Downsizing Read Online Free PDF Page A

project and have
nothing left for me.”
    “ No, really I—”
    “ Look, son, I admire the fact that
you work hard and save all your money. Resisting all the
temptations on offer at your age can’t be easy. Amassing five grand
in two years is no mean feat either, but it’s still chicken-feed.”
He walked round his desk and placed an arm around Noah’s
shoulder.
    “ Stick with me for a few more
years, boy. You’ve still got a lot to learn. Carry on saving the
pennies and wait until you’ve got more to invest.”
    “ But the house on Broad Street is
perfect.” Frustration underscored Noah’s words. “Ones like that
don’t come along very often.”
    “ I’ve told you,” Watts said, his
voice hardening. “I ain’t gonna help you set yourself up in
competition with me.”
    “ Okay, I get the message.” Noah
turned toward the door. If he didn’t get out of here right now he’d
say something he might later regret. Watt’s voice stayed him before
he turned the handle.
    “ If you wanna earn some easy
money, you could do me a favor.” He reached for his wallet,
produced a wad of notes, and pushed them into Noah’s hand. “Kitty’s
got tickets for some dumb local theatre show tonight—something to
do with one of her charities—but I’m not gonna be able to take her.
I’ve got something else on.” He nodded toward his door, thrust his
groin forward, and chuckled.
    “ It’s Shirley’s birthday, and I’ve
got a present for her,” Watts said as Noah scowled. “Kitty likes
you, so why don’t you use my car, pick her up at seven, and take
her to the show? Buy her dinner afterward at that posh Italian
place on the High Street and keep the change. Easy money, and you
don’t even have to get your hands dirty.” He raised a brow,
ignoring Noah’s stunned expression. “I’ll tell her to expect you
then, shall I?”
    Noah was so angry he didn’t trust himself to
speak. Instead of launching his career as a property mogul, it
appeared he was about to embark upon an alternative one as a
gigolo.
    He was still smoldering when he drew up
outside the Watts’s house that evening, wondering why he hadn’t
told his boss to go fuck himself. When Kitty opened the door, her
face reflecting her anxiety, he felt his annoyance slipping away.
None of this was her fault.
    “ Hi, Kitty, how are
you?”
    “ Oh, Noah, do come in for a
moment. We’ve just got time for a drink before we need to leave.
It’s kind of you to do this favor for Ryan. I hope you won’t be too
bored, that’s all.” Her tremulous smile brought Maxine to mind.
“He’s always letting me down at the last minute, because work comes
first for Ryan.”
    Noah returned her smile, sensing that in spite
of the considerable age gap between them, he was much better at
this sort of things than she’d ever be.
    “ It ain’t exactly a hardship,” he
said.
    “ Now you’re just being gallant.”
She appeared flustered by the compliment. “I’m old enough to be
your mother.”
    Noah accepted the beer she handed him, and
watched her hand tremble as she poured a glass of wine for herself.
She was elegantly dressed in a beige creation that flattered her
shape. Her carefully applied made-up couldn’t entirely conceal the
fact that age was catching up with her, but she appeared content to
allow nature to take its course. He could see that she must once
have been beautiful, and to Noah’s mind she still was.
    She deserved better than she got from Ryan,
and as the remnants of his anger faded away, he made up his mind to
give her an evening she’d enjoy.
    The play was a surprisingly good amateur
production of Love in a Mist . Kitty had something to do with
the fund-raising. She took Noah to the party for the cast
afterward, which was when things started to get awkward. This
clearly wasn’t the first time Kitty had been escorted by someone
other than her husband, and she must have caught some of the
spiteful comments being directed her way.
    “— they