Page 7 of The Sun Sister
Whether he was or he wasn’t, this girl had integrity. So many times I’d had prospective PAs dishing the dirt to me on former employers. Maybe they thought it was cool to explain in depth why they’d left, but I just thought of the fact that it could be me they were talking about in the future.
‘Before you ask, I am very discreet.’ Mariam had obviously read my mind. ‘I have often found the stories that circulate about celebrities in our business to be untrue. It’s interesting...’
‘What?’
‘No, it’s nothing.’
‘Please, say it.’
‘Well, I find it fascinating that so much of the world craves fame, yet in my experience, it often brings only misery. People believe that it will grant them the right to do or be anything they choose, but in fact they lose the most precious commodity we humans have, and that is their freedom.Yourfreedom,’ she added.
I looked at her in surprise. I got the feeling that, despite everything I had, she felt sorry for me. Not in a patronising way, but sympathetic and warm.
‘Yup, I’ve lost my freedom. In fact,’ I declared to this total stranger, ‘I’m beyond paranoid that someone will see me doing the simplest thing and twist it into a story to sell more of their newspapers.’
‘It is not a good way to live, Miss D’Aplièse.’ Mariam shook her head solemnly. ‘Now, I am afraid I must go. I swore to my mother I would babysit my little brother while she and Papa go out.’
‘Right. This babysitting...I mean, is it a regular thing you do?’
‘Oh no, not at all, which is why it is important I am there on time tonight. It is Mama’s birthday, you see, and the family joke is that the last time Papa took her out to dinner was when he proposed to her twenty-eight years ago! I understand that if you employ me, you will need me twenty-four hours a day.’
‘And that there will be a lot of overseas travel?’
‘Yes, that is no problem. I have no romantic commitments either. Now, if you’ll excuse me...’ She stood up. ‘It has been a pleasure to meet you, Miss D’Aplièse, even if we do not end up working together.’
I watched her as she turned and walked towards the door. Even in her ugly clothes, she had a natural grace and what a photographer would call a ‘presence’. Despite the fact that the interview had been about fifteen minutes flat and I hadn’t asked her a tenth of the questions I should have done, I really,reallywanted Mariam Kazemi and her wonderful sense of calm in my life.
‘Listen, if I offer you the role now, would you consider taking it? I mean,’ I said as I jumped off the couch to follow her to the door, ‘I know you’ve been offered another position and need to answer by tomorrow.’
She paused for a few moments, then turned to face me and smiled. ‘Why, of course I would consider it. I think you are a lovely person, with a good soul.’
‘When can you start?’
‘Next week, if you wish.’
‘Done!’ I put out my hand towards her, and after only a couple of seconds’ hesitation, she offered me hers.
‘Done,’ she repeated. ‘Now I really must go.’
‘Of course.’
She opened the door and I followed her to the elevator. ‘You already know the package, but I’ll have Rebekah write up a formal offer of employment and bike it to you in the morning.’
‘Very good,’ she said as the elevator doors slid open.
‘By the way, what is that scent you’re wearing? It’s gorgeous.’
‘Actually, it’s body oil and I make it myself. Goodbye, Miss D’Aplièse.’
The elevator doors closed and Mariam Kazemi was gone.
All Mariam’s references didn’t just check out, they couldn’t sing her praises highly enough, so the following Thursday, the two of us boarded a private jet from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and headed for Paris. The only nod she made to the fact we were travelling, in terms of her ‘uniform’, was that she had replaced the skirt with a pair of beige pants. I watched her as she took her seat in the cabin, then got her laptop out of her satchel.
‘Have you flown by private jet before?’ I asked her.
‘Oh yes, Bardin used nothing else. Now, Miss D’Aplièse—’
‘Electra, please.’
