Lament for Amy

Amy's next appointment was to get her haircut and styled, then her nails and feet worked on.

Suddenly Amy was feeling better than she had in years, although at the back of her mind she was wondering if she was getting a little bit manic.

Amy's week was full for the first time in almost a year.

The grief counselor's appointment came and went with Amy carrying a full discharge from his care in her hand. Amy phoned Heather and arranged to go in the following week.

There was an e-mail setting up the appointment with the Board doctor.

Amy met the Personal trainer and started her new program that seemed fairly sadistic. Amy also worried about the cost.

Monday came around. Charles arrived at three in the afternoon. Amy had carefully prepared afternoon tea. Charles was an impeccably dressed man about sixty years old who oozed a quiet confidence. Amy was immediately on the defensive, thinking to herself that he may be a confidence man trying to separate her from her money. She was cautious, but very polite.

After the pleasantries and tea was consumed Charles started.

"All the numbers I give you this afternoon are approximate, because they may be subject to tax, so I have taken a stab at what tax you may incur and will give you the rough net figures."

With Amy's half frown he went on, "By net I mean that is what will be put into the accounts. Also you may have some legal fees to pay off. OK?" Amy nodded to continue.

Charles listed the amounts realized from the sale of her father's house, the insurance from her brother's work, the insurance from the tour, insurance from the amusement park and the proceeds from the sale of the models her brother owned. She sat in stunned silence as she learned that all this amounted to almost two million dollars. "So I'm rich?"

"Well that is a nice tidy sum, but as I indicated before not everything. By the way what did your brother do? What was his background?"

Amy briefly described her brother abilities and drawbacks.

"Your brother was also a brilliant investor. He would have made huge money in the investment industry, and I should know, being in it. He clearly used his mathematical skills to work the market – the Stock Market."

Amy knew nothing of this – although she vaguely aware that the papers she signed may have been related to this. "So how good was he?"

"Would you believe seven million to the good." There was stunned silence. "He played the market like a Stradivarius. He averaged over 20% annual return over 24 years – almost unheard of. He sold short at the right time, leveraged himself from time to time and invested in stocks that I would have never touched - all at just the right moment."

"Looking over his accounts I am in awe of his abilities. The strange thing is he never took any money out. It just kept accumulating in a compound manner. He lived on his income, which was well over one hundred thousand at the end." Charles paused for a moment to let the information sink in. " This a bit of a surprise, I think."

"Shock. More like."

"Did you not know you were joint holder of his portfolio?"

"No idea. I had no idea he had a portfolio, but that was how he was. No flourish. He was never needy. I cannot take any more in about this." Amy's mind was racing. She did not know what to think. She was concerned about having a relapse of some kind. "Would it be rude if I asked you to leave? I need to sort this out in my mind." Charles left gracefully.

Amy tried to think of someone she could tell, but the friends who had stayed in occasional touch over the last were not close, nor did she fully trust any of them. She wanted to scream. She was also scared. She took two sleeping pills and went to bed.

When she eventually awoke the next morning the first thing that came to mind was "Rich. Very fucking rich." She reflected for a few moments and concluded it wasn't so bad, "Plenty of people manage to live with being rich." Amy did some mental arithmetic.

At one percent return that would be seventy thousand a year – a little under what she earned as a teacher. Four percent – which was safe and reasonable was almost three hundred thousand a year. That's twenty five thousand a month. "Oh my God. How do I spend all that?"

Amy's mind then started bouncing around the possibilities. She ranged from simple plain shopping to buying a new house, a new car and did she need a boat? She knew she needed some counseling and serious help. She was delighted with the financial latitude to say "Fuck you" at work to the administration.

As she said this to herself a tingle went through her whole body. Her tingling response was not so much the possibility of being able to raise her nose to all the bureaucrats as the fact she could use the phase 'Fuck You' without a scintilla of guilt or embarrassment. She knew deep down that the events of the last twelve months had changed her quite radically, and she had the financial resources to play her newfound self without having to look over her shoulder.

If word got out about her wealth she realized immediately she would have more friends than she could handle. At heart Amy knew she had to keep her good fortune quiet. She thought of her lawyer and knew she would be a good person to start with.

Early the next day Amy managed to reach her lawyer on her mobile and set up a meeting after hours at a local Japanese restaurant. Amy spent the rest of the day window-shopping the most expensive street in the city for clothes. She saw much that she liked, and had for the most part seen before on her fantasy shopping expeditions in the past. Amy always dressed conservatively at home and at work. She saw many classic outfits.

In the past she had tried to emulate the best styles shopping in mid-market stores in the malls, and had always presented herself well. She only allowed herself to buy one pair of very expensive shoes with three-inch heels – these topped her highest two-inch heels. In her heart she had yet to grasp her true purchasing power.

The lawyer, Sharon, had already settled in a curtained off booth when Amy arrived. Over a long meal accompanied by a bottle of wine Amy went through her current situation. Sharon understood that Amy was rich from the processing of the paperwork for the two deaths.

Although she had benefitted from the size of the estates Sharon had not made any serious demands for business nor extra compensation. Amy raised this point when she grasped Sharon was broadly aware of the extent of the money. "You could have hit me up for many more billable hours at higher rates, but you didn't. Why?"

"I have my tariff and you were in no state to make rational decisions for a while. Simple as that."

"Well, you are now my family Lawyer! We'll talk about your fees in your office. I would like you to put forward three recommendations of what I should do with my money. You should know I wish to retain some control over it and not just give it away to random charities."

"Tell me what is central to your life?" Sharon was trying to get a starting point for what may prove to be an interesting project.

"My teaching is number one. Art comes second, and third my love of languages and travel. How's that for start?"

"I think enough to go on. Somewhere I picked up you speak about five languages. Is that true?"

"No its not." Amy forcibly exclaimed and smiled wickedly. "Seven. Someone one told me –quite accusingly – I only have to fly over a country to pick up the language. That's a lie. I work at it, but it sticks very easily."

The rest of the dinner they discussed their travels abroad. Sharon committed to two weeks to have an outline for discussion. She also agreed to sit in on the next meeting with Charles about the money.

The next day Amy phoned Charles and set up an appointment at his office. Amy also asked for some "play money". Charles asked if fifty thousand would be enough.

After collecting herself, "That sounds about right."

"It'll be in your checking account by this evening. You may also need an unlimited credit card. I'll make it available at your branch by tomorrow lunchtime. Does that suit you?"

"Yes. Yes, that's fine." Amy was rapidly getting the hang of this rich stuff.

She called Sharon and confirmed the meeting with Charles.

The next day she collected her new platinum card. At home Amy trolled through her wardrobe and placed more than two thirds on the bed. These were items that could be replaced.

She then went out shopping in earnest buying good quality, smart fashionable clothes. Whereas she would settle for rayon before she went for silk. She bought off the rack but if the piece was not a perfect fit she had it re-measured and left it for alterations. It occurred to her that as her exercise regime worked she may need to get the pieces altered again – but she giggled to herself that she could afford it. Upon realizing she had arrived home nearly thirty thousand poorer, she whooped rather than having a moment of buyer remorse.

Before her appointment with the School Board's doctor Amy had her hair done and dressed up conservatively, but expensively. The young doctor was smitten as he saw Amy. He insisted she take some written psych tests, which presented no problem for Amy, and then gave her a physical. After completion he asked her to wait whilst he went over the written tests.

The doctor called a nervous Amy into his office. "I will sending a report to you Board and school that gives you unconditional approval to return to work. And although I will deny I ever said this if you repeat it, I can say that you are in better shape physically and mentally than ninety percent of teachers I see on the random tests of working staff. Congratulations you have made an excellent recovery from a very difficult period in your life. Good luck for the future."

Amy could not suppress a broad grin, "Thank you very, very much." Amy gave the young man a breast-crunching hug. A sexual shiver went through her being. Something she had not experienced for a very long time.

Amy could not wait. She called Heather her Principal. "Heather I saw the Board doctor this morning and he told me that I am fit to return to work. I thought I could come in for the second semester."

Heather was not pleased with news, but with plenty of experience in hiding her reactions she responded," That's wonderful news, Amy."

"The new semester starts in three weeks, so maybe start coming in a few days before that. Of course I will have to get the doctor's letter and the Board release. Once I have those I will e-mail you the details for your return. I believe you were told that Sandra was appointed head of department. So there will be no duties in that direction for you. The Department head stipend has also gone to Sandra. I will not be changing that arrangement."

"That's fine. I hope Sandra is working out for you. I'll await your e-mail and expect to see you in about two weeks. By the way, when you contact me would you let me have the class lists I will be taking. Thank you." Amy ended the call before Heather had a chance to respond to the request.

Amy then went to the Gym and had her best work out with Rose. Just shy of exhausted, Amy drove home carefully and slumped into a hot bath. She piled into bed naked and slept. She awoke from a dream where she was sunbathing naked on a sandy beach totally unembarrassed by all the people around her. "Weird," Amy thought.

Amy reflected she had about two weeks before she started work. As she settled into her day Sharon called, "Can I see you today." Arrangements were made.

"As I see it you have three options. First you can let the bank manage your money – striking the best deal you can with them – then live off the funds. Second you can start giving the money away to charities. If you do this I'll have to know the direction you wish to take on that."

"Sharon, I'm not in a charitable state of mind at the moment, although that could happen with time. Your third course..."

"To set up a trust to finance your interests. It can be set up to buy art, support art education, and support art travel education for, say, people under the age of thirty. You could be the Executive Director and draw down a stipend, if you needed it, and also employ a manager. The bank could still manage the investments."

Amy felt decisive. "Put something together along those lines – the Trust I mean. It has to be totally legal and legitimate."

"That was easy! I like doing business with you. I'll put a package together – any thoughts on anything else you would like in it?"

"Not off the top. Should the terms mention young and emerging artists?"

"No. We should keep as general as possible that will allow flexibility. You can always restrict the coverage by policy."

'Oh, and define 'Art' as inclusive of not just the visual arts but music and performance as well. I'm not sure where I want to go with this, but as you say build in plenty of flexibility." Amy could feel her excitement growing. Already she could imagine holding art classes in Florence.

Amy made a second coffee. "What are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before you start work?"

"Well, we have the bank guy tomorrow......."

"And...yes."

"I'm not sure until I start work."

"Thought about going off somewhere? For a week or so."

"No I hadn't. But that's a great idea....any thoughts?"

"Get some sun. Definitely the Caribbean."

They chatted for another 30 minutes and then Sharon left.

Amy had a reliable travel agent who she trusted. Amy called her.

"Beatrice. As you know I was sick for most of last year, but now back on track. I start back to work in about two weeks, and thought I'd get away to the Caribbean for about a week starting the day after tomorrow, or the day after that. Can you help."

"Sure. There are some good packages on at the moment."

Amy interrupted, "I got some good insurance money and want to go first class. So not like all my other trips. Don't worry about costs. Fly first class and five star or above hotels. A good suite if possible. And the Hotel must have an exercise facility"

"You sure, Amy?"

"You betcha!"

"Leave it with me. Same e-mail address as before? I'll get back to you later today."

After some back and forth arrangements were made to go to Turks and Caicos.

The meeting with Charles and Sharon the next day went quite smoothly, with Sharon tasked to negotiate bank fees for the investment service, having agreed in principle that the scale would be a sliding scale with eight percent return on her investments as the benchmark and reduced fees below that rate of return and higher fees if the eight percent was exceeded. The prospect of a Trust was discussed and the bank was able to offer help in setting it up once a full set of principles established.

Amy realized her wardrobe was deficient in sun wear. She did a quick clothes shop for a few items such as bikinis, wraps and two sun hats. She thought if she needed more she'd find somewhere on the islands.

So the following morning Amy found herself doing the unthinkable in her previous life, as she thought of it: she was going to the sun in the middle of January. She was excited. Amy loved to travel.

Amy's holiday spent a quiet holiday. She met up with some French and German older tourists and ate with them. Amy 's diet consisted mainly of locally caught fish and fruit. She sunbathed and gained a good tan. She became bold and tanned topless for several mornings, surprising herself with her lack of embarrassment.

She kept up her exercise routine in the hotel facilities. She relaxed into a new mindset. She had just good thoughts about her father and brother, sending up a private prayer of thanks to them both, as she enjoyed her sybaritic existence.

On her last day she received an e-mail from the Principal for her to report to work three days after she returned. Suddenly Amy felt all the stars were aligning as they should. The flight home was smooth, running a day ahead of a big storm forecast to hit the Islands.

At home she quickly re-established herself in her house, and pleased her personal trainer with her reduced weight and her retained fitness when she worked out with her. Amy arranged that their work out sessions would be three times a week with two in the mornings before she went to work and one heavier weekend session.

Amy was also encouraged to go for a short run outside, on two more mornings a week, weather permitting. Amy was ready to go back to school.

As Amy walked into the Principal's office, she was aware of Heather's jaw dropping as she looked up from her desk. Heather hardly recognized the woman in front of her. Amy was never plump, but the slim tanned woman standing in front of her was far from the somewhat retiring, and usually frumpy teacher she was expecting to see.

Heather was a good administrator but she had differentiated herself by being the best-dressed teacher in all the schools she had taught at. She suddenly felt threatened by the Amy's appearance, which she quickly assessed as being better and more expensively dressed than she could ever afford, even though her husband was constantly on at her about the amount she spent on clothes.

It took a few moments to find words to address Amy. "Welcome back. There are some papers you will need to sign, but otherwise we are good to go. You will not have your original room back – Sandra moved into that one since it has the storeroom attached.

"That's fine." Amy knew the rooms were almost identical, so it made no difference. I notice I do not have a full compliment of students, is there any reason for that?"

"Both you and Sandra will have the same number. That's all that signed up for the Art Classes. But it's enough for two classes each to go. Anyway we sometimes get some last minute transfers in the first week of the semester."

"I notice that I have only been given the grades nine and ten. I need to have at least one grade eleven or twelve."

" I cannot change that."

Amy looked Heather in the eyes and with intensity spoke slowly, "Heather you can and will change the class assignments."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because I have by far the best record in getting grade twelve students into art colleges, and having the highest art grades in the whole Board. That's why. You'll look good – better, and it will serve the students much better. I taught most of the students in grade ten who are now going on into twelve. Give me one of those classes."

"I'll think about it."

"No. Decide now. I have no wish to grieve what may be considered as a constructive demotion, but I will if you do not give me at least one of the grade twelve classes. Just think of the paperwork and time in hearings."

"You are threatening me."

"No. I am just laying out all the facts, and the consequences. It is really in your best interest."

Heather steadily regarded Amy. She saw a different woman from that whom she had known before. Amy scared her.

"OK. It'll be done. You'll have one of the grade twelve classes. I will speak to Sandra. You may go now."

Amy thanked her and left feeling quite buoyed.

As she walked down the corridor to her classroom Amy was aware that she was attracting looks from both students and the few staff she saw. A number of students said, "Hello Miss Smith." For the moment she thought all the attention was because she was back and they were just registering the fact.

She passed a group of four grade twelve students she knew from previous years in one her grade ten classes, and she recalled were known a the 'four musketeers'. The leader, a football jock, caught her eye and challenged, "Teaching grade twelve Miss Smith?"