Did she have any kind of private life, or even family? Or did she really just work, sleep and visit ex-cons whenever she could? Was her life really that empty, almost as empty as his own? Didn’t make sense, but then none of this did. Why would someone this smart, successful and together be bothered with the likes of him?
‘Guess what?’ Eloise told him excitedly. ‘I’ve got news. Well, more like an offer. That is, if you’re interested.’
‘Tell me more,’ he said, smiling even as she uttered the words, if he was interested. Without even hearing what it was, he was just about ready to jump down her throat at whatever it might be and say yes. When did anyone ever offer him anything, bar trouble? And what other offers were there for him on the table at this point in time, only dangerous crap that would surely be a shortcut to him landing back inside in no time?
‘Well,’ she began, ‘I’ve got a sister Helen, who rented out her flat in Dublin a few years ago when she moved down to Cork.’
‘OK …’
Now, I won’t bore you with the details,’ she explained in that enunciated, school ma’am way she had, ‘but basically now my sister’s staying somewhere else in Dublin. Emm … staying indefinitely. Anyway, her tenant moved out months ago and for the life of her, she can’t get anyone else to take the place. You know what it’s like renting in this market.’
Jake didn’t, but nodded politely.
‘Anyway, now Helen desperately needs someone to house-sit for her. She was about to put an ad in the paper, and then I thought of you. So basically, there’s an empty flat that you’re welcome to stay in until she’s able to rent it out again properly. I thought that it might just suit you for a few weeks, at least until you find a proper place of your own. Plus it’s on the other side of town, so at least you’d be out of harm’s way there, none of your, well, let’s just say no one from your past could possibly ever find you. You’d be doing her a favour too and all she asks is that you look after the place. It’s been empty for seven months now, and needs someone to live in it.’
He sat back, digesting this.
‘So … What do you think?’
‘It’s incredibly generous of you and your sister, but Eloise …’
Shit. It was no use. He couldn’t contain himself any longer.
‘I have to ask you something.’
‘Go ahead.’
‘Why are you doing this? I mean, why me? You’re a busy lady, you hardly have time for this. What are you anyway, like one of those Victorian philanthropists who spent their time visiting the prisons and helping the less fortunate? Like some kind of angel in disguise? Don’t get me wrong, I’m hugely grateful to you for the offer, but none of this makes the slightest bit of sense to me.’
She blushed at this. And took her time before answering him, he noticed.
‘Because … Well, I mean, just look at you Jake, you’ve got such potential. All your brilliant exam results? You could easily make something of yourself outside of here, build a whole new life, a better one. I just … I really believe in you and if there’s any way I can help out, I’m here. That’s all.’
He looked intently back at her.
‘And that’s the whole truth? Just look me in the eye, Eloise. If you’re holding back, trust me, I’ll know.’
‘Well …’ she said a bit shiftily. ‘It’s partly the truth.’
‘Partly?’
‘Look … Put it this way. I’m someone who’s always getting accused of putting work ahead of everyone and everything. I constantly hear that I never do anything good for other people. So now, I figure, well maybe here’s my chance.’
He nodded, but still couldn’t shake the feeling there was more to all this than met the eye. Considerably more. What though? That was the million dollar question.
‘Anyway,’ she went on in her usual back-to-business way, ‘what do you think about flatsitting?’
‘It’s an incredibly generous offer, but I’d only take it on one condition.’
‘Which is?’
‘I’d insist on paying your sister rent. Upfront and from day one. And that’s not negotiable.’
Eloise nodded, and seemed happy enough with that. Then she started to probe around a bit more.
‘And another thing Jake. I wanted to ask you if you’d thought about how you’d manage for money once you get out?’ she asked directly.
‘Jesus! Like if it’s not too personal a question?’
‘Sorry, I just wondered, that was all,’ she said, biting her tongue and looking flushed that she’d maybe overstepped the mark.
Jake sat back and shook his head. Because even just being asked that made him feel about two inches tall. She didn’t mean to humiliate, of that he was certain. It was just unfortunate that this was her manner. He’d learned by now that if there was a wrong way to get around people, Eloise would pretty soon light on it. You could see it in the way she spoke to the screws, snappily, brusquely, like someone who was used to barking orders while all around her jumped to.
A real shame, Jake thought. Because underneath all of that toughness, there was a good heart there, if you only took the trouble to furrow down deep for it. A genuine warmth and a caring side that for whatever reason, she took great pains to conceal from all around her. Not for the first time, it made him wonder why exactly she’d chosen him to be on the receiving end of all this altruism. (Another new word for the day.) Because why pick a soon-to-be ex-con when she could easily help those with far more need of it? It was a mystery, one that baffled him, but if it was the last thing he did, he’d somehow get to the bottom of it.
‘Look, I didn’t mean to be rude or nosey Jake,’ she cut across his thoughts, ‘I just wondered if you were okay for money, that was all.’
And at that point, he’d have sworn on a stack of Bibles that no bank manager on earth could have done it quite as probingly, cutting straight to the heart of the matter in seconds flat. If this one had an animal image, he thought, looking evenly through the grille at her, it would have been a bird of prey; an eagle or a hawk. She was that alert, that keen and clued in; she’d sound out any tiny detail you were not one hundred per cent sure of. In fact, she’d not only sound it out, but be on top of it in a matter of seconds.
So he paused, waited for a bit, saw that she wasn’t going anywhere till she got the answers she was looking for, then finally realised there was nothing for it but to open up to her. What the hell, she seemed to have found out everything else about him from the governor, what had he to lose?
‘I’ll be just fine, thanks for asking,’ he told her, coughing and keeping his voice deliberately low, hoping she’d just drop the subject and move on.
‘You’re sure?’
‘Positive. As it happens, I’ve a few quid put by, not much but enough to tide me over for a few weeks till I find work.’
‘What
