1
Jemma’s Version
It feels as if I’ve been sitting on this sofa for hours, surrounded by the silence of this waiting room. The coffee table is covered with financial newspapers and old issues of theLaw Society Gazettewhich are of no interest whatsoever – not for me, at least.
They squeezed my appointment in between 1 and 2 p.m., even though I explained I would need to be at the theatre in time for the matinee, but there was no alternative in Derek Wharton’s appointment book.
In all honesty, I have no idea what I’m doing here or why they called me in, and the secretary – or assistant, as she specified – refused to explain.
I hope that my mum and dad haven’t been charged by the Border Force officers for those ‘culinary herbs’ they ordered from India.
At last, with a dull click of the handle, the massive doors open and Derek comes out.
“Jemma, please come in,” he welcomes me warmly.
Derek has always looked older than his age and, since he took over from his father, this feature has been even more noticeable: he’s polite, kind and always smiling, but he looks like a forty year old. And his classic cut suits and regimental shirts don’t help matters much.
“I really wish I had time to chat and ask you about yourself and so forth, but the actors will be on stage in less than an hour and I still have to do their make-up. Adriana will sack me if I’m late again, so let’s just do this,” I say, cutting things short.
In addition to having very little time, I’m also quite nervous, so I try to get straight to the point. I want to know why I’m here, given that – thank God – I’ve never needed a solicitor in twenty-five years.
“Of course, you must be curious. In short, I called you in for something regarding your grandmother, Catriona.”
“Derek, I’m not sure if you know, but she died a month ago.”
“I do know. That’s precisely what this is all about. Some time ago, she appointed my father as executor of her will. In the meantime, I took over and acquired all his clients.” He stops to make sure I’m listening. “Your grandmother made a will.”
“I had no idea.” I didn’t see much of her for years and, on the few occasions I did, she left such issues out of our conversations.
“These matters are quite private and often the beneficiaries are not even informed.”
“Beneficiaries?”
With a hint of a smile, Derek pulls a sheet of paper out of a plastic folder.
“For the sake of clarity, your grandmother had disinherited your mother due to the life she had chosen to live.”
“You make it sound as if she were a criminal. She just decided to marry a man she loved, instead of some guy chosen by my grandparents.”
“According to your grandmother, Catriona, she was unworthy of the right of inheritance. She would never leave her possessions ‘to a degenerate daughter and that nobody of her husband.’ Forgive me, those were her actual words.” He shows me the document. “See? She wrote it herself, right here.”
I take a look at her handwriting full of flourishes. “I’ve always thought that grandma was an adorable lady,” I remark sarcastically.
“However, Catriona bequeathed everything to you.”
My jaw drops open in surprise. My chewing gum almost falls out but I catch it right away and resume chewing.
“Me?”
“Yes, she appointed you as heiress of her real and personal property.”
“Personal property? Damn!” I live in a studio flat, where the heck am I going to put all her stuff?
“It is indeed a significant inheritance. I’ll provide a list when you have more time.”
Just thinking about it makes me fidget in my chair as though I were strapped to it.
“I called you in to ask you if you intend to accept or to refuse the inheritance.”
