The Inheritance: A feisty, giggle-inducing romance Read online

She’s the first person who seems to really understand my problem. Elly has managed to make an accurate summary of my life so far. She never met Dad, but she seems to have empathised perfectly with my situation. I don’t reply, instead I focus on the list of new books that have arrived this morning. We have at least twelve boxes to open and I don’t want my private life to overwhelm me.

  “Well, perhaps Jamie will be very different to your father. Maybe he thinks that your father was unfair to you and now he feels just as awkward as you do about the whole situation.” Elly carried on talking optimistically.

  No, she’s definitely wrong.

  “Of course, Elly. We’ll talk about it in a week or so. I just hope he’s going to keep away from me for the coming year or he’s going to get hurt. I don’t like having to share my apartment with anyone, let alone him.”

  “So are you two done chit-chatting? Come to my office, we have a little briefing to do.” Our manager, Jasper, is leaning out from his office at the far end of the bookshop.

  Yeah, it’s best to focus on work. It’s a lot more rewarding than whinging about the ridiculous situation that I’m in. Elly and I dash into Jasper’s office. After a few years working with Jasper, we have learnt that making him wait when he calls us for a briefing is never a good idea. Jasper is a very meticulous, impatient man, but he is also a fair, honest manager. Everything that I know about book shops and how to manage them, I’ve learned from him. When I saw him for the first time during my job interview, his frowning, strict manner and his sarcasm almost scared me. I struggled to understand whether some of his character traits were pretentious or whether he really was like that. After a while, Elly – who has worked at the book shop two years longer than me – taught me a little trick to help me understand Jasper. If he frowns and a few horizontal lines appear on his forehead, then he’s joking; if his wrinkles appear vertically between his eyebrows, then he’s deadly serious.

  “We have to get started.” Jasper says as soon as we enter the room.

  Vertical wrinkles.

  Elly and I glance at each other, she moves a strand of hair behind her ear and looks back at Jasper. In the meantime, he has sat down in a comfortable armchair immersed in his own thoughts. I’ve had enough of awkward office meetings, they have not been useful in the slightest recently.

  “We have to begin to get ready for our next book presentation. I’ve already been in touch with the publisher: Martin Goodwin’s new book will be published in less than two months. The first book presentation, the very first one…” he says, stressing the word first. “… will be here at our book shop. It’s going to be a huge event and we have to make sure that we have everything prepped beforehand. It will have to be perfect!”

  “Hang on, did you just say Martin Goodwin?! The Martin Goodwin? He’s fascinating, his eyes seem to penetrate you, his writing skills are incredible! His last book sold millions of copies in just two weeks. It shot into the bestsellers’ list. Do you mean that Martin Goodwin?” Elly asks, astounded.

  “Yeah, that’s him, so you’d better start doing some hard work from now.”

  “That’s great news, we’ll do our best to make it memorable!” Elly replies excitedly. For a split second, she almost looks like a soldier saluting a superior officer. I wish I had the same enthusiasm right now, I’m exhausted. I haven’t slept much. I have way too many thoughts in my head.

  “I count on you, girls.” Jasper says, while he stands up clumsily from his armchair. Jasper is a little overweight but he’s quite good looking; he has grey, well-combed hair, is clean shaven and always wears a blue or grey suit. Only those who know Jasper well, like myself, Elly and Jasper’s wife Kate, are aware of his clumsy side, because he’s such a perfectionist at work. For this reason, Jasper’s wife has given him the nickname ‘Swiss clock’ and I think it suits him well. Jasper can be very demanding at work, but he’s also a lovely, sympathetic manager.

  I’m about to follow Elly outside Jasper’s office, but he asks me if I can stick around for a moment longer.

  “Of course, Jass?”

  “I would like you to take care of another issue, Ashley.” he explains. “I’ve decided to turn our book shop into a book bar. I’ve already found someone who will take care of the café, but I want our shop to be something slightly different to the usual places. I don’t want to limit myself to coffees, sandwiches and croissants. I want to offer my customers something special. I’m giving you this man’s contact details, Mr Purfoy. You’ll have to agree a series of proposals with him. He has the cooking skills; you know all our regular customers. All you guys have to do is reach an agreement and let me know about it as soon as possible. My aim is to open our bar area in the next two months, so everything needs to be ready by then. Do you think you can do it?”

  “Yes, no problem, Jass.” I answer quickly. I’m honoured to be entrusted with this task; I have to do my best to not disappoint Jasper.

  When I see Elly at the till, she’s still excited about our future book presentation.

  “I still can’t believe that I’m going to meet Martin Goodwin!”

  “It’s going to happen in two months, Elly, but only if we do our job well.” I answer and then I re-focus on the list of the new book arrivals.

  “I know… but I’m going to meet Martin Goodwin!” She’s literally day-dreaming about this writer. It’s going to be difficult to bring her back to planet Earth this morning. She looks even more attractive when she’s in a good mood and this has caused us some delays today, because a couple of guys chatted her up towards the beginning of our shift hoping to exchange phone numbers.

  I have a lot to think about – the Lighthouse is one of the few independent book shops and it’s also one of the most famous ones in the city. Jasper has always wanted to make his shop a leader in the field and a lot of writers, publishers and keen readers know our book shop. Deciding on a decent menu for our future café is going to be a difficult task. I have to begin working on this sooner rather than later.

  *

  The rest of the morning at the book shop was very productive, the afternoon hours are always more tiring. During this time, the majority of our customers visit the book shop and the very little free time that remains is used trying to list and shelve all the new arrivals. Despite the crowd of customers, Elly still looks excited about the arrival of Martin Goodwin. When Elly finally manages to get rid of them politely, I rush to lock our front door. It’s already gone 8 p.m. and I’m so tired.

  “I can’t wait to catch up on some sleep soon.” Elly stretches after counting the money from the till. “It’s been a long day.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it, I wish I looked forward to going home as much as you do.”

  “I almost forgot you have a guest. Well, maybe you’re lucky and Jamie has gone to bed already.”

  “At 8 p.m.?” Elly bursts out laughing when she sees my incredulous expression.

  “I was just trying to make you feel better. No, I don’t think that’s likely, but who knows.”

  I decide to ignore Elly for the sake of my sanity, I collect her coat and then I put mine on. The air is a lot cooler at night now, and I can’t wait to get out of my high heels and sink into my favourite sofa to enjoy the rest of the night. I leave Elly at the underground station and then make my way home. I wonder if Jamie is already in his room: I really hope that’s the case and that he doesn’t show his face until tomorrow. Is it too much to hope for a peaceful night?

  *

  “Good evening, Miss Morgan.” Gregory greets me from his station. He will probably stay in there until morning. I never understand how Gregory and Ben decide on their shifts; it seems that Ben hardly ever works here.

  “Good evening, Gregory. Is Mr Standley here already?”

  “Yes, he arrived about an hour ago.”

  That’s good. An hour is enough time for him to prepare some food and eat it in his room. I feel better after this news. I head to the lift, I can’t wait to take off my shoes. I didn�
�t expect to work so long today.

  As soon as I open the front door, I hear some soft muttering. I freeze in my tracks. The lights in the living room are turned on, but Jamie is not around. I take my coat off, while I try to figure out where the voices are coming from. Maybe it’s just my neighbour’s TV and I’m becoming paranoid. But then why are the lights in the living room turned on? Jamie will have to get used to economising very quickly, because I won’t have access to Dad’s account until this year is over. Plus, he has no right to use the living room however he wants. I walk towards the staircase to go upstairs, and I realise that the muttering comes from my father’s office. What the hell is happening in my apartment?

  I sneak to the door and open it slowly. In the office, Jamie is busy talking to three other men.

  “Introducing a new product may be risky, you know, but I think it’s important to take risks sometimes.” the grey haired man says. He’s holding a cigar in his fingers. He’s smoking in my apartment. He gets up from the armchair when he’s finished talking.

  “Okay then, here’s the deal. You give us a detailed description of your idea by next week and we’ll make a final decision, okay?” The voice of the second man comes from behind the door. He must be standing behind it. Jamie looks happy, despite his slightly tired expression.

  “Okay, let’s keep each other posted then, guys. Thanks for coming here today.” Jamie speaks very confidently. Right. So now he even feels free to invite his buddies to my apartment?

  How the hell dare he act like he owns the apartment? This is my place! I fling the door open while the three men are preparing to leave. I’m furious. Their eyes open wide immediately. These faces remind me of something, but I’m so tired that I don’t intend to rack my brain to remember where I saw them.

  “Ashley!” Jamie sounds surprised. “You’re back already?” he asks, sounding very confused. What’s the deal here? Does he think that he can do anything he wants while I’m away? Does he think that I won’t find out what he does?

  “It’s nine o’clock, of course I’m back!” I glare at him. He knows that I’m really annoyed.

  “Okay, guys,” Jamie tries to take control of the situation by acting casually. “You remember Ashley, right?” The three middle-aged men stare at me like I was the last example of a female human being in the world. They smile and begin to laugh nervously. What on earth is going on?

  “Of course we remember her. It’s really good to see you again, Ashley. You’re a pretty grown-up woman now!”

  “Yeah, she was so little when I last saw her. She was a little chubby and an avid eater, just like her father!” the second man comments, the one with the cigar in his hand.

  “Do you remember us?” the third man asks, and he makes a step towards me. I look at them hesitantly. It feels like I unwittingly stepped into a lions’ cage. It’s not like me to fall prey to these traps, but I’m so tired and all I want to do is to take off my heels and crash on the sofa. Damn you, Jamie! He’s sneaking away while I’m distracted by these three men.

  “Erm, I’m not sure I remember…” I mutter. My brain feels like soup. I know that I’ve seen them before, but I don’t remember where.

  “Do you not remember your father’s best friends? Nathan was an outstanding man.” The third man carries on talking.

  Oh, damn! Now I remember: the Morgan & Hall management committee are in front of me, in my apartment at 9 p.m.! I think I might pass out! The last time I saw them was at my father’s funeral, where I managed to sneak away and avoid their condolences. I can’t think of any excuse to escape this time.

  “Ah, yes, of course I remember!” Why the hell are they here, at this time of night? I glance beyond the three of them, looking desperately for Jamie. He seems to have vanished and now I’m trapped with these three who won’t stop staring at me. It feels a bit like when I was younger and I used to go to my father’s office. There, I would sometimes meet his three colleagues and they would annoy me with their boring jokes and dumb smiles. How did I not recognise them straight away?

  I should have run away as soon as I saw them in the office with Jamie. That was silly of me.

  “It’s been so long! It would be great to catch up with you sometime, Ashley.” the man with the cigar says. What was his name? Elton, maybe. “Mr Standley told us that you’re going to take part in the management of the company over the coming year. We’re very happy to hear this.” Yeah, of course you are.

  “Aha.” That’s all I manage to say. I’m still mad at Jamie for having set this up without letting me know.

  “Okay, guys. It’s getting a little late and Ashley has to get up early for work tomorrow. Thanks for coming, let’s get in touch next week.” Jamie speaks from behind me. I freeze, I almost can’t believe my ears: he’s acting like he owns the apartment. He’s inviting his guests to leave for the night. He’ll pay for this.

  “What were those men doing here?” I shout at him as soon as he closes the door.

  “It was just a briefing, a meeting.” He speaks calmly while he heads to the kitchen. “We have to start thinking about preparing for Christmas and Valentine’s Day; we’re late.”

  I follow him to the kitchen, where he begins to fiddle with my pans and cutlery. I want to see how far he’s going to push me.

  “I don’t remember giving you permission to set up meetings in my apartment.” I say. He turns round, looking a little irritated.

  “You should thank me for working independently; you should have been there tonight.” Jamie points out, raising his voice.

  “How could I be there if you didn’t even tell me about the meeting?”

  “The meeting happens every year in this apartment, on the same date and at the same time.”

  “I don’t give a damn about traditions, this is my apartment and I don’t want to have to deal with strangers who smoke cigars and chat at 9 p.m., after a whole day at work. You’re a guest here and you’re not welcome. You have no right to use the apartment however you like. Is that clear?”

  Jamie glares at me and his eyes are so full of anger that I feel threatened for a split second.

  “Do you even realise what you're saying?” His tone is quieter again, but still full of anger.

  “Of course I do, you're the one who doesn’t know what he’s saying. I think I was pretty clear when I said that you weren’t allowed anywhere other than your room and the kitchen.”

  “You never mentioned the office. Stop shouting at me, you're acting like a kid!” Right. That's way beyond the limit now. How dare he offend me like that? I hate him! I hate him for stealing what should have been mine, effortlessly. I hate him for the way he behaves. I just hate him, full stop.

  I decide that it’s not worth wasting my time having an argument with somebody who won’t listen to me. The last few sleepless nights have suddenly caught up with me. I should be enjoying my new life, but life would be too boring if it didn’t have some unnecessary twists and turns, right?

  I sigh noisily, I take a yoghurt from the fridge – that’s all I can face eating after yet another argument with him – and I head upstairs straight into my room. I need to get away from this nightmare.

  I have the feeling that Jamie is still looking at me while I walk up the stairs, but I don’t care. May he drown in his own sense of guilt!

  “And make sure to turn off the lights when you’re done using a room! I can't afford to pay ridiculous bills!” I shout from upstairs, then I slam the door behind me. Sharing the apartment will cost me a fortune!

  When I finally kick off my heels and lay in bed, still fully dressed, I’m so exhausted that everything begins to spin. I slip into an oblivious, dreamless stupor without even touching my yoghurt.

  *

  The following morning, loud knocking on my door wakes me up with a start. In my dream, the knocking was caused by stones being thrown right at my face, but as soon as my brain begins to function again, the fear disappears. Although I now know that the knocking is nothing to w
orry about, I sit up on my bed, still confused. It’s 8:10 already and I’m going to be so late for work!

  I leap out of bed and I’m about to go to the bathroom, when the knocking freezes me. I know who’s knocking, and I don’t want to start off the day seeing his annoying face. I want to ignore him, that’s what I’d like to do, but his knocking has become too insistent; I decide to give in and open the door.

  Jamie is standing in front of me, as I was expecting. He’s wearing a pair of dark trousers and a white shirt with the first three buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up on his muscular forearms. He’s also holding a tray – which I wasn't expecting. He has prepared some breakfast for me, and somehow I feel tempted to accept the offer.

  “I’m sorry,” he says in a serious tone. His dark eyes are staring at me, they look sad. “I think I might have exaggerated last night.”

  Exaggerated? He’ll need to serve me breakfast for a whole year to convince me that he should be forgiven.

  “Is this your way of telling me that you will try your best not to invite any strangers into my apartment without me knowing?” I ask, crossing my arms on my chest. I lean against the door and stare into his eyes. I’m enjoying this moment, especially because it seems that he’s struggling to apologise.

  “No, I’m just trying to apologise for having raised my voice yesterday. I was tired and I couldn’t think straight. I don’t think I should apologise for the meeting.” he says. His words leave me speechless. How can he still be convinced that he’s right?

  I couldn’t have had a worse start to the day. I step back, taking refuge in my room again, and I slam the door in his face. I don’t care if the coffee is now soaking his white shirt. I can’t deny that his grumbling noises behind the closed door give me satisfaction. I’ll try to enjoy the little things today.

  4

  “Isn’t he just beautiful?” Elly asks me. It’s lunchtime, and she’s waving a photo of Martin Goodwin in front of my eyes.

  “Yeah, he’s alright.” I mutter. His pose and his eyes suggest that he is a very charismatic person. His books are all very intriguing, and I have no doubt that he’s an interesting man. But I’m not as obsessed as Elly. The idea that he’ll be visiting our book shop soon doesn’t excite me that much.