‘I see, well,Just Chen,thank you so much for stopping by, how can I help you?’ The grandfather clock ticked loudly, a reminder that time was passing, and Dan would be warming up.
‘Might we sit down?’ Chen nodded towards the desk and the wide leather chairs on either side.
‘Sure, although I don’t have too much time, I’m already late for—’
‘Daniel won’t mind waiting,’ Chen spoke, as he sat in front of the desk.
‘You know Daniel?’ It was curious, who was this guy?
‘I know everyone!’ Chen laughed and Benjamin laughed too, taking his father’s seat behind the desk.
‘Yes, it’s a small place. What can I do for you, Chen?’ he coughed to clear the awkwardness from his throat.
‘It’s more a question of what I can do for you.’
‘Oh! I see.’ He sat back in the chair, as the penny dropped. This kind of tactic wasn’t unheard of, yet it was still a shock that someone might consider this a good time to shoot their shot. When you had plenty of money, you were often a magnet for those with a great idea, a brilliant scheme, a brand-new product, a revolutionary service, or the best X, Y or Z you haveevertasted! This guy, it seemed, was no more than a chancer who had managed to get into the house, and now Benjamin needed to figure out how to get him out of the house with the minimum amount of fuss.
He placed his phone on the desktop, knowing a quick button press would summon the gardener who was somewhere on the grounds. Ignacio was ex special forces, as skilled with his fists and a carefully concealed baton as he was with a pair of secateurs.
‘I fear you’ve had a wasted journey, Chen, but I would like to thank you for taking the time out to—’
‘You won’t need to call Ignacio.’ Chen joined his hands and folded them into his lap. ‘I mean you no harm.’
‘What the hell is going on here?’ Benjamin sat forward in the chair with a growing sense of alarm. ‘You’ve clearly been studying me, studying us, what is it you want?’ His patience was waning.
‘I want to tell you something, it won’t take long, but I think it might help you, Benjamin.’
‘And how much is this “help” going to cost me?’ he drew inverted commas in the air.
‘It’s free, actually.’ Chen smiled.
‘Free? So what’s in it for you?’
‘It’s my job.’ The man clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth.
‘Okay, let’s hear it.’ He sighed, joining his hands on the desktop, still with one eye on the clock. ‘You’ve got five minutes, tops.’
The man spoke slowly, his tone calming and hypnotic.
‘What I am going to tell you will sound implausible, ridiculous even, but trust me when I tell you that I have never and will never tell you a lie…’
Chen’s visit had been comical. Benjamin, having ushered him out of the door, had laughed and laughed, managing to put the words of the charlatan out of his mind by the time he finally made it to pickleball, where he and Daniel had thrashed it out on the court.
It was the next night, Saturday, while Allegra was in her room, Marcus was out with the lads, and Ignacio was in his cottage by the main gate, that Benjamin found himself sitting in the very chair Chen had occupied at a little before eleven p.m.
He laughed to himself, as he stared at the imposing portrait of his father, took a slug of the old man’s brandy in a cut glass tumbler and closed his eyes.
‘Whatareyou doing, Benjamin?’ he’d laughed, wondering if he might work this moment of madness into the bloody eulogy – maybe mentioning how grief had taken him on a trip that had resulted in him sitting in the chair of his father’s study, believing he might be about to communicate with the dead. If nothing else, he figured it would lighten the mood, guarantee a laugh.
‘What are you smirking at?’
Benjamin took a sharp intake of breath. It wasn’t possible, couldn’t be possible, but there he was! His father! Sitting in the big chair opposite him on the other side of the desk. It came back to him then, all of it, this moment – about four months ago, he’dpopped in to get some paperwork signed, Hugh had just arrived back from a trip to Zurich.
‘N… nothing, Dad! I, I,’
‘Spit it out!’
He’d almost forgotten how he stuttered in his father’s presence. What did he want to say? What was important? He tried to recall how long Chen had said he’d be given, was it ten minutes? He knew it wasn’t long. The time pressure only added to his nerves. It was bizarre seeing the man alive, whole and unblemished and yet curiously he felt very little, not like if his lovely mum were to pass and he got to see her again. A lump formed in his throat at no more than the prospect. He loved her dearly and she loved him, it was a wonderful and comforting thing, that knowledge.
