Zurich Meet Tomorrow by Alastair Reynolds - Book - Page 16
Amaka trails off. She already reads the storm clouds of betrayal
brewing behind Mister Zhang’s brow.
‘I must inform you,’ he says, with an iron calm, ‘that we
have a counter-proposal for the interior design contract.
Marcus Siow has shown a willingness to work within our fixed
design brief.’
She shakes her head. ‘Siow’s already spoken to you? I
should have known that weasel was hiding something. Well,
I’m out, Mister Zhang. You want cheap, you go with cheap.
Thank you very much for your time, but Amaka doesn’t put
lipstick on pigs.’
‘Pigs?’ Mister Zhang repeated, frowning minutely.
Amaka lands in Accra in the early evening of the same day she
left Lagos. Mitsu is there to greet Amaka at the new apartment
in the Labadi neighbourhood. Amaka washes, changes into a
fresh set of otherwise identical clothes. She feels downhearted;
satisfied that she has stuck to her convictions, but worried
about the ripples now spreading away from the Anchorpoint
contract.
Mitsu offers to cook for her. Mitsu has been getting better
at that sort of thing, but her culinary range is still not exactly
expansive.
‘No,’ Amaka says. ‘That is very kind of you, but I need some
noise and excitement to perk me up now. Let’s go down to the
beachfront.’
‘Us?’
‘Yes, us.’
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