Fox Spirit 81 – Some Pieces of a Puzzle
“Last day” echoed in Sara’s mind. She grasped at the edge of the desk to steady herself. She must not show weakness. She must maintain the mask. Her voice was level as she protested, “Boss Wang… have you thought…? Perhaps I could serve a different function – I’ve been doing the international marketing collateral for some time; how will you fill this gap? There are customers in Hong Kong and overseas who are accustomed to an English option.”
“That’s true,” Jerry Wang responded coolly. He picked up the papers and knocked them against the desk, forming them into a neat stack. “We will make an arrangement for them; it’s not enough work to require a full-time person at this time.”’
He took a binder clip from his desk drawer and fixed it to the neat stack of papers. “One more thing, Manager Miller. The apartment you occupy is available to you only through Rainbow Software’s connection with Bei Hai University. I am afraid you will have to leave that apartment at the end of your employment with us.”
Sara gasped. Not only her job, but her housing was also to be snatched away.
Wang put the papers into his desk drawer and closed it carefully. Then he rose from his desk and extended his hand to Sara. She was too stunned to respond, too stunned at first even to stand. “That is all, Manager Miller.”
Sara rose slowly, touched the proffered hand with her fingertips, and turned to go.
“No, wait, yet one more thing,” Jerry Wang’s bland composure slipped slightly. The rehearsed tone was gone from his voice as he said, “If you wish, Sai Le, I will tell the office people that you chose to leave us because you are taking Richie back to school in America.”
Sara recognized the kindness he intended. “It’s good of you, Boss Wang, to save my face in this way. I thank you for this. Perhaps you could wait another week before saying anything?” Wang nodded and Sara turned away blindly.
“Zhu ni yi lu ping an –wish you a smooth road” she heard Jerry Wang say softly as she left the room.
Sara moved back to her cubicle in a daze. How could she find new employment and a new place to live in three weeks? She stared at her own face in the computer monitor. Jerry Wang had been so formal, so brusque, so different from his usual good cheer. He hadn’t spoken of giving her a recommendation, or helping her find other work, only offered a face-saving cover for her leaving. What could have happened?
Someone was standing behind her at the entrance to the cubicle. She turned; it was Scarlet Li.
“Sara, I have such good news.” Then Scarlet saw Sara’s white face and paused. “Sara, what has happened?”
Sara held tightly to the arms of her chair. “Nothing. It’s nothing. I was speaking to Boss Wang about poor sales for our new game. It’s very upsetting.” Boss Wang had not told Scarlet Li about her dismissal yet. Perhaps there was still a way. He had given her three weeks. “But what‘s your good news?
“Good news…oh, yes. I’ve just heard this morning from Boss Wang. Jade will be returning to our office soon.”
“Jade?” Sara was dumbfounded. “And Liu – will he return, too?”
“I don’t know. He said nothing about Liu. Yet I think Jade wouldn’t return without him, unless there was no hope left in Heilongjiang.”
“And Silver Wing? She’s so enjoyed being part of our office life; have you told her she’s going to be replaced?”
“Actually this works out well for Silver Wing. You haven’t noticed in the past month? She is just beginning to show. Boss Wang plans to send her to visit her parents while the child within grows. They want nothing to disturb this new hope.”
Sara was dismayed. Silver Wing had talked with her almost every day about Richie, but had said nothing about her pregnancy. Of course, she might not have been sure. But Sara should have noticed. Scarlet Li had noticed. Scarlet noticed everything.
“Ah, that is good news. I must congratulate her and Boss Wang. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t see.”
“No matter. She sits behind the desk; you wouldn’t notice her round belly if you didn’t catch her standing at the coffee machine and since she has known of her pregnancy she’s no longer drinking coffee.” Scarlet’s smile expressed her amusement at this odd notion. “I drank coffee and tea all through my pregnancy and had no problems. Still, you can’t be too careful if you’ve waited so long.”
Scarlet seemed about to say more when the phone rang in her cubicle. Sara watched her go with relief. How long would it be before word got around about Sara’s dismissal? Perhaps she could find more work with other classes at the Children’s Palace. Perhaps if she worked full time at the Children’s Palace she could stay in Bei Hai University housing.
And how would Storm take the news when he returned? Their last encounter… her breath stopped for a moment when she remembered the violence of their last encounter. Would that be her last memory of him? When he had left he said “Farewell” as though they wouldn’t see each other again. She thought of phoning him, but in the office there was no privacy; someone would overhear. And she wanted to be able to see his face, not just hear his voice. What would he say when he learned she had been let go? That she had no place to live? He had talked about Sara and Richie being his family. But that was before… her mind shied away from that last evening. He wasn’t supposed to be back from his travels until next week. But he had always called. He had never gone more than a week without calling. Surely he would call. But the afternoon passed, the weekend passed, and still he did not call..
The next Friday, and Auntie Chen waved a greeting to Sara and Richie as they biked into the courtyard, gesturing to Sara to stop. “Manager Miller, I’ve just heard that you’re going to leave us, and the little one also. So, no more late nights working with Manager Cheng. I guess all your projects are really finished this time. His parents will be happy to see more of their son when you are gone.”
How did Auntie Chen know? Suddenly Sara wondered, was it Auntie Chen who had told Ruth Cheng about Storm’s visits, Auntie Chen who had told her months earlier about Richie? Silver Wing had warned her on her first day in Beijing. “She can make things smoother, or more difficult, if she doesn’t like you.” Had Ruth Cheng paid her to keep an eye on Storm and Sara? Sara struggled to keep her voice steady as she asked, “You know Manager Cheng’s parents then, Auntie Chen?”
Auntie Chen dropped her eyes and turned away as if she had suddenly gotten dust in her eye. Sara knew she had not intended to give away that bit of information. When Auntie turned back, she reached out and patted Richie on the shoulder. “It will be sad without a child in the courtyard, but perhaps the new couple will have a baby soon.”
A new couple already assigned to her apartment? Wang had been thorough. Sara replied only “Have you met the new couple already, Auntie Chen?”
“Only the young lady who will be working at Rainbow Software, the niece of Jerry Wang. She seems very pleasant. And her husband, he will be working there too. I heard he had been a tour guide for American tourists, so he will work with the international customers.”
Sara gasped. “Jerry Wang’s niece? I did not know…he never mentioned…” Wang was one of the ten most common surnames in China – she had suspected brash Gateway Wang, the software engineer, of some connection with Jerry, but had never thought to connect Jade.How little she’d known!
“Yes, of course Boss Wang must do what he can for his niece and her husband,” Auntie Chen went on. “I think she had also worked at Rainbow Software before she was married. Maybe you know her?”
Sara bent to give Richie a quick hug to hide her face. When she straightened, she was able to say calmly, “I’ve met her. But I didn’t know her very well.” She wheeled the bicycle with Richie still aboard into her apartment. A piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. Of course Jerry Wang would need a place for his niece and her husband, but how had they managed to get married? And how had Jerry Wang secured Liu’s release? If his guanxi was so powerful, why had he taken so long to act? And where was Storm?
Chinese Puzzle Box 