White Tiger

‘How is Andy anyway?’ I said, attempting to change the subject.

‘The wedding’s all planned – we’ll have it with my family in Sydney.’ April was obviously happy. ‘I’m looking forward to it. My family is so pleased. Andy’s family are very wealthy. Very prestigious.’

‘God,’ Louise said under her breath.

‘When is it?’ I tried to appear interested, but I agreed with Louise. Andy was always perfectly polite to us but there was something about him that I just didn’t like.

‘Next month.’ April leaned back and smiled with satisfaction. ‘It was easy to get a ceremony on a good day in Australia. The date will be very auspicious.’

‘God,’ Louise whispered again.

April didn’t seem to hear her. ‘I’m going to the temple tomorrow to get the…’ she hesitated, searching for the English word, ‘blessing from the ancestors.’

‘Which temple?’ I said, interested.

‘The one in Pokfulam.’

‘The one in the cemetery?’ Louise said.

April nodded.

‘Can I come along and have a look?’ I said.

April shrugged. ‘Sure. Not much to see, though, just tablets. Ancestors and stuff.’

‘What time?’

‘After yum cha. About twelve, one.’

‘Can I meet you there?’

April nodded, then leaned forward and rapped her fingertips on the table. ‘You should go back to Miss Kwok, Emma. She says she needs you at the kindergarten. Go ask the fortune sticks. They’ll tell you that you should stay with her.’

‘I already have a new job.’

‘But you only resigned yesterday,’ April said.

‘She moved out today,’ Louise said. ‘Fastest damn thing I’ve ever seen.’

‘You’ll be live-in?’ April said.

‘Yep,’ I said. ‘Live-in nanny.’

‘You can do better than that, Emma. Go back to Miss Kwok.’

‘You kidding?’ Louise said. ‘Nearly forty thousand a month, living with this gorgeous rich dude? I’d do it in a second.’

‘Strictly professional.’

‘Yeah, right.’

‘Forty thousand a month?’ April said, shocked. ‘Yep,’ Louise said.

April scowled. ‘Everybody will think that you are more than nanny if he pays you that much.’

‘I don’t care,’ I said.

‘Geez, you’re definitely the most cold-blooded chick I’ve ever met, Emma,’ Louise said. ‘Don’t even care.’

‘Don’t be mean,’ April said. ‘Emma is a lovely person.’

I raised my beer. ‘Oh, no, April, I think I’m the most cold-blooded chick I’ve ever met too.’

Louise snorted with amusement. ‘Sure you are. Look at how you adore his little girl. You have a soft spot for kids, Emma, don’t deny it.’

‘This one is special,’ I said, studying my beer. ‘She always worries about everybody else. She was really concerned that other children were missing out because I was spending all my time with her. She felt guilty about hogging me.’

‘Yeah, she’s a perfect little angel.’

‘In this case, I think she really is.’

It was very late when I arrived back at the apartment building on the Peak. I hopped out of the taxi and it reversed away down the drive. I walked up to the gates, waved to the security guards and they opened the pedestrian gate for me.

I saw the lights and turned. Another taxi pulled up. A smart-looking young European stepped out of the car, and Leo came out the other side. Leo stopped when he saw me, then walked up the drive to the gates.

I held the gate open for them. Leo didn’t say anything, just nodded to me and went through.

‘Hi, I’m Emma, a friend of Leo’s,’ I said to the young man.

‘Hello.’ He held his hand out and I shook it. He was quite good-looking, tall, blond and slender. Looked to be in his mid-thirties, about the same age as Leo. He had a definite American accent. ‘Rob.’

Leo walked in front of us and opened the ground-floor door to the lift lobby.

We all entered the lift together.

‘You live here too?’ Rob said.

‘Yep, I’m the nanny.’

Leo gazed at the numbers above the lift door without saying a word.

‘It’s really humid,’ Rob said.

‘Yeah. Summer’s here, all right.’

‘You been in Hong Kong long?’ Rob said.

‘About four years,’ I said. ‘But I never get used to the humidity in the summer.’