The African Equation Read Online Free PDF Page A

widower’s grief? Even if I had fallen short in my behaviour towards Wolfgang, there were surely more important things to worry about while I was in mourning.
    I went back on the balcony. I needed fresh air. The cold lashed my face. I leant over the rail and gazed at the streams of water in the gutters. Every now and again, a car passed. Watching it move away, I had the impression it was taking a little of my soul with it.
    Claudia joined me, a glass in her hand. ‘Drink this,’ she said. ‘It’ll buck you up.’
    I took the glass and lifted it to my lips. The first sip felt like a trail of lava, the second shook me from head to toe.
    ‘You should eat something,’ Claudia said. ‘You haven’t touched a thing since we got back from the cemetery. I’m amazed you’re still standing.’
    ‘I’m walking on my head.’
    ‘I can imagine.’
    ‘Can you?’
    She placed her hand on mine, a gesture that made me feel ill at ease. ‘I’m really sorry, Kurt. I haven’t had a wink of sleep in the last few nights.’
    ‘I’m only just starting to wake up. And I don’t understand what I see around me.’
    She strengthened her grip on my fingers. ‘You know you can count on me, Kurt.’
    ‘I don’t doubt that. Thank you. You were great with the guests.’
    ‘It’s the least I could do.’ She took her hand away, leant back against the rail, and sighed. ‘You think you’reprepared for anything, and when it happens, you realise how wrong you were.’
    ‘That’s life.’
    ‘I still can’t believe that Jessica could have done something like that. Over a promotion … Just imagine! Over a job … A job she would have got one day anyway.’
    An electric shock couldn’t have given me a greater jolt … Promotion? … Job? … What was she talking about? Claudia’s choked voice immediately sobered me up.
    ‘What job? What’s all this about a promotion?’
    Claudia looked at me in astonishment. ‘Didn’t she tell you?’
    ‘Tell me what?’
    ‘Oh, my God, I thought you knew.’
    ‘Please just tell me.’
    Claudia was completely thrown. She knew she had gone too far to pull back. She looked around in panic, as if searching for support. I wouldn’t let her avoid my gaze; I needed an explanation. I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her angrily. I knew I was hurting her, but I wouldn’t let go.
    ‘For heaven’s sake, tell me.’
    She said, in a tone that seemed to emanate from somewhere deep inside, ‘The board of directors had promised her she’d be put in charge of external relations. Jessica had been working towards the position for two years. She wanted it more than anything. And she really deserved it. Our CEO even name-checked her during an EGM. Jessica was the kingpin of the company. She went well beyond the call of duty. She was the one who’d negotiated the biggest contracts in the last few years, withgreat success. All our colleagues agreed on how efficient she was … I thought you knew all about this.’
    ‘Please go on.’
    ‘Three months ago, our marketing director, Franz Hölter, also started campaigning to be head of external relations. He’s a careerist, ambitious, willing to go to any lengths to leapfrog his way to the front. He knew Jessica had a head start on him, and he did everything he could to catch up with her. He even torpedoed a couple of projects to discredit her. It was like a war to the death. At first, Jessica had no problem handling the competition. She knew her subject. But Franz had managed to win over the CEO and was starting to gain ground.’
    ‘So that’s why Jessica wasn’t herself these last few weeks?’
    ‘That’s right. She was very worried. Franz did whatever he wanted. A real shark operating in dirty waters. He put every obstacle he could in her way. It’s no surprise Jessica ended up cracking under the strain. Her final negotiation, with a Chinese group, broke down because of a file that had supposedly disappeared. The board were furious. And Jessica