‘Don’t you think I ought to know a little more about what I’m getting myself into?’ I ventured. ‘You owe me that much.’
‘There’ll be plenty of time tomorrow. We’ll talk during the flight. That’s a promise.’
He departed leaving me in a foul mood. It was becoming the kind of day when nothing turned out right. Primar and my wife had turned my world upside down in the space of fifteen minutes. I was suddenly a free agent. Perhaps it was the best. Someone once told me that everyone’s life was planned in Heaven and whatever you did it would only turn out according to the set plan. What had Jan written in her letter to him. ‘I am sorry for the inconvenience’. How bizarre! Wht on earth was she talking about? They had been in perfect harmony, hardly every arguing. She claimed that he left her often to play bridge. She knew what she was in for when she married me. I had reached the Camrose Trials to be selected to play for England. Clearly she was becoming short in her vision with even less foresight. However, she was right about one thing. It wouldn’t be long before I nursed my pride back to good health although I could never stop loving her. Yes… I was having an affair with my secretary but it didn’t mean I felt anything less for my wife. I was a man with a sexual apetite that Jan couldn’t deal with. I still loved her deeply and it was a shock to know that she had left me.
I pressed the intercom and told Penny to block all calls and visitors to the office. I needed to assess my position more carefully. Although Primar had advised me to take two weeks’ holiday, I had a gut feeling that whatever destiny had in store for me would take a great deal longer. I sat at the desk for some time wrestling with future as I doodled on the blotting pad in front of me. Then I stood up and returned to the window, looking down at the empty streets strewn with litter left by the sightseers who had long departed. By this time, the ceremony at St.Paul’s Cathedral would be well under way and I mused at the affinity which existed between the Prince and myself. We were each embarking on a new venture that would alter the trend of our lives… although our journeys would move in entirely different directions. Nevertheless, I intended to face the challenge with no regrets at not being the Prince… and no doubt the Prince, had he even the remotest knowledge of my existence, would have had no desire to change places with me.
Chapter Two
By the end of the day, when the dust had settled, my secretary left a message with Personnel Department to say that I was taking two weeks’ leave as a result of domestic problems. They would not consider it strange that Penny Smith was also taking her leave entitlement for many secretaries took their holidays the same time as their managers.
Penny was obviously upset after Primar’s visit. She seemed convinced that I was being blackmailed and that I was shielding her. I had never donned the mantle of a gallant before but I did nothing to dissuade her. I recalled that she once told me that her father had been a vicar in the north of England before he died. No doubt she had a mother with a high degree of propriety who would have taken fright had she ever caught sight of the photographs.
I accompanied Penny back to her apartment so that she could pack a suitcase. I had to admit that it was not a wise decision to take her with me but we seemed to be involved in this mess together. We gathered her belongings and returned to my house. It seemed cold and empty without Jan there to greet me. Everything was still in its place; none of the furniture, the paintings or the bric-a-brac had been removed. The repatriation of many of the possessions we shared was likely to come later.
The night passed by with an uneasy calm for neither of us could claim that we had slept well… if indeed we had slept at all because we felt that, at any moment, the police could come knocking at the front door to arrest us for stealing the company’s funds. Consequently, when morning arrived and light entered the bedroom, we both felt extremely tired.
Primar failed to meet us at the airport but his absence didn’t create a problem. As we proceeded through to the reception area, we saw a young man holding a wooden pole bearing a sheet of paper which had my name written in block capitals. He also held a photograph in his hand to enable him to recongise us.
‘I’m Chedda!’ he announced brightly in a clipped accent as we approached him. ‘Primar has been delayed but he asked that you wait for him on board the plane. Come… if you follow me I’ll take you to it.’
He led us across the tarmac towards a strange aircraft I had never seen before. The door was open and he pointed to the steps indicating for us to climb aboard. Chedda’s face broke into a smile when he saw the confused expression on my face. ‘You know something about aircraft, eh?’ he laughed easily. ‘But you’ve never seen one like this. I’m not surprised. It’s a Kfir Junior,’ he explained. ‘Kfir is the Israeli for ‘lion’. The advantage is it can fly much further than other light aircraft bcause it has additional fuel tanks fitted to keep it going. You’ll learn the Israelis are a great nation for ingenuity.’
We ascended the steps into the aircraft as Chedda placed our luggage in a locker placed on one side of the cabin. The interior was practically new and very smart capable of carrying six passengers comfortably.
‘How many others are coming with us… apart from Primar?’ I asked tentatively,
‘You have star treatment and total privacy today,’ he replied.
‘In fact once the door to the pilot’s cabin is closed, no one can see you and you can do anything you wish. The cocktail cabinet is over here and food is in the locker there. Excuse me for a moment. I’ll take this opportunity to warm up the engine.’
He left us for a while and we relaxed in the soft comfortable seats acclimatising ourselves to the new environment. Primar had thought of everything. There were the morning newspapers, the latest magazines, cigarettes, cigars, sweets and alcoholic drinks. We were about to travel in style!
It was almost ten minutes before Chedda reappeared. I lowered my newspaper and, at the sight of the expression on his face, sensed that he was going to present us with bad news.
‘We have a problem,’ he advanced solemnly. ‘Primar hasn’t arrived but but traffic control has given me clearance to take off. I can’t delay because of airport flight schedules so I’ll have to go. Will you secure your safety belts and be ready for take-off. And please… no smoking for a while… yes?’
Before I had the chance to ask him any questions, he had returned to the pilot’s cabin. Penny and I glanced at each other uneasily. I shrugged my shoulders in a casual manner but the truth was that Primar hadn’t turned up as he promised.
‘How long do you think this journey will take?’ asked Penny apprehensively.
‘Just short of four hours I would think,’ I answered. ‘It all depends on tailwinds. They can make a difference of over half an hour.’
The engines took on a more fortified note as Chedda taxied the aircraft along the runway and, within the span of less than a minute, the plane had taken to the skies. I smiled amiably at Penny but it was impossible to shift a discomforting sensation that something was very much amiss.
After we had gained considerable height, I opened the cocktail cabinet to pour the drinks. What had happened to Primar? Why hadn’t he arrived? The only person who might know the answer was the pilot, Chedda, but then it was reasonable to presume he didn’t know. For the first time in a long while my nerves started to get the better of me and I had difficulty in sitting still. I managed to find a pack of playing cards and began to play patience to calm myself down while Penny ploughed through a number of the magazines. It was nearly an hour when I tired of the card., I stood up and looked out of the port window for a while, gazing dismally at the white clouds floating below us like cotton-wool. Then, impatiently, I went to the door of the pilot’s cabin and knocked on the door. There was no answer so I turned the handle a number of times only to discover that it was locked,