So that’s what she did. She quit.
Does that sound flippant? As if Lana made life-changing decisions on the toss of a coin? I assure you she didn’t. I suspect she had been mulling this over for years. Otto’s sudden and unexpected death forced Lana’s hand. You only had to glance at Leo now to see that her gamble had paid off. Yes, Leo was an occasionally temperamental teenager, but he was good-natured, intelligent, kind; and responsible. He cared about other people, and the planet he lived on.
Lana was proud of how Leo had turned out. She felt sure it was down to her having had the right priorities. Unlike Kate, who was unmarried, childless, lurching from one disastrous, self-destructive relationship to another.
Lana thought of Kate for a moment. She was currently rehearsing Agamemnon at the Old Vic. Kate was at the height of her profession, hugely creatively fulfilled, still cast in leading roles. Was Lana envious? Perhaps.
But there was no going back. What if she returned to work now? Looking older, feeling older, inevitably inviting unfavorable comparison with her younger self? Any kind of comeback would involve compromise—and probably end in disappointment. Imagine a disastrous, or even mediocre, production? That would be devastating for her.
No, Lana had made her choice—and been rewarded with a happy, well-adjusted son; a husband she loved; a marriage that worked. All this mattered enormously.
Yes. She nodded to herself. That’s the end of the story, right here.
It seemed poetic, somehow, after such a hectic and turbulent life, that Lana should end up here, quietly drinking tea, watching the rain fall. Lana Farrar was an old married lady—a mother, and one day, hopefully, a grandmother.
She felt calm. That horrible anxious feeling left her. This is what it means to be content. Everything is perfect, just as it is.
It was particularly cruel of fate to select that precise moment—just as Lana reached this epiphany about her life—for Agathi to enter the room.…
And Lana’s world to fall apart.
4
Agathi’s day began uneventfully enough.
Tuesday was always busy for her; the day she ran errands. She enjoyed it, being out and about, charging around Mayfair, a long list in her hand.
As she left the house that morning, it seemed like a lovely day to be outdoors. The sun was shining and the skies were clear. Later on, like Lana, Agathi was caught in the rainstorm. But unlike her employer, she had been wise enough to take an umbrella.
Agathi walked to the pharmacy, dropping off a prescription for Lana. Then she went to the local dry cleaner’s, run by Sid, a notoriously prickly man in his sixties. He was civil to Agathi, however, unlike to the rest of his clientele, on account of her association with Lana, whom he adored.
Sid beamed at Agathi as she entered and beckoned her to the front of the queue. “Excuse me, dear,” he said to the customer at the head of the line. “I’ll just serve this lady first. She’s in a hurry—she works for Lana Farrar, you know.”
Agathi winced slightly, embarrassed, as she made her way past the queue of waiting customers, none of whom dared to object.
Sid gestured at the clothes hanging on the rail. They were wrapped in plastic, ready to go. “Here you go, Her Majesty’s garments. All nice and snug in case there’s a change in the weather. Looks like rain.”
“You think so? Seems like a fine day to me.”
Sid frowned. He didn’t like being contradicted. “No. Take it from me. It’ll be pissing down in half an hour.”
Agathi nodded. She paid him for the clothes and was about to leave when Sid suddenly stopped her.
“Wait a sec. Nearly forgot. Head like a sieve. Hang on—”
Sid opened a little drawer. He carefully took out a small, sparkling piece of jewelry. An earring. He slid it across the counter.
“Caught in Mr. Farrar’s suit, it was. Inside the lapel.”
It’s Mr. Miller, not Farrar, Agathi thought. But she didn’t correct Sid.
She looked at the earring. A delicate silver thing, in the shape of a half-crescent moon; with a chain of three diamonds hanging from it.
She thanked him. She took the earring and left.
As she walked home, Agathi wondered if she should tell Lana about the earring, or not? Such a stupid dilemma; so small, so trivial. And yet …
What would have happened if she had dropped the earring in a rubbish bin, there on the street? Or put it in her bedside drawer, next to her grandmother’s crystal, and forgotten about it? What if she never mentioned it to Lana? What if she had kept her mouth shut?
Well, I wouldn’t be sitting here now, talking to you, would I? Everything would be different. Which makes me think that the real hero of our story—or do I mean villain?—is Agathi. For it is her actions, and the decision she was about to make, that determined all our fates. She had no idea she was holding life and death in the palm of her hand.