Chapter 22 Part IV Physical and mental exhaustion-2

B and B.It was Bridges and Billington.Or Billington and Bridges Bridges and Billington (Bridges and Billington): the initials of these two words are B, corresponding to the B and B mentioned above. -- Annotation. "Do you know..." I tried my best to keep my appearance calm, "Do you know what kind of public relations business it is?" "Yeah! Look, I do know a little bit about that. It's financial. Seems like one of their biggest clients is the London Bank. Or it will be. That's sure to make some nice money. But As I said, we haven't seen them much yet, so..." He looked at me with a change of expression on his face. "Hi, are you okay?"

"It's all right," I said reluctantly, "I think I'm going to... make a phone call." I dialed the Four Seasons number three times—and hung up each time because I was having trouble asking the desk to pick me up for Luke Braden.Finally, I took a deep breath, dialed the number again, and said it was for Michael Ellis. "Michael, this is Becky Bloomwood," I said when the call was connected. "Becky!" he said, sounding genuinely happy to hear me call him. "How have you been doing?" I closed my eyes and tried to remain calm.The sound of his voice brought me back to the Four Seasons in an instant.I seemed to be back in that dimly lit, palatial lobby, back in that dreamy world of New York.

"I..." I took another deep breath. "I'm fine. Look...I'm back to my normal life. Busy, busy!" I will not admit that I lost my job.I'm not going to make everyone say they feel sorry for me or something. "I'm on my way to the studio," I said, and I crossed my index and middle fingers: Western customs, for good luck, trying to lessen the sin of lying, etc. -- Annotation. "But I want to tell you something. I think I understand why rumors are going around that Luke is going to lose his client at the Bank of London." I told him exactly what I had overheard at Luke's, how I got to King Street, and what I found there.

"I see," Michael said from time to time as I listened to my narrative, his tone stern. "I see. You know, there's a stipulation in their contract that prohibits employees from doing this, right? Luke could sue them if they smuggled clients away from the company." "They've talked about it. They seem to think he's not going to sue because it's too embarrassing for him to do that." There was silence on the phone for a while.I can almost hear Michael thinking hard on the other end of the phone. "They've got a point," he said at last. "Becky, I've got to talk to Luke. It's a great thing you've found out."

"And that's not all," I said, "Michael, someone has to tell Luke. I saw in Braden's that it was pretty dead. Nobody was working hard at all, and they were all gone by the end of the day." ...It's completely different from before. This is not good." I bit my lip, "He has to come back and see." "Why didn't you tell him all this yourself?" Michael said softly. "I'm sure he'd be glad to speak with you." His voice was very kind and soft, and I suddenly felt a sore nose. "I can't do that. If I call him, he'll think...he'll think I'm proving something, or just some stupid guesswork—" I stop, trying to keep my emotions in check. "Honestly, Michael, I think you don't mention me when you tell Luke and pretend someone else told you. But someone has to tell him."

"I'll see him in half an hour," Michael said, "and I'll tell him. Becky . . . you did a good job." A week later, I no longer expected Michael to call me and tell me what was going on with them there.Whatever he said to Luke, I didn't bother to guess.It seemed to me that this whole mess of my life was over.Luke, America, TV and everything else, is gone.Now is the time for me to start over with my own life. I try my best to stay optimistic and tell myself that I still have a lot of road ahead of me.But which career path is a former TV financial consulting expert going to take next? I called a TV agent, to my dismay, that she, like her peers in American TV, was full of promise.She said how happy she was to receive my call, and thought that it would be absolutely fine for me to plan and produce a series of feature films hosted by me, at least find a job for me in the TV industry, and call me back as soon as there was good news. But since then there has been no news.

So I was reduced to flipping through newspapers looking for a job.I flipped through the Guardian, looking for opportunities that didn't seem to me half-way to success.I circled an ad in the paper for a staff writer for the Investor's Almanac, and for an assistant editor at the Journal of Personal Investing and an editor at Annuity Today.I don't know much about annuities and such, but I figure there's always a way to make up for it. "What's going on?" Suzie said to me as she entered the room, a bowl of crunchy nachos in her hand. "It's fine," I said, trying to put a smile on my face. "I'll try those places." Suzy stuffed cornflakes into her mouth and looked at me thoughtfully.

"What are you going to do today?" "Nothing special," I said with my head down. "Just flipping through the newspapers to see if there are any suitable jobs. Sort out the mess." "So," said Suzie with a sympathetic look, "have you found anything interesting?" I pointed to the advertisement circled in the newspaper. "I'd love to try out the editor of Pension Today. The paper says that this editor will also edit the annual tax refund bonus page if it's appropriate!" "Really?" she added hastily, with an involuntary grimace, "I mean .

"Fun with refunds? Don't fool me, Susie." "Well - you see, this is relatively speaking." I rested my head on my knees and stared blankly at the living room rug.The volume on the TV was turned down, and the room was quiet except for Suzy's chewing. "Susie...what if I can't find a job?" I said hurriedly. "You'll get a job! Don't be a fool! You're a TV star!" "I used to be a TV star. But I ruined it all for myself. My life is messed up too." I close my eyes and let my body slide on the carpet until my head rests on the sofa seat.I really felt that I might just lie idle like this for the rest of my life.

"Bex, I'm really worried about you," Suzie said. "You haven't been out in a few days. What are you going to do today?" I opened my eyes and looked, and she leaned over and looked at me anxiously. "Don't know. Watch 'Good Morning Coffee.'" "Don't read 'Good Morning Coffee' again!" Suzie said firmly. "Okay," she closed the "Guardian" open, "I have a good idea." "What?" I asked suspiciously, when Suzie had dragged me up and walked to my house.She pushed open the door, pulled me in, and waved her arms, pointing around my messy room.

"I think you should start tidying up your room in the morning." "What?" I looked at her in astonishment, "I don't want to do tidying up." "No, you do! Honestly, after decluttering, you feel good, which I do. It's awesome! I've been feeling good ever since." "Yeah, you're out of clothes! You've got to borrow underwear from me for three weeks." "Well, yes," she admitted, "maybe I'm taking it a little too far. But the point is, it changes your life." "no, I can not." "Yes! It's feng shui. You have to let go of something in your life so that something new can come in." "That's not bad." "It's true! I got a call from Hadley's with an order as soon as I finished packing my stuff. Come on Bex. Just make a little effort and pack your stuff , you will feel great benefits." She opened my closet door and looked through my various clothes. "I mean, look at this," she said, pulling out a fringed blue suede skirt. "When was the last time you wore this dress?" "Recently worn," I said, crossing my fingers behind my back.I bought it at a small stall on Portobello Road, and I didn't try it on at the time. When I took it home and tried it on, I found that the size was small.But who's to say, I won't lose weight one day. "And these...these..." Susie frowned, with an expression of disbelief on her face, "Oh, Bex, how many pairs of black trousers do you have?" "Only one! Maybe two." "Four...five...six..." She counted down the hangers on the hanging rail, and took off my trousers with a stern expression. "Those trousers were put on after I gained weight," I argued, as Suzy was pulling out my Benetton trousers, which were loose enough to fit over my leather boots. "Those are jeans!" I yelled, seeing Suzie begin to fumble under the closet. "Jeans aren't pants!" "Who said this?" "People say that! It's common sense." "Ten... eleven..." "Ah...that one is for skiing! It's completely different, it's sportswear." Suzy looked back at me, "Bex, you've never been skiing." "No," I replied after thinking for a while, "but...you see, it was just in case someone invited me to go skiing. It was on sale at a special price." "What is this?" she asked, holding up my fencing mask tremblingly. "This can go straight in the trash." "I'm going to learn fencing," I said indignantly. "I'm going to be Catherine Zeta Jones' stunt double." "I don't know how you get these things in here. You never throw things?" She held up a pair of leather shoes with shells on the upper. "I mean, like these shoes. Do you still wear them?" "Well... I don't wear much anymore." I looked at the expression on her face. "But that's not the problem. If I throw them away, the shells will crawl back tomorrow and I'll have to buy new shoes. It's like... buying insurance." "Shells don't crawl back." "It's hard to say! It's like the weather will change. It's impossible to say." Susie shook her head, and tiptoed cautiously from the floor where all kinds of clothes were piled up to the door. "I'll give you two hours, and when I come back, you've got to clean up the house. A new house—a new life. Let's get started!" She went out and I sat on my bed and looked around my room sadly. Well, well, maybe she has a point.Maybe I have to clean it up.But I don't know where to start.I mean, where would it end if it was as simple as throwing away everything I never wore? I would have nothing at that point. Hey, it's all so hard.All this takes so much effort. I picked up a jacket-style casual dress, held it in my hand for a while, and then put it down helplessly.Just trying to figure out whether to go or stay would wear me out. "How are you tidying up?" Suzie shouted from outside the door. "Very good!" I exclaimed in a cheerful voice, "really good!" Come on, I gotta do something.Well, maybe I should start from which corner and clean in which direction.I went to a corner of the room where the dresser was cluttered with things, so I'll start with what's on the dresser.There are all sorts of office supplies that I have ordered on the internet...a wooden bowl I bought a long time ago when it was recommended in Décor magazine, but have since seen the same item in Woolworths...a A tie-dye kit...some sea salt for a skin rub...yeah, what are these things? What's in this box I haven't opened yet? I unpacked the box and inside was a 50 meter roll of foil for roasting a turkey.Roast turkey in foil.How did I even buy it? Did I want to roast a turkey myself? Bewildered, I reached for a letter on the lid and saw it read: "Welcome to Nationwide Express Mail Order. We sincerely thank your good friend Mrs. Jane Bloomwood for recommending our mail-order catalog..." Oh my gosh, remember.Mom ordered it for me so she got a freebie.A steamer dish, some foil for the turkey roast...those plastic bags she used to pack the couch cushions in...a few neat knick-knacks to put on... etc. Wait a little longer.I put down the knick-knacks in my hands and slowly picked up those plastic bags again.On the bag was a poster of a blond lady with a fashionable haircut looking at me with great spirits, holding a duvet that had been greatly reduced in size in one of these vacuum-compression bags. A speech bubble came out of her mouth, followed by a line of words: "Up to 75% of the space is compressed, and the volume of my wardrobe has become larger again!" I opened the door carefully, and tiptoed quietly to the locker where brooms and other sundries were kept.I glanced in the living room as I walked by—to my surprise, Suzie was sitting on the couch with Tachin, talking animatedly. "Tahin!" I said, and they both looked up at me suddenly, as if they had done something wrong. "I didn't hear you coming." "Hi, Becky," he greeted, not daring to meet my eyes. "We've got...something to talk about," Suzie said, looking at me, also with a look of embarrassment on her face. "Are you finished?" "Almost," I said, "I want to vacuum my house. Clean it up a bit." I went back to my room, closed the door, and took the plastic compression bag out of the bag.Well, this is really nice and simple.Stuff it all in and suck the air out when it's full.Each bag holds ten knitted wool jumpers or something, and the package says so—but honestly, who really counts them? I crammed my mess of clothes into the first compression bag until it was so full that I couldn't fit any more clothes.Panting from exhaustion, I closed the zipper, and then pointed the mouth of the vacuum cleaner at the suction hole.It's incredible.It worked! Those bagged clothes huddled together right in front of me! Oh this is amazing.This would turn my life upside down! Why declutter and clear out when you can bag and compress? There are eight compression bags in total - when they are all full of compression, stuff them in the closet and close the door.The closet was stuffed a bit tight, and when I forced the door shut, I heard a hissing sound inside - but the point was that they were all stuffed in.They are all full of my clothes. Now look at my room! It's unbelievable! Well, of course it's not spotless - but it's much better than before.I quickly stuffed the last of the scattered things in the room under the quilt, and neatly placed a few cushions on the quilt, and then took a few steps back.I looked around, feeling warm and proud.I have never seen my house so tidy.Suzy is right - I do feel a little different than I used to. You see, maybe this is because of Feng Shui.Perhaps this is the turning point.My life is about to change from now on. Excited, I took one last look around and exclaimed, "I'm done!" When Susie came to the door of my room, I was already leaning against the head of the bed complacently, looking at her with a smile, and seeing the astonished expression on her face. "Bex, it's amazing!" She said and looked at the neat surroundings with disbelief. "You're so quick! It took me days to clean my room!" "Well, you see," I said with a nonchalant shrug, "once I decide what to do, I'll do it." She took a few steps forward and looked at the top of my dresser with surprised eyes. "Holy shit, I didn't know this dresser had a marble top!" "I know," I said proudly, "it's really pretty, isn't it?" "But where's your trash? Where are the trash bags?" "Already... I've dealt with them all." "So you really cleared out a lot of stuff?" she said, walking slowly to the mostly empty grate. "Must have cleaned up a lot!" "Yes... a little bit," I replied vaguely, "Look, I'm pretty ruthless." "It was an eye opener!" I watched her nervously as she walked to the closet. Don't open the door, I prayed desperately in my heart.Really don't open the door. "What else do you have left?" she said with a smile, reaching out and opening the closet door.We both screamed. It was like a nail bomb exploded suddenly. It's just that what splashed out was not nails, but clothes. I don't know what happened.I don't know what I'm doing wrong.But one of the compression bags burst, sending the garments flying all over the place and throwing the other compression bags out of the closet.Then another compression bag burst, and then another burst.It was quite a storm of clothes.Suzie was overwhelmed by the flying clothes.A sequined dress flew over the lampshade.A bra flies across the room and hits the windowpane.Suzie screamed and laughed, and I waved my hands wildly, yelling "Stop! Stop!" like King Canute ordering the waves to stop crashing on the shore. King Knut: Knut became the king of England (1016-1035) after the Nordic invasion of England. The courtiers flattered King Knut "so great that he can command the tide of the sea", but King Knut was quite self-aware.He ordered the king's chair to be moved to the sea, and ordered the surging waves to recede, but the waves still came, so he warned the ministers that no matter how "great" the king's behavior was in the eyes of the ministers, it was so pale and powerless in the face of divine power . -- Annotation. Oh my God. OK, that's enough.Stop now, please. But it was too late.A cascade of gift shop shopping bags cascades from the recesses of the top wardrobe.One after another, they fell into broad daylight.They hit Suzie on the head and bounced to the floor, disemboweled and ripped out all the treasure inside.There were gray shiny gift boxes with Suzie's initials SC-S on them. There are as many as 40 of them. "What..." Susie pulled down a T-shirt covering her head, and stared dumbfounded at so many gift boxes mixed in the clothes under her feet. "Where are you from..." She picked up the scattered clothes on the ground, picked up a gift box, opened the lid, and stared blankly.Inside the box is a mirror frame made of brown-yellow leather wrapped in turquoise soft paper. Oh my God.gosh.Why do they also want to join in the fun and jump out to show their appearance? Without saying a word, Suzy bent over and picked up a good gift shop shopping bag from the floor.She opened the shopping bag, and a cash register slip fell to the ground.Still without saying a word, she took out the two boxes in the shopping bag-and opened them one by one, both of which were frames made of fuchsia tweed. I opened my mouth to say - but no words came out.At that moment, we both looked at each other and looked at each other. "Bex... how many did you buy in total?" Suzie finally asked, her voice was weak, as if she had been choked. "Um...not many," I said, feeling my face burn. "You...you see. Only a few." "There must be...more than 50 of them!" "Will not!" "Yes!" She looked at the scattered boxes on the ground, her face flushed with confusion, "Bex, these frames are really expensive." "I didn't buy that many!" I smiled unnaturally, "And I didn't buy them all at once." "You shouldn't be buying it at all! I told you, I'll do it for you." "I know," I said awkwardly, "I know you do, but I still want to buy one for myself from time to time. I just want to... support you." After a moment of silence, Suzie reached out and picked up a shopping bag from a good gift shop, and looked at the two gift boxes in the bag. "It's you, isn't it?" she said suddenly. "It's because of you that my frames sell so well." "No! Honestly, Suzy--" "You spent all your money on my frames." She started to choke up a little. "Spent all your money. You're still in debt." "no!" "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten the order either." "You're going to get it!" I said, a little frustrated. "Of course you're going to get the order. Suzy, you make the best frames in the world. I mean... look at this one!" I took Pick up the gift box at hand, and take out a mirror frame made of frayed denim from the box. "Even if I didn't know you, I'd buy this frame. I'd buy all these frames!" "You won't buy so many," she gasped. "You'll only buy...three at most." "I'd buy all of these frames. They're so pretty for gifts, and also...for home decor..." "You say that to comfort me," she said through tears. "No! No!" I insisted, feeling the tears welling up in my own eyes. "Susie, people love your frames. I've seen a lot of people in the store saying how nice the frames are." "No, you didn't see anyone say that." "I've seen it! One day there was a woman in a good gift shop who raved about the frame in her hand, and everyone in the shop agreed with what she said." "Really?" Suzy asked softly. "Really! Your hands are so dexterous, and your work is so delicate..." I looked around at the messy scene in the room, and couldn't help feeling sad. "And I'm a good-for-nothing. John Gavin's right, I would have accumulated my fortune. I should have kept my life in order. I'm a . . . useless man." "No!" Suzie exclaimed in horror, "you're not some useless person!" "I am!" I sat down in the pile of clothes on the floor in frustration. "Susie, look at me. Unemployed, no future, sued to court, thousands of pounds in debt and don't know how to pay it off..." There was an awkward coughing sound from the door.I looked up, and there was Taxin standing there, holding three cups of coffee in both hands. "Coffee?" he said, stepping cautiously into the room. "Thanks, Tachin," I said, sniffling vigorously, and took a cup of coffee from him. "Sorry for the mess. This is really not... the time to invite you." He sat on the edge of the bed and exchanged glances with Susie. "A little tight?" he said. "Yes," I replied, panting, and wiped my eyes again with my hand. "Yes, that's right." Taxin glanced at Susie again. "Becky, I'd be glad if you would--" "No. No, thanks." I smiled at him. "real." All three were silent, sipping coffee slowly.A ray of sunlight shone into the room through the glass window, and I closed my eyes, feeling the comforting warmth on my cheeks. "It happens to everybody," Tachin said sympathetically. "Crazy Uncle Monty's always going broke, isn't he, Suzy?" "My God, that's what it is! It never stops!" said Suzie, "but he manages to get through it every time, doesn't he?" "It's true!" Taxin said, "Time and time again, I don't know how many times." "How did he get through this difficult time?" I looked up at Taxin and couldn't help asking. "It's usually a Rembrandt (Rembrandt, 1609-1669): Dutch Painter. - Annotated painting," Tassin said, "or a George Stubbs (George Stubbs, 1724-1806): British Romantic genre painter, famous for painting horses.--Annotated paintings. And so on." gosh.That's what millionaires do.I mean, even Suzy, my closest friend, wouldn't feel the way I do.They don't have this sense of helplessness.They don't know what it's like to have no money. "Yes," I said, forcing a small smile on my face. "Well... I don't have any spare Rembrandts, though. All I have is... tons of black pants. And T-shirts." "And fencing clothes," Suzie put in. The phone rang outside, but none of the three of us moved. "There is also a wooden bowl, which I don't like at all." I said half-smiling and half-crying, "There are 40 frames." "And a stylish pullover with two necklines." "And a Vera Wang cocktail dress," I said, looking around the room, suddenly remembering, "and a brand new Kate Spade bag ... and ... and a full wardrobe Clothes I've never worn... Suzie..." I was a little emotional and could barely speak. "Susie..." "what?" "Think... think about it all. I'm not broke. I've got assets! I mean, at a slight discount..." "What do you mean?" Suzie said--and her face lit up. "Oh, and you probably forgot about having an individual savings account?" "No! No personal savings account!" "I don't get it," Suzy cried. "Bex, what are you talking about?" I was just about to open my mouth to explain to her, when the automatic recording device on the phone in the outer room was activated, and a voice with a strong American accent rang out, which made me hold my breath and turn my head to listen. "Hi, Becky? I'm Michael Ellis. I've just arrived in London and I thought - shall we meet and have a casual chat?" It was always weird seeing Michael in London.In my mind, he was all about the New York vibe, the rich guest of the Four Seasons.But he did come to London, right in front of me.He checked into the Savoy Hotel (Savoy): a five-star hotel in central London. --Annotation, in the hotel's riverside restaurant, he welcomed me with a smile, and he raised his hand to the waiter after I sat down at the table. "Gin the lady." He looked at me with raised eyebrows. "OK?" "Okay." I thanked him with a smile.I met him several times in New York and got along well, but I still felt a little shy when I saw him again. "It should be," he said, as the waiter brought me a gin. "A lot has happened since our call." He held up his glass. "Cheers." "Cheers," I took a sip. "What happened?" "Such as Alicia and four others were removed from Brydon." "The other four?" I asked, staring in surprise. "Are they all accomplices?" "It seems so. Now it seems that Alicia has planned this for a long time, not just a momentary delusion, but the result of careful consideration and careful planning. Of course, there are people behind them who are supporting them. You know Alicia Is your fiancé rich?" "I don't know," I said, and I remembered the Chanel shoes she was wearing. "But it's not surprising either." "He's in charge of the financial side. As you guessed, they're trying to pull the Bank of London out." I took a sip of the gin, savoring its strong taste. "Then what happened next?" "Luke popped into the office, caught them all out of nowhere, herded them all into a conference room, and searched their desks one by one. He actually found quite a few things." "It's Luke?" I felt like I'd been punched in the chest. "You mean—Luke's back in London?" "Ok." "How long has he been back?" "Three days, until today." Michael glanced at me. "I don't think he called you yet." "No," I said, trying to hide my disappointment. "No, he didn't call me." I reached for the wine glass on the table and took a big sip.When he was in New York, I kept telling myself that the main reason Luke didn't call me was because of geography.But now that he's back in London - he still hasn't called me - it's different.It made me feel like it was really... the end of the road. "So... what is he doing now?" "Minimize the damage," Michael said, tilting his neck, "improve the morale of the staff. Now it seems that as soon as he left London for New York, Alicia was busy spreading rumors that Luke was going to close the UK office completely. The company. As a result, people in the company were dissipated, and the popularity plummeted. The client's business was delayed, and the employees were looking for ways out, and contacted headhunters one after another... Frankly speaking, the company is on the verge of collapse." He shook his head, "That girl What a nuisance." "I knew she would be a curse." "However, there is one thing I still don't quite understand. How did you know this?" He leaned forward slightly, with a look of concern on his face. "You found out what Alicia was up to, and Luke and I didn't know it. What was your basis for suspecting her?" "I can't say on any grounds," I said frankly, "that she just feels like a disgusting woman." Michael threw up his face and laughed. "A woman's intuition. That's enough. There's no need for any other reason." He giggled, then put down his glass, winked and smiled at me. "Following what you just said--I heard what you said to Luke about his mother."