Except that wasn’t quite right, was it? Jasmine wasn’t Elizabeth. She was her own person. She just shared a face with a dead woman.
‘DoesJasmine know this is how you found her?’ I asked.
‘Of course not,’ Charles replied.
‘But don’t you think she’ll find out, when you reveal this app to the world? You must have thought of that?’
‘Perhaps. But I honestly don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Everyone has a physical ideal, don’t they? I could have used Tinder or one of these other apps to find her, but that would have taken a lot of swiping. This is just a more efficient way to do it.’
Holly and Miranda both stared at him.
‘So yes, sure, I used our app to find her. But if I’d met her and she’d been awful, if she wasn’t warm and funny and clever and all those things, if there hadn’t been any chemistry, I would have gone home and forgotten all about her. I think when I explain all that she won’t be bothered at all. In fact, I think she might find it charming.’
‘Charming?’ Holly said. ‘That you used an app to find someone who looks exactly like your first wife? That you lied to her about why you were in Miami? That you set up your “meet cute”? Oh Dad, you really don’t understand women at all, do you?’
He made a soft grunting noise.
‘You must have known it was wrong,’ Holly said. ‘Otherwise you would have been upfront from the start.’
‘Actually,’ Zack said, ‘we can’t allow news of Fase’s existenceto leak. If our competitors get wind of it… Or, even worse, if some leftie newspaper finds out about it and starts banging on about privacy and human rights… We need to launch it as a fait accompli. Get it out there before anyone has the chance to stop it.’
‘And in the meantime, I’ll be talking to my friends,’ Charles said.
His friends in high places.
‘This is going to make everyone with Gravitas shares extremely rich,’ Zack said. He directed his gaze at Miranda then Holly. ‘Including you two.’
I couldn’t see Holly’s face from where I was standing; could only hear her voice. ‘But it’s immoral. Making keyboards and mice and hospital equipment, that’s good, honest business. That’s what you’ve always said, Dad. This is wrong.’
Zack bristled. ‘Is it immoral? Think of how many criminals this app will help catch. It could be used in the fight against terrorism. To find missing people and bring them home to their loved ones.’
Charles nodded along.
‘But what about its other uses?’ Holly argued. ‘What if some weirdo comes into the shop where I work and takes a secret photo of me? He could find out where I live, what I’m into, all my personal details. That’s what you did with Jasmine, isn’t it? So you’d know what to talk to her about? It’s likeGroundhog Day. You know, when Bill Murray talks to Andie MacDowell hundreds of times and finds out everything about her so he can manipulate her and make her fall for him.’
‘Firstly, it’s like everything on the internet. You just have to be more careful about what you put out there. Secondly, I really don’t think it’s immoral. It’s progress, that’s all. The next step on from all those hook-up apps.’
‘An efficient way to start dating someone who looks like your first love,’ I said.
‘Exactly.’
He hadn’t caught the irony in my tone.
‘All we’ve done is help two people, Charles and Jasmine, find love. It’s a beautiful thing. We are helping to spread happiness. Charles here had his wife stolen away from him when they were both young. He spent all those years fulfilling the promise he’d made to Elizabeth. Focusing on his family. That and growing the business. And all that time, Charles– sorry, I don’t want to put words into your mouth, sir– couldn’t find anyone who lived up to your mum. A woman who could match perfection. Until Fase helped him find Jasmine.’
‘And we fell in love,’ said Charles.
I thought I could understand the psychology behind this. When Elizabeth died, Charles had fixed her in his mind as his ideal. A saint. The perfect woman, taken tragically young.
‘But Jasmine isn’t Elizabeth,’ I said, returning to a thought from a few minutes earlier. ‘She’s a completely different person. She doesn’t even have the same accent.’
‘Of course not,’ Charles said. His voice was soft. Almost dreamy. ‘Girls, I thought I would never find anyone who would come close to being as wonderful as your mum. But Jasmine is like that. She’s close to perfect. I think of it as a wonderful piece of luck that this amazing woman happens to be wrapped in the same skin as the first woman I loved.’
I couldn’t tell if he actually believed this or if it was a line he was telling himself to justify what he’d done.
Miranda, who had been quiet since her initial outburst, looked utterly exhausted, like she was finding it difficult to stay upright.
Charles went over and laid a hand on her arm. ‘SweetMiranda. I know how loyal you are to your mum. That’s a wonderful thing. But I promise you, I’m not trying to disrespect her memory. All I want is a second chance at happiness.’
