Chapter Two #2
Cat looked up and down the carriage as if she had some very interesting intel on him, but stopped herself. ‘Actually he works in Zurich in the week, he might be on the train.’ She flirtatiously put a finger to her mouth.
‘I’ll tell you later,’ she said with a wink.
As the train continued to ascend, the lush lake-level meadows dotted with grazing cows gave way to pine trees and the green hues faded to a colder palette of greys and white.
The clickety clack of the track was peppered with the occasional sound of a cow bell in the distance, as the train stopped at each station, and fresh Alpine scents permeated the carriage.
‘So you said you’re a chef?’ Emme asked, glad to be shifting the focus from the nerves she felt about meeting her host family.
‘Sí. For a family.’ Cat said the word family as if it were loaded. They probably were if they lived in the most expensive ski resort in Europe and had a private chef among their staff. ‘The Kivvis,’ she said, as if that explained everything. Emme looked blank.
‘You haven’t heard of them?’
She shook her head.
‘Viktor Kivvi, richest man in Europe? Born penniless, made his money in escalators and elevators.’
‘Wow. He really went up in the world!’ Emme couldn’t help but release a giggle at her own joke.
‘The Kivvis own the prime real estate in Kristalldorf. He built Seven Summits, where I live with the family,’ Cat said proudly.
Seeing Emme’s blank face, she went on to explain: ‘Seven “chalets”. Swiss engineering, very cleverly built into the mountain.’
Emme nodded.
‘The Kivvis own four of them. They rent three out – you know Abishek Joshi?’ Cat asked excitedly.
‘Sorry,’ Emme replied, feeling terribly unworldly.
‘Bollywood royalty!’ Cat exclaimed. ‘He and his wife Priya are my neighbours.’
She didn’t get round to telling Emme that a British Formula 1 driver and his Iranian model girlfriend lived in another, and a Danish songwriter and his husband in the other. There was plenty of time for that.
‘Who owns the other three out of the seven?’ Emme asked.
‘Well it’s a funny story – Viktor’s nemesis, Walter Steinherr, who owns most of the town, bought the other three, just to spite Viktor I think.’
‘Sounds a bit mean.’
‘That’s rich white men for you!’ Cat joked.
‘Isn’t it your boss’s choice who he sells to if he built them?’
‘Well, he co-built them with a Russian billionaire … but that’s another story for another time,’ Cat added and quietened down.
Gossip on the mountain train was ill advised because there was often a Kivvi, Steinherr, Sommar or worse, a Stognev, on the train.
Or one of their staff, and the staff always knew way too much.
‘We need to go out. When you’re settled in, every night is party night.
Give me your number.’ Cat thrust her mobile into Emme’s hand for Emme to type her number into. Emme happily obliged.
‘Don’t you have to work evenings?’
‘Well, maybe not every night. But when I’ve cleaned up dinner and prepped breakfast; when my friends have wiped down their restaurants, we meet up.
The nannies not so much, you often have to babysit while Mr and Mrs go out, although I don’t see Los Harrington out much … Even Tiago gets one night off a week …’
‘Tiago?’
‘My guy Tiago – poor dude, he works the supermarket by day and is the night manager in the Steinherrhof six nights a week.’
Cat made a pitiful face that showed she had it good, then did a sudden double take as she looked up. Emme turned to see what had caught her attention. She saw the back of a silver-haired man carrying an attaché case in one hand and a wool coat slung over his arm, walking hastily up the carriage.
‘That’s your boss!’ Cat mouthed. ‘Best I …’ she drew a zip across her mouth, and Emme didn’t know if it was for her benefit or Cat’s.
After almost an hour of further chatter, about Cat’s life in Argentina – her grandmother’s funeral she had just been home for – and happily not much about Emme, the train pulled into Kristalldorf station, where a beautiful gold and cream clock lit the darkened platform like a bejewelled moon.
All the remaining passengers – commuters, families, holidaymakers and thrill seekers – gathered their coats, scarves, ski paraphernalia and suitcases; as this was the last stop, Emme took her time.
Cat looked at her colourful Swatch watch with the energy of someone who was always in a hurry and Emme didn’t know whether she felt invigorated or exhausted by her.
She’d left her flat for Gatwick at 6am and now the sun had just set.
‘Gotta fly, catch up soon yeah?’ Cat said.
She fist-bumped Emme on the shoulder, hauled her backpack and her board over her shoulders, and weaved off the train.
Emme wondered if Catalina would ever bother – why would she?
She was the chef for a super-rich family and always had friends to party with.
But she already knew Kristalldorf wasn’t big enough to avoid anyone.
Not that she wanted to. Cat had a warmth and a sparkle about her that had helped calm Emme’s nerves.