She lingered.
“What?”
“I just have to bring Polly her bag and then I’ll do it.”
“No, You’ll do it now.”
“But she won’t be able to get home.”
“I don’t care. Now get out before I fire you too.”
He knew he was being a jerk but he didn’t care.
He called Rupert to let him know he’d be back later and to arrange a drink.
“By the way, Rupert. If you still want Polly – she’s all yours. I won’t stand in your way.”
Chapter 38
Polly
* * *
Luckily her mum did have some cash in the house so Polly paid for the taxi. She’d managed to hold back the tears in the taxi but as soon as he left, she slammed the front door shut and cried in her mum's arms.
She explained everything. How she thought she was in love – no, how she was in love. How she thought Mason loved her and then how Charlie turned up at the office for an interview. The drama that preceded and how she ended up being at home on a Friday lunchtime.
Her mum stroked her hair as Polly cried some more.
“I don’t understand why he was giving that awful man an interview.”
Polly couldn’t explain either.
“And why did he have such a violent reaction just because you used to go out with him?”
Again, Polly had no answer.
“My god, if every teenage girl was judged by their first boyfriend, then no one would ever end up married or in relationships. He’s being really unfair. Maybe let him calm down and then you can talk?”
No way. There was no way she’d ever speak to that man ever again.
“Oh Mum, I’ve got no job. What the hell are we going to do?”
“I’ll tell you one thing you’re not going to do – you're not going to take this lying down. It’s unfair dismissal.”
Her mum was right. It was time to start thinking with her head. That evening, Louisa came over with her stuff. Polly checked her phone. Maybe Mason had left a grovelling apology. No – nothing.
“Did he say anything?”
Louisa shook her head.
“He wouldn't speak to me. But he’s gone to London. He won't be coming back.”
Good riddance.
Chapter 39
Mason
* * *
The phone woke him up on Monday morning. He’d spent the whole weekend getting drunk with Rupert – who was ecstatic to have his wingman back. Rupert dragged him all over London. Drinking, dancing, picking up girls. Mason had even made it back to a beautiful girl’s flat but as soon as he got there, he made his excuses and left. Not even meaningless sex could make him feel better. So all he had to show for this miserable weekend was the hangover to end all hangovers.
“Yes,” he croaked into the phone.
It was his solicitor, Dominic. An unexpected call from his solicitor at this time on a Monday morning wasn’t going to be good news. He groaned. He’d left everything in the air. He’d never been so unprofessional in all his life.
“Sorry to wake you, Mason but we’ve had a couple of complaints from your company in Stillwaters.”
He wanted nothing to do with this company or that town ever again.
“The first complaint is the unfair dismissal of Polly Taylor. From what HR in Stillwaters have told me, there was no legitimate reason for sacking her. Can you add anything to support the firing?”
“She shagged my bully. Is that good enough?”
“Erm...no...do you need to talk to someone?”
“Sorry, Dominic. Ignore me. No, there’s nothing to add. I sacked her because I hate her and her ex-boyfriend.”
“In that case, I would reinstate her immediately.”
Fine, whatever. She deserved to rot in that town, to rot in that company forever. He’d make sure it was run into the ground eventually.
“And the second complaint was from the police. You beat someone up in your office?”
“Yes, my childhood bully. It was payback.”
“Well...good on you but you can't go beating the crap out of people. So you’re saying you were attacked first? Were there any witnesses?”
“Loads.”
“Good. And when did this attack take place?”
“When I was fifteen.”
Dominic his solicitor sighed.
“Right, I don’t think that defence will cut it in the courts. You’re just going to have to pay him to withdraw the charges.”
“No. No way, that’s not an option.”
“Okay, then you have a good chance of getting a prison sentence. The pictures have been emailed. You beat him up pretty badly.”
“He deserved it!”
“I’m sure he did. But there’s no way you can risk going to court for this, Mason. As your solicitor and your friend, I implore you to make this go away.”
This had turned out badly. The only solace he had over this awful weekend was that Polly had lost her precious job and that scumbag got what he deserved. But now, Polly was getting her job back and the scumbag was probably going to become rich with the bribe Mason knew he had to make.
“Fine, Dominic but play low ball. I don’t want that thug getting his hands on more of my money then he has to.”
Dominic agreed and promised to handle everything from that end. Mason could go back to sleep. Another call. It was Rupert.
“How are you doing?”
“Badly.”
“Are you still with that chick you picked up?”
“No.” Mason did not want to talk about it.
“And you’re still okay for me to run the business?”
He sat up. “What?”
“You need someone to run the Stillwaters business as you don’t want anything to do with it. You offered me the job.”
He definitely didn’t remember that.
“Why would you want it?”
“Why do you think?”
He felt sick. “Fine. Do whatever you want to do with the company. Ruin it; I don’t care.”
“And Polly?”
“The same.”
Chapter 40
Polly
* * *
She took a few days off – too embarrassed to be in the office but Louisa pointed out that she needed to get it over and done with, otherwise it would just get worse the longer she left it. Louisa also suggested suing Mason over the way he treated her.
“I don’t want his money, Louisa. I don’t want anything to do with him.”
“Fine. Just come in tomorrow. Mason’s sent a replacement. He wants a meeting with you.”
No. That was the last thing she needed. Then again, it was good to know Mason hadn’t completely abandoned the business.
With barely any sleep the night before, she went into work. The two security guys, who escorted her off the premises, were on duty when she arrived. They apologised; they were only following orders. The staff staring at her, whispering and nudging each other, made her feel even more nervous. Gossip was rife. What the hell had she done to Mason to incur his wrath? She wished she knew.
Louisa approached.
“Welcome back, Dear. Come with me.”
She guided Polly to Mason’s office.
“He’s not in there is he?”
She couldn’t bear to see him ever again. Before Louisa could answer, the door opened. Standing there was not Mason but Rupert. His best friend.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
He smiled at her and motioned for her to come in. Gently, he led her over to the chair at the desk. Everyone had been treating her like a fragile child today; it made her feel worse. She sat and was more confused than ever.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, looking concerned.
“You know what happened?”
“Yes, Mason told me.”
“Did he? Then maybe you could tell me what happened as I sure as hell don’t know.”
Rupert, not looking s
o comfortable now, shuffled in his chair.
“You probably need to talk to him about that.”
“I don’t want to. Have you seen him recently?”
“Not since Sunday night, he met someone and went back to their place. I haven’t seen him since.”
Ouch, Polly felt like she’d been kicked in the stomach. She’d been such a fool. Rupert continued talking. She barely listened as she thought of Mason with another woman.
“Polly...Polly, are you listening?”
No.
“Look, Polly. I’m sorry for everything that happened and thank you so much for coming in. Mason overreacted and handled the situation badly. I’m here to smooth things over and make sure the staff here are happy. So if you need any more time off or you need me to do anything, please just ask.”
All she wanted to do was forget about the whole sorry affair and get stuck into work. Rupert was happy to hear that and hoped they could work closely together.
Not a chance, she thought. Now it really was time to act professionally. She let herself lose concentration once and look what happened.
In no time at all, the office gossip ceased and Polly got back into her old routine. Rupert didn’t hang around as much as Mason. He flitted into the office maybe one day a week, preferring to stay in London. He asked her out every single time he came into the office. She always turned him down. Office life returned to normal as Polly put all the Mason drama behind her. She worked hard impressing Rupert who was happy to hand the reins over to her rather than micro-managing her like Mason. With her help, Rupert rebuilt the team. Hired and fired some people. Polly was promoted to the vacant position of CFO.
Chapter 41
Mason
* * *
Mason and Rupert caught up after a meeting one day in the Shard.
“How’s Stillwaters?”
“Still Dull. They should probably rename it,” said Rupert.
“Look I’m happy to write it off as a bad business decision.”
“You’re kidding. Have you seen the books? It’s doing well.”
“You’ve done a good job there.”
“I’ve barely done anything. Polly’s practically running the show.”
He hadn’t heard her name mentioned for a while.
“How is she?”
He didn’t care but couldn’t help but ask.
“Still beautiful. Still completely professional. Still unobtainable.”
He was glad to hear Rupert had failed miserably in his quest to conquer her. Maybe her taste in men hadn’t been that bad?
“You’re obviously losing your touch. So who’s your latest conquest?”
“There’s no one at the moment.”
“Really? You always have some woman lined up.”
“Hmm, I haven’t quite given up on Polly. There’s something about her. Something intriguing plus I like the challenge.”
“Intriguing? Yes, she sleeps with psychos after they beat the crap out of her friends. She’s very intriguing.”
“Give her a break. She was just a kid at the time and has nothing to do with him now.”
Mason held his hands up. He was fed up of talking about Polly.
“Let’s change the subject.”
“How’s your love life?” asked Rupert.
That was not the subject Mason wanted to change it to. Since Polly, there had been no one. Maybe it was time to remedy that? It had been six months since Polly.
“Let’s go out tonight. I feel ready to get back out there.”
This was music to Rupert’s ears; he had his old friend back. At the bar, they toasted to a boys night out.
Chapter 42
Polly
* * *
There was an unexpected visit from Rupert; he didn’t warn her he was coming.
“Ahh! I knew you were up to no good, you devious wench,” he screamed at Polly when he walked into his office.
“It’s not what it looks like,” she pleaded. “Okay, it kind of is.”
His office was much nicer and bigger than hers. More private and it had its own bathroom. He was barely there so she’d slowly taken it over – without telling him.
“I’m in meetings most of the time, it’s better to have people come in here. I can barely swing a cat in my office.”
“Why would you want to swing a cat? Are you some sort of animal torturer?”
“Shut up.”
“You can’t tell me to shut up when you’ve been caught red-handed nicking my office.”
She shrugged. At first, she was cagey around Rupert. Imagining that everything she did and said would get back to Mason. But eventually, she learnt to relax. It had been almost a year and Rupert was hardly likely to stick out this place just so he could spy on her.
“So, can I keep it?”
“No. It’s mine. Get your own. Oh, that’s right you do have your own.”
“But this one has a loo! Do you know how busy I am? I don’t have time to walk all the way down the corridor to the loo.”
“I’ll buy you a potty for your office.”
“You’re disgusting.”
“You’re a thief.”
There was a stare-off as Polly stood her ground. She didn’t want to give up the office and leave it empty most of the time.
“What can I do to keep it?”
“Hmm. Go out for dinner with me?” he suggested.
“Tell you what, Rupert. I won’t report you for sexual harassment if you let me keep it.”
“You trapped me, you devious…master criminal.”
There were no words to describe Polly. He pulled up a chair, took out his laptop and put it on her desk.
“What are you doing?”
“Office sharing. I’m not using your office. I can’t swing any cats in there plus I can’t have a dump in there.”
“You’re not having a poo in here!” she shrieked.
“Actually, I think I need one right now,” he pretended to stand up.
“Don’t you date, Rupert Hall.”
He sat back down. “Okay, I’ll save it for later.”
She shook her head. “You’re so inappropriate.”
“You’re so beautiful.”
“Shut up.”
He laughed. He loved being insulted by Polly. She stared at him with narrowed eyes. Scrutinising him.
“What is it?” he asked.
“How on earth are you a ladies man?”
“Who told you I was?”
“Who do you think.”
“What else did he say about me.”
She shrugged. “Something about anything with a pulse.”
“Ouch. I’ll have to have a word with him later. Is that why you won’t come near me?”
“No. It’s because you’re only a measly millionaire.”
“Then you can take me out for dinner.”
Nice try. She told him to get back to work.
The next day. He turned up again. He even sat on the other side of the desk, leaving Polly at the boss’s side.
“You still here? Why?”
“I’m the boss remember. I don't have to answer to you.”
She scowled at him. What was he up to? He kept looking at her as she worked.
“Rupert, stop it. You’re putting me off.”
“You’re turning me on.”
He never stopped.
“Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment before?”
“All the time. Mason threatened to slap me once when I pinched his bum.”
She rolled her eyes. This man was never serious about anything. The mention of Mason stopped the fooling around. She had to ask. She hadn’t asked anything in the past year.
“How is he?”
“Yep, good..”
He was holding back.
“Tell me.”
“He seems happy. He’s met someone.”
“Good for him.” she lied. “Hopefully, she doesn’t have any dodgy ex-boyfriends that he can freak out
about.”
She apologised. Rupert looked uncomfortable. They stopped talking and continued with their work.
Chapter 43
Mason
* * *
“How very cosy,” said Mason when Rupert told him about the desk sharing.
“Jealous?”
“No; I have Caitlin. She’s smart and uncomplicated. So bend Polly over the desk and screw her brains out for all I care.”
After being with Polly for that brief period in time, it showed him what he was missing. Flings and casual sex were of no interest to him anymore. Beautiful, sexy girls were great to look at but if he couldn't hold a conversation with them or he had to put in all the effort, then what was the point. He’d turned a corner, grown-up even. Then he met Caitlin. Beautiful and smart Caitlin. Like Polly but without the history. It meant a fresh start.
“So you still don’t mind if I ask her out?” asked Rupert.
“I can’t believe you’re still after her after all this time. You’re losing your touch.”
“Maybe but I think I’m getting through to her. We’re friends now.”
Rupert was never friends with women. Very odd behaviour thought Mason.
Chapter 44
Rupert
* * *
He was in their office before Polly.
“I should move back,” she offered.
She’d only moved in there because he was never around but all of a sudden he was around all of the time.
“Don’t, I like your company.”
She liked it too.
“People think it’s weird that we share an office.”
“Everyone knows it’s because you can’t keep away from me,” said Rupert.
Wishful thinking, she teased.
“So, when am I going to get to take you out for dinner?”
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