Chapter Fifty-Four
A fortnight later, life had begun to return to normal. Nick had moved into her new workspaces and would commute from Foix Place until she found somewhere new to live. As she settled back into the business Nick was aware that things were still unsettled. Work was going well but she was aware of a deep sense of unease within her and she couldn’t put her finger on it. She had been delighted when all her staff wanted to come back and work for her. Gyeong pointed out that she hadn’t hired any idiots, just one traitor. Nick had raised her eyebrow at that but then remembered that she preferred straight talking and honesty over sweet talking and sycophancy.
On the first day she found that her desk was covered in dog biscuits and she laughed with the staff, saying that next time she wanted champagne instead. Ohana came into work with her every day and had been generally considered the office mascot. In terms of team building and office downtime, Nick felt that all offices should have a pet. Far cheaper and more effective.
She had lost a few clients but mostly they were ones that she had been prepared to cut anyway, people that hadn’t been with her from the start. Geoffrey had managed the Hiverton accounts exceptionally well and she was in awe of some of his trades; the man was a genius. All in all, work was great.
There had been a small fly in the ointment at the beginning. The day after the FCA withdrew their case against her and pressed charges against Harrington’s and Daisy instead, it was all over the newspapers. She’d got straight on the phone to Aster who had assured her it wasn’t down to her. Just a slow week on Fleet Street and the chance of a bit of gossip. Happily, following a presidential gaffe and a royal baby she was knocked off the gossip columns. Before she hung up Aster pointed out that whilst it hadn’t been her, she was glad that the news had got out. Nick came out of it looking great and Harrington’s entire empire was now being picked apart by regulators, whilst its founders were hiding behind their lawyers.
Which brought Nick back to Gabe. She found that everything brought her back to Gabe. She saw something funny in the street she wanted to share it with Gabe. She saw a trailer for a movie and wondered if Gabe would enjoy it. She played cards online and remembered how she had beat him, and then how he had won at the video game. She remembered that final walk around the house. Bats were swooping around in the warm dusk, the air smelt sweet, and she was falling hopelessly and happily in love. She had thought he was as well, something new seemed just over the horizon. And then it all fell apart. Now she wondered how was he coping with his family’s disgrace? Nick still didn’t know if he had any knowledge of what they had done, and it was eating her up.
She had misjudged Daisy, had she also misjudged Gabe? She swore under her breath. Gyeong was working at the desk opposite and looked over at her.
‘Oh no boss, don’t do it.’
‘What?’ said Nick defensively.
‘You’ve been threatening for the past two weeks to talk to Daisy. No good will come of it. She fooled us all. ’
‘I just want to know.’
‘She’s right, Nick,’ chimed in Tony. It wasn’t a large office and there was no such thing as a private room or an executive kitchen. ‘Let it go.’
Nick leant back in her chair and looked at the ceiling. ‘No. I’ve waited as long as I can. It doesn’t feel so raw now. I’m going to look her in the eye and see why the hell she did it.’
She pushed her chair back and stood up. Her staff watched her offering no further comment. Their boss was a smart woman, if she wanted to do this then she would. And maybe once she had, she would feel less restless.
***
Daisy lived not far from a tube station in Wimbledon and Nick soon found herself wandering down a leafy residential street. It was a nice area and seemed suited to the Daisy that she thought she knew, not the woman that had played her for a mug all this time. Knocking on the door she was aware of an anger building inside her and she swallowed it back down. Shouting, no matter how much of a relief, wasn’t going to solve anything. The door opened a crack and Daisy peered out, when she saw Nick her head fell but she opened the door fully and stepped aside. Nick took it as an invitation although Daisy hadn’t said a word yet and she walked into a pretty hallway.
Closing the door behind her Daisy walked towards the back of the house and sat down at the kitchen table, waving Nick to do the same. Nick sat and waited in silence until eventually Daisy started talking, her head bowed as she looked at the table.
‘I won’t cry. I can’t,’ said Daisy in an exhausted voice. ‘All I’ve done for weeks is cry, I don’t think I have any tears left. But I can say sorry, and I am. From the bottom of my heart I apologise for what I did to you.’
At that point she looked up and stared Nick straight in the face. ‘I am so sorry.’
Nick had been expecting a justification, recriminations, a shouting match. She hadn’t expected this abject misery.
‘Daisy, the thing is… I don’t understand why. I haven’t seen your full confession; all I know is that you were working with Harrington’s to plant evidence.’ She sighed and uncurled her fists, entreating Daisy for an answer.
Getting up Daisy flicked on the kettle and began gathering things for a coffee. All the while she spoke and told Nick who she used to be engaged to and what had happened after the court case. How Adam had approached her. How she had been easily convinced to plant evidence.
‘But then it all started to go wrong. I guess I also had time to think. I knew Luke had been in the wrong, I knew Adam was complicit. It was like slowly waking up out of a heavy fug, and when I looked around, I realised I had sleepwalked into a very stupid position. And of course, as I was coming to terms with my stupidity, I was getting to know you. And it was blindingly obvious you weren’t to blame for Harrington’s downfall. You never crowed about it at work, you wouldn’t have it discussed even. You never bragged or boasted about any of your success. You were just a bloody pleasure to work for and I realised that what I had down was terrible.’
‘So why didn’t you tell me?’
‘I made a mistake.’ She laughed weakly. ‘Turns out I am very good at that. I went to Adam and explained that we were wrong; that you were innocent and that we should undo the wrongs. He told me if I did that he would call the police on me for planting evidence at yours and would make sure I was thrown in jail. I was terrified. And so I did nothing. I did nothing more to harm you but equally I didn’t warn you. As the months passed, I thought that Adam had heeded my words and had decided to move on. I began to relax but then the FCA investigation started, and he rang me to remind me to keep my mouth shut.’
Nick listened in dismay. She had wanted to hate Daisy for what she had done and now saw that she had been duped all along – not evil, just angry and then scared.
‘What a mess.’
‘I’m most ashamed about the dog. Adam told me to give that to you and I honestly thought he meant it as some sort of apology. Turns out it was simply an excuse to get you evicted from the flat.’
Nick smiled in relief. ‘I did wonder about that. I felt that was such a cruel act and I wondered what I had done to make you hate me so much.’
‘I don’t hate you. Not at all. I’m just so bloody sorry for the weak, shallow person I was.’
‘So what now?’
‘Now I go to jail,’ she said in a shaky voice. ‘Unless my lawyer can get me off. ’
‘Will they be using a coercion defence?’ asked Nick curiously. She had no desire to see Daisy in jail. She would happily see Adam crushed under the full weight of the Old Bailey, but not Daisy. Still, it was unlikely to happen, Daisy was the perfect scapegoat and Harrington’s would have hundreds of lawyers protecting them.
‘I hope you’ve got a good lawyer. You know you have an uphill struggle if you want Harrington’s to share any of the blame.’
‘Gabriel St Clair is my lawyer. He’s already assembled a team to fight my case.’
Nick looked at her shocked. ‘Gabriel St Clair. Giles Harrington’s son?’ She waited for Daisy to say no she meant someone else, but Daisy nodded her head.
‘The very same. It was him after all that worked out I was the mole and got me to confess.’
‘He what! You mean you didn’t confess this voluntarily?’
Daisy closed her eyes and dropped her head. ‘See, I told you I was weak. I couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth and save you from an inquiry. Then Gabriel showed up on my doorstep and confronted me.’
Nick thought back to the last time she had seen him. He had told her he thought he might have a lead that could help her. No wonder he hadn’t been prepared to tell Nick. Accusing Daisy would have been too much for Nick, she’d have never believed that her right-hand employee would have stabbed her in the back. Not without Daisy’s own confession. Which also meant he was unaware of Aster’s discovery, as far as he was concerned this was all that saved Nick .
‘But his family? How can he defend you against them?’
‘I asked him that and he just said it was the least he could do. He doesn’t owe me anything, so I didn’t understand but I could hardly turn his offer down.’
Nick pushed her chair back. She didn’t want to stay here any longer. This talk of Gabe had suddenly confused her, and she really didn’t want to stay in Daisy’s company any longer. She didn’t hate her, and she thought in time, she might even be able to forgive her, but she couldn’t stomach the other woman’s cowardice and she needed to get some fresh air. Leaving Daisy staring into her cup she let herself out and started to walk home. It was a few miles but that was okay. She had a lot to think about.