Cecelia Ahern - One Hundred Names

‘How many gifts are you thinking of?’

‘Oh, let’s see, Nigel has all these details but … one for my grandfather’s birthday, and one for my sister and her husband-to-be.’ He concentrated on a bit of invisible fluff on his trouser leg and picked at it and flicked it to the ground before finding another. ‘Oh, and there’s one other for another person.’

Kitty felt genuine disappointment at that, not for herself – George had barely looked her way since he’d entered the room, his attention had been entirely on Eva – and not just for business reasons. Kitty had to bite the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from saying anything. It was obvious who the other person was, but he had been so charming, and though Eva was professional and a woman of few words she had clearly been responsive to him. Kitty could see that, and now there was a nice little connection between the two, which just made him saying what he had to say all the more awkward.

‘For your girlfriend?’ Eva asked, professionally.

‘Yes.’ He cleared his throat. ‘It’s a one-year thing,’ he practically mumbled.

One final-year thing, Kitty thought to herself.

‘An anniversary,’ Eva said, making a note in her book. ‘Let me just explain how I work, Mr Webb—’

‘Call me George, please.’

‘George,’ she smiled. The connection was back and Kitty was invisible again. ‘I like to spend time with the people I’m buying gifts for. I like to see who they really are, what it is they really want and I choose items designed solely for them. I’m not sure if your assistant explained that to you.’

‘No he didn’t.’ George seemed uncomfortable with that. ‘I could just give you a budget of say, three thousand? And you could find something for them within that budget. Do you work on an hourly basis? I’m not sure how this works, because if you do, it really doesn’t matter about spending time with them, I’m willing to pay you a fee that makes it worth your while.’

‘I’m probably not the person you need for this,’ Eva said, which surprised Kitty. He was willing to pay her anything and she was turning it down. She wanted to throw her notebook at Eva’s head. ‘I think what you’re looking for is more of a personal shopper. You describe the person, they find the gift. A nice perfume for your mother, perhaps matching luggage tickets and passport holders for your sister and her husband, that kind of thing?’

‘Brilliant, that’s brilliant,’ he said, lighting up. Then he looked at his watch again and that frown returned; he was even later now.

‘I’m sorry, George, this job isn’t for me.’ Eva smiled and stood.

He sat on the couch and looked up at her in confusion. Then he realised what was going on and stood too. ‘Okay.’ He shook her hand, a bit put out, a bit annoyed. ‘Thanks for coming. I’ll make sure Nigel shows you out. I’m late for a meeting,’ he said. He took one last look at her, an intrigued one, he nodded at Kitty, said goodbye and left the room.

Nigel reappeared immediately and he, Kitty and Eva rode the elevator in silence.

‘Why did you suggest Eva for George?’ Kitty asked Nigel.

‘Is this for your piece?’ He said the word ‘piece’ as if it were a dirty word.

‘If you want it to be.’

‘I don’t.’

‘Fine, then, it’s off the record.’

He gave her a sarky look, then looked at Eva to answer the question. ‘I’ve worked for him for six years and for six years I’ve had to do all his lists. Birthdays, Christmas, christenings, you name it. I think it’s time his grandfather stopped receiving handkerchiefs and ties, though they were of the finest quality, of course,’ he said, complimenting himself.

‘Does he have a nice family?’ Eva asked, which Kitty thought was a rather unusual question.

‘Nice? They’d make you sick,’ Nigel said, which they both took to mean yes.

‘As wonderful as I am.’ He looked at Kitty, blinked his long lashes, then turned back to Eva. ‘They deserve better,’ he said seriously.

Eva nodded.

‘And I,’ he returned to his mock tones, ‘am tired of patrolling the aisles looking for anti-wrinkle moisturisers. I’ve better things to be doing.’

‘Like making coffee,’ Kitty said as they stepped out of the elevator.

‘Eddie will show you out, Kath-Kitty.’ He nodded his head at the burly security guard standing in the corner.

The doors closed and Kitty laughed, and they found themselves back on the path outside the IFSC.

‘Well,’ Kitty looked at Eva, feeling that she had certainly witnessed something very unusual in there, ‘that was interesting.’

‘Was it?’ Eva looked uncertain.

‘Mr Webb certainly took to you,’ Kitty said, and Eva’s cheeks pinked.

‘Mr Webb shouldn’t be taking to anyone,’ Eva said drily. ‘Mr Webb has a one-year anniversary to celebrate.’

‘Is that why you said no to the job?’

‘No! If you think I’m in this job to find men then you’re sorely mistaken,’ Eva said, ‘otherwise I would have said yes.’

They laughed.

‘So why did you say no to the job, exactly?’ Kitty asked.

‘Would you like to go for a coffee?’

Kitty weighed up her options. Eva was very nice and her job made for interesting conversation but she wasn’t sure there was anything there unless of course Constance’s story lay in Eva’s personal life. So far, to Kitty’s journalistic eye, there was nothing dramatic or overtly interesting about Eva. Once again Constance had found a subject that Kitty couldn’t yet identify. Kitty thought about the benefits of progressing with the other ninety-eight people on her list – people who had more immediate exciting stories to share – versus spending a few more hours with Eva to ask her about her life. Eva was a lovely girl, but Kitty was under pressure. She needed to move on.

‘I won’t take up any more of your time,’ Kitty smiled politely, feeling guilty over Eva’s fallen expression. ‘But before I go, I just have one question.’

‘Of course.’ Eva brightened again.

‘I was wondering, can you remember the first gift, really memorable gift, that you received that really meant something to you, that perhaps sparked something inside you? Perhaps it sparked this … this desire you have to buy people the perfect gift. That gift could be the reason you got into this … career.’

Eva looked sad and then her face brightened as the mask came back on again. ‘Yes,’ she said perkily. ‘It was a My Little Pony stable and pony. It was from my grandmother. I was seven years old and I absolutely loved it. I played with it every second of every day.’

‘Really?’ Kitty asked, surprised, disappointed even.

‘Yes.’ Her mask didn’t budge. ‘Why?’

‘I just thought that there was something, something with more meaning, or …’ She looked at her for more but Eva’s face was blank.

‘Nope. I really loved that pony,’ she said, her smile tight.

Eva watched Kitty Logan cycle away from her and she cursed herself. She could tell when she was being dropped like a hot potato. It had happened plenty of times before. Gaby would never forgive her for this one. Her one real opportunity to talk about her business in a way that she wanted and she had blown it. But she couldn’t give Kitty what she wanted. Kitty wanted more, she wanted to get inside Eva’s head, inside her heart. Eva knew she did that to other people, but she didn’t feel comfortable allowing anyone to occupy that place within her. She barely went to that place herself.

Her phone rang and she sighed and answered it. ‘Hi, Mum.’

‘Eva, can you come get me?’ Eva heard the whimper in her voice, the sniff, the weakness, and her heart dropped.