Chapter 14 #3
‘Yes.’ Michelle took a deep breath. This was where she had to grovel, but not too abjectly.
‘There’s an outside chance my colleague might be publicly identified at some point.
If that occurs, could Mr Keane make it clear, as soon as possible, that the media got it wrong, that last night’s incident wasn’t a “sexcapade”, and that Dreamwives is a therapeutic support service?
I think it would be beneficial for everyone. ’
If Michelle had offered Arjun a mummified rat, his response wouldn’t have been less enthusiastic.
Perhaps he was thinking about the fish fingers and party pies, and what kind of impact they might have on Kirk’s brand.
‘This is a very hard time for Mr Keane,’ he said coldly.
‘He has to weigh up a lot of competing factors.’
‘Like my colleague’s wellbeing, for instance.
’ When she thought about Katrina, Michelle’s irritation flared.
Screw Kirk Keane and his multimillion-dollar organic food empire.
What about Katrina’s family? ‘It’s a very hard time for her, too.
She’s worried about being identified. I hope Mr Keane understands that. ’
‘I’ll convey your concerns to Mr Keane, and he’ll take them under advisement.’
Arjun’s tone rubbed Michelle up the wrong way. It was snooty. ‘Will he be needing my colleague’s services in the future?’
‘That’s up to him,’ Arjun said.
He was giving her the shits. Everyone was giving her the shits right now – except Filippo. Turning her head, she shouted up the stairs, ‘I hope you consider Samantha’s situation, Mr Keane! She didn’t ask to be mixed up in this!’
‘Do you mind?’ A shocked Arjun began hustling Michelle towards the front door. ‘I told you Mr Keane isn’t here.’
‘Where is he?’
‘You should leave.’ Arjun shot her a flinty look as he yanked open the door. ‘And don’t forget – Katrina signed an NDA. She’ll be legally liable if any of this gets out.’
Michelle blinked. How did he know Katrina’s real name? Then she realised it must be on the NDA and was about to warn Arjun against publicising Katrina’s true identity when an orange shape streaked past her legs.
It was Buster, escaping.
‘No!’ Arjun hurled himself after the cat, but Michelle didn’t.
She crunched down the gravel drive, pleased that Buster seemed to be leading Arjun a merry dance through the flowerbeds, around a water feature and up a tree.
Then, when Michelle pressed the green button beside the gate, Buster must have grasped that he had a shot at the open road.
He started clawing his way back down to earth, where Arjun managed to grab him.
‘You bloody cat, this is all your fault!’ Arjun raged. ‘Ouch! Don’t do that!’
Glancing over her shoulder, Michelle caught a glimpse of Buster writhing and spitting in Arjun’s grip. Then she stepped through the gate, which closed behind her.
She was immediately set upon by journalists.
‘How’s Kirk feeling? Has he heard anything from Pippa? Do you know the woman who was here last night?’
No one tried to block Michelle’s path, but she was peppered with questions as she worried about the NDA Katrina had signed.
Why hadn’t she told Michelle? And what exactly had she put her signature on?
By the time Michelle reached her car, the journalists had lost interest – possibly because her preoccupied, thousand-yard stare hadn’t given them much to work with.
Once she’d climbed into her Yaris, she felt safe enough to pull out her phone and call Ilse.
When Ilse answered, her voice was barely audible beneath the roar and rattle of what sounded like a gale-force wind. ‘Michelle! What’s the latest?’
‘Can you hear me?’
‘Oh, yes – sorry – I’m out on the water. Just doing a dive debrief.’
‘You’re . . . scuba diving?’
‘For an ocean debris–removal project. Sustainability volunteers, you know.’
Michelle didn’t know, but didn’t have time to press for details. ‘Can I ask you something? About Dreamwives?’
‘Oh, good.’ Ilse’s tone brightened. ‘Fire away.’
Michelle closed her eyes as she rearranged information in her head. ‘If Katrina signed a Dreamwives client’s NDA, and I didn’t, can I talk to you about it?’
‘Depends what’s in the NDA.’
‘I don’t know yet. I need to get a copy from the client’s lawyer because Katrina wasn’t given one, but that might be easier for you than me. You’re our Dreamwives counsel, right?’
‘Right.’ A muffled splash was followed by a clatter. ‘What’s the lawyer’s name?’
‘Dale Nicolaides.’
‘Oh, yes, I know Dale.’ Before Michelle could proceed to her next question, Ilse added sharply, ‘Wait – Dale Nicolaides is acting for Katrina’s client?’
‘Yes,’ Michelle replied, ‘and—’
‘So this is a certain chef’s NDA we’re talking about?’
Michelle’s jaw dropped. ‘Ilse—’
‘Dale has a very select client list,’ Ilse explained, ‘and only one of them would need Katrina’s services.’ Her gleeful laugh was pitched high over the growl of an outboard motor. ‘Honestly, this just gets better and better. But I won’t probe. You said Katrina signed this document?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then she’s entitled to a copy. I’ll get right on it.’
‘Thank you.’ Michelle sagged with relief. ‘We need to know what can and can’t be said, because if she ever needs to defend herself publicly—’
‘About her frolic in the bushes, you mean?’
Honestly, Ilse was a witch. She joined dots more quickly than anyone Michelle knew. ‘It’s all over the feeds this morning,’ Ilse added. ‘And of course I noticed, because I’m devoted to Kirk’s marinated octopus, though he was very rude to me at the races once.’
‘God. You didn’t recognise Katrina, did you?’
‘I’ve never met Katrina,’ Ilse pointed out, lowering her voice as someone behind her bellowed something about estuary health. ‘All I did was put two and two together: Dale, Kirk, Katrina’s NDA, the stuff in this morning’s news . . .’
‘If Katrina’s name gets out there somehow, she needs to be able to protect herself—’
‘By telling the truth. Quite. But why did she sign that NDA in the first place? I would have advised her not to – at least not without legal input.’
‘I know. I’m going to ask her about that.’
And Michelle did, the minute she’d finished with Ilse. As soon as Katrina answered her phone, Michelle said, ‘You signed an NDA for Kirk Keane. Why didn’t you tell me?’
A startled gasp gusted down the line. ‘Oh, no! I forgot! I was so hyped up about being in Kirk’s house, and then with the nuggets and the computer game . . .’
There was a hysterical edge to Katrina’s voice. Hearing it, Michelle tried to speak more calmly. ‘It’s okay, I understand. In all the excitement, it must have slipped your mind—’
‘I had to sign it! He would have chucked me out if I hadn’t!’ More blasts of air, as if Katrina had launched into a set of deep-breathing exercises. ‘What did Kirk say?’
‘Nothing. He wasn’t there, so I spoke to Arjun, who told me Kirk’s getting legal advice.’ Reluctantly, Michelle added, ‘They know your real name, though. Because you signed the NDA.’
‘Oh, no!’
‘It’s okay. Remember what I said before? This is just a sidebar to the Pippa story. You could be anyone in that photo. No one’s going to know who you are. And the last thing Kirk wants is for people to think he hired a sex worker.’
The only response was more heavy breathing.
Michelle, who just wanted to lie in a hot bath and think about Filippo, tried to dredge up every account-manager trick she’d ever mastered and said in soothing tones, ‘Please don’t panic.
You’ve got a new client tonight – the retired politician who wants positive wifely feedback on his memoir.
You’ll need to be on top of your game for that.
But honestly, there’s nothing to panic about.
You’re unrecognisable. Ilse is following up, and I’m confident the whole thing will blow over by the weekend.
Just take it easy, keep a cool head and we’ll get through this. ’
She was lying, of course, but what else could she possibly say?
When she hung up, she felt utterly desolate.
She didn’t have the strength even to start her engine.
Where could she go, after all? Back to the Randwick Seniors Centre, to get her dad?
Her life was so empty. No job, no Filippo and possibly no Dreamwives, if things got any worse.
Then her phone pinged. She thought Ilse might be messaging and sighed as she glanced at her screen. But it wasn’t Ilse. It was Stott and Speyer, asking her to report to a clinic in Alexandria the next morning for a pre-employment medical assessment.
Contingent upon the results of this assessment, the text read, Stott and Speyer will be happy to offer you the position of Sales Consultant, Medical Equipment Division . . .