‘Oh please,’ Nanette had replied, ignoring the flicker of pain at the mention of Zac. They had been passionate about tennis, both playing and watching. To actually go to a Tennis Masters match would be wonderful. Zac had always been tied up with racing by April when the event happened and had never managed to schedule it into his programme.
‘Good. I’ll confirm the tickets before I go away next week.’
‘Business trip, or pleasure?’ she’d asked.
‘A trip to Switzerland on business,’ he had said quietly. ‘So long as the authorities don’t prevent me leaving.’
‘Are they likely to?’ Nanette had looked at him, trying not to show her worry but not wanting to pry.
Mathieu had shrugged. ‘I’m hoping they’ll realise they’ve made a mistake in the next couple of days and everything will be sorted out. I’m not the man they want.’
‘Do you know who is?’ Nanette had asked quietly.
Mathieu had nodded. ‘Oh yes.’ But he’d said no more and the subject had been dropped.
As they had finished their meal and prepared to leave, the restaurant door opened and a couple entered. The man, a burly figure in an expensive black coat and wearing a trilby, immediately came over to Mathieu. The two shook hands and chatted briefly, but it wasn’t until the man said, ‘Mathieu, who is your charming companion?’ in a foreign accent that Nanette recognised as Russian, that Mathieu, reluctantly it seemed to Nanette, had introduced her.
‘Boris, this is my children’s nanny. Netty, this is Boris, a business acquaintance.’
‘Aw, come now, Mathieu, more than a business acquaintance since last week. Remember how I help you with your little difficulty?’ Boris had turned to Nanette, briefly acknowledged her with an abrupt ‘Bonjour, mademoiselle,' and turned his attention back to Mathieu. Nanette couldn’t help but overhear Boris’s next words. ‘Tell Zac I need to talk to him urgently.’
Mathieu had nodded in reply before placing his hand in the small of her back and gently pushing her towards the door, saying goodbye to Boris.
Knowing the way society in Monaco worked, Nanette was not surprised that once he’d learnt she was a mere nanny, Boris had ignored her. As far as he was concerned, she was just a servant and not important enough for him to bother with.
The question, though, was, why had Mathieu introduced her as the nanny, complete with the childish name the twins called her, when earlier he’d intimated he wanted them to get to know each other better. He must have realised he’d effectively precluded her from mixing with him and this particular business associate in the future.
Now, as she watched the morning’s market activity around her and drank her coffee, she couldn’t help wondering about that message for Zac. What was the connection between Zac and Boris? How long had Mathieu known Boris? The oft-quoted phrase about Monaco being ‘a sunny place for shady people’ came into her mind. What were Zac and Mathieu up to, associating with a Russian, whom, on first impressions, she personally wouldn’t trust an inch?
Thoughtfully, Nanette finished her coffee, left enough euros in the saucer to cover the bill and began to make her way down to the old port. So much had changed since she lived here and yet some things were still reassuringly familiar.
From her bedroom balcony, she’d struggled to remember the lines of the old port. To her eyes, the new harbour extension, already crowded with the floating gin palaces belonging to the rich and famous, had blended in seamlessly.
Walking slowly along the quay, Nanette recognised some of the yachts, but to her relief there was no sign of Pole Position – the boat Zac had treated himself to after winning the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis several years ago. Knowing that he liked to have the yacht moored in Monaco and use it for parties both before and after the Grand Prix, Nanette knew that once Pole Position reappeared in the harbour, it wouldn’t be long before Zac too, was back in town.
Glancing up to the familiar skyline behind the Hotel de Paris as she walked up the hill, something jarred in her memory. It was a second or two before Nanette realised that the nineteenth-century villa where she’d had a tiny two-room apartment had been replaced by a large ultra-modern concrete building.
Shame; the building, one of the few old villas left, had lent a certain charm to the skyline and had emitted a belle époque atmosphere of the Riviera in its heyday, which she’d loved. Zac, though, had always complained about its lack of modern conveniences and had rarely stayed there with her.
His own large apartment had been in one of those ultra-modern blocks a street or two away from Casino Square. Idly, Nanette wondered if he still lived there or whether, like Mathieu, he had moved on to an even grander place. Whatever, she had no intention of walking anywhere near that particular area this morning.
Instead, she took the Avenue Monte Carlo turning and strolled along, happily indulging in a spot of wishful window shopping in the expensive boutiques that lined the small street. Once, in the past, she’d happily indulged herself buying a leather handbag in one of them. A handbag that was currently languishing in the wardrobe in her room in Blackberry Farm. Another time, another life.
Dodging a string of excitable Japanese tourists, Nanette crossed the road and ran down a flight of steps into the immaculately tended Casino gardens. Last night, Mathieu had mentioned an exhibition of sculpture being shown there by a little-known Frenchwoman and she was looking forward to an hour or two wandering around the exhibits.
6
Sitting on the bed in her air-conditioned hotel bedroom, Vanessa pressed the ‘save’ key on Ralph’s laptop which they had to share because of transport issues. Their honeymoon period was over and today their real married life together would begin. A life that for the next few months would be unlike any she had ever known. She’d promised the twins that she would take lots of photos and keep a diary for them to read when she returned. Ralph had said the deeper they went into the jungle, living with the native tribes, there was unlikely to be any hope of a regular satellite connection.
Knowing that last night’s Skype connection with the twins was probably the last time she’d be able to talk to them for several weeks was hard. She could tell, though, that both of them, whilst missing her, were happy and settled in Monaco with Mathieu and Nanette. Olivia had been excited about a new friend she’d made at the International School and Pierre couldn’t wait for Grand Prix weekend. Jean-Claude had figured in the conversation a lot too, Vanessa had noted. The twins were definitely growing closer to their grandfather now they were living in Monaco which was good. She’d always got on well with Jean-Claude and after divorcing Mathieu she’d felt more than a twinge of guilt that they were missing out on a relationship with their grandfather.
With the twins hogging the computer, Vanessa had only managed a fleeting conversation with Nanette at the end. Her friend had reassured her that everything was good and she was to stop worrying about them and enjoy her adventure in the jungle. Vanessa remembered how torn she’d been when Ralph had asked her to accompany him on this trip. While she loved his enthusiasm and passion for the project and supported his decision to make a documentary about the jungle, the thought of joining him and leaving the twins for so long, scared her. And guilt had, of course, reared its head. Nanette agreeing to look after the twins with Mathieu while she was away had been the deciding factor. She’d be leaving them in the safest possible hands with two people they knew and adored. Vanessa knew it had been a big ask of Nanette to put the past behind her and return to the Principality and she’d worried about it, but hopefully it would prove to be a step forward for Nanette. It certainly seemed as though it was working out currently.