‘I’ll be returning to London within the next few weeks. Please open up the flat and have it cleaned thoroughly and prepared for residency. I’d like the interior doors, ceilings, windows and skirtings given a fresh coat of cream paint. I’ll be in touch nearer the date,’ she said briskly as the driver turned left onto Park Avenue towards the rental apartment she now no longer considered to be home.
‘Why?’ demanded Jazzy, tearfully staring at her father in horror.
‘These things happen, you know that,’ Des said wearily. ‘Lots of your friends have parents who’ve done the same. This is Manhattan. It goes on. You’ve seen it often enough. I didn’t murder anyone,’ he said defensively.
‘But you never seemed unhappy. You did things together all the time. You get on well. Mom always supports you,’ his daughter remonstrated indignantly.
‘Jazzy, this isn’t the time or the place to go into it,’ Des protested. He started to cough, and she looked scared.
‘Do you want a nurse?’ she demanded. He shook his head.
‘Don’t panic, it’s just a cough,’ he said reassuringly when he caught his breath.
‘Do you think Mom will divorce you?’ she asked miserably.
‘Right now it’s on the cards, I’d say,’ he answered truthfully. ‘But perhaps when things have calmed down and she has time to think, and not act emotionally, we might be able to salvage our marriage. The most important thing for you to know is that we both love you very much, and that will never change.’
‘Yeah well right this minute I think you are the biggest asshole going,’ Jazzy said furiously. ‘Just when I was like, totally happy with my life, you ruin it for me. What a bummer, Dad. What a bummer!’
‘I surely can’t argue with that,’ Des grimaced. ‘I can’t argue with that at all.’
‘What are Jackson’s parents going to think?’ Jazzy raged. ‘They’re very conservative.’
Frankly, I couldn’t care less, he wanted to say, irritated that, as usual with Jazzy, it was me, me, me.
‘It will blow over,’ he muttered.
‘Yeah well not in time for Christmas. They are supposed to be coming to New York and I was going to ask Mom to invite them over for dinner. That’s so not going to happen now.’ Jazzy burst into fresh tears.
‘Look, we were thinking of going to London for Christmas anyway. I don’t want to worry you but I’ve lost money with Bernie Madoff. We’re going to have to cut back and tighten our belts considerably.’ Des reached out and grasped her hand.
‘Are we poor?’ she exclaimed, horrified. ‘Are we going skiing in Aspen even?’
‘No, Aspen’s out this year.’ He closed his eyes, exhausted.
‘Omigod! We are poor!’ Jazzy felt sick to her stomach. This was the worst day of her entire life. Thank God she had rich grandparents to fall back on if the worst came to the worst. That at least was something.
‘If you would please transfer this amount from our joint account into this other account. Our wealth manager has advised us to do so for tax reasons.’ Colette slid the teller her account number and a signed withdrawal docket.
‘Certainly, Mrs Williams.’ The teller keyed in the account numbers and moments later handed her the stamped stub.
‘I also wish to pay off the balance of my card from the joint account.’ Colette put her Platinum card under the glass partition.
‘No problem.’ He tapped away on his computer and returned the card. ‘Anything else, ma’am?’
‘No, that’s it. Thank you.’ Colette slipped her card back into her Gucci leather wallet.
‘Have a nice day,’ he said before turning his attention to his next customer.
‘Indeed I will,’ muttered Colette, hurrying out to the car. ‘Next stop Mercedes Benz.’
‘My folks might be divorcing.’ Jazzy cuddled against her boyfriend while they sat on the sofa having a pre-dinner beer. She had ordered Indian takeout because it was his favourite.
‘That’s the pits. Why?’ Jackson said, surprised. He’d thought Jazzy’s parents were a cool couple and he was impressed especially with Jazzy’s mother, who was a very cultured lady. The gallery she ran was ultra exclusive. His parents had checked it out online and were very happy with what they saw.
‘My dad’s having an affair. He was with the other woman when he had his heart attack down in Battery Park City. She works in finance too.’
Jackson gave a long low whistle. ‘Badass!’
She longed to tell him the even worse news about her father’s financial losses but that was a step too far. She didn’t want to scare Jackson off completely. He was the nicest boyfriend she had ever had. He didn’t do drugs; he was generous and thoughtful, unlike some of her exes who were tight with money, letting her pay when they were on dates. If Jackson left her she would be devastated.
‘Would you ever cheat on me?’ She raised tearstained eyes to him.
‘Nevah, evah,’ he said in the soft Bostonian twang she loved.
‘Are you sure?’ she probed, wishing she could believe him.
‘I aam! Absolutely,’ Jackson assured her with all the fervour of youthful principle as he held her in his arms.
‘So I’ll see you tomorrow then,’ Hilary said comfortingly. She had just emailed Colette her flight details and had got an instant phone call back.
‘There’ll be a car and a driver waiting at JFK.
