CHAPTER 13
THE ASSISTANT
Yesterday, I’d been picking up birthday gifts for two members of the housekeeping team, making arrangements for Mr. Vale to travel to a board meeting in San Francisco for a tech startup he’d invested in, and finalising the details of the dinner party he planned to hold next weekend.
Today? Today, he wanted me to research the gem trade in Colombia. Just a high-level paper, he said, and if he needed more, he’d engage a specialist to prepare a detailed report. But where should I start? With the logistics? The ethics? The finances? Last week, he’d wanted details of the wheat trade in Eastern Europe, and when I’d emailed him the facts I’d pulled together, he’d given me no feedback whatsoever. Had it been mediocre? Good? Were there improvements I could make? At times,
