Mason's Revenge

by Lorena Jackson

  “Are you worried about starting secondary school?” Polly asked Mason as they walked home together.

  Although they didn’t hang out much at school, Mason and Polly lived near each other. Recently both sets of parents agreed they could go to school on their own as long as the two of them walked in together.

  “A bit,” admitted Mason.

  It wasn’t the school work that worried him, it was the other kids – boys especially. Recently, he’d noticed the boys at his school becoming a bit wilder, a bit taller and a bit cooler. His growth stunted and he shied away from any trouble. With his love of schoolwork, this made him the total opposite of most of the boys in his class.

  “I’m just hoping the other kids will be okay and not like the bunch of idiots from our class.”

  Polly laughed at him. “You’re so serious, Mason Harris. Maybe if you chilled out and took up football you’d get on better with them.”

  Football? No chance. Sport was not his thing.

  “You don’t think they’d share my interest in my coin collection?”

  “No way! Promise me one thing – do not, under any circumstances, mention your coin collection at secondary school.”

  He promised.

  “Do you want to see my coin collection?” he asked.

  “Go on then, anything’s better than going home. Even your boring coin collection.”

  In his room, the two friends chatted. Polly showed a polite, but short interest in his coins before continuing to gossip about the other kids at school and what their new school would be like. Over the summer, they hung out occasionally when they weren’t with their other friends. Finally, when the time to start secondary school arrived, she waited outside his gate for him every morning so they could walk in together.

  School was almost as bad as he had imagined but he was in the top set and found the work easy. He found a few like-minded friends and they shared their love of comic collections and other nerdy things, as Polly teased him.

  Then puberty struck. It did not go well for him and that’s when the other boys began to tease him. Overtime the teasing got worse. His friends backed away from him – he was attracting too much attention. They were too busy keeping their own heads down and didn’t want to be noticed by Mason’s bullies.

  Unlike Mason, puberty seemed to be going well for Polly. Tall, slender and pretty. Boys fancied her and girls thought she was cool. He hoped he’d be able to hide in the shadow of his popular friend to detract some of this negative attention. At first, this worked well. In Polly’s company, kids left him alone. Sometimes, just a shout from Polly to back off did the trick. He was always grateful to her, even though she told him to learn to stand up for himself.

  Over time though, his chats with Polly lessened. She no longer waited for him after school, preferring to walk in with the cooler crowd. The teasing worsened. The sense of dread in his stomach followed him around every day. At night, he’d try to stay awake otherwise morning came too soon. He counted down the days to the next school holiday and the hours until the weekend. The distance grew between the two old friends up to the point where they didn’t even exchange pleasantries anymore. They never even made eye contact. It was as if they’d never known each other at all. But the loss of an old friend was the least of his problems. The bullying continued almost daily until one day after school, Mason finally reached melting point.

  Stuck in the middle of Charlie and his goons, they had his bag and were throwing it to each other.

  “Come on, Mason. It’s just a game of piggie in the middle. It's supposed to be fun.”

  They all began oinking as he pointlessly chased around after his bag. His precious coin collection hidden inside. It gave him comfort to find somewhere to hide out at school and go through his coins.

  “Give it back!” he demanded.

  Charlie finally stopped and held it up in the air.

  “You want it? Come and get it.”

  Mason, uselessly tottered on his tiptoes trying to reach up for his bag.

  “Come on lads, let’s chuck it in the river!”

  Mason saw red. His coins! The coins he’d been collecting for years were about to be thrown in the river, sunk to the bottom and never seen again.

  No way! Mason couldn’t reach up to the height of Charlie White but he could knee him in the balls. And like slow motion, Mason managed to get a good, hard knee right in his groin area. Charlie never expected this and the look on Charlie’s face as he made contact was something he’d never forget. The look was of utter shock mixed in with complete pain as Charlie dropped the bag to reach for his groin, then he collapsed on the ground.

  The air was filled with silence. Mason glanced around at the crowd. The look of shock on everyone’s face meant only one thing. Run! Mason grabbed his bag and ran towards home as fast as he could. He’d almost made it to his street but when he looked around, the other boys were after him. It was no use, he couldn't maintain the distance. In no time at all, they caught up and dragged him down on the ground and held him until their leader got there. A little bit behind but recovered, Charlie made his way over to the captured Mason.

  Mason had no idea how long the beating lasted but it felt like an eternity as Charlie kicked the shit out of him. He kicked his body and his face. Someone finally dragged him away; people were coming, they warned him. His final act was a huge gob of spit over his swollen, bloody face.

  Mason lay motionless, numb, unsure if he’d ever move again. He took a final look at the baying mob and noticed Polly standing there watching. He gave her a pleading look, she’d at least help him. Instead, she shook her head and walked away. The crowd dispersed and Louisa, a woman who lived nearby, was now on the scene.

  “On my god, Mason,” she cried when she saw it was him.

  She helped him up to his feet.

  “I’m calling the police!” she shrieked.

  “No, that will make it worse.”

  “I’ll take you home,” she said.

  “No, my parents have enough problems to deal with.” And they had – they rowed all the time. This would be something else for them to fall out about.

  “You poor, poor boy,” she said as she led him to her house instead.

  She sat him in the kitchen and cleaned him up. She made him some tea and put a blanket around him. “Stay here for a bit if you like.”

  He settled himself on her sofa, feeling grateful to this kind woman.

  “You have to report him; you have to tell the school.”

  “Don’t you know that will make it worse? They’ll never leave me alone.”

  With a final hug, he made his way home. At least he knew one thing for sure. He’d never step foot back in that school again.

  Chapter 20

  Polly

  * * *

  This time Polly made more of an effort. With the black dress her mum suggested the first time round, she looked less businesswoman and more woman. Instead of the tight bun she normally wore to work, she let her hair hang down loose. With her pretty earrings and extra lipstick, she looked in the mirror – was she making a fool of herself? Mason must have women throwing themselves at him all the time. Rich, handsome and mostly charming, he was quite a catch. He wouldn’t be interested in her, especially since he had some model as a girlfriend.

  Before she could change her mind and get dressed back into a suit, the doorbell rang. Her stomach fluttered. It’d been a while since she had a date...no, she reminded herself, this was just work, not a date. Get a grip Polly Taylor, she reprimanded herself.

  She popped her head in the living room door to give her mum a quick goodbye.

  “Get in here, I want to see you,” she ordered. “You look beautiful love. Try and enjoy yourself.”

  There was no point in reminding her mum that it was just a drink with a work colleague as she blew her a kiss and left the house.

  Mason stood on the doorstep with a box of chocolates and some flowers.

  “You shouldn’t ha
ve,” she gushed.

  “I didn’t, they’re for your mum.”

  She flushed at her assumption and invited him in to give them to her himself. He politely refused but told he’d wait in the car.

  Her mum was thrilled and so easily won over. “He’s a keeper.”

  Back to the car, Mason held the door open for her.

  “You look beautiful by the way,” he said, as she sat down.

  Another blush.

  “And just so you know, I would have bought flowers for you but I knew you’d insist on this being a work thing.”

  “It is,” she reminded him.

  He smirked at her.

  “So, where are you taking me tonight, Polly? You probably know the best places to go.”

  She didn’t really, she didn't go out that often but she remembered a well-lit trendy bar nearby so Mason wouldn’t get the wrong idea.

  At the trendy bar, Mason ordered some wine and olives and they found a quiet corner to sit and chat.

  “It’s nice. Something like you’d get back in London.”

  “Glad you’re impressed. I thought you might think we’re just a bunch of inbreds out here.”

  “Well, I was wondering about your sixth toe,” he said as they both looked at her foot in her strappy shoes.

  She hit him on the arm. “I do not!”

  “But you looked.”

  She giggled. “I have no idea why I looked.”

  A pause. He gazed at her. She couldn’t help but ask what he was looking at.

  “Just the other night, you mentioned having a hard time as a kid.”

  Oh god, why did he have to bring that up?

  “No, it was nothing. Perfectly normal childhood. I have no idea what I was talking about.”

  Hmm hmm.

  “And you still live with your mum?”

  Oh no, this conversation was going downhill.

  “Yes, I’m a complete loser aren’t I?”

  “Not at all.” He took a sip of his drink. “I think it’s commendable. Not many people would stick around looking after their sick mum.”

  She didn’t want to explain herself so quickly changed the subject.

  “So, tell me about your girlfriend. How long have you two been together?”

  “What?”

  “The model, the one you were on the phone with on the first day you came here.”

  He stared at her. “Actually, we’re not together anymore. Why? Were you jealous?”

  What interesting news and no, she wasn’t jealous.

  “No, I’m just making conversation, Mr Hotshot. You can’t expect every woman to fall at your feet.”

  “You can’t talk to your boss like that.”

  “I thought this wasn’t a business meeting?”

  The intense gaze continued. It made her feel silly and girly.

  “It’s not. Do you want to come back to my hotel room?”

  That was unexpected. Yes, she did but no, bad idea. After a moment of stunned silence, she answered; “no Mason. I don’t mix business with pleasure – ever.”

  “Damn it. You are so good and absolutely right. But you can’t blame a man for trying.”

  She bit her lip and looked down to the floor to escape his intense gaze.

  “Anyway, what’s your story. Louisa told me you never seem to have a boyfriend.”

  That Louisa – the supposedly discreet secretary wasn’t ever discreet when it came to her.

  Polly, still flustered by the invitation, now had to speak about her love life. This man was very direct.

  “I don’t have time for relationships, what with work and looking after my mother.”

  “Does she require much looking after?”

  Damn it, she didn’t want to get into the whole home life theme.

  “Some days are good, others not so good. That’s why I still live with her. I’d worry otherwise. So no love life and still at home.”

  She made the sign of an L on her forehead.

  He pulled her hand away.

  “Don’t put yourself down. I don’t think it’s loser behaviour, putting other people before your own happiness. I don’t meet many people like that.”

  “Stop it, I’m not that selfless.”

  “I bet you are. You seem the type to always look out for your friends.”

  With a shrug, she agreed.

  He checked his watch.

  “Another conference call?” she asked.

  “Something like that. Come on, I’ll take you home.”

  Polly felt a rush of disappointment; they hadn’t been out that long. Was it because she wouldn’t go to bed with him? Hopefully, he wasn’t that type of guy. She took out her purse, about to leave some cash for the drinks.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Paying. It’s my treat.”

  He laughed. “You are so different, Polly Taylor. Put your money away.”

  They walked to the car and as promised, Mason dropped her off.

  “See you on Monday,” he called out of the car window.

  Feeling slightly rejected, she made her way inside her house. Obviously, her mum was still up as it was only 9 p.m.

  “Back already? Did it not go well?”

  “Mum, I told you. It was just drinks and we had a couple.”

  Although she too was expecting it to have been a longer evening.

  Chapter 21

  Mason

  * * *

  On the whole, the evening had been completely confusing. Two Polly’s conflicted in his mind. A competent, ambitious woman in the day and Mother Teresa at night. If she ever applied for a job in London, she’d be snapped up with much higher pay. Even though she was aware of that, she remained here, on the same street and in the same house she grew up in.

  His conflicting feelings returned when she referred to herself as the type of person to look out for her friends, a flashback of the time he lay on the ground popped into his mind. Bleeding and broken, she just stared at him and walked away. No, she didn’t look out for her friends. She was lying and maybe she was exaggerating about her sick mother? That’s why he ended the evening abruptly. And again, he was surprised by her offer to pay the bill. He couldn’t remember the last time someone picked up the bill. All his friends, family and associates expected him to pay for everything – which was fair enough but the offer would have been nice once in a while.

  There was also his direct approach to consider – the offer to go straight to bed. Most women took him up on it immediately. He was used to getting his own way but she knocked him back without hesitation. He respected that. Polly was definitely not like the other women he knew.

  No, it had been a night full of contradictions. He couldn’t sleep that night with his thoughts of Polly Taylor going through his mind. Was she good or bad? Had the years away muddled his memories. He had to find out.

  On Monday, he called Louisa into his office.

  “Does Polly really look after her mum every evening?”

  “Yes,” confirmed Louisa. “She always has done since her diagnosis.”

  “Can’t they get help?”

  “Polly’s mum is very proud and doesn't want to be a burden so it’s all left with poor Polly to deal with. Polly graduated top of the class in her business degree. She could have gone anywhere but she chose to stay here to be with her mum.”

  “But she’s a burden on Polly.”

  “I don’t think Polly sees it that way,” said Louisa.

  “But what about her stepdad? Couldn’t he look after her?”

  “Gosh, Polly told you about her stepdad? She’s been very open with you.”

  Oops, that was slip up. He vaguely remembered Polly having a stepdad all those years ago but she hadn’t mentioned it to him.

  “Just in passing. So what happened to him?”

  “He left a long time ago. I have no idea why. Again, it’s not something Polly or her mum care to talk about.”

  Maybe Polly had been having a hard time
. He didn’t recall her being this secretive when they were younger. She always seemed happy to him. And just like that, she popped her head in his office.

  “What are you two gossiping about?” she asked.

  A smile spread across his face when he saw her. Louisa had just settled the conflict he’d been feeling. Polly was one of the good ones. The revenge plan was well and truly out of the window, he couldn’t help but fancy this woman.

  “Just organising my week ahead. I’m going to New York in a few days and I think it would be beneficial for you to come.”

  “What?”

  “You’ve never been on a business trip before?”

  “Only to London occasionally. I always stay at the Holiday Inn.”

  “I think we can do better than that, can’t we Louisa?”

  Yes, they could.

  “I can’t leave Mum for that long.”

  Louisa promised to keep an eye on her mum for her.

  “See, you’re all out of excuses.”

  “Actually, I’m not. As the Financial Director, I really don’t recommend you paying for me to go to New York on some jolly. We’re in the middle of a financial restructure.”

  “Polly, you are exasperating. It’s not a jolly, it’s for you to gain some exposure on financial restructuring, I'm going through another one at the moment in New York, it’s at a much more advanced stage so it will be a good experience for you. You’ll be helping them so we can put it through their books. Now, stop making excuses. Let your mum know and make sure your bags are packed for Wednesday.”

  Before she could say anything, his phone rang and he waved her goodbye. On the phone was his friend Rupert.

  “How’s the hatred going towards the office chick?”

  “Hmm,” he sighed. “It’s definitely over. She’s smart, she’s beautiful...she’s different.”

  “Glad to hear it. I don’t think I liked the devious, twisted Mason.”

  Nor did he. Mason had already explained to Rupert about his hacking of her computer to make it look as though she was going mad. Although he held a grudge against Polly, he knew he had taken it too far.”