“Sunday in New York” is ultimately a story about trust, and what happens when a marriage is stretched to its limits.
When Harry Steele attends a lunch with his manager, Barclay, to discuss a promotion that any junior executive would accept in a heartbeat, it is the fact his wife, Alison, who previously professed her reservations about Barclay, also agreed to attend, that casts a small element of doubt in his mind.
From that moment, his life, in the company, in deciding what to do, his marriage, his very life, spirals out of control.
There is no one big factor that can prove Harry’s worst fears, that his marriage is over, just a number of small, interconnecting events, when piled on top of each other, points to a cataclysmic end to everything he had believed in.
Trust is lost firstly in his best friend and mentor, Andy, who only hints of impending disaster, Sasha, a woman whom he saved, and who appears to have motives of her own, and then in his wife, Alison, as he discovered piece by piece damning evidence she is about to leave him for another man.
Can we trust what we see with our eyes or trust what we hear?
Haven’t we all jumped to conclusions at least once in our lives?
Can Alison, a woman whose self-belief and confidence is about to be put to the ultimate test, find a way of proving their relationship is as strong as it has ever been?
On the way to the Hall of Fame, we found an ice skating rink
The Hockey hall of fame
The hockey hall of fame is a very large exhibition which would take a whole day to see everything. We sat through a very informative history of the game and the origins of the NHL, which for people who do not have hockey as a sport in their country, is saying something.
We follow the Maple Leafs, coincidentally Toronto’s franchise in the NHL, and we have been here before for a game, which they lost. It didn’t matter, I was staggered by the energy and enthusiasm both the players and the fans put into making it a memorable experience.
I’m hoping for a repeat experience.
…
St Lawrence Market
We walked 1.8 km to the market and it was closed which is about right for us as we have a knack for turning up and the place is closed, for instance, the Canadian Club Distillery in Windsor, Canada.
Perhaps tomorrow, before or after the game.
…
Red Lobster
Ok, we’ve been here before and it was beyond any expectations anyone could have for a restaurant chain.
This was no different from the last.
What more could you want, scallops, shrimp, and a fried lobster tail all drowned in a superb garlic butter sauce.
Add a side of mash potatoes, and a 20oz glass of beer, and there is the definition of heaven on a plate.
…
St Lawrence Market, again
Snowing, but not heavily
St Lawrence market, everything is very expensive, crab legs $120 per kg, lobster, $50 to $80 per kg. Oddly everything is quoted per pound, and it’s a good thing that we can convert lbs to kg.
It is, to say the least, a disappointment.
…
Ice Hockey at the Scotiabank Arena
There was a definite buzz in the air, and heading towards the stadium was both us, and many other Toronto supporters. Blue Maple Leaf jerseys were in abundance.
We’ve been before, and the last time the Leafs lost.
What else is new?
They have had a very good season so far, and are second on the ladder overall, so it was not without the expectation that they might win this one.
Never have an expectation.
They lost.
But…
It was an incredible game that was none stop action. It seems to me that you require a lot of skill and skating talent to play this game. I certainly couldn’t, and freely admit that I’d probably last about five minutes.
The score didn’t reflect the play, but in the end, the Leafs lost 4 – 3, at the end of the three periods.
…
Souvenir hunting and other stuff
I woke tired and exhausted, not looking forward to walking around Toronto.
Got up early to do the walking.
Oh, did I tell you, this hotel has a laundry and it is the bugbear of staying in major hotels, not being able to wash clothes?
Breakfast is included, but it is the main meal of the day so we feast. The selection is incredible.
We had to go back to the Maple Leafs franchise shop to exchange a Maple Leafs Jersey, which was no trouble.
So near to the CN tower, we go in to shop for souvenirs, of which there were plenty. I liked the stuffed mooses and beavers.
We’ve been up the tower so it’s back to the Union Station and a short stay upstairs, a little bar overlooking the Toronto Pearson train line.
Time for tasting some Canadian ales, the first a Mill Street tank house ale, the second a Mill Street hopped and confused. Seriously, that’s what they were called.
The drinking mood music was old hits like Queen and a little bit of country and western.
We had a good view of the trains, too.
Union Station
Like all main stations very large very tall ceilings and openings that lead to the tracks of which there are about 24, and an underground system
Much the same as all large railway terminals and probably far busier in times gone by.
…
Dining, but not necessarily dinner
Not far from the station, and opposite to clock tower belonging to the old city hall was a restaurant called Bannock.
There I had a Moosehead Cracked Canoe lager, a light ale, and a house special since 1929, a chicken pot pie, and it was very good.
What happens when your past finally catches up with you?
…
Christmas is just around the corner, a time to be with family. For Will Mason, an orphan since he was fourteen, it is a time for reflection on what his life could have been, and what it could be.
Until a chance encounter brings back to life the reasons for his twenty years of self-imposed exile from a life only normal people could have. From that moment Will’s life slowly starts to unravel and it’s obvious to him it’s time to move on.
This time, however, there is more at stake.
Will has broken his number one rule, don’t get involved.
With his nemesis, Eddie Jamieson, suddenly within reach, and a blossoming relationship with an office colleague, Maria, about to change everything, Will has to make a choice. Quietly leave, or finally, make a stand.
But as Will soon discovers, when other people are involved there is going to be terrible consequences no matter what choice he makes.
I’m sure I’ve been down this road more than once, and with the same novel, but whereas the last edit, which was probably the second or third, finished up in the pile, then forgotten.
I’m doing an active update to all my works in progress, and sending them to the editor, after going through the manuscript once again, with a view to publishing. Hopefully, before the year is out.
…
Like yesterday, the Maple Leafs are playing again, and as much as I want to forsake it and get on with the story, The fact that we are down by a large margin at the end of the first period has given me the opportunity to turn it off, or watch the stage a comeback.
Damn.
I stick with it.
Then, we made a decision to go and see a movie, Last Christmas, because it looked interesting when we saw the preview some weeks ago.
That means missing half of the third period of the ice hockey if we’re going there. Well, there’s always the live broadcast via the phone.
It is not easy driving a car and listening to a brilliant comeback by the Leafs, and the excitement in the car is almost at the same fever pitch as the commentators.
Alas, we lose.
As for the movie, it was everything we hoped for. Two delightful leads who didn’t overact, Emma Thompson as a Yugoslav, and Michelle Yeoh in a restrained performance that I’m unused to seeing her in. Perhaps Star Trek Discovery kick-arse was not needed here.
Christmas, no swearing, no killing sprees, a few songs, and a lesson hidden between the lines. What more could one ask for?
As for the story, I’m having a coffee and then it’ll be time to get back into the groove.
There’s something to be said for a story that starts like a James Bond movie, throwing you straight in the deep end, a perfect way of getting to know the main character, David, or is that Alistair?
A retired spy, well not so much a spy as a retired errand boy, David’s rather wry description of his talents, and a woman that most men would give their left arm for, not exactly the ideal couple, but there is a spark in a meeting that may or may not have been a setup.
But as the story progressed, the question I kept asking myself was why he’d bother.
And, page after unrelenting page, you find out.
Susan is exactly the sort of woman to pique his interest. Then, inexplicably, she disappears. That might have been the end to it, but Prendergast, that shadowy enigma, David’s ex-boss who loves playing games with real people, gives him an ultimatum, find her or come back to work.
Nothing like an offer that’s a double-edged sword!
A dragon for a mother, a sister he didn’t know about, Susan’s BFF who is not what she seems or a friend indeed, and Susan’s father who, up till David meets her, couldn’t be less interested, his nemesis proves to be the impossible dream, and he’s always just that one step behind.
When the rollercoaster finally came to a halt, and I could start breathing again, it was an ending that was completely unexpected.
I’ve tried on many occasion to be quick, but it’s like my shoes have lead soles, or it’s like walking through water.
Perhaps I should just stop finding excuses and admit it’s old age and I am slowing down!
I’m guessing that in using the expressing the quick and the dead, I’ve got one foot in the grave.
But when you use the word quick it generally means moving fast or doing something at a rapid rate.
It could also refer to someone who picks up knowledge rapidly, that is to say, that boy is quick, maybe quick as a flash.
I’ve been cut to the quick. An interesting expression which basically means you’ve been hurt very badly.
It also makes reference to the more sensitive side to us, hence the above expression.
It has a more literal meaning, referring to the quick, under your fingernails, and you know how much that hurts when you cut the nail too short, or remove the nail from the quick.
And like most of us, I’ve been caught more than once in metaphorical quicksand.
It doesn’t pay to go near or test out what real quicksand is, but if you have to, make sure you tie yourself to an anchored rope first.
50 photographs, 50 stories, of which there is one of the 50 below.
They all start with –
A picture paints … well, as many words as you like. For instance:
And, the story:
Have you ever watched your hopes and dreams simply just fly away?
Everything I thought I wanted and needed had just left in an aeroplane, and although I said I was not going to, i came to the airport to see the plane leave. Not the person on it, that would have been far too difficult and emotional, but perhaps it was symbolic, the end of one life and the start of another.
But no matter what I thought or felt, we had both come to the right decision. She needed the opportunity to spread her wings. It was probably not the best idea for her to apply for the job without telling me, but I understood her reasons.
She was in a rut. Though her job was a very good one, it was not as demanding as she had expected, particularly after the last promotion, but with it came resentment from others on her level, that she, the youngest of the group would get the position.
It was something that had been weighing down of her for the last three months, and if noticed it, the late nights, the moodiness, sometimes a flash of temper. I knew she had one, no one could have such red hair and not, but she had always kept it in check.
And, then there was us, together, and after seven years, it felt like we were going nowhere. Perhaps that was down to my lack of ambition, and though she never said it, lack of sophistication. It hadn’t been an issue, well, not until her last promotion, and the fact she had to entertain more, and frankly I felt like an embarrassment to her.
So, there it was, three days ago, the beginning of the weekend, and we had planned to go away for a few days and take stock. We both acknowledged we needed to talk, but it never seemed the right time.
It was then she said she had quit her job and found a new one. Starting the following Monday.
Ok, that took me by surprise, not so much that it something I sort of guessed might happen, but that she would just blurt it out.
I think that right then, at that moment, I could feel her frustration with everything around her.
What surprised her was my reaction. None.
I simply asked where who, and when.
A world-class newspaper, in New York, and she had to be there in a week.
A week.
It was all the time I had left with her.
I remember I just shrugged and asked if the planned weekend away was off.
She stood on the other side of the kitchen counter, hands around a cup of coffee she had just poured, and that one thing I remembered was the lone tear that ran down her cheek.
Is that all you want to know?
I did, yes, but we had lost that intimacy we used to have when she would have told me what was happening, and we would have brainstormed solutions. I might be a cabinet maker but I still had a brain, was what I overheard her tell a friend once.
There’s not much to ask, I said. You’ve been desperately unhappy and haven’t been able to hide it all that well, you have been under a lot of pressure trying to deal with a group of troglodytes, and you’ve been leaning on Bentley’s shoulder instead of mine, and I get it, he’s got more experience in that place, and the politics that go with it, and is still an ally.
Her immediate superior and instrumental in her getting the position, but unlike some men in his position he had not taken advantage of a situation like some men would. And even if she had made a move, which I doubted, that was not the sort of woman she was, he would have politely declined.
One of the very few happily married men in that organisation, so I heard.
So, she said, you’re not just a pretty face.
Par for the course for a cabinet maker whose university degree is in psychology. It doesn’t take rocket science to see what was happening to you. I just didn’t think it was my place to jump in unless you asked me, and when you didn’t, well, that told me everything I needed to know.
Yes, our relationship had a use by date, and it was in the next few days.
I was thinking, she said, that you might come with me, you can make cabinets anywhere.
I could, but I think the real problem wasn’t just the job. It was everything around her and going with her, that would just be a constant reminder of what had been holding her back. I didn’t want that for her and said so.
Then the only question left was, what do we do now?
Go shopping for suitcases. Bags to pack, and places to go.
Getting on the roller coaster is easy. On the beginning, it’s a slow easy ride, followed by the slow climb to the top. It’s much like some relationships, they start out easy, they require a little work to get to the next level, follows by the adrenaline rush when it all comes together.
What most people forget is that what comes down must go back up, and life is pretty much a roller coaster with highs and lows.
Our roller coaster had just come or of the final turn and we were braking so that it stops at the station.
There was no question of going with her to New York. Yes, I promised I’d come over and visit her, but that was a promise with crossed fingers behind my back. After a few months in t the new job the last thing shed want was a reminder of what she left behind. New friends new life.
We packed her bags, three out everything she didn’t want, a free trips to the op shop with stiff she knew others would like to have, and basically, by the time she was ready to go, there was nothing left of her in the apartment, or anywhere.
Her friends would be seeing her off at the airport, and that’s when I told her I was not coming, that moment the taxi arrived to take her away forever. I remember standing there, watching the taxi go. It was going to be, and was, as hard as it was to watch the plane leave.
So, there I was, finally staring at the blank sky, around me a dozen other plane spotters, a rather motley crew of plane enthusiasts.
Already that morning there’s been 6 different types of plane depart, and I could hear another winding up its engines for take-off.
People coming, people going.
Maybe I would go to New York in a couple of months, not to see her, but just see what the attraction was. Or maybe I would drop in, just to see how she was.
As one of my friends told me when I gave him the news, the future is never written in stone, and it’s about time you broadened your horizons.
This is a rocky piece of coastline, adjacent to the city by the sea.
It’s highly urbanized, and just behind where I was standing to take this photo, there’s a large carpark, a restaurant, and several shops, as well as a long pier to walk on.
On this side, about 100 yards put is a reef, popular with divers, and the day I took this there we several divers out.
But, if you discounted all of that knowledge and just let your imagination run free, there are so many other possibilities
Like, scoping out a landing spot to bring ashore contraband on what might be a very desolate spot, access gained only by walking along and hazardous path.
Like there might be an imminent landing of foreign soldiers about to set up the start of a clandestine incursion, before a more formal invasion. Or just one person, a foreign spy.
Or a couple of friends having a picnic away from the madding crowd.
Rodby’s generosity did not extend to the Citation taking me back to Venice, but he did fund a business class seat on a commercial flight the next morning.
I was in no hurry to go back, the overnight sojourn giving me time to make a plan of sorts. A few hours after I left the police I received a message from Alfie, with an attached sound file.
A recording of a phone call between Jaime and Larry.
“Your enemy just arranged for me to be dragged off to a police station and interrogated.”
An interesting start to a conversation.
“Which enemy?”
Good to know he had more than one.
“You know who. He was supposed to be in Venice not London, and he’s not supposed to be working with anyone, yet it seems he is.”
“On what pretext did they take you in?”
“That C4 you left in your crates in my warehouse. They think it’s mine “
“Did you tell them about me?”
“Didn’t have to, you left your name all over the crates. They’ll be looking for you.”
“Let them look. What did he have to say?”
“Annoyed that you’re going after him.”
“How does he know that?”
“How does he know anything, Larry. He does. He says his ex-boss is the one who wants you, not him, and that story you told me about him killing your brother, it’s not true.”
“He’s lied to you, just like I said he would.”
“Then that means your mother is lying too, because I called her, and she had a different version of events. I can’t trust you, and you are now very hot property and I can’t afford to be involved with you. The police have taken the crates away, so as far as I’m concerned it’s the last I want to see of them, and you. Don’t try to contact me again.”
The phone went dead.
Good. She did the right thing, though it was as expected. She could also quite easily contact him another way, but for the time being, I’d give her the benefit of the doubt.
Next, I called Larry’s mother.
Same background noise, it seemed she didn’t want to go home. Larry must be ingratiating himself.
“I spoke to Jaime, the woman Larry is purported to be romancing. He is not, or not as far as I can tell.”
“She has since then.”
“She does now. What would Larry want with C4?”
“What’s C4?”
“Explosive.”
“Vaults. His father used to specialize in blowing safes and tried to teach the son but Larry nearly blew the both of them to the afterlife.”
“It’d have to be a very big safe.”
“You could always ask him yourself. He’s going to be around for dinner tomorrow night. Just be wary of the bodyguards. There’s three of them.”
“Things might get a little rough, do you really want that in your house?”
“Someone needs to teach the bastard a lesson. By the way, a good call from that Jaime woman, asking me about your role with my sons. She seemed surprised.”
“I wasn’t very nice to her.”
“She’s a criminal, not a thoroughly bad one like Larry, but one nonetheless. You don’t have to be nice to them. Let’s hope she doesn’t have to worry about her sons like I had to.”
That was the problem with that sort of family business. The children really have nowhere to go but join or disappear. Then it became a battle for survival, especially if you had a parent running the organization. Then there were always expectations, and then that first kill.
Larry’s brother had never wanted that life, he wanted to live on his terms, but neither the father nor the eldest son and successor saw it that way.
“I thought I could escape all of this cloak-and-dagger stuff, but Larry seems to have put that on hold. Perhaps if we have a little chat he might change his mind.”
“I think it would be better than what you had in mind. He increased their guards too when he was not here, and it’s unsettling for her, and especially me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
It couldn’t be easy for her with a son like him, especially bow the police were looking for him. He was not going to get back into the country because his name will be on an alert list, so it would be interesting to see how he got back home.
He had the means, simply because he had turned up in Sorrento using none of the known methods of transportation. And he didn’t own a private jet, or at least, one that I knew of. Something else to investigate.
I called Alfie.
“Got the message. Interesting call.”
“Do you believe her?”
“Not really. But we’ll know soon enough. Um having dinner at his mother’s tomorrow night and he will be there.”
“Then play c is off the table for the moment?”
Plan c was taking his effect and child to use as leverage. It might still be needed, depending on the upcoming meeting.
“Backburner. Where’s Cecilia?”
“I moved her to your place. Seemed the best option.”
“She will need a sniper rifle, and get herself to Sorrento tomorrow morning. Give the address. She’ll need a site that gives a good view of the dining room. And needless to say, no advertising her presence.”
“Have you got a plan?”
“Not really. He’s not going to do a lot with his wife and daughter there, but, again, it’s Larry and he is unpredictable.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing “
“Never. Now, it seems the C4 was to crack a safe or create a diversion. You need to get the team onto finding out what he’s planning. You might want to go through ex-partners and associates in case he’s on a revenge kick.”
“Rodby said he wouldn’t be unhappy if you just shot him.”
“We’re not allowed to.”
“There are ways and means.”
“Then we’re no better than they are. We’ve had this conversation a few times.”
“We’re not winning the war, and people are getting restless. There’s talk Rodby will be replaced by a more aggressive department head.”
That was all the department needed, someone to hasten its demise. It was already vastly limited in what it could do, and in recent years reduced to little more than intelligence gathering and a few side missions. After I left, it had lost its sting in the tail. I thought Rodby was marking time for his retirement.
Now it seemed that might come earlier than expected. Was this why he was pushing the Larry project, one last hurrah?
“It won’t happen, they can’t possibly get rid of institutions like him.”
This morning started with a visit to the car rental place in Vancouver. It reinforced the notion that you can be given the address and still not find the place. It happened in Washington where it was hiding in the back of the main railway station, and it happened again in Vancouver when it was hidden inside a hotel.
We simply walked straight past it. Pity there wasn’t a sign to let people know.
However…
We went in expecting a Grand Jeep Cherokee and walked out with a Ford Flex, suitable for three people and four large suitcases. It actually seats 7, but forget the baggage, you’d be lucky to get two large suitcases in that configuration.
It is more than adequate for our requirements.
Things to note, it was delivered with just over a quarter of a tank of gas, and it had only done about 11,000 km, so it’s relatively new. It’s reasonably spacious, and when the extra seats are folded down, there is plenty of baggage space.
So far, so good.
We finally leave the hotel at about half-past ten, and it is raining. It is a simple task to get on Highway 1, the TransCanada Highway, initially, and then onto Highway 5, the Coquihalla Highway for the trip to Kamloops.
It rains all the way to the top of the mountain, progress hampered from time to time by water sprays from both vehicles and trucks. The rain is relentless. At the top of the mountain, the rain turns into snow and the road surface to slush. It’s 0 degrees, but being the afternoon, I was not expecting it to turn to ice very quickly.
On the other side of the mountain, closer to Kamloops, there was sleet, then rain, then nothing, the last 100kms or so, in reasonably dry conditions.
Outside Kamloops, and in the town itself, there was evidence of snow recently cleared, and slushy roads. Cars in various places were covered in snow, indicating the most recent falls had been the night before.
We’re staying at the Park Hotel, a heritage building, apparently built in the later 1920s. In the style of the time, it is a little like a rabbit warren with passages turning off in a number of directions, and showing it is spread across a number of different buildings.
It has the original Otis elevator that can take a maximum of four passengers, and a sign on the wall that says “no horseplay inside the elevator” which is a rather interesting expression that only someone of my vintage would understand. And, for those without a sense of humor, you definitely couldn’t fit a horse in it to play with.
The thing is, how do you find a balance between keeping the old world charm with modern-day expectations. You can’t. Some hotels try valiantly to get that balance. Here, it is simply old world charm, which I guess we should be grateful for because sooner rather than later it’s going to disappear forever.
In my writer’s mind, given the importance of the railways, this was probably a thriving place for travelers, and once upon a time, there were a lot more hotels like this one.
