Red Rainbow by G Johanson (best e reader for academics txt) 📕

act on it, having a general rule not to get involved with married women, but it was harmless fun, not that his lemon-sucking lover would see it that way.

The purpose of their visit was not just to show off Mrs Escoffier’s impressive figure. Claude came to see him with a view to using the attempted destruction of their main bottling factory for publicity purposes. Drink the soda the Nazis tried to destroy. Maybe, maybe. They needed an angle for the American relaunch, and this had potential. Mentioning his arrest wasn’t the way to go, though. He had not been in captivity (if he could even call it that) for long, not compared to others, and his ill health had nothing to do with the Nazis. The martyr-hero angle didn’t fit, and it would only upset his family.

Even in a mood, Marcella had behaved reasonably well with his boss, saving the snide comments until they’d left.

“She wore them for your benefit.”

“And the horses. I’ve got no control over what you wear or don’t wear, so I don’t see how you can blame me for what...”

“This again,” she groaned.

“Older women have been flirting with me before I knew what puberty was, let alone went through it. We’re much worse than that when nobody else is around, she gets it back. It’s a bit of fun, nothing more. She didn’t know you’d be here, so she’d have thought the sight of her arse in jodhpurs would be a tonic for me.”

“And was it?”

“We both know she looked good, I’m not going to lie about it. They’d look better on you.”

The frost thawed reasonably quickly, but it seemed that these little niggles would be par for the course. Introducing her to his family, his mother especially, wasn’t likely to go as well as that, but he still had to go through with it because that reassurance would hopefully help Marcella see that they had a future. That was the only way he stood a chance of persuading her to give up that part of her past, a trade she didn’t need to do. His love for her had been reinvigorated by her care during the first few days of his convalescence. She took a step back when his health improved, in the amount of care she gave and in affection. Hilaire and Patience’s failure to fall at his feet upon lengthy viewing of his face encouraged him that there had to be some love and desire for him in his viewers for his power to stoke. Hilaire and Patience were very kind to him and seemed keen to maintain contact, but that wasn’t love. The Like Phantom? His power got him friends – for lovers, there had to be a little more. Looking at it this way, he felt less like he was taking advantage. And it wasn’t as if Marcella was always agreeable. There were dramas and hurdles to come, he certainly wasn’t going to have it all his own way, and he welcomed that.

César arranged for Hilaire and Patience to meet him the same morning at his office. Hilaire arrived before Patience, present when César arrived flanked by two of his friends who’d brought him in. This was his first day back (and he was only in for the morning, making a phased return), the staff surprising him with a cake, which they presented to him on the shop floor. Patience arrived as he gave a brief speech thanking them for their support and for not letting the threat chase them away. He cut the cake up into as many pieces as he could – not enough to go round all of the staff, César letting them pick their own pieces rather than play favourites. He took one piece for himself as this was expected, though he offered this to Hilaire and Patience as he took them on a tour of the premises. They deserved it more than him, César thanking them yet again for saving the building.

“It’s yours, they made it for you. They will ask you what you thought of it,” Hilaire said, the staff’s love for him apparent even from her short time here. A couple of workers recognised her from that fateful morning but didn’t quiz her about it, instead whispering heartfelt thanks. She understood that affection; seeing him walking with a silver-handled cane made her feel nurturing towards him. She was pleased to see him recovering and listened avidly as he went through the different roles on offer. He opened a bottle of Chablis upon returning to his office and asked them which positions, if any, appealed to them. He was giving them free choice of the factory floor, office work, whatever they wanted. He was not replacing anyone, these would be additional positions. Scrambler had already started his job as assistant quality controller. He was based in one of the outside sheds just for now, César committing to build a proper building there as soon as possible. It had to be some distance from the machines or none of them would have jobs.

Hilaire hadn’t planned on working for César. There was no debt for him to repay to her. Unfortunately, it was going to cost a lot of money to get her home habitable, let alone presentable and pleasant. Christien offered to help her out; she remained steadfast in her refusal to this offer. Christien was a true Communist, as demonstrated by this generous gesture. He shared his wealth throughout his life with good causes and the Party. He did not have the finances to spare on her. She was loath to take César’s money too, but it was different if she earned it by helping him with his business. It would be a way of keeping the friendship alive too, something she often wasn’t good at. She regularly lost touch with people and didn’t want that to happen here.

Patience had landed a parttime job at the designers now, just one day a week, and took