By the time Dominic is twenty-three years old, he’s made his mark. That’s what one of the senior partners of Goodson & Stander says when he calls him in to his office. He wants to talk about Dominic’s future.
‘Potential, my boy,’ he booms and his white moustache quivers as if it will never get used to the shock of his loud voice. ‘Potential. I see myself in you. Rags to riches, that’s my story.’
‘But sir—’
‘No buts, son. No buts. Just one question. Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?’
Dominic looks at the smooth jowls, the silk tie, the well-cut suit of the older man. He knows that the shoes under the desk cost more than his month’s salary. Before he can clamp his mouth shut, he replies, ‘Sitting where you are, sir.’
The words are out and Dominic can’t take them back. He sits and waits for the axe to fall.
Instead, there’s another boom, this one of laughter, and the moustache quivers again.
‘Quite right, my boy. Quite right.’ He looks at Dominic, his blue eyes shrewd. ‘We can make something of you, Groome. And in return, you can make us money. Lots of it.’
And so Dominic goes to night school, he enrols at unisa, he translates his shabby matric into one degree and then another. And all the while, slowly and surely, he makes his way up the corporate ladder, first into a corner office in a large open-plan office with a second-floor view of Cape Town harbour, only the tips of the cranes showing and a small sliver of sea. Higher he climbs and higher, until people start greeting him in the corridors, ‘Hello, Mr Groome,’ ‘How are you, Mr Groome?’ ‘Yes sir, Mr Groome.’ Yes sir and no sir and eventually, three years later than his original five-year plan, his former mentor is ready to retire and Dominic Groome is sitting behind his desk. He organises the farewell party, tells his secretary exactly what gift to buy, and takes over the reins.
He sits in the swivel chair and spins round until he’s looking down on the harbour, the blocky reds, greys and blues of the cargo on the container ships, the sea a dark sheen in the afternoon sun.
The youngest man to ever hold such a senior position at Goodson & Stander, and soon the youngest man to be made full partner. Goodson, Stander & Groome. Dominic climbs and climbs, and on the way he meets Kate Cilliers. Beautiful Kate, with her blonde hair and her long limbs and her quick smile.
She’s several years younger than him, but Dominic, who’d long thought of himself as a permanent bachelor, turns his back on the single life. He’d never bargained on children either, but soon they form part of the picture too. Dominic Groome, top-flight executive, husband, father, all-round family man. The sort of man people want to photograph in his home, interview in lifestyle magazines. ‘What’s the secret of your success?’ they always ask, and Dominic always gives the same answer: ‘Hard work and tenacity.’ He never says anything about the rags, and he’s reticent about the riches.