‘It gets tougher,’ said Precious. ‘He was full of it at first. Men are, aren’t they. Their loss, he said. Firms were crying out for his sort of expertise. He’d farm himself out to small companies, give them guidance for shares or a fee.’
‘Sounds a good plan.’
‘Yeah, but meanwhile they’re living off their savings, and he insists on carrying on as if he’s still pulling in a fortune in basic plus a hundred grand in bonuses.’
‘Ah.’ Through her accountancy work, Layla had come across this sort of thing all too often. A previously wealthy, powerful man’s inability to accept a lesser reality. It usually led one way: to the bankruptcy court.
‘It seems even he started to wake up in the end. He said they’d sell the house. And the live-in housekeeper-nanny would have to go. And the gym memberships. Destiny agreed to it all. But when she said she’d get a job, he flew into a rage, so she dropped it. He’d handle it, he told her. He’d always managed their money, did she think he was incapable of looking after his family or something? Only the house didn’t fetch nearly as much as they’d expected, and his business didn’t go well, and the rental on their new flat was forever being hiked up by the landlord. But whenever Destiny voiced her concerns, her old man would go into a strop, so in the end she just kept quiet.’
‘Didn’t he take any financial advice?’ asked Layla.
‘Oh, are you kidding? He thought he was Paul Getty, he could turn shit into gold. What would he want advice for? After a while the moods dipped even further and he started to sink into depression, lying on the couch all day staring at the TV. Then Destiny got a call from the landlord telling her he hadn’t been paid in months.’
‘Jesus!’
‘So Destiny pulled the kids out of their private schools and put them into local comprehensive. Hubby went crazy, of course. But by this time Destiny’d had a gutful. She said she was going to get a job. She’d been a secretary when they first met – she was his second wife, the trophy wife, the beautiful younger one – and she said she could do that job again. He freaked and accused her of only wanting to get into an office so that she could embark on an affair. Still, she started applying, going for interviews, only she couldn’t land a secretarial job, and the bills were mounting, so she ended up here.’
‘And does he know…?’
‘Don’t be silly.’ Precious heaved a heartfelt sigh. ‘She’s covering the bills, but playing it down as much as she can, telling him she’s waitressing. Because the pay’s so good, she’s been salting a bit of fuck-you money away on the side.’