iv

The office was bright and busy. Yuri had given Julie a tour and introduced her to the people whom she would have most regular contact. Now she was at her new desk acquainting herself with its ins and outs. The phone rang and she picked it up on the second ring, “Good morning, Morova enterprises, how may we assist you today?” The greeting was scripted and printed on Julie’s desk. The man wanted dispatch and she transferred the call through, “Serge, a Mr Vincent for you regarding his delivery.” Serge thanked her and took the call. She logged into the computer and scanned its programs. It was windows based and she was familiar with all the programs. She checked out the pre-formatted documents, they comprised of a few letters, invoices and receipts. Next she checked the books. Her job didn’t really require accounting, though she would enter the weekly earnings. The phone rang again, and it was for dispatch once more. Kate looked at the clock on her computer after putting the call through to Serge, 10.15am, if she didn’t find something to do soon, it would be a very long day.

The very next moment a huge pile of mail was dumped on her desk. She sighed, job number one, and got stuck in. Now all she had to do was remember everyone’s names. The pigeon holes were only for messaged, she was expected to hand deliver the mail to everyone’s desks. By the time she had sorted the mail it was twenty to. She was just considering how to deliver it all to everyone’s when a young man arrived at her desk. “Hi, I’m Tom,” he introduced himself, “Mr Morova sent me to help you with the mail.” Kate sighed with relief, and followed him with the trolley now filled with the sorted mail. She made a mental picture of all the offices, desks and people as they delivered all the mail and she drew a map as soon as she returned to her desk. She was determined to get the hang of this job as soon as possible so that she could just relax and enjoy it. She was studying her new map when the phone rang again and it continued to ring hot until lunch. At lunchtime she switched it to the answering machine and joined the crowd in the lunchroom. Like her old boss, Mr Morova firmly believed in a decent lunch and he provided a simple hot or cold lunch for all his staff.

The lunchroom wasn’t a patch on the corner office of her previous workplace, but it was certainly cheerful. Everyone was expected to join together for lunch and Julie was swamped with co-workers eager to get to know the new secretary. Mr Morova rarely got involved in hiring new staff, so they suspected that she was special. She had typed up a few versions of Julie’s history, incorporating the information that the police had given her, so she was able to spin off a realistic tale. She included plenty of juicy barbs on her ex-husband. She’d decided on a mildly bitter recently divorced single mum angle. She wanted to arouse a bit of sympathy but not too much, and she didn’t want to stand out. She made the history as bland as possible and talk soon moved to last night’s soaps. Kate smiled, as it seemed to be working.

Kate kept fairly busy for the rest of the day. She liked the feel of the office and the people seemed nice. Most of the staff was Russian and the place hummed with the rhythm of Russian and English conversation. Kate typed a couple of letters, printed a fresh round of invoices and labels and answered the phone. The job was very simple but Kate liked it. It would suit Julie at any rate. Five o’clock came and she caught the tram back to Glenelg. Yuri usually worked till at least six and he often ended the day with calls back to Russia. The tram journey was pleasant. Adelaide folk kept to themselves more than the tram users in Melbourne and Kate missed the convivial atmosphere of Melbourne’s trams. She contented herself with looking out the window. Upon her arrival home she took Jo and Benny for a walk along the beach. It was a balmy afternoon and Glenelg was awash with activity. She spotted Peter alighting the tram as they headed towards home and she waved. He fell in alongside them with his bag casually slung over his left shoulder. Kate asked him about Uni and attempted not to sound too knowledgeable. Much of his work sounded very similar to what she herself had studied in Melbourne only four years ago. He was easy to talk to and Kate asked him what he wanted to do once he graduated. As she had expected his ambitions were greater than the family business and he spoke of going out on his own. ‘It takes the youngest to spread their wings,’ Kate thought to herself. She liked Peter; he was undemanding company. When they arrived back at the house Kate checked that all the sand had come off them before she let Jo inside. Jo led her to his books and proudly showed off his day’s work. Kate lifted him up, “I’m so proud of you, my little man! You’re such a clever boy!” He smiled and hugged her. She couldn’t imagine her life without Jo now. It felt like he had always been with her, not just merely for two and a half months.

Kate put Jo to bed and he picked out a story for her to read to him. He was getting a lot better at making his desires known nowadays. After the story had finished he was soon asleep and Kate crept out of his room, leaving his door slightly ajar as usual. Peter was waiting for her outside in the hall, “Ah, it’s a beautiful evening, full moon and all, would you like to come for a walk?” Kate looked up at him, “Um, sure, why not?” Kate grabbed her sweater and they went outside and were soon walking along the beach. Kate took her shoes off and waded in the shallows. She sent a splash Peter’s way and ran off. He chased after her and eventually tackled her to the sand. While he had her pinned to the sand he dropped his bombshell, “Your name isn’t really Julie, is it?” Kate tried not to look too surprised but she sat up suddenly, “what makes you think that?” Peter shrugged but didn’t look at her, “you seemed a bit phoney this afternoon. Is Jo really your kid? You must have been young when you had him.” “Eighteen,” Kate replied dispassionately, “it’s my ex, he’s a nasty piece of work. We had to leave everything.” She began to cry. “I’m sorry,” he said hastily, “I didn’t mean to upset you.” He went to put his arm around her but she shrugged him off and stood up. “Don’t touch me!” she snapped angrily and walked away in the opposite direction.

She didn’t want to head straight back, she needed to clear her head. She was more upset because Peter had seen through her than anything else, ‘am I really so transparent?’ she wondered, ‘could others tell as well?’ Kate shivered, though she wasn’t cold. She realised that she had left her sandals back in the sand. “Stuff it!” she exclaimed aloud. She stopped and looked up at the night sky. The moon dominated, it must have been close because it was so big. Kate took a few deep breaths and stretched her arms high above her head. She had to speak to Peter again and find out how he had guessed. At least he hadn’t guessed at the whole truth, she consoled herself. She couldn’t afford to have her cover blown. ‘Maybe I should contact the police?’ she considered. She didn’t dare put herself or Jo in danger and was prepared to run again if necessary, ‘but where to?’ She had extended family in Perth on her father’s side, but she was loathed to go that far. ‘Don’t make any rash decisions,’ she reminded herself as she finally headed back. She kept to the sand as much as possible to save her feet. She looked for her sandals on the way, but they weren’t there. ‘Peter must have picked them up,’ she thought. She walked the last few hundred metres along the footpath without encountering anything nasty. It was late when she got back. Her sandals had been left on the threshold. She picked them up and went to bed. She wrote a long letter to Ben pouring out all her fears and she felt a lot better afterwards. It didn’t compare to having him beside her, but it helped. She slept fitfully that night. Peter’s revelation worried her.

Peter wasn’t up when Kate left for work the next morning. She got his mobile number off Lydia, so that she could call him in her lunch break. She wouldn’t have any peace of mind until she had her fears either confirmed or dispelled. Work was the same as the previous day. Tom arrived at her desk and escorted her around the office, delivering the mail again. She made a few corrections to her map and studied it between jobs. She was determined to learn her way around as quickly as possible. She wanted Julie to be a success. She went for a walk at lunchtime and as soon as she was out of range of the office she pulled out her phone. She dialled Peter’s number but paused a moment before calling him and sent up a short prayer. “Peter,” a voice said. “Oh, hi, its Julie,” Kate said. “Did Mum give you my number?” he asked, slightly disgruntled. “Yes, I need to talk to you. What time do you finish Uni today?” “I’m already done, but I’m studying with my study group till four. I can amuse myself until five though, I’ll meet you at the office.” “Ok,” replied Kate, “I’ll see you then.” She hung up and nibbled on her sandwich as she walked. The office was in a nice part of town, in the North West corner of the city. It was close to Cornel Light Square and Kate was wandering through the square as she finished her sandwich and headed back to the office, lunchtime was nearly over.

The day plod along at a snail’s pace and Kate anxiously watched the clock. Peter materialised at her desk at one minute past five and gave Kate a fright. “Peter, I didn’t see you come in,” she exclaimed. “I’ve perfected invisibility in this place,” Peter laughed, “come on, I’ve gotta get out of here before they spot me!” He reached for Kate’s hand but she pulled it away and grabbed her bag. When they were outside Kate stopped, “let’s just get one thing straight,” she said forcefully, “you don’t ever touch me, or Jo.” Peter shrugged, “whatever, is it because of your ex?” “Partly,” Kate replied, “but it’s not the whole story. How did you know about me?” she asked. Peter shrugged again. Kate found it irritating. “I dunno, I guess it was when you were asking me about Uni. You sounded too intelligent.” Kate cursed under her breath, “you haven’t told anyone, have you?” Peter stopped and looked at her, “of course not!” he said, offended, “what do you take me for?” It was Kate’s turn to shrug, “you scared me, you’ve no idea what its like. I had to watch my son beaten black and blue, tortured!” her voice grew louder and shrill in pitch, “I wasn’t allowed to have friends, to work, or even to shop for myself!” She began to cry again, “You’ve no idea what its like, no idea, so don’t pretend to know about me. You don’t know the first thing!” She walked briskly ahead. Peter caught up with her outside a café. “I’m sorry, really, I am. You’re right. I have no idea. Can I at least get you a coffee or something?” Kate looked at him, “be careful Peter, just be careful.” They entered the café. Kate ordered a cappuccino. She would rather have had a latte, but a cappuccino would be more Julie’s style. Kate sipped her coffee contemplatively. She wasn’t sure that she trusted Peter, he had seen straight through her and it had scared her. At least it hadn’t been something she had said in front of his parents, she consoled herself, and ‘perhaps all is not yet lost.’ She took another sip of her coffee and looked out the window at nothing. Peter broke the silence, “you don’t trust me,” he said. Kate looked at him, “no, why should I?” Silence fell upon them again. “I would never do anything to hurt you,” he said at last. Kate put down her now empty cup and got up, “you can’t say that Peter. You already have.” She put a few dollars down on the table and left. Peter didn’t follow her. She caught the bus back to Glenelg.

She phoned her police contact as she walked home from the bus stop. The officer assured her that it hadn’t been a full breach of her cover and that she had nothing to worry about. “Are you sure?” she asked anxiously. “Julie, you covered yourself well. You have a believable back-story and he told you that he hasn’t shared his suspicions with anyone else. You have nothing to worry about, really.” Kate felt a bit better, but she was still worried. She would have to be on her guard with Peter. She was at her destination and she put away her phone. She didn’t want them to know that she had been talking to someone. “Oh, Julie dear, we were wondering where you had got to. I’m just about to serve up dinner,” Lydia said, concerned. It was almost seven o’clock. The men all looked up from the table and Jo got up and ran to her side. She lifted him up and hugged him close. “How was your day, my little man?” she asked as she returned him to his seat and sat down next to him. He wanted to take her to his desk, “after dinner, Jo, you can show me later.” Mrs Morova brought out steaming hot bowls of carrot soup. ‘She really is an excellent cook,’ Kate noted as she finished her soup. It had been delicious. The rest of dinner was a simple, quiet affair. Kate was glad, as she wasn’t in the mood for talking tonight. She excused herself and Jo straight after dessert and Jo led her to her room. He proudly showed off his writing, drawing and maths. Lydia was teaching him his two times table. Jo got out the Connect Four and they set it up on Kate’s bed. Jo was a bit clingy tonight and Kate wondered why. ‘Perhaps its because I was out for so long today and he’s not grown used to Lydia yet. Oh well,’ she thought, she’d have all day with him tomorrow and Friday, she could make up for it. Jo beat her three times. Kate was drifting and wasn’t paying attention to the game. Jo disappeared and returned five minutes later in his PJs and holding a book, it was his first favourite. He fell asleep in her lap and Kate couldn’t bear to disturb him by carrying him to his own bed, so she lifted him gently and laid him on the far side of her bed. Perhaps it was what he wanted anyway. She was tired herself and brushed her teeth and joined him. She fell asleep rapidly, but it wasn’t restful. She still had Peter on her mind.