Jessie Slaymaker's Rules of Engagement (The Jessie Slaymaker Series Book 2) (23 page)

To clear the image of Sonia from her mind, Jessie went to top up her water in the kitchen. As she did so, something struck her and began to niggle its way from the back of her mind to the front. The interviewer from earlier that day, Frank, suddenly loomed large in her thoughts as she began to wonder about his sudden change in interview questioning. With hindsight, it now seemed to Jessie that he willfully set out to trip her up with his final questions. Why had he done that? Plus, how would he ever know about an obscure report she’d written over a year ago as an unknown economist, unless he’d been actively investigating her? It just didn’t add up. Coupled with her strange dream, Jessie couldn’t help but wonder whether maybe Sonia had something to do with it.

She sighed loudly as she told herself it was an irrational accusation. She had no basis for thinking any such thing, never mind having any evidence, and she told herself to go back to bed and stop trying to find conspiracies where there were none.

But when Jessie woke up the next morning, the niggle was still there. It was there throughout breakfast and for the duration of the morning, as well as lunch. By mid-afternoon, Jessie was restless and unable to give her work the usual attention to detail she prided herself in. She was preoccupied and distracted. Glancing around the quiet office she wondered if anyone would notice if she disappeared for the rest of the afternoon. Rachel was out at meetings and there was nothing or no one to stop her. She could always say she had an urgent doctor’s appointment if anyone ever questioned her on it.

Feeling like a naughty schoolgirl cutting class, Jessie grabbed her bag and left. Conscious that her internet history may or may not be monitored in the office, she took a taxi to Hong Kong Library and set herself up for the rest of the afternoon at a slightly archaic-looking computer, where she began to do what she did best: research.

First she looked up the guy who had interviewed her for CHKTV, Frank Lam. Not much to find about him, other than that he was a relatively junior member of the business news team. Next she moved on to CHKTV in a bid to work out how they were funded and who owned them. She didn’t have to look for too long before a familiar name cropped up in their board of directors: a certain Mr Shum. Jessie looked further, and confirmed her suspicions that this particular Mr Shum was in fact Sonia’s father. Of course, this didn’t mean anything, Jessie told herself. Sonia’s father didn’t know her from Adam, and as far as she was aware had no reason to embarrass her on national television.

Not really sure where to turn next, Jessie began searching news over the past few months for any items concerning the Shum father and daughter. Jessie was surprised to see that the aging tycoon’s health was failing and that he had signed over a portion of his business responsibilities to each of his children. Although she couldn’t find it written down anywhere in black and white, Jessie would have bet her life savings on the fact that Sonia was now representing her father when it came to the television station.

The question now was: why had Sonia gone to so much trouble to trip her up? Until the interview aired, Jessie wouldn’t know the full extent of Sonia’s influence in the matter for sure, but she had a hunch the piece wouldn’t be edited as Frank had assured her it would be. Jessie knew her hypothesis was far-fetched, but she couldn’t help but think she was on to something.

She then decided to look more closely into Sonia’s company. As it turned out, and previously unbeknown to Jessie, the holding company was one of the companies Jessie had been researching as part of her extra-curricular project in her mission to impress Rachel. Companies in China were often a complex affair, with sister companies and parent companies galore. To the outsider looking in, it was difficult to decipher where one company began and another one finished. This was the case with the numerous Shum family enterprises. The family headed up at least a dozen different subsidiary companies under the umbrella name of Shum Tat Holdings. These sub-companies did all manner of things, ranging from property development to public transportation to even producing and bottling soy sauce. It was a case of many fingers and many more pies. The more she looked, the more Jessie realised that Sonia had a way of sticking her nose into almost any part of not just her life, but pretty much
anyone’s
life. Through their tangled web, Shum Tat Holdings held stakes in supermarkets, car import companies, even airport ground services. The list went on and on.

Realising she’d lost track of the time, Jessie headed off home with more questions and lines of enquiry percolating through her mind. Next, she wanted to look into Shum Tat’s financial reports over the past few years, but to do that she’d need access to the database in the office. Somehow she’d have to make time for her pet project and hope that her activity wouldn’t be monitored. She didn’t want to have to explain herself until she had something tangible to show from her hunches. But the more she’d looked at Sonia’s company, the more she thought there was more to it than met the eye.

Jessie spent the next week working long hours at her day job and then putting even more hours into her sideline project to expose Sonia Shum’s wrongdoings. Not wanting to say anything until she was sure of her suspicions, she didn’t tell Jack what she was doing, and was happy for him to think she was just busy. Still, part of her felt like she was leading some kind of double life. When she was with Jack she was a woman in love and being with him took up all of her capacity to think. But when they were apart, such as when Jack was working late at the bar, the Sonia Shum project took up all of Jessie’s thoughts. She continuously tried different scenarios to work out the other woman’s motives when it came to her and Jack.

Time passed quickly and the day of Jessie’s televised interview arrived. She’d been so busy thinking about Sonia, she’d nearly forgotten all about it until Jack had reminded her about it that morning.

‘We’ll watch it together tonight?’ Jack asked, as Jessie dashed off out the door, blowing him a kiss.

‘Sure, but at my place, if you don’t mind. I need to catch up on things there.’ Despite her intention to spend more time at her own flat, Jessie had only spent fleeting moments there to check the mail and pick up changes of clothes. ‘I’ll make sure I finish early tonight and be home in plenty of time,’ she added, giving Jack another goodbye kiss.

Jessie spent her lunchtime putting together her final conclusions on Sonia Shum’s business activities. She was pretty sure she had enough conclusive evidence to take to Rachel. It wasn’t strictly research within the realms of her job description, but she felt she had a duty to report any wrongdoing if she came across it. Rachel didn’t need to know that she’d been digging around solidly for the past week, at the expense of her normal work.

As Jessie trudged home that evening for the big screening, the butterflies started to wake up in her stomach, and they weren’t the excited kind of butterflies. More the kind that had been feasting on dread. She just absolutely knew her first foray into the world of television was not going to be all that positive. Hopefully Jack wouldn’t have made a big fuss.

‘Good evening, economic pundit extraordinaire,’ Jack practically sang to her as she entered her flat. He had his arms extended and champagne and flowers in either hand, making the place look even smaller than it already was. So much for him not making a fuss.

‘Thanks,’ Jessie said weakly as a tear rolled down her face.

‘Hey, what’s wrong? Is it that Rachel? What’s she said to you now?’ he demanded as he deposited his offerings and wrapped his arms around her.

‘No. It’s not her. I’m just nervous about this TV thing,’ Jessie admitted, which was true. ‘I’ve been worried about it all week,’ she added, which wasn’t quite so true. What she’d really been worrying about all week was how to stitch Sonia Shum up before she did something to them.

‘I thought you’d been a little quiet,’ Jack said. The look on his face said that her nerves explained everything. ‘I’m sure it’ll be alright. And it’s bound not to be as bad as you think it’s going to be,’ he reassured.

‘I suppose,’ Jessie snuffled as she hugged him tightly.

But Jack was wrong. It was worse than Jessie had thought it was going to be. Much, much worse.

‘Tonight on your main evening news, we report on the escalation of the crisis in the Gaza Strip, the ongoing food crisis in sub-Saharan Africa, and the main players in the upcoming Indonesian general election,’ began the young and pretty newscaster seriously in to the camera.

‘But first, we hear from one new expatriate as she seeks to make a name for herself in the Hong Kong banking sector,’ she went on and then looked down at her notes. Then the VT ran and there was a scene of Jessie walking down the corridor at the bank and shaking Frank’s hand, looking all nervous and unsure. Jessie’s eyebrows raised and she looked at Jack quizzically. This was not what they said they’d wanted from her. She was supposed to be providing an overview of the economic situation across the region. Not talking about her life and experiences so far in Hong Kong.

‘So you are new to Hong Kong? Tell us about how things have been for you so far?
’ Frank asked from the television.

‘It’s been good, but it’s been more difficult than I’d anticipated,
’ replied a smiling Jessie from the screen.

‘How so?’
prodded TV Frank.

‘Well, don’t get me wrong, I really like Hong Kong, but it’s not the friendliest place I’ve ever been to. This morning I’ve been jostled around on my way to work and had at least two doors slam in my face, from people not holding them open.’

‘People are very busy here,’
Frank laughed.
‘So what do you do here at the bank?
’

‘I’m an economist within the research team. We analyse and interpret regional data to help provide other areas of the bank with all the factual information they need before they broker any new deals.’

‘I see. And you head up this team?’
TV Frank asked.

‘No. I’m unimportant. Just a minion, in fact. Rachel Horton is the boss of us all. She’s the queen bee,’
TV Jessie said, clearly trying to be funny. Only, as she watched this car crash play out in front of her, Jessie didn’t think it was funny. It was humiliating. And she knew she was coming across as woefully unprofessional. Jack sat next to her in silence, transfixed by the screen, seemingly unable to comprehend.

‘What’s your boss like?’
Frank asked.

‘Oh, she wears great shoes,’
the Jessie on the television replied enthusiastically. The footage cut to Frank giving a fake laugh.

Jessie cringed as she watched it from the sofa. She couldn’t have sounded any more vacuous had she tried. She wasn’t a blinking stand-up comedian, so why the hell was she trying to act like one? Next the video cut to a panorama shot of Seoul, and in the voiceover they actually included a question-and-answer based on the South Korean economy. And then the bit came that Jessie had been dreading. She hung her head in her hands, as she knew it was going to be bad.

‘I’d like to be more Hong Kong-specific now. How do you perceive the position of Hong Kong as we move towards more comprehensive reunification with mainland China?’
Frank asked.

‘Well, Frank, I think what you’re asking is tied in closely with politics. Speaking from a purely economical standpoint, Hong Kong as a financial centre is still performing strongly and maintains a competitive edge over Singapore and Shanghai, and I’m sure will continue to do so. The future looks positive,’
the Jessie on the television replied, all lightness and optimism.

‘But you wrote in a report last year that, and I quote, “Hong Kong’s position as the premier financial centre of Asia remains an uncertainty and indeed, looks to be precarious in the light of Shanghai and several other tier one Chinese cities being touted for Free Trade Zone status.” Did you not write this?’

‘Well, yes. I did write that report,’
a faltering Jessie replied.

‘So which is it then, Miss Slaymaker? Does Hong Kong’s future remains uncertain and precarious, or does it look positive? Has so much happened in the past year to change your appraisal so dramatically?’

Jessie could only watch as her TV self floundered and paused like an imbecile.
‘As things stand,
’ she said, ‘
I would have to say it’s probably a bit of both, Frank.’

‘Thank God that’s over,’ Jessie said as she got up from the sofa.

It’s not over,’ Jack said, pulling her back down and nodding to the screen. Jessie sank back down as they watched Frank do his final piece to camera. It took Jessie a moment to realise that they must have filmed this part at a later date and spliced it in, because she most definitely hadn’t been present when he’d reached his scathing conclusion.

‘Viewers, what we have seen here is a primary example of what is consistently happening time and time again in Hong Kong. We have some of the most talented and best educated people born and bred here, but a shortage of skilled jobs with which to employ them. And yet our immigration department continues to distribute visas to people from overseas who, by comparison, are merely mediocre. This report is not intended as an indictment of Miss Slaymaker, who is a perfectly nice woman. But she is an example of a widespread problem. We have better qualified and educated people being produced here in Hong Kong, so why are we importing, as Jessie herself phrased it, minions from overseas? People who have little respect for Hong Kong’s greatness and little understanding of our cultural values? This is Frank Lam reporting for CHKTV News.’

The camera lingered for a moment on a smug-looking Frank Lam before cutting back to the studio and the pretty newscaster who began her report on Gaza.

Jessie sat in stunned silence for over two minutes, in complete shock and disbelief as to what she’d just heard. She’d been made to sound ungrateful, unintelligent, and unsuitable to work in Hong Kong. Through their editing, she’d been made to look stupid and incompetent.