âEmma, this is your final warning. If you do not wear a suit to my kindergarten, I will dock your pay.â Miss Kwok glared at me over her expensive reading glasses. âJeans are not acceptable at any of my kindergartens. More smartly dressed. Remember.â
I didnât say anything. I just wanted to be out of her office and up to Mr Chenâs place.
âYour hair is unacceptable as well. You should come with me to the salon. Your hair is messy, you donât wear make-up â really, Emma, your whole appearance is just not good enough. You should work harder to make yourself more presentable.â
A flood of words hit the back of my throat. I swallowed them all.
âI have had some complaints from the parents.â She shuffled the papers on the desk. Her face suggested she was in her early forties â the work of an excellent plastic surgeon â but her hands showed her true age. âThe parents say you are spending too much time talking with the children and not enough time teaching them the ABCs.â
âTalking is the best way to learn English,â I said.
âWell, make sure they learn their ABCs. They need to be able to recite the alphabet and spell some words to pass the examinations for first grade. Theyâre here to cram for the best schools, you know that.â
I tried to control my expression as I thought about what Iâd like to do to a school that had examinations for entry into first grade.
âWell?â
I shrugged. âItâs your school, Miss Kwok. Iâll do more ABCâs.â
âI do not like your attitude sometimes, Emma.â She became more fierce. âOh, and stop wasting the drawing materials. I only budget for one set a year and theyâre using them too much.â
I glanced at my watch. âIs that all? Iâm supposed to be at Mr Chenâs in less than an hour.â
âHow is the work going with Mr Chen?â
âHeâs taken every private spot I have. Heâs my only private client now.â
This caught her attention. âHe is the only client you have outside the kindergarten?â
I nodded.
âBut I gave your number to quite a few people I know. Donât tell me youâre so lazy you have stopped working for them. You should work until 11 p.m., you make good money. Donât waste your evenings doing nothing.â
âAs people left Hong Kong and private teaching slots freed up, he took the times. I think he even negotiated with some of the parents to release me so I could look after Simone. Which suits me just fine, really, because sheâs the most delightful child Iâve ever worked with.â
She studied me intently. âDo you like working for him?â
âSure. Heâs very nice.â
âHow would you like to earn a little more money?â
âYou already pay me very well, Miss Kwok.â
Her eyes rested heavily on mine. âIf you tell me about some of his business dealings, the names of the people who go in and out of his house while youâre working there, you could earn even more.â
I stared at her.
âI could make it very good for you.â
âNo.â
She lifted her head slightly. âYou will do this for me, Emma.â
âNo,â I said. âI resign.â
âYou canât resign. You will stay with me.â
âIâll have a resignation letter on your desk tomorrow morning.â
She grimaced with exasperation.
I met her eyes and held them. âI resign.â
âNobody in Hong Kong will pay you as well as I do.â
âI donât care,â I said. âIâll find something.â
âYou have to give me two weeksâ notice,â she said. âYou have to continue to work for me for two weeks, Emma.â
âI feel a sudden bout of the flu coming on,â I said, then rose and went out without looking back.
My friend, April, was sitting at the computer outside Miss Kwokâs office, with her fiancé, Andy, hovering behind her. April was a lovely Australian-born Chinese who worked as a systems programmer in a bank, but occasionally came in to help with the computers at the kindergarten. She had a soft, kind face framed by shoulder-length hair dyed a rich russet brown.