Jeffrey Archer - Sons of Fortune

‘In California, Silicon Valley has become the new hotbed of technology. Already IBM and Hewlett Packard are finding that their latest models can be out of date in a matter of months, and once the Japanese are fully up to speed, it might even be weeks.’

‘Then how can firms like mine be expected to keep up?’ asked Michael.

‘You’ll simply have to replace your computer just as often as you change your car, and in the not-too-distant future, you’ll be able to carry in your inside pocket detailed information on every customer you represent.’

‘But I repeat,’ said Michael, ‘our company currently has forty-two thousand clients.’

‘It won’t matter if you have four hundred thousand Mr Cartwright, a hand-held computer will still be able to do the same job.’

‘But think of the consequences,’ said Susan.

‘They are very exciting, Mrs Cartwright,’ said Su Ling. She paused and blushed, ‘I apologize, I’ve been talking far too much.’

‘No, no,’ said Susan, ‘it’s fascinating, but I was hoping to ask you about Korea, a country I’ve always wanted to visit. If it’s not a silly question, are you more like the Chinese or the Japanese?’

‘Neither,’ replied Su Ling. ‘We are as different as a Russian is from an Italian. The Korean nation was originally a tribal one and probably first existed as early as the second century...’

‘And to think I told them that you were shy,’ Nat remarked as he slipped in beside her later that night.

‘I’m very sorry,’ said Su Ling. ‘I broke your mother’s golden rule.’

‘Which one?’ said Nat.

‘That when two people meet, the conversation should be equally shared, three people, thirty-three per cent, four people, twenty-five per cent. I talked,’ she paused, ‘for about ninety per cent of the time. I feel ashamed, because I behaved so disgracefully, I don’t know what came over me. I was just so nervous. I feel sure they already regret any suggestion of me as a daughter-in-law.’

Nat laughed. ‘They adored you,’ he said, ‘my father was mesmerized by your knowledge of computers, and my mother fascinated by the customs of Korea, though you didn’t mention what has to take place if a Korean girl takes tea with her suitor’s parents.’

‘That doesn’t apply to a first generation American, like myself.’

‘Who wears pink lipstick and mini skirts,’ said Nat, holding up a tube of pink lipstick.

‘I didn’t know you used lipstick, Nat. Another habit you picked up in Vietnam?’

‘Only on night ops, now turn over.’

‘Turn over?’

‘Yes,’ said Nat firmly, ‘I thought Korean women were meant to be subservient, so do as you’re told and turn over.’

Su Ling turned over, and placed her face down on the pillow. ‘What is your next order, Captain Cartwright?’

‘To take off your nightdress, little flower.’

‘Does this happen to all American girls on the second night?’

‘Take off your nightdress.’

‘Yes, captain.’ She slowly pulled her white silk nightdress over the top of her head, and dropped it on the floor. ‘What next,’ she asked. ‘Is it now that you beat me?’

‘No, that doesn’t happen until the third date, but I am going to ask you a question.’ Nat took the pink lipstick and wrote four words on her olive skin, followed by a question mark.

‘What have you written, Captain Cartwright?’

‘Why don’t you find out for yourself?’

Su Ling climbed off the bed and stared over her shoulder into the long mirror. It was some time before a smile spread across her face. She turned to find Nat lying spread-eagled on the bed, holding the lipstick high above his head. Su Ling walked slowly across, grabbed the lipstick, stared down at his broad shoulders for some time, before she wrote the words, YES I WILL.

‘Annie’s pregnant.’

‘That’s wonderful news,’ said Jimmy as they left the dining hall and strolled across the campus for their first lecture of the morning. ‘How many months is she?’

‘Only a couple, so now it will be your turn to give the advice.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Don’t forget, you’re the one with all the experience. You’re a father of a six-month-old baby daughter. To start with, how can I help Annie during the next seven months?’

‘Just try to be supportive. Never forget to tell her that she looks wonderful even when she resembles a beached whale, and if she gets any crazy ideas, just play along with them.’

‘Such as?’ asked Fletcher.

‘Joanna liked to eat half-pint tubs of double chocolate chip ice cream just before she went to bed each night, so I had a tub as well, and then if she woke up in the middle of the night she often asked for another one.’

‘That must have been a real sacrifice,’ said Fletcher.

‘Yes it was, because it always had to be followed by a spoonful of cod liver oil.’

Fletcher laughed. ‘Keep going,’ he said as they approached the Andersen building.

‘Annie will start going to pre-natal classes fairly soon, and the instructors usually recommend that husbands also attend so they can appreciate what their wives are going through.’

‘I’d enjoy that,’ said Fletcher, ‘especially if I’m going to have to eat all that ice cream.’ They climbed the steps and walked through the swing doors.

‘With Annie, it may turn out to be onions or pickle,’ said Jimmy.

‘Then I may not be quite as enthusiastic’

‘And then there’s the preparation for the birth. Who’ll help Annie with this?’

‘Mom asked if she wanted Miss Nichol, my old nanny to come out of retirement, but Annie wouldn’t hear of it. She’s determined to bring up this child without any outside assistance.’

‘Joanna would have taken advantage of Miss Nichol without a second thought, because from what I remember of that lady, she would have happily agreed to paint the nursery as well as change the diapers.’

‘We don’t have a nursery,’ said Fletcher, ‘just a spare room.’

‘Then as of today, that becomes the nursery, and Annie will expect you to repaint it, while she goes out and buys a whole new wardrobe.’

‘She’s got more than enough clothes already,’ said Fletcher.

‘No woman has more than enough clothes,’ said Jimmy, ‘and in a couple of months’ time she won’t be able to fit into any of them, and that’s before she starts thinking about the baby’s needs.’

‘I’d better start looking for a job as a waiter or bartender right away,’ said Fletcher, as they walked down the corridor.

‘But surely your father will...’

‘I don’t intend to spend my whole life sponging off my old man.’

‘If my father had that sort of money,’ said Jimmy, ‘I wouldn’t do a day’s work.’

‘Yes, you would,’ said Fletcher, ‘otherwise Joanna would never have agreed to marry you.’

‘I don’t think you’ll end up being a bartender Fletcher, because after your triumph in the Kirsten case you’ll get the pick of the summer association jobs. And if there’s one thing I know about my kid sister, she won’t allow anything to get in the way of you coming out top of our year.’ Jimmy paused. ‘Why don’t I have a word with my mother? She certainly helped Joanna with a lot of the chores without ever making it at all obvious.’ He paused. ‘But I’d expect something in return.’

‘What do you have in mind?’ asked Fletcher.

‘Well, for a start, how about your father’s money?’ he said with a grin.

Fletcher laughed. ‘You want my father’s money in exchange for asking your mother to help her daughter with the birth of her grandchild? You know, Jimmy, I have a feeling you’d make a very successful divorce lawyer.’