She cut her eyes at him, but smiled again.
“If you change your mind about talking, I’m a good listener.”
“Thank you, but not right now. Do you have a computer I could use?” she asked, throwing the conversation.
“Sure. Use the one in my office.” He was already pulling her to her feet and leading her to his huge office on the ground floor, near the front door.
“I feel like I’m in the headmaster’s office.” she said, taking in the desk in the middle of the room, bookcases filled with leather bound books and wood panelled walls.
He laughed and with a point towards the computer asked, “That’s the principal right?”
“Principal, yes.”
He turned the computer on and opened an internet tab for her. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me. Do you want coffee?”
“What I would really like is another couple of bottles of this stuff,” she replied, gesturing to her glass. “But I’ll settle for coffee as you’re wearing your disapproving face.”
With a smile and an arched brow but no words, Jim left her to do what she needed to do.
Once her bank details were entered and she was logged in, Tasha accessed her savings account containing thirty thousand pounds. She looked back at her balance when it had said more than a hundred thousand pounds and then at the amount as of today. She really had worked her arse off to get her own car and flat and to have that amount of money stashed for a rainy day, but now her father was going to bugger up her rainy day fund. She had other money, some invested properly with financial people and of course her current account that had more than enough in for her needs and a healthy wad on top, but that wasn’t the point. It wouldn’t last forever and she couldn’t sustain this amount of subsidy so frequently.
She highlighted the transfer button, selected Dan’s details from the regular recipients list and entered the amount, twenty-five thousand pounds and clicked transfer, then the confirm button and suddenly she was looking at a balance of five thousand pounds.
Jim reappeared so she quickly clicked log out and stood up to leave, desperate for him not to know any more than he really needed to. “Are you going to show me your very clean pool then?”
“I would love to. Let me turn off the computer first, but feel free to familiarise yourself with the pool,” he said as she hurried from the office.
He looked at the screen. ‘Are you sure you want to log out?’ it asked. He clicked ‘No’ and skimmed through the details before hitting the print button. He collected the papers off the printer and locked them in his desk drawer before logging her out and shutting the computer down.
He found her standing at the poolside, talking on the phone, still dressed in his shirt and staring at the water.
“Yes Dan, it’s done. See you at the weekend. I love you too, bye.”
“You okay, Tasha?” he asked with what sounded like genuine concern. She nodded but didn’t even looked too convinced herself as he added, “Do you swim?”
“I can swim, but I don’t very often. Usually just when I’m on holiday.”
“Do you fancy a dip?” Before Tasha could answer, Jim’s phone rang. “Two minutes. Hello,” he snapped and immediately softened. “Lizzie, sweetie. I was going to call you tomorrow.” He laughed at whatever Lizzie was saying. “No, I haven’t brought you a present from New York. It was not a vacation, nor a shopping trip.” He laughed again and then became a little more serious. “Why do I pay so much money to your school if they’re not even going to maintain the building? Ridiculous,” he muttered.
Tasha was sat on the poolside, her feet dangling in the water. She smiled as she figured Lizzie was his daughter.
“Sweetie, I have to work tomorrow,” he started and Tasha thought how sweet it was. She actually wanted to spend time with her dad and he was obviously disappointed that he couldn’t see her.
She wondered how it must feel, to know your dad wanted to be with you for no reason beyond the fact he liked you, loved you and wanted to spend time with you. She smiled as she realised Jim was a nice man and a good father.
“Actually, Lizzie why don’t you come over for breakfast and meet a friend of mine and maybe you could show her how to use Daddy’s credit card on Rodeo Drive?” He laughed loudly. “No, darling, she is not your new step-mommy, but she is very nice and I’m very fond of her.”
He looked across at Tasha who was smiling and grimacing at the same time.
“No, it’s fine for your mom to bring you over. Yeah, eight o’clock is great. See you tomorrow. I love you too, night night.”
He was standing next to Tasha and rolling his trouser legs up before sitting next to her to dangle his feet in the pool too. Why had he just invited Lizzie over? Moreover, why was he setting up a meeting between his daughter and the woman sitting next to him? The same woman he’d known a matter of days and would be saying goodbye to in a few more days.
“Are you sure you don’t want to swim?”
“I didn’t pack swimming stuff for New York.”
“Well, well, well. A woman who doesn’t pack every item she owns when she travels. You really are a rare gem, Natasha.”
