…

Q is for – Qualms – that state of uneasiness that cannot be explained

…

It would be true to say that Harry Cressey had turned the company’s fortunes around with some of the most interesting programs I’d ever seen.

In the beginning, when they were first mooted by the owner of the company, the current fifth-generation department store owner, I had to, and a lot of others had, reservations.

But when they were implemented one by one, and they worked, we stopped looking at the man and looked at the result.

It was no mean feat to turn around a lame duck and turn it into more than just a financial success.

It was the theme if a two page spread in the local newspaper was anything to go by, a story that encapsulated a managing director and a board of directors under pressure, a chance meeting and appointment of a financial consultant, Trevor Alexander Frederick Hall, and a fairytale ending for a company and quite literally the city we all lived in.

It was literally the difference between living in a vibrant, small town, single industry city or a ghost town.

Barnaby Oswald, the owner, an older photo that didn’t the stress of age, Trevor Hall, a recent photo beaming like the all conquering hero he was, the main office building and factories, an early photo and one as it was now, after a recent facelift, and a photo of about a thousand of the staff all looking like they had just been given a millions dollars each.

I’d been away the day the shot of the staff was taken

“What’s wrong with that photo?”

Alison came into my office and threw herself into the seat opposite my desk.  The clock on the wall behind her said one minute to eight.

Sane time every morning.

“Nothing.  All hail the hero of the hour.”

She snorted.  That was usually reserved for the hapless Barnaby Oswald, her uncle.  No, she wasn’t the boss’s daughter, but she was close enough.

“Look at that photo of Hall and tell me what you see.”

“An urbane middle-aged success story.”

I’d suffered her comments in the indubitable Mr Hall, humouring her because I thought, like quite a few others, there was no way he could save the sinking ship.

We were all wrong.

“Take a closer look.”

She had never told me what she really thought of him other than she had reservations.  But Alison was the sort of woman who had reservations about nearly everyone.

Her uncle had muscled her father out of the business and sent him to an early grave.  Hall, to her, was just the latest of a long list of follies.  Just look at how the business went from success to the Titanic in seven years.

I took a closer look.  The photo was too grainy and of low resolution to discern anything, but one thing I did notice was that his eyes were too close together.

“The newspaper photo doesn’t do him justice?”

She frowned at me.  “He’s a villain; I’m sure of it.  I did a search on the internet, and he didn’t exist five years ago. In fact, he simply appeared out of the blue, popping up in a Fortune 500 company, then a meteoric rise to partner in one of the most prestigious finance and banking corporations.  His reference letter was so glowing; to me, it’s the sort of letter a place writes to get rid of him.”

“Or that he is that good.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Trevor with Barnaby, their usual chat at the end of the day before going home.  He had looked over and seen Alison with me, and I thought I also saw him sigh.

I had little to do with him, so I was not an expert.  Alison had been his first PA and lasted a week. She never said what caused their parting, but there were rumours.

She went to say something but stopped when she saw him coming over.

He stopped at the door.  “Ashley, isn’t it?”

“Or ‘hey you’ perhaps more often than it should.  I go by either.”

Barnaby called all of the Admin assistants on this floor ‘Hey, you’.  He wasn’t good at names to faces or being polite, for that matter.

“Yes.”  He turned to Alison.  “You were asked not to come up here.”

“After hours, Trevor, and I am an Oswald, and this is my birthright, not yours.”  There was no mistaking the antagonistic tone.  “Your silly rules only apply during business hours.  After that, I can see whoever I want.”

“Be that as it may, just not up here.  Now, please leave, or do I have to call security?”

She glared at him, went to say something, then just shrugged.  “Whatever.”

Then she got up, nodded at me, and left.

“Sorry you had to witness that, but she has been causing trouble.  And apparently, she doesn’t like me.”  He shrugged.  “Be careful when you’re with her.  She does not have the interests of the company in mind.”

What could I say to that?

“Understood.”

A warning was given, and he left.  I went back to the paper, but it was too difficult to concentrate.  Alison was stuck in my mind, and it was not exactly for the right reasons.  I had always liked her, but she had never been as interested in me.

Damn her.

I walked slowly down the stairs a few minutes after Hall had left and came put onto the carpark on one side of the main office building to see Hall drive off in his Mustang, bought for him as a gift for his work in saving the company.

It was a car I’d always wanted but knew I could never afford.  Another of those pipe dreams I had.

My car, farthest from the front door and now alone in the pleb section, was different tonight for one reason.  Alison was sitting on the trunk.

Why would she be sitting on my car?  How did she know what car I owned, let alone where I parked it.

She smiled when she saw me.  “Ashley.”

I stopped two or three steps away from her.  “Alison.  To what do I owe the honour of this visit?”

“Don’t you mean, why is Trevor so worked up about me?”

“It’s above my pay grade, Alison.  Everything is above my pay grade, including you.”

“Didn’t that little tirade if his fuel some qualms about him in your mind?  I mean, who says that stuff about the boss’s niece?  Why would I not have the interests of the company at heart?  It is my family’s business, after all.”

I shrugged.  “It’s none of my business.”

“It would be if the whole thing came tumbling down like a house of cards.”

“Is it?”

“That’s beside the point.”

Another of the admin assistants, like me, had told me early on that courting ideas about Alison was like wrestling alligators.  She was, he said, dangerous and had caused a few admin assistants to get fired.

She slid off the back of the car into my space.  She was close, too close for comfort.  I had dreamed about looking into her eyes, but now, it scared me.

“You like me, don’t you?”

She gave me a penetrating look that was unsettling.

“Can I plead the fifth amendment?”

She smiled, leaned forward, and kissed me on the cheek.  “I like you too. But inevitably, people I like seem to only want the boss’s daughter and the kudos that goes with it.  Is that what you want?”

We were standing under a light and would make an interesting view if anyone was still working on this side of the building.  The lights were still on, and it would be mostly cleaners.  Overtime was banned unless absolutely necessary.

“Nobody cares what I want, Alison, and least of all you.  I don’t know what’s going on with you and Trevor; I don’t want to know.”

“Then I’ll say my piece, and then I’ll go.  Day three, one am in the boardroom, Trevor Hall raped me.  I threatened to go to the police.  He simply said if I did, he would expose my family’s true business dealings that caused all the problems.  I laughed at him, and the next thing I knew, my father was dead.  It was not a suicide.  He has a grip on this place, and he’s bleeding it dry.  He is a monster, and he needs to be stopped.  And now I have nowhere else to go.”

Tears were forming in her eyes.  I believed she believed every word she said.  I also knew she was very manipulative.

“If you don’t have any qualms about Treveor Hall, you should.  By this time next year, there will be nothing left of this place for my uncle, for me, our family, you, and everyone else.  It’ll be in a non-extradition country with the remarkable Trever Hall.”

It was a good story.  It had all the elements of truth in it, and it could be believable.

I pulled out my phone and dialled the one number on the screen.

She looked surprised.

When a voice answered, I said, “You were right.  She knows.”

Silence then, “You know what to do.”  The line went dead.

…

©  Charles Heath  2025