empty bedroom, climbed into Daisy’s bed and, breathing in the beautiful baby smell of her youngest daughter on the pillow, closed her eyes and missed her children.

Chapter Two

LIZ WAS SEETHING. What was she going to do now? The seminar was in two days’ time, how on Earth could she find a replacement actor in time?

‘Clive, look, you’ve really screwed me around,’ she said through gritted teeth, as Clive squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. ‘God, I need a drink.’ She pulled a tiny silver hipflask out of her top drawer and took a swig.

‘The bottom line is that I don’t know who else to call,’ she told him. ‘Now that you’ve buggered up my schedule with this other project you’d forgotten you’d committed to, you’ve got to find someone to take your place. I can’t go up there in front of the top 30 senior executives of Buckland Corporation and no actor to oversee the role-play workshops. Allegra’s going to have her hands full running the whole event anyway; I can’t ask her to take the workshops on well. Anyway, it needs to be a bloke. These CEOs and vice-presidents find it hard enough to take anyone without a dick seriously in a business sense; stick a woman up there for role-play games and we might as well re-enact The World of Suzie Wong.’

She
slammed her hipflask back into her drawer and buzzed her PA, Rose. ‘Give Mr Mayhew access to the conference room, please. He’ll need a phone, a large pot of extra-strong coffee and a pair of stainless steel underpants, because if he doesn’t find me a replacement actor by the end of business today, I’m going to neuter him.’

Clive
got to his feet. He wisely guessed that asking Liz to arrange for a sandwich as well as the coffee would be a bad move, and went into the spacious conference room at Apex PR to start calling every bloke with a pulse that he could think of. At this point, he’d take the first person to say yes, and so would Liz.

Back
in her office, Liz stalked the length of the room, back and forth, back and forth. What if Clive couldn’t find anyone? The upcoming seminar was not the biggest event she’d tackled, but it was certainly the most lucrative. In addition to its primary role as a public relations specialist, Apex had quietly branched out into corporate training seminars aimed at senior executives from Western companies, looking to do business in Asia.

So
far, all her clients had been American and, Liz thought, God knows they needed all the help they could get in terms of accommodating local Asian practices, cultures and sensibilities. Some of the guys who walked into the training sessions were unbelievable; she had honestly never thought such bloated, egotistical jerks existed outside the worst, most clichéd movies Hollywood could produce.

But
time and again, they proved her wrong. Yet, thanks to her no-nonsense approach, her refusal to take any of the misogynistic shit they handed her and, most of all, because her methods garnered solid results, Apex’s reputation in the field grew. Allegra was the perfect foil to Liz; she soothed and smoothed over any ruffled feathers, somehow convinced their rich and powerful clients through flattery and gentle flirting that yes, of course they were supermen, but here in Asia, things worked differently. And they wanted to make money, didn’t they? So why not relax and concentrate, she cooed, placing her hand on their shoulders and leading them back to their seats.

‘Allegra?’ Liz had called her friend. ‘That giant fool Clive has really screwed us this time. Turns out he forgot he’d signed a contract for another project before he agreed to do the Buckland event with us, so now we have no one to oversee the role-play workshops. What are we going to do?’

‘For a start, take me off the bloody speakerphone, you know I hate it,’ Allegra said, trying not to panic. ‘And stop shouting at me. It’s not my fault.’

‘I know it’s not your fault, but if I don’t shout at someone now I’m going to go in there and rip his stupid head off his stupid shoulders,’ Liz yelled. ‘Look, if this isn’t fixed within the next three hours, we’re going to have to call Buckland and try to postpone the seminar.’

Allegra’s
heart sank. Postponing on a client as powerful and influential as Buckland was as good as cancelling. Buckland had arranged for its top executives to fly in to Hong Kong from all over the region. And if the event was called off, Apex’s reputation would be ruined.

‘Look, I’m sorry, I just need to blow off some steam. Clive’s trying to find a replacement, but if he can’t, and we do have to cancel, don’t worry — you’ll still get your fee, I’ll make sure of that,’ Liz said. She knew Allegra was living virtually from hand to mouth these days. She’d turned down offers of fulltime work, insisting she was managing, that she couldn’t commit to a permanent position because she wanted to be available for her kids whenever they needed her.

‘Don’t be daft. If the project is canned, Apex doesn’t get paid. So you can’t pay me,’ Allegra said, stiffly. ‘I’ll cope, maybe see if I can do a couple of extra shifts at the magazine or something. Anyway, we’ve still got a few hours before we need to commiserate; maybe Clive will surprise us both and find someone to do the job.’

In
the background, Allegra heard a muffled thump as Clive burst into Liz’s office with a whoop. Her heart leapt; he’d done it, she thought. Sure enough, Clive’s fifteenth call had been the charm. Neither Liz nor Allegra had ever heard of the actor he’d lined up in his stead, Jack something-or-other. Clive fervently assured them that Jack would be great, that he’d eagerly accepted the offer, and had promised to be in Liz’s office first thing in the morning for a briefing.

‘Knowing our luck, he’s only available because no one else will give him a job because he’s totally unemployable,’ Liz said to Allegra, glaring at Clive as she spoke into the phone. ‘And this means you’re going to have to be here at 8am tomorrow. Buggered if I’m going to face this loser on my own, because if he is even half as useless as Clive, I’m going to nut him.’

She
hung up and turned to face Clive. ‘You just bought yourself a stay of execution,’ she told him. ‘But if this Jack person lets me down in any way at all, I will feed your testicles and his through a sieve to my dog. Clear?’

‘Clear,’ said Clive. He had no doubt that Liz would carry out her threat. She was like the Incredible Hulk. You should never make her angry.

Chapter Three

ABI OPENED THE front door, flicked on the sitting room light switch and immediately felt annoyed. Jack was out again, and hadn’t bothered tidying up. She hated mess and disruption; why couldn’t he at least straighten out the cushions on the sofa? And why did he have to leave his clothes on the floor where he had dropped them?

She
hung her coat up on the back of the door, put her bag on the dining room table and began marching around, clearing things away, her irritation mounting. On top of everything else, where the hell was he? Then she saw the message he’d written and taped to bedroom door. He’d gone out to their usual bar to meet some friends and celebrate; would she come join them as soon as she got in?

Abi
ripped the note off the door, crumpled it up and threw it into the bin. He could’ve called, that would have made it easier. Then she wouldn’t have gone all the way to his place, only to find she’d have to go all the way back into town again. What reason did he have to celebrate, anyway?

Half
an hour later, when she was satisfied that the flat was slightly less like a bombsite than it had been when she walked in, she made her way into town and found Jack with three of their friends. He had his arm around one of the girls, but then again, he always had his arm around some girl. Abi knew that was part and parcel of him; he was simply very physically affectionate.

When
he saw her, he leapt to his feet and held his arms out in welcome. Abi saw he was drinking piña coladas again; why couldn’t he have a real man’s drink? She gave him a brief kiss and sat down opposite him.

‘So, what’s the celebration for?’ she asked, waving the waiter away. ‘Won the Mark Six? Discovered oil in the back garden? Don’t tell me you’ve gone and got yourself a real job.’

‘I have! It was all out of the blue, my mate Clive called and set it all up for me. No idea what I’m meant to be doing, but they’re paying me loads, so who cares?’ Jack said, squeezing her hand, smiling happily.

‘Okay, that’s great news, well done. Now just don’t fuck it up the way you’ve fucked up so many other jobs,’ Abi said. She’d been here, done that, so many times with Jack. ‘And I’m not staying; I’m meeting some of my friends for dinner. Are you coming? If you’re not, then I’ll leave now.’

Jack
groaned. ‘But that means you won’t be staying over tonight,’ he said. ‘I have to go meet the head of the company that’s offered me the job for a get-to-know-you drink this evening and in the morning I’ve got to be at their office at 8am.’

‘Well, then it’s probably better that I don’t stay at yours tonight,’ Abi said, crisply, standing up. ‘Otherwise you know we’ll be up all night.’

Jack
grinned, grabbed her in a tight embrace and said, ‘Yes, that was precisely my plan… a big celebration… just you and me.’

Abi
kissed him quickly on the cheek and squirmed out of his grasp. ‘We’ll celebrate another time, okay? Have fun, get to bed early and I’ll call you soon.’

Jack
sat down, looking disappointed as Abi strode out of the bar. Still, she was probably right. He would go and meet the Apex people, make polite conversation for an hour or so, then go back home and try to have an early night. He didn’t want to fuck this job up. Clive had told him that if they liked him, it would probably lead to regular work, and God knows he needed more of that.

Jack
had arrived in Hong Kong at the age of nine when his father was posted to what was then still a British territory. Angry and resentful at being made to leave London and all his friends, Jack had become withdrawn and “difficult” — he couldn’t seem to fit in at school, he bullied other kids and was himself bullied, got into trouble with teachers and was eventually picked up for underage drinking at a Wanchai bar when he was just 14.

At
their wits’ end, his parents sent him to military college back in the UK, hoping the regimented discipline enforced there would set him straight. Of course, no one bothered to ask Jack what was wrong. All they saw was a trouble-maker. With no one to talk to, no one to give him a chance, he careened from one fistfight to another, and finally walked out of school on the day of his 18th birthday.

The
next two years were spent working his way around Europe. Feeling free for the first time to make his own decisions, Jack happily travelled from one city to the next, taking whatever work he could find — in bars, restaurants, fastfood joints — to earn enough to feed himself and buy a ticket to his next destination.

He
discovered he had a real knack for talking to people; all the communication problems of his childhood simply disappeared as soon as he had no one to answer to but himself. And so it was that a beautiful Spanish girl in Barcelona put the idea of doing something related to the media into his head. ‘Talk to me in Spanish,’ he urged her, as they lay in bed. ‘I don’t care what you talk about; it sounds beautiful whatever you say.’

Daria
had laughed. She sat up, her long dark hair falling across her breasts, and smiled at him. ‘Usted es una gran persona y soy honorado haber encontrado usted. Hasta que vea usted otra vez, usted estará en mis pensamientos y los sueños que esperando la oportunidad de ser vuelto a poner en la forma humana, antes de mí, en su resplandor hermoso,’ she said, stroking his hair.

Jack
grabbed her, pulled her down to him. ‘That was beautiful… what does it mean?’

‘”You are a great person and I am honoured to have been able to meet you. Until I see you again, you will be in my dreams and my thoughts, waiting for the opportunity to again take human form when you will be before me in all your beautiful radiance”,’ Daria said.

‘What do you mean, “until you see me again”? You’re not going anywhere, are you?’ Jack asked, kissing her.

‘Jack… You are nearly 21 years old now. What are you doing with your life to be working in some bar? Have you no plans, no ambition?’ Daria asked, gently.

‘My plan is to make love to you again tonight,’ he said, laughing. ‘What other plan do I need?’

Daria
sat back and regarded him solemnly. ‘Jack, be serious. We are having fun, yes, but there must be more in your life. Now you are 20, soon you will be 25, then 30. Do you have no ideas what you would like to be in your future? You cannot live this way forever.’

Jack
stared at the ceiling. Travelling endlessly, never setting down roots… he did that precisely because he didn’t want to consider the big questions in life. What could he do, anyway? He’d left school without any grades or qualifications. He knew Daria had a point, but he still didn’t want to think about any of it.

‘Querido… my darling… You cannot stay here forever. I know somewhere out there is your destiny and you must go to find it,’ Daria said. ‘I will weep when you leave, and blow kisses to you on the winds. But you must go. Do not stay here much longer, or you will never leave.’

That
night, after Daria had fallen asleep, curled up like a kitten wrapped in white bedsheets, Jack had climbed up onto the roof. As he sat there, smoking, looking at the stars, he decided that if he was going to leave Spain at all, he’d do more than that. Hell, he’d head right over to the other side of the world. He’d always wondered what the sunrises were like there. Now he could find out. But instead of simply travelling aimlessly, he’d go there to study.

Daria
had always loved to listen to him read aloud from his journals. ‘You tell stories so beautifully, you put pictures into my head,’ she would say. Jack had long been fascinated by filmmaking and the media in general; so he applied for a course in digital media at a college in Byron Bay, Australia. He worked nights to pay his fees, learned to surf at the weekends, and fell in love with a beautiful girl from Ireland who’d come to Mullumbimby for the annual Chincogan Festival with her boyfriend, who was taking part in the Chincogan Charge, a race to the top of Mount Chincogan.

Impetuously,
Abi split up with her boyfriend, moved in with Jack, and when he completed his studies, came to Hong Kong to be with him.

But
things didn’t work out like they did in romance novels. Abi had hated Hong Kong from the beginning; the crowds, the noise, the pollution… They were all too much for her. Jack had arrived fully-qualified at the wrong time; all the major satellite broadcast networks had shifted their production bases down to Singapore or Malaysia, where costs were a fraction of what they were in Hong Kong.

But
as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t leave. Not just yet. His mum was undergoing chemotherapy and Jack didn’t want to be too far away from her. Maturity had endowed him with forgiveness and a serenity of spirit; he finally saw that his parents’ move to Hong Kong when he was a child, which had caused him so much grief and trauma, was simply another step in the journey of his life.

So
he and Abi had stayed. Jack had ended up teaching English, dubbing voiceovers for movies, occasionally landing a small acting role, and then got a job hosting a late-night show on the radio. Abi earned what she could as a classroom helper at various kindergartens, before moving into retail as a sales assistant in a designer boutique. Money was tight, and Hong Kong was brutally expensive. Their relationship started to become strained, but Jack was determined to make it work. After all, he owed Abi; she’d given up everything for him.